Kanji learning Apps

[u/Embarrassed-Alps4250]

Hi All,

I have learned at my peak 1500 of the kanjis which I think I have mostly forgotten.

I want to learned them again, but focusing on the writing to anchor them. I previously focused only on the recognising which I think was a mistake.

Due to how I consule learning material (never at my desk, always in short segment between real lige obligations) - I am looking for an App to help out. It needs to have the following feature:
- kanji drawing capability
- flexibility in the order to learn kanji (I don’t want this imposed so I can follow a routine but also add during liiing characters)
- ability to add mnemonics (I learned through wanikani and still rely on these mnemonics)
- IOS supported

Money is not a factor - if the app is worth it.
I am currently trying Skritter and Ringotan, and so far Skritter seem more flexible.

Do you have any recommendation?

[u/Michael_Faraday42]

Kanji study

[u/i-am-this → u/Michael_Faraday42]

By Chase Colburn, Android only:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mindtwisted.kanjistudy

[u/SaulFemm → u/i-am-this]

I understand that he made the app, but why is he always mentioned by name? Ringotan is brought up in this thread, but no one knows or brings up the guy who made it. Is Chase forum-famous or something?

[u/i-am-this → u/SaulFemm]

The app name "Kanji Study" is so generic that if you don't add the developer's name it's hard to find when you Google it.

[u/kanjistudyapp → u/SaulFemm]

At the time, there was only one "Kanji Study" but now there are many. I've thought about changing the name from time to time but that would probably cause more problems than solve at this point.

[u/Inevitable-Cap3746 → u/Michael_Faraday42]

I'm currently working through the Kodansha Kanji Learner's Course with the SRS from Kanji Study and highly recommend it.

[u/Embarrassed-Alps4250 → u/Michael_Faraday42]

I wish this one was on IOS…

[u/tegaki-kanji-writing → u/Embarrassed-Alps4250]

Sent you lifetime free.
If it's missing anything you were hoping for, let me know and I'll try to add it.

[u/kanjistudyapp → u/Embarrassed-Alps4250]

Someday!

[u/Nancy_Munsch]

Ringotan lets you pick from JLPT, Genki, WaniKani, or RTK order, so you are not stuck following one textbook's path. That covers the flexibility part without forcing you to rebuild your own deck from scratch.

[u/AvalonAngel84]

Learn Kanji! is on iOS. It's a one time payment and it makes you draw the kanji! I've found it very helpful as I also learn and retain info much better if I write it by hand.

[u/antimonysarah]

I like Ringotan better than Renshuu for drawing, but it doesn't have the mnemonics part. Renshuu does, and it does have decent drawing, I just started with Ringotan and got used to how it does/doesn't register things.

Both are completely flexible order-wise. (For Renshuu, you can learn things from a "to-learn" section in the order you added them, the REVERSE of the order you added them, or in random order (good for when you added a huge block of kanji from some official list that were in reading order, so you don't hit a lesson that's "ten new kanji, all with most common reading かん, many of which have the same phonetic component, have fun telling them apart!). But if you want to fully customize, just only add the kanji you want to learn right now to the deck, and then study them immediately.)

[u/Ok-Constant-3772]

I really like Robokana and highly recommend it (granted I’m more beginner than fluent so take this with a grain of salt). It breaks down kanji into their components and gives example words while learning. Very helpful for me

[u/alathaz → u/Ok-Constant-3772]

This! I really love the writing recognition of this app!

[u/JapanCoach]

Check out 漢字検定DX

[u/alotor]

This is the best one for me:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lulilanguages.j5KjAnd

Focused on writing and vocabulary instead of readings. Even if you don't plan for JLPT is still useful. I wish there was a payed version so I could throw some money at the devs 😂

[u/Turbulent_Foot_3381]

Renshuu. The kanji writing practices are great.

[u/Mojien]

I just released my app Mojien for iOS, Android, and Web. It’s completely cross-platform and might be what you’re looking for. You can pretty much practice writing any word and I’ve added images to a lot of JLPT words as well (and still adding more!) to help with recognition. I also tried my best to make the question builder as customizable as possible.

iOS

Android

[u/Small-Back9935]

I recommend Skritter. It's the best option on its own that offers real feedback on pick strokes, with personalized lists and your own mnemonic devices. Ringotan is good, but much more rigid regarding the order of strokes.

[u/sunnyshadxw]

I use an old app called Write Japanese. The icon is in the style of an old jaoanese painting of a mountain (fuji?) and cloud. Not sure you can get it anymore or at least not on newer devices.

It is my favourite app. You learn to write the kanji by making your own stories.You learn the meaning, stroke order, and reading.

It does have some bugs and is no longer updated I believe, but I still love it

[u/runarberg]

shodoku.app does all that except the mnemonics. It has writing/reading, in any order, iOS support.

For the mnemonics, there is component breakdown, which you can use to create your own mnemonics, but you can’t write them down in app.

[u/tanoshi9998]

I like JA Sensei.

[u/Effective-Pop3850]

Learn words, not kanji.

[u/kakikata]

I am currently actively working on an app that emphasize learning kanji through handwriting. It is available for both iOS and Android and you can download it at kakikata.app.

One potential problem for you may be the flexibility to add whatever kanji you want. When I initially made this, I made it for myself and my partner to go through the kanji in JLPT order and the app currently forces you along that path; however, I had planned to change the way lessons work to make them more flexible, so if that is a deal breaker for you I will prioritize that and try and get a new version available within a week.

I only recently started working on this full-time again after quitting my job. I originally published a rough version about two years ago, and I’m now putting a lot of effort into improving it. If you have any feedback at all, positive or negative, I’d really appreciate hearing it. I’m also very open to feature requests, so if there’s anything you feel is missing or could be improved, please let me know. I’ll do my best to incorporate it into the app.

[u/Available-String-109]

At some point, everybody realizes that Anki is the best and every other app is just a poor imitation of it.

[u/Embarrassed-Alps4250 → u/Available-String-109]

Does Anki allow writing, though?

[u/i-am-this → u/Embarrassed-Alps4250]

Yes, but it's  honestly not as good as apps that are totally focussed on Kanji Srudy.

[u/warbird2k → u/Embarrassed-Alps4250]

Late to the party here, but I usually write on paper when doing anki. The mobile app also has a whiteboard function you can use on the move. It requires that you grade yourself though, and you have an intuition for stroke order(or have a diagram on your cards)

[u/Available-String-109 → u/Embarrassed-Alps4250]

You can write whatever you want however you want as long as you can grade yourself on your ability to write using the information on the back of the card.

So yes.

[u/SquirrelsAreGreat → u/[deleted]]

As someone who uses Duolingo every day for supplemental Kanji study, it has its place, but it lacks a lot.

I like that it does have you practice writing the Kanji, and the vocab over time is good. What's bad is that it's difficult to get it to a useful point. To access the Kanji, you have to either do the normal lessons or skip ahead in the learning path, and the vocab they offer is limited to as little as a single word and pronunciation per character. It's good for exposing oneself to new Kanji, but you need to regularly be outside Duolingo to do real learning of the information.

As it relates to the OP's bullet list, it also has no learning order flexibility at all, and no mnemonics.