A cute, ad-free, and enjoyable learning experience is waiting for you in the Renshuu community! The free version is unlimited: there’s no timer before you are forced to pay!
- A path for every learning style and every goal -
Whether you are getting started with the alphabets or have been studying for years, jump in exactly where you belong! Don’t waste time going through what you already know.
Renshuu maintains learning paths for most textbooks, the JLPT, Kanji Kentei, and for those who just want to learn. You can also carve out your own path! Our community has over 10,000 user-made lessons for even more focused learning.
- Cute, relaxing, and fun -
Our mascot Kao-chan is here to let you enjoy learning Japanese, whether it’s through collectible coins every time you quiz, a character that evolves as you learn, manga pages that you unlock, or hundreds of hand-made illustrations.
Additionally, we have both single and multiplayer games to help you keep your learning and reviewing fresh!
- Personal service -
We are just a two-person company - and we don’t use chat bots. That means that every question you have gets an answer directly from us.
- Rich, in-depth materials -
> Vocabulary: over 15,000 native-recorded audio files, 17,000 hand-picked images, and 160,000 example sentences make understanding vocabulary a breeze. Our growing library of accent/pitch data can even help you with accent reduction.
> Kanji: 12,000+ kanji, with no limits on what you can study! Over 2,000 colorful mnemonics help you to understand and retain the meanings.
> Grammar: Over 800 different expressions, each complete with native-written model sentences, construction diagrams, audio, and over 7,500 hand-made quiz questions.
> Sentences: Thousands of sentences complete with audio, divided by theme and difficulty levels.
- A superior quiz system designed around Japanese -
Our SRS-for-Japanese system doesn’t treat Japanese materials like flashcards to be memorized, and breaks every item down into individual components so you can understand, and not just memorize. Mastery schedules keep you studying only what you need to, pushing weaker materials to the front for you to focus on.
Dozens of different question styles keep things fresh, while a flexible input system (multiple choice, typing, or writing) lets you answer the way that you want to.
- Customizable down to the last character -
Renshuu doesn’t believe that there is a single way of studying that everyone should adhere to. Our expansive settings and customizations let you adjust the learning environment to what works best for you.
End user license agreement can be viewed here: https://www.renshuu.org/eula
Having tried to learn Japanese several times when I was younger (and failed), I always found myself unable to progress beyond the basic "a, i, u, e, o" hiragana (no, that isn't an understatement: my Japanese learning pursuits were most definitely in vain back then) However, renshuu has managed to gamify the experience of learning Japanese for me; with its extensive vocab range and grammar resources, I no longer have to worry about sounding like an illiterate kindergartener when I try to have a basic conversation with someone! As somebody who started from scratch, this app has been amazing in helping me to memorise alphabets in as little as a few days with approx. 1 hour of training a day. In conclusion, I would urge you to get this app. The main bulk of the app is free, and absolutely no learning opportunities are gatekept behind a paywall (which is something I really appreciate!)The dev team generally seems amazing, and the renshuu community is a positive one with an healthy attitude towards learning and improvent. :)
Developer Response
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a nice review. I'm thrilled that the way we approach learning and motivation in renshuu is working out for you!As you continue on into the rest of the materials in renshuu, do let me know if you have any questions at all! I'm always here at michael@renshuu.org, or the ? button at the top of the app.
Possibly the only Japanese learning companion you’ll need
Acorn744
I’ve been using this app for a few years in all my terrible on-off-on again Japanese learning stints and all it ever does on return is improve. I got the lifetime sub a few years back and I still regard it as one of my best purchases.There’s no ads, no in-game purchases other than the subscription, which is offered but not forced, and even the in-app “gacha” element and cons for garden decor are entirely experience based. You can’t use real money to buy more spins or coins, you have to study to earn them.However, even the free tier on its own is incredibly invaluable. There’s lessons to line up with physical learning materials like Genki, but there’s also so much in app explanation of the grammar and syntax in the lessons before the quizzes and practice that you could very well learn a huge deal of basics with it alone.There’s a textbook amount of theory, syntax, and grammar, games to get you practicing and applying, and a garden mechanic where you can watch your plants grow with you as you keep to study sessions, somehow all perfectly bundled up into one learning tool. Other than my textbooks I haven’t needed anything else to compliment my learning. The two person team are such wonderful devs as well. They’re always staying engaged with their users and only ever have the best interest of community at heart, they’re like the teachers I never had, year after year.P.S., If you see or have bought the ferret pet for the garden, that was my submission!
Developer Response
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave such a detailed review! It sounds like renshuu is really working out for you :) If you need anything as you learn on renshuu, do let me know. I'm here at michael@renshuu.org, or the ? button at the top of the app!
Awesome app for learning Japanese
TetsuaYlfa
This app is a great way to start learning or to supplement your learning in Japanese regardless of what other sources you use. It’s got a great range of games and lessons for complete beginners up to higher intermediate level and a fantastic community of learners you can talk toand ask questions of both in the app and on their discord. You don’t need to subscribe to get a decent amount from the app but subscribing does give you access to a lot of additional content that adds to the already great selection of content for free learners. Would recommend this over any of the other apps like Duolingo, Lingodeer etc. I like that they have quizzes on the stuff you’ve learned, use an SRS system for mistakes and also have many different settings you can change for the quizzes etc so you can tailor them to your own learning style. It’s also the only free apl I’ve found with info on pitch accent that isn’t a dictionary.
Developer Response
I'm thrilled to hear that you feel that way about renshuu - thank you for taking the time to leave such a kind review!Although we're very happy with what we've been able to provide so far, we are always looking to improve and expand our learning materials. Should you think of anything that you'd like to see, do let me know! I'm always available at michael@renshuu.org, or the ? button at the top of the app.
Essential! Give it a chance!
iHerc
This app is so underrated. It offers so much more than other apps: vocabulary, kanji, grammar, games, community, and much more, all in one app!As a designer myself, I will admit that the UI is not the prettiest (or most intuitive) out there. It takes a bit of tweaking through the settings and exploring to make it work and get used to, but that is because this app offers SO MUCH content, and everything is unlocked from the get go, so at first it can be overwhelming. But don’t let this stop you from giving this app a chance! The grammar lessons are one of the features that make this app stand out, compared to others that just throw sentences and new words at you, expecting you to understand how it works. It feels like going through an interactive workbook with bite-sized lessons and clear explanations of how grammar works.I paid for lifetime because this app replaced 3 others on my phone and I plan to stick to it, and I wanted to show my appreciation to the team, but in all honesty the free version offers more than enough, which is impressive for such a huge project! The community is great and Michael is an amazing person who is always willing to help you with Japanese and improve the app.Give this app a chance, spend some time setting up the interface and lessons to make it work for YOU, and you will love it!
Developer Response
Thank you so much for giving us such a kind review! I am the opposite of you: I'm *not* a designer, so while it's harder for me to make changes to the layout on renshuu, we do make incremental improvements!If you need anything as you learn on renshuu, do let me know. I'm always here at michael@renshuu.org, or the ? button at the top of the app!
Fixes the page going to the previous page when opening the menu.
Unfortunately, the tap-through issue (when tapping an item in the menu) is still present, and I am waiting for a fix from a library that renshuu uses. This only affects iOS 26.x users.
Version 1.15.22
The developer, Michael Hominick, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
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The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
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Accessibility
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Information
Provider
Michael Hominick
Size
66.9 MB
Category
Education
Compatibility
Requires iOS 13.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 13.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 13.0 or later.
iPod touch Requires iOS 13.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 11.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
