Kana Challenge: Learn Hiragana

Read hiragana and katakana in 30 days. Timed quizzes, full reference charts with native audio, and speaking practice that checks your pronunciation. No account needed.

Kana Challenge teaches you to read hiragana and katakana, the two phonetic alphabets you need before anything else in Japanese. It is built around a 30-day plan, so you always know what to study next instead of staring at a wall of 200 characters.

How it works You move through 30 short lessons. Each one introduces a small set of characters, then drills them with a timed quiz. Get answers right and the quiz speeds up and levels up; miss too many and you run out of lives and try again. The next day opens once you finish the current one and a new calendar day starts, which keeps the pace to something you can actually hold.

What you get

• A structured 30-day hiragana and katakana course, from the first row to full words.
• Timed recognition quizzes with four choices, single sounds or vocabulary, that get faster as you improve.
• A 90-second speed round for when you just want to see how many you can clear.
• Free practice where you pick the script, the rows, and the starting speed.
• Speaking practice that listens to you say a word and checks your pronunciation.
• Full hiragana and katakana reference charts with audio for every character.
• Recorded audio so you hear each sound, not a synthesized guess.
• Streak tracking and optional daily reminders to keep the habit going.
• Progress stats for your average score, study time, and whether you are on track, ahead, or behind.

No account, no clutter Your progress is stored on your device. There is no sign-up, no login, and no social feed. Open the app, do a lesson, close it.