Recommend Learning Method

Typical practice set

Use the Practice Set to learn around five kana at a time. Double click a kana in the browser, press Command+K or click the Stamp Button to toggle whether the selected kana is practiced. Practiced kana are denoted by a red ink stamp in one of three selectable styles. Stamping kana is surprisingly satisfying thanks to that classic ink stamp sound effect, but don't get carried away!

Once you have selected the ones you want to practice, just navigate to the Practice Set in the list of kana sets. We recommend you work down the list of kana sets in the order they are presented. Spend some time reviewing each character. Look at the stroke animations and try writing the characters out on some paper. You can download and print writing practice sheets from the iKana website. Listen to and repeat the kana sounds if possible.

Tip: Writing out the example words is a good exercise. iKana picks different example words each time you start it so don't be surprised if they change between practice sessions.

When you're ready to test what you have learnt, click the Test Me on These button and see how well you do. You can fine tune the amount of time you get to answer each question. Try starting out at around 10 seconds and then work up or down depending on how hard you find it. Any kana you can't identify correctly get added to the special Wrong Answer Set for further review.

Instead of removing kana you've learnt from the Practice Set, keep adding more. This way you will keep being retested and reminded of kana you've studied previously. But when you are completely happy with a certain kana it's then fine to remove it from the practice set.

Remember the key to learning kana is to keep practicing regularly.

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