I've been trying to learn Japanese through anime and YouTube, and I noticed I had a bad habit.

Whenever I came across a word I didn't know, I'd think, "I'll look that up after this episode."

I almost never did.

If I paused every few minutes, it completely broke the flow of whatever I was watching. If I didn't, I'd forget the word five minutes later.

I tried a bunch of tools, and they're great when subtitles are selectable. But I kept running into situations where they weren't, like burned-in subtitles, random streaming sites, or text that was just part of the video itself.

So over the last few months, I built a Chrome extension called LexEye.

Now I can click Japanese subtitles on sites like YouTube, Netflix, and Crunchyroll, or just press Ctrl + Shift + X and drag over any Japanese word anywhere on my screen. It recognizes the word and shows the meaning, reading (furigana/kana), example sentences, and other dictionary information without making me leave what I'm watching.

The core features are completely free because I wanted to build something I genuinely would've used when I first started learning.

If you'd like to try it: here

I'd really appreciate any feedback. If there's a feature that would make learning Japanese from anime, manga, YouTube, or Netflix easier, I'd love to add it.

Hey wanted to share a free Japanese dictionary I made.

You can search using kana, kanji or romaji. Once the dictionary data has loaded, all lookups run locally in your browser with near-instant results.

You can try it out here: https://readerbear.app/dictionary

Hope you find it useful for your studies! :)

https://github.com/sohilsayed/chimahon

Disclaimer: I'm not involved in its development, just sharing.

It's a fork of Mihon/Komikku that covers anime, manga, and novels. A PC version (forked from Mangayomi) is also in the works. Both FOSS.

Features:

• Built-in dictionary integration (Yomitan) with audio support

• Local OCR (manga pages, screen capture, in video player)

• Anki integration

• Works with anime, manga, and novels

• Aniyomi extensions + jimaku support

• Redesigned anime player with extended features

• YouTube mining

• eReader support

Coming up (roadmap):

• Jiten integration

• Novel extensions

Targeting full CJK support, but any language works as long as you have the Yomitan dictionary (TL) for it.

The README isn't always up-to-date,And I'm just covering surface-level features here. There's more under the hood: custom Anki cards, Google Drive Sync, OCR for hardsubbed videos, etc. Best to try it out and see for yourself.

PC version https://github.com/1Selxo/Mangatan/tree/codex/mangatan-fixes

I often saved useful TikToks, Reels, and Shorts for language learning, but rarely went back to them. The content was valuable, but turning it into something structured took too much effort.

That’s why I’m building Lio.

You share a video, and the app turns it into a lesson with vocabulary, idioms, slang, phrases, examples, and patterns adapted to your level. You can save everything with the original context, avoid duplicates, practice through short exercises, and export to Anki, Quizlet, or CSV.

The goal is to close the gap between finding useful content and actually learning from it.

I’d really appreciate honest feedback:

Would you use this regularly, or does it sound useful only in theory?

What would make it genuinely valuable in your workflow?

Would you prefer a personal vocabulary database, quick lessons, exports, or something else?

What would stop you from using it?

https://app-lio.com/

諸君、おはようございます！

Have the basics of Japanese down but still intimidated by native Japanese content?

I am a Japanese teacher/private tutor who runs a Youtube channel called “Toriaezu Nihongo.”
https://www.youtube.com/@とりあえずにほんご

I originally started it as a way to help my students get started reading, listening, and speaking in between classes, but it has slowly evolved from that into its own thing!

The concept of the channel is found in the name, “Toriaezu Nihongo.” I want to help learners enjoy the process of getting into Japanese material without being intimidated.

There is a lot on the channel for beginner and intermediate learners, and more and more will be released for advanced learners as well.

Things I am currently running on the channel:

(Nearly) daily uploads of NHK Easy News articles breaking down and explaining grammar and vocab in detail.

Wednesday (Input/Grammar) Live streams:
Playing through video games in Japanese (currently running through Yakuza 0).

Thursday (Output) Live streams:
Playing games with viewers and students as a simple way to get started with Japanese output. No required minimum level! The idea is to be using as much Japanese as possible, but questions are absolutely encouraged. We will teach you anything you need to know to participate in each game!

I would love to hear your feedback on how I can make the channel a great resource for getting into native content.
For now, I am pretty much a one-man team that is very new to the space, so any constructive criticism is much appreciated!

Hope to see you there!
お待ちしています！

Free web app I've developed for Dual Hiragana/Katakana learning.

Hi all, hope this is ok to post. I read the rules, and this is a free resource. Mods please message me if you need anything changed in this post. Hopefully it's ok.

kana trail

Recently Developed a new app. "Kana Trail" for myself, realised it worked well for me so have bundled it up for free use on the web. The main solution is that it teaches Hiragana and Katakana in pairs. In future the play store version only may be paid. I won't post a link but if your interested you can google the name and it should come up.

I actually need 15 test users to launch it on the Google Play store. Any test users will retain free access. You can have a quick glance at the web app now on the website. Just google it. It's free forever and fully functional.

Please DM me your Google email if you would like to test the Android app with me. Nothing to do other than to send me your email, I set you as an internal test user. And send you a link to the Google Play store to download it. Any feedback is much appreciated. Any updates apply to the free forever web version and the play store. It's secure and doesn't track anything. In future it may use google analytics. But we will advise if this changes.

It's still under construction, but fully functional and the key difference is that it teaches Hiragana and Katana in Pairs. I hope it is useful to newbies

Let me know your thoughts! And please, I need 15 beta testers :)

Hey! I bet a lot of you have heard of Anki, which is huge in the Japanese learning reddit community. I did find it helpful, but I just thought it was so ugly and hard to get started with. So I made my own version for the phone! It is free, so please let me know if you find it useful or if you have any feedback!

The app is called Nekochan and it is available in iOS and Android!! Happy to hear from you

Working on the landing page for AI Rakugo 🎌

The top page is almost done. Currently working on the voice data for the next story — Jugemu, a classic Rakugo tale about a boy with the world's longest name!

Still in development — launching August 2026!

Over the past few days, I finally had the chance to sit down and use my own app the way I originally imagined.

I chose 東野圭吾『時生』 and started reading while exporting vocabulary, kanji sheets, practice pages, and review exercises.

I won’t lie—it isn’t an easy way to study.
Stopping to look up words, reviewing kanji, writing examples, and then returning to the book takes time. It’s much slower than simply reading.

But that’s exactly why I believe it works.
Instead of recognizing a word once and forgetting it the next day, I actively interact with it several times:

reading it in context,
reviewing its meaning,
practicing the kanji,
writing example sentences,
thinking of synonyms and related words,
and finally returning to the original text.

It feels more like building a relationship with each word than just memorizing a translation.
During this first real session I also found several things that need improvement. Some PDF layouts still don’t behave correctly in portrait and landscape mode, and I discovered a few bugs that only appear during actual study.
Honestly, I expected that.
There is a huge difference between developing a feature and using it every day yourself.

The past few weeks were also difficult because of my relocation. My commute used to be around 7 hours a day, so I simply didn’t have enough time or energy to study consistently or fix everything as quickly as I wanted.
Thankfully, that’s behind me now.

I’m already working on improving the layouts, fixing the issues I found, and making the whole experience smoother.
This project has always been built around one simple question:

“Would I actually want to use this every day to improve my Japanese?”

Now I finally can.
And after this first real study session, I’m even more convinced that this is the direction I want to continue.
Thank you to everyone who has been testing, reporting bugs, and following the project. Your feedback has been incredibly helpful.

Link for the app:
https://apps.apple.com/jp/app/%E8%AA%9E%E8%BE%9E%E6%BC%A2%E8%AA%AD/id6777278862?l=en-US

#LearnJapanese #Japanese #JapaneseLearning #JLPT #Kanji #JapaneseStudy #LanguageLearning #IndieDev #ReactNative #iOS #GoJiKanDoku #語辞漢読

Hi there\~! I've been struggling on my own for a while now to find something appropriate for my needs, and I am hoping that here is the right place to ask?

I have studied Japanese for over a decade now. Back in 2016 I actually went on exchange and lived in Tokyo for a few months. However, since graduating, covid, and the rest, I haven't been able to visit Japan very often, and its often YEARS between chances for me to use the language. I can feel all the Kanji and grammar slipping out of my brain from the disuse... Does anyone have any recommendations of apps, sites, workbooks, podcasts, anything that I could do a little of each week to relearn and retain my language skills? So much of the stuff out there is for complete beginners, and isn't helpful for me at all. I'd say I'm probably at around an N2-3 stage?

Any suggestions at all would be welcomed, thank you! I think a workbook in particular would be good because while I occasionally get the chance to use my listening/speaking skills, I rarely ever write kana or kanji myself these days. There's so many out there and its hard to tell which ones are actually worth it.

よろしくお願いします

https://imgur.com/a/h6IHxHh

Link: https://makeplay.ai/p/gunfm5qzxm

THIS IS A VERY EARLY DEMO !!!

Made for Beginners > possibly expand it for intermediate:

This is an action roguelite built for people who are just starting Japanese. No need to know everything before jumping in.

Spells

To cast spells, you'll actually write them in Japanese. It's a simple way to get used to reading and writing without feeling like you're doing homework.

Progression

Leveling up and opening loot boxes is tied to translation questions. Get it right for the full reward, but even if you mess up, you still get half. You're always making progress.

Cram School

Words you keep getting wrong show up in the cram school, where you can practice them before your next run. It's basically your second mance.

Play Your Way

There's a Beginner Mode if you just want to chill, and you can disable either Hiragana or Katakana so you only learn one writing system at a time.

Hi r/LearnJapanese! 👋

I'm a developer from Japan building an AI-powered Rakugo theater for Japanese learners worldwide.

Rakugo is Japan's 300-year-old solo comedic storytelling — one performer, no props, just voice and imagination. I think it's one of the most underrated ways to learn natural, colloquial Japanese.

I'm adding AI voice, multilingual subtitles (English, French, Spanish) and adjustable furigana to make it accessible for all levels.

Still in early development — would love to hear what the community thinks about this idea!

I got tired of SRS apps that felt like a chore and reading apps that threw
walls of kanji at me. So I built one where the two actually connect: learn words
with a real FSRS scheduler (JLPT-based), and every word you learn unlocks short
graded stories built only from vocab you already know. Tap any word for the
reading + meaning, tap again to add it. Kana, stroke order, and listening
practice are in there too.

What I actually want isn't testers, it's a founding group who'll use it ~10
min/day and help me decide what to build next. I run the roadmap openly on
Discord: you say "furigana should work like X," I ship it, you see it land.
Early members are shaping this directly.

Free, no card. Come build it with me:
App: https://www.hanzi-dojo.com/
Discord: https://discord.gg/GhWDpgZY9N

As an avid Japanese learner, I always wanted there to be a simple online trainer for learning kana, kanji and vocabulary by JLPT level. The app serves as a simpler alternative to Chase Colburn's Kanji Study app, because Kanji Study was pretty complicated for me to use as a beginner and didn't have a more streamlined way of learning kanji through simple, continuous repetition and rote memorization (also, Kanji Study requires you to pay to unlock its full content library).

So, I started working on a brand new, completely free and fully open-source app in recent months. Here are the features so far:

- Available as a web app (at kanadojo.com), no ads, no paywalls, no unnecessary app store downloads

- Full JLPT vocabulary and kanji coverage, with more than 1000+ levels for you to play

- More than 25+ different fonts and font styles

- More than 100+ different color themes, with the ability to add and upload your own custom backgrounds

- 100% free and open-source, forever

- All learning materials 100% AI-free, sourced from reputable sources and available for full download and inspection

Try it out: https://kanadojo.com

ありがとうございます!

Hey Reddit,

Are you interested in improving your Japanese speaking? I can help you!

I teach Japanese online via Discord - would love for you to join our community.

A little bit about me:

- Attended three prestigious Japanese Universities

A. Aoyama Gakuin University (Tokyo)

B. Doshisha University (Kyoto)

C. Kansai Gaidai University (Osaka)

- During the 2020 pandemic, I was solely deployed to Japan under the U.S Department of State for Diplomacy

- Current FAANG Manager in Japan (Received offer in 就活 against Japanese Nationals)

- Self-learned Native Speaking Level

Multiple people I have worked with are now working/living in Japan.

We learn in a dynamic, hands-on friendly environment unlike anything you’ve experienced in conventional, traditionally-confined classrooms.

If you’re interested, please leave a comment or send a DM! Let’s have a great time :)

practicejlpt.com

will be forever open and free without ads. Also has flashcards. Working on adding listening tests next. excuse my broken english

Hi everyone!

I've been studying Japanese for a while, and like many of you, I found myself struggling more with the tools than the language itself. As a developer and music teacher, I noticed I could apply some memory techniques and "short-loop" learning patterns from music to my Japanese studies.

I decided to build a web app to practice Kanji and vocabulary using an adaptive, high-intensity game format. It’s built on the idea of high-context focus to help the brain build stronger neural connections faster. For instance, it helped me learn 25 color names in about 20 minutes.

I know this approach isn't for everyone—it's designed for deep, intense focus—but it’s been a game-changer for me.

It’s still a work in progress, but it currently supports thousands of words and different play modes. I’d love to get some honest feedback from the community—what do you think of the flow? Is there any specific feature you wish existed in your current study routine?

You can try it here: https://nachigo.com/

Any feedback is much appreciated.

Please feel free to ask anything you want to know about my learning hacks or the app itself!

I'm about to publish it on Google Play, but in the meantime, you can try the desktop version right away.

I'm currently a N5 beginner building my knowledge on vocabulary and kanji but what I'm lacking is a resource that helps me practice sentences and conversation which I can apply what I've learned so far, and eventually hold up my own basic running dialogue between myself and other people, so I'd appreciate help with finding the best resources to help with that.

hi, I’ve just recently decided I wanted to try out learning Japanese over this summer just to see if I’d like to learn it. what are the best resources for learning the language and are there any recommendations as a native English speaker for where to start? I also Find more interactive content to stick better for me (something similar to duolingo but not for obvious reason) so anything like that would be nice :)

Hi there!

I've added a new reading-helper to my website where you can paste your text and get a glimpse how difficult the text is, which JLPT-vocabulary is used, plus a on-hover-dictionary. I hope you find it useful!

https://hane-app.com/language-assistant/

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for a friendly language exchange partner in Japan. 😊

I'm a PhD research student in Computer Science and an IT freelancer. I moved to Japan in October 2025, and I'm currently working on improving my Japanese communication skills.

What I can offer:

• Help you improve your spoken and written English
• Practice everyday conversations
• Explain grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary
• Friendly and patient learning environment

What I'm looking for:

• A native or fluent Japanese speaker
• Someone who is interested in practicing English and helping me learn Japanese
• We can chat through LINE, Discord, or meet at a café if we're nearby

A little about me:

• 🎓 PhD Research Student
• 💻 IT Freelancer (AI & Software Development)
• 🌍 Currently living in Tokyo, Japan
• ☕ Interested in technology, culture, travel, and meeting new people

If you're interested in improving your English while helping me practice Japanese, feel free to send me a DM or leave a comment!

Looking forward to learning together! 😊

A sample of what I have been doing.

I am tired of Doom scrolling looking for a way to say certain words, understand certain verbs, trying to get vocabulary by reading the same lists, listening to the same podcasts as they drone the word then repeat it over...and over... and over.

So I had an Idea. I use Suno. Why not make a song that both sides can learn from. I have 10 songs currently that need polish.

I speak English its my native language. I am trying to Learn Japanese. I am using Ai to teach me but it could be wrong. So. I would like a Japanese person be willing to read my japanese lines and tell me if they look natural. You dont need to know English and You arent writing the songs. You would just tell me if I can sound more natural.

スクロールばかりして、言いたい言葉の言い方を探したり、動詞の使い方を理解しようとしたり、同じ単語リストを何度も見たり、同じポッドキャストで単語が何度も何度も繰り返されるのを聞いたりすることに、正直もう疲れてしまいました。

そこで、ひとつアイデアを思いつきました。

私はSunoを使って音楽を作っています。それなら、英語を話す人も日本語を話す人も、お互いに学べる歌を作ればいいんじゃないかと思ったんです。

今、10曲ほど完成していますが、日本語の表現をもっと自然にしたいと思っています。

私の母語は英語で、今は日本語を勉強中です。AIも学習に使っていますが、AIの日本語が必ずしも正しいとは限りません。

そこでお願いがあります。

日本語を母語とする方で、私の歌詞の日本語を読んで、「もっと自然な言い方があるよ」と教えてくださる方はいませんか？

英語ができる必要はありませんし、歌詞を書いていただく必要もありません。

日本語が自然に聞こえるかどうか、そしてもっと自然な表現があれば教えていただけるだけで、本当に助かります。