Dr. Moku's Hiragana Mnemonics App Reviews

Hiragana was overwhelming to me as I first started to learn it. I had no idea how Id keep the characters straight in a way that didnt involve boring, repetitive drills. Then came this app! Im amazed at how much Ive learned in so little time. I can recognize characters after only a few short hours with these fun pictures. I must be a visual learner, because every time I read or spell hiragana, I picture the Joker, a narwhal, a magician, and so on (youll see when you download the app! Its hilarious). This app uses humor, mnemonics, and visual teaching to perfect effect. HIGHLY recommend, 5/5 stars.

It was really helpful! Now I can read words in Hiragana! Its enjoyable too! The only problem is that it gets you in a habit of pronouncing the characters wrong. Other that that the app is FABULOUS! 4/2 stars.

I learnt 46 of them in under a week using this app. Just go through them 3-5 at a time and practice drawing them and associating them with the absurd images and descriptions and you will get them down super fast. I only did the quiz once. If only they had a kanji app!

I have spent HOURS listening to podcasts, watching youtube videos, and playing terrible learning apps, and i could only remember the first five Hiragana characters. I can confidently say that within 30-45 minutes of studying with this app i have learned all of the Hiragana characters. This app uses weird pictures and sometimes has nothing to do with the character, but it stays in your brain so well. It has been about 3 days since i bought the app and i still remember all of what i learned. I would recommend this app to anyone that is aspiring to learn Japanese and i would also encourage you to buy the Katakana version as well. It is beyond worth it. Thank you so much Dr. Moku!!

You will learn hiragana characters fast, but it only really gives you the basic. To spend money on the app I would have like to gotten more out of it. With that being said this app is a huge kick start into learning Japanese just dont think its a one stop shop.

Let me first start off by saying that this app is really effective, in terms of learning the standard hiragana. I love it, however, there one HUGE flaw For $5, I expect an app that is complete in hiragana... but it isnt. On top of the normal hiragana, there is modified hiragana, which is not only critical, but should also be included in my purchase... Yet for some reason, this app only quizzes you on it, it doesnt teach you. This app needs a serious update that covers the modified hiragana with a learning mode, reference guide, and sound effects of all the the letters/symbols/characters outside of the normal hiragana. The same goes for the katakana app

if i pay $5, i expect an apps audio to work, it doesnt, its a language app. what a waste of time and money. iphone6, ios10

Ive tried a few hiragana & katakana apps, this is by far the best. The simple stick figures to help you memorize the characters made all the difference. Would recommend this for anyone starting out with Japanese.

Fantastic way to learn. 2 days my 10 year old and I have them down.

I like the app. Its a decent reference and the quiz can be either multiple choice (easier) or not (good for really testing your knowledge). My biggest complaint is that the app has sound effects that add little value, and make it impossible to use the app while listening to a Japanese podcast. The app should have a way to disable the "click" sounds during the quiz.

This app helped me learn hiragana so much better than any other app or even my teacher could!!!

Really worth it. Made it super easy to memorize. Perhaps make one for Kanji? Thanks!

Excellent app. Within a couple days playing with the app for 10 minutes, every few hours, I can read basic hiragana with confidence. I just wish there were cards for hiragana modifiers.

This app helped me over the hurdle of learning the 46 basic hiragana characters, so on that basis I highly recommend it. However, it crashes in the quiz function after a few quizzes—both on my iPhone and iPad. Sometimes the characters are missing, sometimes one or two of the answer options are missing, sometimes it just quits. But dont let that stop you from learning!

Amateurishly conceived by someone not smart enough to pull it off. The relation between hiragana character and mnemonic image is often very contrived and weak, depending on making up big details and ignoring others, and often with overlaps—two are based on the number 3, two are magicians pulling a rabbit from a hat, etc. The relation between that image and its mnemonic phrase is often backward, especially the ones with names—its (sort of) easy to go from something like "Sam is always right" to a picture of a face looking right, but in the other direction—which is the direction needed in actual use—how is it apparent the face should be named "Sam"? But worst of all, the phonetic link often goes by spelling, not actual sound—e.g. the hiragana character for "sa" is not even actually pronounced like the name Sam. Terrible. Also, this app isnt particularly well programmed, with low attention to details like restoring state or making slow animations interruptible.

Learn my hiragana so fast highly recommend

it works great if you want to learn hiragana. everything about it makes it fantastic including a chart of all the hiragana, the flash cards which have connections to allow someone to learn faster, it shows how its written. it has quizzes which allow you to chose amount of questions and if you want options for cards or not. what I disliked is that it cost money yet it was worth it. it has also not shown a picture or options when using a quiz. it doesnt crash as much as other apps I have used.

In just a day I was able to learn the 46 hiragana with this app! Its really well done. I love the quiz mode. I only wish it had a learning mode for the modified hiragana that I could study instead of only quiz.

Ive tried multiple ways of learning and memorizing hiragana, and none have been as quick, easy, or effective as this app. Mnemonics really are helpful!

It makes the task of remembering hiragana ridiculously easy. The first time skimming through the cards, I remembered half of them with no effort at all. Two or three more run through a and I had them all. Now I can actually sound out Japanese words. Sure its pricy, but when you consider all the time you save by trying to memorize them by rote, I think its worth it.