Learn to read Japanese words, not just recognise them. Japanese Word teaches 4,000 words across 40 stages of 100, from the first hundred a beginner meets up to the most common words at intermediate level. Every word comes with its reading in kana, its romaji, its part of speech, an English meaning, and an example sentence written by hand — with furigana over the kanji.
Four ways to study each stage
- Flashcards The word, then its reading, then its meaning and example. Tap through at your own pace.
- Meaning quiz Pick the English meaning. Ten questions a sitting: seven words you have not been asked about yet, and three coming back.
- Reading quiz How is the underlined word read, inside a real sentence? This is the part learners find hardest — and the reason a bare kanji is never the question. The sentence is what makes one reading the right one.
- Sentence building Tap the tiles back into order. No typing, and no IME.
What the app remembers
- Progress is tracked per mode A word you can read but cannot translate is not counted as known. Words you get wrong collect in a review list and leave it by themselves the moment you get them right — there is no flag to clear.
- Streaks, counts and JLPT levels The record tab keeps your study streak, how many words you have studied and mastered, a fortnight of daily counts, and progress bars per JLPT level.
- Tests that sample what you have finished A proficiency test spreads its questions across the stages you have completed rather than drawing them all from one, and a level-up test sits at each JLPT boundary.
- Your own word list Star any word to keep it in your own list, and study that list on its own.
Reading help you can turn off
Furigana and romaji are switches, not decoration: leave them on while you are starting out and turn them off when you want to read the kanji. The Japanese voice reads a word by its reading, so 後 is never read aloud as the wrong one of あと, うしろ, ご and のち.
A daily reminder, at a time and on the weekdays you choose.
Your study record is yours
No account and no sign-in. Every answer, every score and every setting is stored on your device, and Settings deletes the lot in one tap. The word list ships inside the app rather than being downloaded, so a reset never leaves you with an app that has nothing in it.
Who it is for
- English speakers starting Japanese who want to read kanji, not just recognise words
- Learners working towards JLPT N5, N4 or N3
- Anyone who wants a vocabulary app that works on a plane, on the underground, or with the network off
About the word data
The words, readings and meanings come from JMdict, © Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, used under CC BY-SA 4.0 and modified for this app.
The JLPT levels are estimates. JEES and the Japan Foundation publish no official vocabulary lists, so the levels here are this app's best reading of which words belong where, not the exam's.