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Before the kanji
After hiragana. Every word is in kana, with spaces between words.
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How it works
From your first letter to your first real story
Yomu teaches you to read Japanese five characters at a time. You hear everything, you learn how each shape is built instead of trying to picture it, and you trace it by hand. Then you read short stories made only from what you’ve learned.
Everything below is real and works. Press play, trace a character, tap a word.
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The path
Four lesson sets, in the order Japanese children learn them. Each group of five unlocks when you’ve mastered the one before, and every group opens a new set of stories.
Set 1
Hiragana
105 characters
21 groups
30 stories
- あ い う え お a row
- か き く け こ ka row
- さ し す せ そ sa row
- and 18 more groups
Set 2
Katakana
118 characters
24 groups
- ア イ ウ エ オ a row
- カ キ ク ケ コ ka row
- サ シ ス セ ソ sa row
- and 21 more groups
Set 3
Kanji: Grade 1
80 characters
16 groups
2 stories
- 日 月 火 水 木 days of the week 1
- 金 土 年 円 休 days, years & money
- 入 出 口 男 女 signs: in & out
- and 13 more groups
Set 4
Kanji: Grade 2
50 characters
10 groups
8 stories
- 亻 彳 刂 氵 攵 parts: sides
- 宀 艹 广 辶 門 parts: roofs & wraps
- 何 時 分 半 間 what time is it?
- and 7 more groups
The kanji follow the Japanese school grades, starting with the ones you actually see around you: days of the week, prices, entrance and exit, toilets, clock times and station exits. From Grade 2, each kanji is taught as a combination of parts you already know, with everyday words to go with it.
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Try a lesson
This is the real lesson screen. Press the speaker to hear the sound three times, slow, faster, then at full speed. Watch the strokes, or switch to Trace it and draw it with your finger or mouse.
How it’s built
Say it
Don’t mix it up
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Picture hint
After each group come quizzes by sound and by sight, a sorting game that groups characters by sound pattern, a sound chart, a drill for lookalikes like あ and お, and printable writing sheets.
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Stories that grow with you
There are 40 stories so far. Each one only uses characters you’ve learned, and kanji change as you learn them. Here’s the same story, “Mountain and River”, at three points in the course. Tap any word to hear it and see what it means.
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Learning them
Kanji you know appear as kanji. The ones you’re learning have their reading printed above.
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Mastered
Every kanji is yours, so the story reads like real Japanese.
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Tap a word in any version above.
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How it sticks
Reviews come back just before you’d forget. Each right answer pushes the next one further away, and a wrong one brings it back sooner. There’s no cramming. A few minutes a day is enough.
- LearnHear it, read how it’s built, trace it
- 4 hoursFirst review
- 8 hoursRight again, so it’s mastered and the next group unlocks, with its stories
- 1 day
- 3 days
- 1 week
- 2 weeks
- 1 month
- 4 monthsLong-term memory
Once a group is mastered it stays unlocked. If you forget a character later, it simply comes back in your reviews.
Start with the first five
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