Learn hiragana and katakana in 30 days. Start with a 60-second kana quiz.
Kana Challenge is a free kana practice app that teaches hiragana and katakana in a 30-day course. It has a kana quiz, animated stroke order with graded tracing, a timed writing game and speaking practice, for complete beginners.
No account needed. Try the full course in your browser. The quiz on the right is the reading version of the app’s Tower of Terror.
Hiragana and katakana stroke order: watch it, then trace it for a grade.
Every hiragana and katakana character is animated in the correct stroke order, with the start of each stroke numbered. Pick a character, watch it, then switch to Trace and get graded.
Watch
- Watch: animated stroke order for every kana, with Replay, Step and Slow.
- TraceBeta: follow a faint guide with a red start dot. Each stroke is graded the moment you lift your finger. Try it on the left.
- WriteBeta: draw from memory. The app marks each stroke and tells look-alikes like シ and ツ apart.
Want every row as a video? See hiragana stroke order, row by row, or the stroke order video playlist on YouTube.
The Trace grader on this page is a demo of the app’s stroke checker and runs in your browser. Write mode, where you draw from memory, is in the app. Stroke data: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Tower of Terror: write the kana before the timer runs out.Beta
A timed writing game with a Hiragana tower and a Katakana tower. It unlocks once you have tried Day 1.
When you miss, the app replays the correct stroke order before the next question. The game at the top of this page is the reading version. In the app, the same stroke checker as Write mode grades what you draw.
Kana speaking practice: say it out loud and see your score.
Reading is half of kana. Speaking practice has you say each word and tells you how close you were.
Kana Challenge vs. a printed hiragana and katakana chart.
A chart shows you the characters. Practice is what makes you remember them. Here is what each one covers.
| What you get | Printed kana chart | Kana Challenge |
|---|---|---|
| All 46 hiragana and 46 katakana | Yes | Yes, plus voiced sounds and combinations |
| Native audio for each character | No | Yes, male and female voices |
| Animated stroke order | No, a static diagram at best | Yes, with Replay, Step and Slow |
| Checks your handwriting | No | Yes, stroke by stroke in Trace and Write (beta) |
| Kana quiz and timed game | No | Yes, a 50-correct quiz per lesson and the Tower of Terror (beta) |
| Scores your pronunciation | No | Yes, percent match to a native speaker |
| A plan for what to study each day | No | Yes, 30 days, five new characters a day |
Need a reference chart too? Open the hiragana and katakana charts.
Watch the 30-day kana program in 59 seconds.
More kana videos on the MySenpai YouTube channel.
The 30-day hiragana and katakana plan.
Five new characters a day. You pass a 50-correct quiz to move on. Days 7, 14, 21 and 30 are reviews. Nothing to plan.
- Days 1 to 7
Hiragana foundations
The five vowels, then the K, S, T, N and H columns. Week review on day 7.
あいうえお - Days 8 to 14
Hiragana complete
M, Y, R and W columns, voiced sounds, P sounds and combinations. Full review.
まやらわが - Days 15 to 21
Katakana begins
The same sounds in new shapes, vowels through the H column. Review on day 21.
アイウエオ - Days 22 to 30
Mastery and speed
Remaining katakana, voiced sounds and combinations. Speed drills, speaking, final review.
ヤラワガザ
What one day looks like
- Meet 5 new kanaWatch the strokes, hear a native voice.
- Take the quizAnswer 50 correctly to finish the lesson.
- Say the wordsSpeak each word and get a pronunciation score.
- Keep the streakYour streak and reminders bring you back tomorrow.
Inside the Kana Challenge app.
Real screens from Kana Challenge. The Tower of Terror and Speaking have their own sections above and below.
Your day, always one tap away.
The home screen shows today's lesson, your streak and what is next in the 30-day plan.
- 5 new characters per day
- Reviews on days 7, 14, 21 and 30
- Streak tracking and daily reminders
Quizzes that find your weak spots.
Each lesson ends when you reach 50 correct answers. Characters you miss come back more often.
- Audio-first variant: hear the kana, pick the character
- Speed drills in the final week
- Native male and female voices
Trace it, then write it from memory.Beta
Open any character on the charts and choose Watch, Trace or Write.
- Each stroke is checked when you lift your finger
- Backwards, too short or off the line? It tells you
- A score and a Great, Good or Try again verdict
Know some kana already? Skip ahead.
Take a 50-correct quiz to test into a later day. No ad plays before the test.
- Start at the first character you cannot read
- All earlier days count as done
After 30 days, you can:
Read all hiragana
46 base characters plus combinations, by sight, and write them in the right stroke order.
Read all katakana
Read コーヒー and ビール without stopping.
Know 130+ words
Everyday vocabulary woven into every lesson.
Hear the sounds
Thirty days of native audio trains your ear.
Speak with feedback
Say words aloud and see how close you are.
Start the next step
Day 31: start kanji, Anki and immersion. See the roadmap after kana or the official JLPT level summary.
Free to learn. Pay once to remove ads.
The whole course is free online with ads.
Free
- All 30 lessons and reviews
- Hiragana and katakana practice
- Native audio and speaking scores
- Charts and 12 languages
Ad-free
- Everything in Free
- No ads
- Full offline access to lessons and charts
Keep learning after kana.
Guides and tools from My Senpai that go with Kana Challenge.
- Why learn hiragana and katakana firstThe case for starting with kana, and how long it takes.
- Hiragana stroke order, row by rowEvery row drawn stroke by stroke, with videos.
- Hiragana vs. katakana: when to use whichWhy Japanese has two phonetic scripts and where each appears.
- Hiragana and katakana chartsA reference chart for checking any character.
- After hiragana and katakana: your learning roadmapWhat to study once you can read kana.
- Japanese Learner’s MapAn interactive roadmap from kana to fluency.
- 10 questions every Japanese beginner asksShort answers to the usual first-month questions.
- Best Japanese reading apps for beginnersA 2026 comparison of apps for learning to read.
- Kana Quiz GameA free browser game for fast kana recognition.
- JLPT crossword puzzlesType romaji and the grid fills in hiragana. A natural next step.
- YoMoo!Read real Japanese articles graded by JLPT level once you can read kana.
- Fluency ToolShadowing practice with native audio and your own voice recording.
Sources: kana counts and scripts follow the Wikipedia entries for hiragana and katakana. Stroke order data is from KanjiVG. Test levels are described by the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test.
Kana Challenge questions, answered.
What is Kana Challenge?
Kana Challenge is a free kana practice app that teaches hiragana and katakana in a 30-day course. It includes a kana quiz, animated stroke order, tracing and writing checks, a timed writing game called the Tower of Terror, and speaking practice with a pronunciation score.
Is Kana Challenge free?
Yes. Kana Challenge is free to use online with ads, including all 30 lessons, quizzes, speaking practice and charts. A one-time ad-free purchase removes ads and adds full offline access to lessons and charts.
How long does it take to learn hiragana and katakana with Kana Challenge?
Kana Challenge is built as a 30-day plan: five new characters a day, a 50-correct quiz to finish each lesson, and reviews on days 7, 14, 21 and 30. It covers all 46 hiragana and 46 katakana plus voiced sounds and combinations. How well they stick depends on how often you practice.
Do I need to know any Japanese first?
No. Kana Challenge starts from zero: day one introduces the five vowels, and no account is needed to begin.
Should I learn hiragana or katakana first?
Learn hiragana first. It is used for native Japanese words and grammar, and Kana Challenge teaches it in weeks one and two before katakana begins in week three. For the differences between the two, read hiragana vs. katakana: when to use which.
Is there a kana quiz or kana test?
Yes. Every Kana Challenge lesson ends with a quiz that needs 50 correct answers, and you can test into a later day with the same 50-correct quiz if you already know some kana. The quiz at the top of this page is a short reading version of the app’s Tower of Terror.
Can I learn to write hiragana and katakana, not just read them?
Yes. In the Kana Charts you can watch the animated stroke order of any character, trace it, then write it from memory. The app checks every stroke, and the Tower of Terror turns writing into a timed game. See hiragana stroke order, row by row for every row animated.
How does stroke order checking work?
In Trace mode, Kana Challenge checks each stroke the moment you lift your finger and tells you if it is backwards, too short or off the line. After three misses on one stroke it shows the correct stroke. In Write mode you draw the whole character from memory and each stroke is marked right, wrong order or wrong.
What is the Tower of Terror?
The Tower of Terror is a timed writing game inside Kana Challenge with a Hiragana tower and a Katakana tower, 40 levels each. Every level asks 20 questions, gives you 3 lives and awards 1 to 3 stars.
Does Kana Challenge help with pronunciation?
Yes. Speaking practice plays a native voice, records you saying the word and shows a percent match to native pronunciation, with a per-syllable breakdown of which sound was off. Shadowing prompts are included in every lesson.
Is Kana Challenge on iPhone and Android?
Yes. Kana Challenge is available for Android on Google Play and iPhone on the App Store, and the free course also runs in your browser.
Does Kana Challenge teach kanji?
No. Kana Challenge teaches hiragana and katakana only. When you finish, the roadmap for what to learn after kana covers kanji and the next steps.
Kana Challenge in other languages: Français · Deutsch · Español · Português (Brasil) · Українська · 한국어 · 简体中文