Now on iOS & Android · 100% free to start · Free kana practice on Google Play
New · v2.4 Hiragana & katakana practice for beginners

Practice hiragana & katakana
with daily quizzes.

Kana Challenge is a free kana learning app for Japanese beginners on Android, iOS, and the web. Practice hiragana and katakana with daily quizzes, kana flashcards, native audio, and a structured 30-day learning path.

Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store Try in Browser See how it works →
Free to start · Daily kana practice
12 interface languages
100% free core · no signup
Kana Challenge dashboard with daily progress and streaks
す
Day 3 · Lesson
5 new characters
Streak
14 days · 🔥
Speaking
90% match
Built for serious learners
Daily quizzes · Free to use
92 kana characters
250+ daily-use words
12 interface languages
0$ · forever free
Why kana first

Build direct kana recognition.
Practice the characters you will see in Japanese.

Romaji can help at first, but hiragana and katakana are used throughout written Japanese. Kana Challenge puts character recognition at the center of practice.

Every romaji word you read is a detour through the Latin alphabet your brain has to unlearn later. Kana Challenge starts you reading kana on Day 1, so you build direct character-to-sound recognition from the very first lesson.

You’ll learn to see す and instantly recognize it. Not “let me check.”

Romaji crutch
Real Japanese
sushi
すしsushi
kuruma
くるまcar
koohii
コーヒーcoffee
arigatou
ありがとうthanks
tomodachi
ともだちfriend
92
Kana characters
250+
Daily-use words
30
Structured days
12
Interface languages
How it works

Three pillars,
working together.

Kana Challenge combines reading, listening, and speaking practice in one 30-day program. Kana Challenge does all three for free in a structured 30-day program designed for absolute beginners.

1READING · 読

Build faster recognition through daily quizzes.

Five new characters per day, drilled until you pass a 50-correct-answer threshold. No more guessing, no chart-checking, no romaji translation in your head.

  • All 46 hiragana + 46 katakana, plus voiced sounds & combinations
  • Spaced quizzes that adapt to which characters you actually struggle with
  • Speed drill mode for the final week to lock in instant recognition
読
Quiz screen with multiple-choice answers
2LISTENING · 聞

Hear Japanese clearly from day one.

Two native voices, recorded fresh, paired with every character and word. Daily native audio gives you repeated exposure to the sounds you will encounter in Japanese.

  • Native male and female audio
  • 80% native speed playback for listening skills development
  • Audio-first quiz variant: hear the kana, pick the character
聞
30-day lesson schedule
3SPEAKING · 話

Speak Japanese aloud and get feedback.

Kana Challenge's speaking practice is a shadowing exercise that scores your spoken pronunciation against native audio in percentage terms as you speak each word into your phone. You produce spoken Japanese from day one.

  • Real-time pronunciation accuracy scoring (% match to native)
  • Per-syllable breakdown showing which sound was off
  • Automatic shadowing prompts woven into every lesson
話
Speaking practice screen with pronunciation accuracy
The three scripts

Japanese has three.
You'll learn two.

Kana Challenge covers the two phonetic scripts every beginner walks through first. Kanji comes later, once your reading foundation is solid.

Included
Script 0146 chars

Hiragana

ひらがな · hiragana

Soft, curved strokes. Used for native Japanese words, grammar particles, and verb endings. The first script every Japanese child learns.

Included
Script 0246 chars

Katakana

カタカナ · katakana

Sharp, angular strokes. Same sounds, different shapes. Used for foreign loanwords ( = coffee), emphasis, and brand names.

Later
Script 032,000+

Kanji

漢字 · kanji

Thousands of logographic characters, each carrying meaning. Not phonetic. Comes after kana mastery. Not in this app.

Locked until kana mastery
Interactive preview

The 92 characters
you'll practice repeatedly.

Hover any character to see it lift. By Day 14, you will have practiced all of them repeatedly. By Day 30, you will have practiced both scripts.

92 base characters · plus voiced sounds & combinations

The 30-day program

One month.
One structured path.

Five new characters per day. Pass a 50-correct quiz to advance. Reviews on Days 7, 14, 21, 30. The structure is what makes it work: no aimless scrolling, no choosing what to study.

Week 01 Days 1-7

Hiragana foundations

Vowels (a, i, u, e, o), then K, S, T, N, H columns. Five new per day. Week review on Day 7.

Week 02 Days 8-14

Hiragana complete

M, Y, R, W columns. Voiced sounds (が・ざ・だ・ば) and P-sounds. Combinations. Full review.

Week 03 Days 15-21

Katakana begins

Same sound system, brand new shapes. Vowels through H column in katakana. Review on Day 21.

Week 04 Days 22-30

Mastery & speed

Remaining katakana, voiced sounds, combinations. Speed drills, speaking practice. Final review.

After 30 days

What you'll actually have.

Six specific things you can verify on Day 30 and keep using forever.

Reliable recognition of hiragana

All 46 base characters plus combinations. Instant recognition, no romaji lookup.

Reliable recognition of katakana

Same sounds, different shapes. Read コーヒー and ビール without stopping.

250+ daily-use Japanese words

Vocabulary woven into every lesson, words you'll encounter in real Japanese.

Repeated exposure to native Japanese audio

Daily native audio gives you repeated exposure to Japanese sounds.

Speaking practice with feedback

Speak aloud, review the pronunciation feedback, and adjust your practice.

Continue with Japanese reading

Continue with vocabulary, grammar, kanji, and broader Japanese study using the foundation you built here.

Build speaking fluency next

Practice speaking with native audio, recording, and pronunciation feedback across JLPT N5-N1 with FluencyTool.

Pricing

Free where it matters.

Every lesson, every quiz, every audio file is free. Forever. A small one-time purchase removes the bottom banner. That's it.

Free
$0forever

The full program

A structured way to practice kana every day.

  • All 30 lessons + reviews
  • Hiragana & katakana mastery
  • 250+ daily-use vocabulary
  • Native dual-voice audio
  • Speaking practice with scoring
  • Reference charts (offline)
  • 12 interface languages
  • Streak tracking + daily reminders
Download free
Optional
Ad-free
One-timeprice varies by region

Optional one-time ad removal

A one-time in-app purchase removes the bottom banner. Price is set by your app store and region. Same lessons, same content.

  • Everything in Free
  • No banner ads
  • Full offline access (lessons + charts)
  • Tiny support gesture for the dev
Get on Google Play Get on the App Store
Reviews

What learners say about kana practice.

Feedback from Google Play reviewers highlights memorization, daily practice, and responsive support.

★★★★★
“It's a great application for learning and memorizing Kana (Hiragana and Katakana) characters.” Agneta also praised the daily timed challenges and quick response to feedback.
AgnetaGoogle Play reviewer
★★★★★
Brittany noted that ads interrupted quizzes and affected her score, while describing the app as great overall.
BrittanyGoogle Play reviewer
★★★★★
Howard reported quiz randomness and repeated characters. After contacting the developer, he said an update resolved most of the issues and praised the team's responsiveness.
HowardGoogle Play reviewer
Practice & check progress

Free Kana Quiz Practice

Try a free kana quiz with hiragana and katakana recognition practice. Short, repeatable rounds help beginners identify characters without checking a chart or translating through romaji.

Hiragana quiz, katakana quiz, and Japanese kana quiz practice

Use Kana Challenge for a hiragana and katakana quiz, review kana flashcards, and revisit characters as you learn. The app combines character recognition with listening and speaking practice.

Want to check what you know? Take the app’s assessment to test your hiragana and katakana recognition and see how you’re progressing. Results reflect your performance in the app’s assessment; they are not a guarantee of overall Japanese proficiency.

Kana flashcards: Practice hiragana flashcards and katakana flashcards as part of character review, then reinforce recognition with quizzes.

Try the free kana quiz Get the kana app
FAQ

Common questions.

Everything you might be wondering before Day 1.

Yes. All 30 lessons, the full quiz engine, speaking practice, and reference charts are free. No paywall, no trial. There's an optional one-time purchase (price varies by region) to remove ads, but the entire program is fully usable without it.
Recognize hiragana and katakana, practice 250+ daily-use words, get repeated exposure to native audio, and practice basic spoken Japanese with pronunciation feedback. You won't be conversationally fluent, but you'll have the foundation every subsequent stage of Japanese is built on.
None whatsoever. Day 1 starts with the five Japanese vowel sounds (a, i, u, e, o) and their hiragana characters. The app builds from there, one column at a time. Absolute beginners are exactly who this is for.
Each lesson takes 15–45 minutes depending on the number of characters and how quickly you reach the 50-correct threshold to pass. Review days (7, 14, 21, 30) are typically longer. Speaking practice adds optional time on top.
Real Japanese books, signs, menus, websites, and anime subtitles contain virtually no romaji. Learners who lean on it develop a translation habit that stalls progress for months. Kana Challenge is designed to eliminate romaji dependency from Day 1, so you build direct character-to-sound recognition.
Yes! You can try the full 30-day program directly in your browser at my-senpai.com/app/kanachallenge/. It's fully functional and synced if you choose to sign in later.
Yes. Kana Challenge is available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. It launched more recently than the Android version, so it has fewer reviews so far, but it runs the same 30-day program: hiragana, katakana, 250+ words, native audio, and speaking practice.
Yes. Kana Challenge includes free hiragana and katakana quizzes for Japanese beginners. You can practice kana recognition, review characters, and use the browser version or mobile app.
Yes. The app includes an assessment mode to check your hiragana and katakana recognition. Use your results as a snapshot of your current practice progress, not as a measure of overall Japanese proficiency.
Yes. Kana Challenge includes flashcard-style hiragana and katakana review alongside its quizzes, listening practice, and structured learning path.
Day one

Day one is today
or it isn't.

Start a free hiragana and katakana quiz, review kana flashcards, and build recognition with Kana Challenge on Android, iOS, or in your browser.

Download on Google Play Download on the App Store Try in Browser
iOS & Android · Free to use · Optional ad-removal

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