SimplyKatakana Read Japanese

Learn katakana -- the script that unlocks every foreign word in Japanese.

SimplyKatakana covers all 46 katakana characters, each paired with a real loanword example -- words you may already know Five minutes a day is enough.

No accounts. No login. Tap Start and study.

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WHY KATAKANA MATTERS

Katakana is used for foreign words, loanwords, brand names, and emphasis in Japanese. If you travel to Japan, katakana is everywhere -- menus, signs, product labels. Ice cream. Coffee. Camera. Robot. Television. You already know the words. You just need the script.

And it's only 46 characters. Most people learn them all in under two weeks.

The common problem isn't learning the characters. It's telling the similar ones apart -- and keeping them all straight overnight. Katakana has several pairs that look almost identical: ソ and ン, シ and ツ, ワ and ウ. You study for an hour, feel confident, and the next morning the confusable pairs blur together again. That's usually not a memory problem. Passive study methods -- re-reading a chart, copying characters, staring at a table -- create short-term recognition without durable recall. The format is the issue, not the effort.

SimplyKatakana fixes this by changing how you study, not how much.

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THE SCIENCE

Most study apps show you a character and ask you to re-read it. Re-reading feels productive, but it creates shallow memory -- you recognize the answer while it's in front of you and forget it an hour later.

SimplyKatakana works differently in two ways.

First, every card is a retrieval attempt. You see a prompt and pull the answer from memory before revealing it. That act of retrieving -- even when you get it wrong -- builds stronger, longer-lasting memory than passive review. Researchers have been demonstrating this since 1967. It's called the testing effect, and it's one of the most consistent findings in learning science.

Second, the app tracks which characters give you trouble and brings them back at calculated intervals. Characters you know well fade into the background. Characters you keep forgetting -- including the confusable pairs like ソ/ン and シ/ツ -- come back sooner. Your practice time goes where it matters instead of cycling through things you already know.

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HOW IT WORKS

1. Open. Tap Start.
2. Choose your character group, or let the app decide what you need most.
3. Recall. Tap to reveal. Rate how well you knew it.

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WHAT'S INSIDE

- All 46 katakana characters and their readings
- Real loanword examples for every character -- words you already know in English
- Active recall on every card -- you retrieve, not re-read
- Spaced repetition that adapts to your memory
- Six study modes: Sequential, Random, Group, Weak Points, Review, Learning
- Mnemonic hints for every character
- Daily goals and streaks
- Works offline -- no internet required
- No tracking. No data collection. Your progress stays on your device.

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THE 10 CHARACTER GROUPS

Vowels: a, i, u, e, o
K-row: ka, ki, ku, ke, ko
S-row: sa, shi, su, se, so
T-row: ta, chi, tsu, te, to
N-row: na, ni, nu, ne, no
H-row: ha, hi, fu, he, ho
M-row: ma, mi, mu, me, mo
Y-row: ya, yu, yo
R-row: ra, ri, ru, re, ro
W-row: wa, wo, n

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WHY I BUILT THIS

Years ago, I was living in Japan and commuting by train. I found a flashcard app -- nothing fancy, just characters organized by level -- and started reviewing on the ride to work. Five minutes out, five minutes back.

Then the app disappeared from the App Store. The replacements I tried were either buried in features I didn't need or missing the simplicity that made the original work.

So I built SimplyKanji -- the app I wished still existed. SimplyHiragana and SimplyKatakana came next -- because katakana was the script that first made Japan feel readable to me, and most beginners need both kana before they're ready for kanji.

Now on iPhone and iPad..

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Five minutes a day. Start reading Japanese today.