awesome-japanese-study-materials

two Japanese friends in their 20s chat about everyday life in completely unscripted, natural Japanese. Great immersion listening for N3-N1 learners. Available on

free daily podcast retelling real news at a slow, learner-friendly pace, with vocab and grammar; also on Apple Podcasts & Spotify

practice Japanese on real news

puts JLPT vocabulary on your iPhone Lock Screen and Home Screen widgets, so a new word (kanji, kana reading and meaning) shows up every time you check your phone. Tap a word for an example sentence with its reading and translation, then review in a swipe feed or a quiz with listening rounds. iPhone only. N5 is free in full, with an optional subscription for N4 to N1. The website also has a free

Japanese-Korean vocabulary flashcards covering JLPT N5-N1 and TOPIK 1-6. On iOS, learners can write a learned word from its meaning and compare their handwriting with the answer themselves; there is no automatic grading. JLPT N5/N4 and TOPIK 1/2 packs are free, subject to daily learning limits. Ads are present; higher levels require individual purchases or a subscription.

one curated deck for vocabulary and kanji: hiragana and katakana first, then 7,435 words in frequency order, each tagged N5 to N1 with an example sentence, audio, pitch accent, and (for kanji words) a mnemonic. Reviews are two buttons scheduled by FSRS-6, no setup. Also has stroke-by-stroke kana and kanji writing practice and a placement test. iPhone only. Free to start, with an optional subscription for the focused practice modes.

free N5/N4 sample cards for learners who want vocabulary, grammar notes, and register explanations from anime, J-pop, drama, and news contexts. Extended lesson pack is optional/paid.

AI photo-to-vocabulary app for Japanese learners. Snap a photo of any object — a 弁当, a 駅 sign, a 自動販売機 — and the app extracts Japanese words with example sentences and pronunciation. Uses FSRS spaced repetition for review scheduling. All images are stored locally on device, no upload. Free with optional subscription.

a language learning app tailored for Asian languages, including Japanese. It offers structured lessons with a focus on grammar, sentence structure, and pronunciation, making it ideal for building a solid foundation. Again, most content is locked behind a paywall.

a highly recommended app. It’s effective for building foundational skills in Hiragana, Katakana, and even Kanji. The lessons follow a well-structured pace that keeps learning engaging without overwhelming. It provides solid practice in grammar and listening. Best of all, it’s free to use, making it accessible to everyone, although after making some mistakes (3-4), you need to wait some time to use it again. A subscription is available to access unlimited practice sessions.

a graded reading and listening app with JLPT-leveled short stories (pre-N5 to advanced), each with furigana, native audio, and tap-to-translate. Great for building reading and listening together once you know your kana. Free to start, with an optional subscription.

an open-source, local-first Japanese speaking practice app for Korean learners. It uses reviewed dialogue banks and local STT/TTS instead of runtime LLM calls, and includes a hosted mock-mode demo for trying the app shape.

an open source Japanese learning app with built-in dictionaries, kanji, grammar, and phrases. FSRS spaced repetition for reviews. Russian and English interface. Fully offline. Available on Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android.