Are you trying to learn the Japanese language and looking for an app to help you learn the Katakana writing system? Then the Katakana Memory Hint from The Japan Foundation is the perfect app for you. In this blog post, I will take a comprehensive look at the Katakana Memory Hint app, its features, its advantages, its disadvantages, and also discuss who should use this app.
Overview of Katakana Memory Hint
Katakana Memory Hint is an app developed by The Japan Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting cultural exchange between Japan and other countries. The app is designed to help users learn the Katakana writing system, which is one of the writing systems used in the Japanese language. The app was developed as part of The Japan Foundation’s effort to promote the learning of the Japanese language.
The app is available for free on iOS, Android and Amazon devices and can be easily downloaded from the app store. It has a very user-friendly interface and provides users with a comprehensive set of tools to help them learn the Katakana writing system. The app also has a variety of features, such as quizzes and audio recordings to help users learn the characters.
Advantages of the Katakana Memory Hint
The Katakana Memory Hint app has the following advantages that make it an ideal choice for learning the Katakana writing system.
- Completely free
- Visual cues to help users remember the Katakana characters
- Interactive quizzes
- Audio pronunciations of the Katakana characters
Completely free
The first advantage is that the app is free to download and use, which makes it accessible to everyone.
Visual cues to help users remember the Katakana characters
Second, this app allows you to learn by associating illustrations with letters. For example, the following app icon associates the Katakana character “ム” (read as “mu”) with “moo,” the sound of a cow.
![Katakana Memory Hint [English]](https://is5-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple113/v4/08/3a/42/083a4281-1eba-375c-1455-fa26cd94a934/AppIcon-1-0-1x_U007emarketing-0-85-220-6.png/512x512bb.jpg)
In this way, it becomes easier to remember Katakana forms.
If you want to print and make your own flashcards like the ones in this app, you can download the PDF from the following link.
Interactive quizzes
The third advantage is the interactive quiz. There are four types of quizzes as follows.
Read the Katakana
In this quiz, you are asked to choose how to read katakana from three options.
Choose the Katakana
In this quiz, you look at the Romaji and choose the correct katakana from three options.
Listen & Choose
In this quiz, you are asked to listen to the audio and choose the correct katakana from three options.
Similar Katakana
In this quiz, you look at the Romaji and choose the correct one from two or three similar Katakana
This variety of quizzes allows you to learn without getting bored.
Audio pronunciations of the Katakana characters
Finally, the app also includes audio recordings of the characters, which can be very helpful for those who are learning the language. The audio recordings are of high quality and can be used to help users become more familiar with the pronunciation of the characters.
Disadvantages of the Katakana Memory Hint
The Katakana Memory Hint app has the following drawbacks as well.
You cannot practice writing Katakana
First, this app specializes in practicing reading and choosing Katakana. In this day and age, there are few occasions to write katakana by hand, so the idea is to develop the ability to read and select Katakana. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the number of writing scenes has been reduced to zero. If you want to practice writing with an application, you can do so with the Irodori Practice App. Read about the Irodori Practice app here.
You cannot learn Hiragana
Then, as the name suggests, this app is for learning katakana. So if you want to learn hiragana, you need to prepare another app. But don’t worry. Hiragana version of this app is also available from the Japan Foundation. For more information, please read the following post.
Who should use Katakana Memory Hint?
The Katakana Memory Hint app is a great choice for anyone who is trying to learn the Japanese language. This app is especially suitable for people who:
- Want to learn katakana for free
- Have difficulty learning katakana in the traditional way
- Want to learn to read katakana
Conclusion
The Katakana Memory Hint app from The Japan Foundation is a great choice for anyone who is trying to learn the Japanese language. The app is free to download and use, has a very user-friendly interface, and provides users with a variety of features to help them learn the characters. The Katakana Memory Hint app allows you to learn by associating illustrations with letters. The app also has audio recordings of the characters, which can be very helpful for those who are learning the language.
Other recommended apps are summarized in the following post.