Japanese in separate apps

Apps for learning Japanese, each about one thing: grammar, kanji, conjugation, particles, keigo, pitch. There is a level test to start from as well.

Which app do you need

• 
  Kaname: Japanese Grammar要iOSJLPT practice: N5 N4 N3 N2 N1

  Turn Japanese grammar into sentences you can use. Practise similar patterns, build your own examples and review at your pace. All N5 exercises are free.

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  Bunmyaku: Japanese Reading文脈iOSVocabulary, kanji, furigana

  You know the kanji. You know the word. But can you read it when it turns up inside a sentence? That is a different memory – and this trains it.

• 
  Katsuyokei: Conjugation活用形iOSVerbs, adjectives and drills

  Verb forms come from rules, not from memory. Drill them until 書いて arrives before you have finished thinking about it.

• 
  Joshi: Japanese Particles助詞iOSGrammar drills for the JLPT

  Knowing what に means is not the same as knowing when it is で. Nine hundred sentences, one blank, four particles – until the right one arrives on its own.

• 
  Kazoekata: Japanese Counters数え方iOSCounting, kanji and drills

  Stop guessing how Japanese counters are read. 三本 is さんぼん, 六本 is ろっぽん – and there is a rule behind it.

• 
  Kuzushi: Casual Japanese崩しiOSAnime, drama and slang

  Textbooks teach 〜ている. People say 〜てる. Kuzushi drills that gap: recognising a contraction and producing one are scored apart, because they are two different skills.

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  Shindan: Japanese Level Test診断iOSJLPT placement: N5 N4 N3 N2 N1

  Find what to study next in Japanese. Take a timed diagnostic, see your weak spots and get a JLPT-based level estimate. Your first test sheet is free.

• 
  Keigo: Polite Japanese敬語iOSFormal Japanese for work

  Knowing the form is not the same as knowing who to use it on. Too much keigo is a mistake exactly as much as too little – and that half is what nobody teaches.

• 
  Kifuku: Japanese Pitch Accent起伏iOSPronunciation and listening

  Learn Japanese pitch accent. Compare patterns, practice inflection, and train your ear with recordings. Five levels, offline learning.

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  Onomatope: Japanese MimeticsオノマトペiOSManga and anime vocabulary

  Japanese onomatopoeia are not arbitrary. 濁点 makes a thing bigger, heavier and less pleasant – understand that and you can guess a word you have never seen.

Learning Japanese

• Japanese particles: は, が, を, に, で, へ – The particles that carry an ordinary Japanese sentence, and the roles they stand in – with examples and translations.
• Confusing pairs in Japanese: は or が, もう or まだ – Pairs that look interchangeable and are not – each sentence comes with the situation and the reason the other form fails.
• Japanese Verb Conjugation Chart: Masu, Te, Ta & Nai Forms – Conjugation chart for 書く, 食べる, する and 来る, the godan and ichidan rules, every form with an example, and practice with answers.
• Japanese Counters: 1–10 Charts, Readings and Examples – How to read 3本, 4人 or 8匹: 1–10 charts for つ, 人, 本, 枚, 匹 and 冊, the sound-change patterns, 22 counters with sentences and practice.
• Casual Japanese – the contractions in anime and conversation – The contractions you hear every day, each next to the full form it came from.
  Sections (5)

  • Contractions
  • Fusions
  • Voicing
  • Layered contractions
  • Omissions
• Keigo – Japanese politeness in practice – Honorific and humble forms and the frames you lay over most words – what to say and why that one.
  Sections (2)

  • Honorific and humble words
  • Polite patterns
• Japanese mimetics – the sounds in manga and anime – Words that imitate sound and state – what they mean and what 濁点 does to them.
  Sections (8)

  • Pain
  • Shivering, trembling and dizziness
  • Tiredness and sleep
  • Body and feeling
  • Voicing pairs: き–し
  • Voicing pairs: た–ほ
  • Sound pairs: the か row
  • Sound pairs: こ–と
• Japanese N5 grammar – every point on the level – Seven groups of N5 grammar, from the sentence skeleton to tone – each point with its meaning, formation and examples.
  Sections (7)

  • The sentence skeleton and particles
  • Time, place and existence
  • Verb forms
  • Requests, permissions and prohibitions
  • Adjectives and comparison
  • Wishes, invitations and abilities
  • Reason, intensity and tone

What is coming to the family

The series closes at sixteen apps. The six below already have a name, a character and a scope, but no code yet – which is why they carry no dates. When they exist, they will stand above, among the others.

• 
  Kikitori: Japanese Listening聞き取りIn the worksListening comprehension
• 
  Danraku: Japanese Paragraphs段落In the worksReading longer texts
• 
  Sakubun: Japanese Writing作文In the worksBuilding sentences
• 
  Hatsuwa: Japanese Speaking発話In the worksSpeaking, not just sounds
• 
  Hitsujun: Kana Stroke Order筆順In the worksHiragana and katakana
• 
  Bushu: Kanji Radicals部首In the worksWhat a kanji is made of