This is a super cool idea, but out of curiosity, why did you choose to make it SRS? I don’t think SRS adds to the experience or usefulness of transcribing what you hear but rather teaches you to memorise a sentence. That being said, I haven’t tried the app, and maybe I’m misunderstanding. Is it only the words part that is SRS or is it also the sentences that are SRS?
5 Likes
The core idea I tried to achieve is pattern recognition rather than memorization. Most Japanese sentences share the same grammatical structures and high-frequency vocabulary, so the more you encounter them through SRS, the faster you start recognizing the actual sentence pattern in real-time listening.
The key thing is that even if you mishear a specific word, recognizing the sentence structure lets you understand the overall meaning from context alone - which is exactly how native listening comprehension works in practice. And for that word you missed, you can add it directly to a separate SRS queue to learn it in isolation until it clicks, then encounter it again naturally inside full sentences.
Both sentences and words have their own independent SRS queues, so you’re training structure and vocabulary recognition simultaneously but separately.
1 Like
I see! I feel what you’re getting at, but I would be really interested in your app if there was a way to use it WITHOUT srs, like being able to just queue sentences at random and they don’t come up again. I am personally SRS fatigued but I love the idea of this way of listening practice. Is that possible?
5 Likes
Honestly I never considered someone using it this way, but it’s possible. You can just keep adding new sentences daily through the learning session and skip the reviews entirely. You’d lose the SRS part but the listening practice is still there.
The N5 level is completely free with 300+ sentences so you can experiment without any commitment and see if it works for you 
1 Like
You may be interested in SuperNative. It has a mode where you are given an audio (plus video) clip, then are prompted to fill in the missing word. It uses a different clip each time, no SRS, and uses an Elo rating system (or something like that) so that the question is at a roughly appropriate level. Starts with a lot of particles and “easy” words, although the Japanese is “real” so it can be tricky even then. I think it is pretty neat although I never consistently used it in my studies.
(Apologies for derailing from the main topic slightly!)
9 Likes
I’ve been using Kikikata daily for over a year now and I definitely feel it has improved my listening comprehension. For me, the value in the SRS is the motivation to practice listening throughout the day. I agree that it’s not beneficial to just memorize sentences, so I use the pass/fail input option and I’m very lenient with self-grading. Since, I’m mostly looking for constant exposure, it’s less important to get everything correct.
Plus the dev is super responsive and had added every feature I’ve suggested almost instantly. It’s a product and team worth supporting!
4 Likes
This made my day thank you!
Really appreciate the support, it means a lot especially coming from someone who’s been using it for over a year!
2 Likes
That’s how I’m using it so far since I also don’t feel like it’s a good fit for SRS. I get the logic from the dev’s explanation, but I’m at such a beginner level that ANY exposure is massively helpful for me, and I want to keep it fresh.
3 Likes
At a pause on my bunpro lessons, so I’ll definitely be checking this out (once I have WK under control again…)
It’d be cool if you had like … 5-10 sentences for free from all levels though!
1 Like
This program looks super interesting, but the dang thing just won’t send that verification e-mail lol.
2 Likes
Hi! Just so you know, you can actually browse all the paid content freely under the “Courses” section to see if it’s a good fit for you. The only “Premium” restriction is when you want to add those items to your active learning or review queue.
1 Like
Hi! Please reach out via our on-site chat or email at “[email protected]” with your account details. I’ll fix that for you immediately
1 Like
This looks like a great app and I love that you can access all content by doing this. Thanks for sharing!
1 Like
Hey @qehbr, this is great!
For a while now I’ve been looking for a way to practice my Japanese handwriting.
WaniKani and BunPro only accept kana input.
KaniWani and KameSame accept kanji input, but only for one kanji or word at a time.
So I had been on the lookout for an app that would prompt me to write out words and phrases in context.
I just answered my first question on your app and was really pleased to be able to write out my answer in kanji and kana with my stylus.
The fact that I’ll be able to practice listening at the same time is a great bonus.
Will spend some more time with the app now, but off the bat, just wanted to say thanks, I like it!
Edited to add: submitted my first feature request, thanks for your swift reply!
For the benefit of this thread, I’d like to share my suggestion:
I’d like to be able to input answers in a “mixed input mode” of both kanji and kana.
For example: at N5 level, we are supposed to know the readings of “buy” and “shoes”, but we only learn the kanji for “buy” at this level (買) and won’t learn the kanji for “shoes” until later. Therefore, it would be helpful if we could input ｢くつを買った｣ and be marked correct. In fact, it would be great if we could do this for any kanji at all, even if we should know it at the current level, but can’t remember it right now.
KameSame does this quite well: it allows either input method. It even keeps track of words for which you rely on kana input to answer.
I’m sure there will be additional complexity in allowing a mix of kana and kanji input within a larger sentence, so I appreciate that this is not a simple ask, but boy would that be a value-add for me, and absolutely worth paying premium for!
2 Likes
Yes, especially for vocab which is often written either way! (I got tripped up on 不味い, I think it only accepted まずい, not the kanji)
2 Likes
Hi, thank you for your brilliant suggestion and I am happy to share that it’s already implemented and live!
You can now choose between three input modes in Session Settings (the gear icon during a session):
- Kana: hiragana/katakana only
-
Mixed: accept kana or kanji per word, so
くつを買ったis marked correct - Strict Kanji: requires the exact kanji form
Mixed mode is now the default, so you can start writing with your stylus straight away without changing anything.
Also @darzington, this fixes the 不味い / まずい case too, both will now be accepted in Mixed mode!
Would love to hear how it feels in practice. Thanks again for the detailed explanation, it made it much easier to implement the right thing
4 Likes
Well I’m gobsmacked, and very happy. That’s got to be one of the fastest turnarounds on a feature request I’ve ever seen! 
I have just entered a few more sentences now, and this mixed mode works really well, thank you!!
1 Like
Excited to try as I love grammar and reading, but I find listening practice to be intimidating. Hope you guys have plans in the future for an iOS app!
1 Like
Hi! Hope you enjoy it!
We currently don’t have a native app, but Kikikata works great as a web app that you can install on your home screen. Just open the site in Safari, tap the Share button, and select “Add to Home Screen”. It will appear as its own icon on your phone and launch just like a regular app!
Hope that helps, and good luck with the listening practice
Thank you for your effort 
I really like the idea!!!
I am not sure of the SRS aspect of it though.
Would it be possible to make it some sort of level based?? Something similar to Elo in chess.
Every correct answer you make you get some Elo points and vice versa. The higher your points the harder the questions. The bigger the difficulty difference between your Elo level and the question the more points you gain or lose.
I know this is a big suggestion, but I feel like it would be a way better experience for the learners.
2 Likes