Top 3 Japanese Flash Card Game Learning Applications in 2018

There are many applications out there to learn Japanese – this guide is a list of the top / best Japanese Flashcard Apps that our students use.

    1. Memrise – FREE


      Memrise is a very beautiful flashcard application that has a user-friendly interface and some seriously great technology on its backend.  There are premium features of the application that are not available to all users. However, the basic functionality and the science-backed learning assets are available to all users. Memrise utilizes a learning concept called spaced repetition – which is the SR in SRS (Spaced Repetition System). It tracks how long you have studied something and how often you have given correct and incorrect answers. It then quizzes you at the moment where researchers have determined is the most optimal for you to retain the information.
      Memrise courses are created by members of the memrise community. There are some very fun and interesting community features such as a global leaderboard which ranks you against other users based on points.  Memrise also conducts paid contests where the heaviest users of the app (users with the most points) get rewarded with money.

      The only real downside to the app is that there are so many courses to choose from. Some of the less used courses also do not contain a lot of information.  There are also issues unique to Japanese such as on-yomi or kun-yomi readings not appearing simultaneously.  However, these problems are miniscule and we highly recommend memrise as a great free tool.  Check out the official Japanese 1 Learning course for beginners here. You can download memrise for iOS – iTunes —– Google Play – You can also use the desktop version which syncs with the mobile version.
    2. MindSnacks – Limited Free Version – Unlimited Paid Version

      If you like games, MindSnacks is also a very fun way to challenge yourself. This app drills you on basic Japanese kanji, hiragana and Katakana.  MindSnacks comes with 8 game modes that combines hand-eye coordination, speed drills, arrangement as well as listening comprehension. It is also a fun way to learn Japanese kanji. MindSnacks Japanese is best for beginner learners as the material covered only extends itself to upper beginner topics.  It is also a good way to refresh yourself if you have learned Japanese previously but haven’t touched the language recently. You can download the Mindsnacks on iTunes or Google Play.

       

    3. Kanji no Owari –

      No longer on Google Play, web link below


      Currently, Kanji no Owari is no longer available on the Google Play Store, but the APK can still be downloaded online (Website). Kanji no Owari is an ambitious project that combines Japanese learning with an RPG.  In the game, In order to attack enemies, you need to successfully complete kanji challenges.  There is also a hiragana and katakana challenge mode.  Each level ends with a boss that you must defeat in order to defeat the level.
      For Kanji memorization, there are many studies linking the need for survival and practical information to which characters people can most easily remember.  In the context of a Japanese learning RPG – there is a tie to both. This game is very fun and will help you to memorize kanji meanings. However, it expects you to study the kanji before you start playing because it is very unforgiving. Especially so if you make a mistake.  Nevertheless, we’d still highly recommend this just because of how fun it is!  You can download the free version or the paid version on the Google Play Store. Unfortunately, there is currently no iTunes version available.

 


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