Who Is KanjiN For?

KanjiN is a kanji app in which every Writing and Reading Drill answer is handwritten. Its levels are Japanese school grades 1 to 6, Kanken levels 10 to 5 and JLPT levels N5 to N3. Those two facts decide most of who it is for. Rather than describe an imaginary average user, here are the groups the app fits, what it does for each, and, just as honestly, who should look elsewhere.

Elementary School Children

The app’s levels follow the Japanese school curriculum, grade by grade, so a child can practice exactly the kanji of their own year. The Writing Drill shows a reading and asks for the kanji; the Reading Drill shows a kanji and asks for the reading, written in hiragana. Both are answered with a finger on the screen, and the app checks the answer straight away. At home, that immediate check is the thing a notebook cannot give.

A few details matter for this age. There are no ads. Purchases and some settings sit behind a short grown-ups check. And after each finished drill, the child taps today’s date on a calendar to place a stamp. It is a small reward, and I think small is the right size.

Parents Helping with Homework

Parents are often the ones who decide whether an app earns its place on the family iPhone. The part of KanjiN I would point a parent to is My Data. You can make a folder, type in questions (an example sentence, the answer kanji and its reading) and mix that folder into any drill. A list of this week’s school kanji becomes drill material in a few minutes, and the app shows an estimated school grade for each kanji you add. Folders can be synced with iCloud.

The free part is also generous enough to try the app properly before paying: Today’s Drill, the Skill Check and Today’s Challenge are free every day. Opening every drill is a single one-time purchase, not a subscription.

Kanken Candidates at Levels 10 to 5

The Kanken levels 10 to 5 correspond to the six years of elementary school, and KanjiN offers them as their own category. For a child or adult preparing for one of these levels, the app is a way to practice the writing and reading of that level’s kanji by hand every day.

It is not a mock exam. It does not reproduce the Kanken question format, so for the format itself the official materials from the testing foundation are the right tool. I think the two work well together: the workbook for the format, the app for daily handwriting.

Learners of Japanese up to JLPT N3

For learners outside Japan, the JLPT category covers N5, N4 and N3. The Reading Drill is especially useful here. Answering a kanji’s reading by writing it in hiragana forces you to recall the reading, not just recognize it among four options. The Stroke Order Drill and the Radical Sort and Radical Builder puzzles help with what I think is the other difficulty for adult learners: kanji look like a jumble of lines until you start to see their parts.

The app’s interface is translated into many languages, including English and Simplified and Traditional Chinese, so you do not need to read Japanese menus to use it.

Adults Who Read More Than They Write

I suspect many adults, native speakers included, can read far more kanji than they can write, because phones and keyboards do the writing for us. If you would like some of that back, the Skill Check is a quick and honest start: ten writing and reading questions, and an estimated level as a school grade. The result can be humbling, which is part of its value. From there, a few minutes of the Writing Drill a day at that grade is a modest, steady way to rebuild.

Who It Is Not For

It is worth being plain about this.

• Kanken level 4 and above, and JLPT N2 and N1 are not covered. If those are your goals, you need other materials.
• If you want exam-format practice, KanjiN is not a mock test.
• If you prefer to learn kanji through vocabulary lists and flashcards, a vocabulary-first app may suit you better.
• If you want your brushwork or balance corrected, a teacher does that far better than any recognizer.

One practical point for everyone: handwriting recognition uses a Japanese model that the app downloads before the first drill, so the first start needs an internet connection.

Finding Your Starting Point

Whichever group you are in, the first step is the same: take the Skill Check and write ten answers by hand. Getting Started with KanjiN walks through a first session, and KanjiN vs Other Ways to Practice Kanji compares the app with drill books, Kanken workbooks and other apps. More about the app is on the KanjiN page.