Read The Kanji is a wonderfully designed web app that helps you – not surprisingly – read kanji. It uses a spaced repetition system (SRS) to test you on Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) kanji no matter which level you’re shooting for, or even just hiragana and katakana. The content available covers a wide range of skill levels, and can be a useful resource for beginners all the way up to advanced students of Japanese.
Pros
- Covers hiragana, katakana, JLPT 5-1, and yojijukugo.
- Tracks your progress and gives you detailed stats about words and characters.
- Built-in input method editor (IME) lets you type in Japanese, even if your computer doesn’t have Japanese text support.
- Level-up system makes you feel like you’re making progress.
- Beautiful website.
- Free trial available with signup.
Cons
- Limited number of decks.
- Lack of mnemonics leaves you high and dry.
Final Word?
Detailed information about each kanji.
At its core, Read The Kanji is a great web app. Its SRS does exactly what it sets out to do – helping you memorize and recall new characters – and does it with style. Read The Kanji has a very simple, easy-to-understand interface with a lot of nice little touches.
For instance, as you continue to get characters right, they turn from red to green over time. Clicking on kanji shows you its stroke order, meanings, on’yomi, and kun’yomi.
And maybe Read The Kanji’s most famous feature is its stats grid. Read The Kanji keeps track of what words and characters you get right, how many times you’ve missed it, and how well you’re doing versus other characters. The grid looks great, and can be really helpful in identifying which kanji you’re struggling with.
But Read The Kanji isn’t without a few shortcomings. Some kanji websites out there (such as Skritter or Memrise) allow you to study kanji from a specific textbook (such as Genki), or even choose your own set of kanji to study. Read The Kanji is limited to the kanji of the JLPT, and that’s pretty much it. There’s no expanding beyond what’s given to you.
User-created notes are as close as you're going to get to mnemonics.
The lack of mnemonics was another big issue for me. When learning kanji, mnemonics are one of the most helpful tools in memorizing and recalling kanji. Unfortunately, Read the Kanji doesn’t provide any mnemonics for you – you’ve got to either come up with your own or depend on others on notes other Read The Kanji users have left.
Regardless, I would definitely recommend paying the scant $5 a month for Read The Kanji. It’s a great deal for a fantastic service.