SRS Listening App - Kikikata

Japanese
#1

Hi everyone! :blush: I’m a level 60 WaniKani user and have tried Bunpro, Torii SRS, and Animelon in my Japanese learning journey. But I’ve always struggled with listening comprehension :headphones: – it felt like it was always lagging behind other skills, no matter how much I practiced.

I wondered if others felt the same way, so I created Kikikata, an SRS-based site focused just on listening. The site helps users improve by reviewing sentences, tracking progress :chart_with_upwards_trend:, and reinforcing vocabulary in context. You can even drill down into specific words within sentences to build a stronger listening foundation.

If listening is something you’re working on, I’d love for you to check it out and share your feedback! :pray::sparkles:

Link - kikikata.web.app

11 Likes
#2

Interesting idea. My listening is probably my weak point so I will check the app out.

1 Like
#3

Awesome so far, exactly what I needed. I mainly have three questions so far: Can you mass add already known material, can you do more than the 5 daily tasks, and is there any way to have kanji recognized.

So far it only allows for kana and the 5 daily questions (to my knowledge), and having kanji would make things quicker as well as test if I’m hearing the right words. Also starting over from beginning N5 wouldn’t be very profitable. Thanks so much for your time and I love the program so far.

1 Like
#4

Thank you for your feedback!

#5

Thank you so much for the feedback! :blush: Here’s what I can share about your questions:

  1. Mass Adding Known Material: If by “mass add” you mean marking sentences or words as already learned, you can use the “skip” option. This marks the item as completed at the final SRS level, so it won’t come up for review.

  2. Increasing Daily Tasks: In user settings, you can adjust how many items you want to learn or review daily, along with other options. The documentation has a full overview if you’d like more details on each setting!

  3. Kanji Support: I originally aimed to include kanji, but a few issues came up:

  • Ambiguity (同音異義語): Words with the same sound can have different meanings in Japanese, like ペットを買いたいと思っています (I want to buy a pet) and ペットを飼いたいと思っています (I want to keep a pet). Both sound identical, so if you’re only listening, it can be hard to distinguish the intended meaning (buy or keep) without context.

  • Kanji Conversion: Adding kanji pop-ups or transformations while users type in kana would be complex both to implement and use. Since I didn’t want to require users to have a Japanese keyboard, the app currently auto-transforms English input to kana for simplicity.

  • But I understand the point about Kanji, since it will make sentence understanding better. I will consider adding additional setting for users to choose if they want kanji or kana based input. For now, if you entered the sentence correct but did not think about correct kanji and want this sentence to be marked as incorrect, in review session you can use “Ignore” button.

Again, thank you so much for feedback and let me know what you think!

2 Likes
#7

Seems great! I like it :smiley:

One small thing I’ve found so far is after completing a sentence I then heard the same sentence again for the next question (“あかいばらをかいました”), so typed that in again, but then I heard a different sentence read out, which turned out to be the “correct” one.

I also noticed that one sentence I got wrong was still upgraded to “Wood” when I got it right second time in the “wrap-up”, same level as the sentences I got right, but perhaps that’s because it started at the lowest level, so could be intended.

EDIT: Also noticed that when trying to input “に” in the middle of something I’ve just written, it produces “ん” instead, then moves to the end of the input bar and puts “い”. Would be great to fix that.

A hotkey for “play” would be appreciated!

Also didn’t realise how to / you can / you have to use katakana for some words:

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Sorry, can’t get katakana to work at all:

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But anyway, I really like it and hope to keep trying - I think it has great potential :grin:

#8

Thanks so much for the detailed feedback! :blush:

  1. Repeated Sentence Issue: I’m not entirely sure what caused the same sentence to repeat, but it might be due to very quick typing or submission. I tried to replicate the issue but haven’t encountered it yet – I’ll keep an eye on it, though!
  2. SRS Level “Wood” for Incorrect Answers: The reason sentences start at “Wood” even if you got them wrong is because the initial “Air” level is just for newly unlocked items that haven’t been reviewed yet. Once an item is reviewed, even if it’s incorrect, it advances to “Wood” so it can be reviewed the next day. So both correct and incorrect items will start at “Wood” once they’ve had an initial review.
  3. Typing Mid-Sentence Issue: I’ve fixed the issue with typing in the middle of a sentence – that one was tricky!
  4. Keyboard Shortcuts: Some shortcuts are already available! You can press Space to play audio, which is great for quick replays. “i” skips an item, and Enter submits your answer.
  5. Katakana Input: The app checks everything in hiragana (e.g., “taxi” becomes たくしー), so you don’t need to worry about katakana for English-based words. However, if you’d prefer a more complex experience, there’s an option in user settings to require correct kanji and katakana input, so you can match the exact sentence format.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts! I’m so glad you’re enjoying Kikikata and hope it helps with your listening practice!

1 Like
#9

I’ve added a new option in user settings that lets you require correct kanji and katakana input. This should make it easier to test your kanji recognition, though I’m not completely sure it’ll work perfectly for all cases due to the reasons I mentioned above (like potential ambiguity and complexity).

Let me know if you have any other suggestions!

#10

Really cool! Only used it for 2 days (so did 10 days so far), but I thought it’s really cool. I’m sort of N2 level (did N2 around 12 years ago, taking it again this year), but listening is my weakest point so I really appreciate the practice.

1 Like
#11

Thanks for the swift responses! Did you make all this yourself (with the help of AI voices)? :grin:

#12

By the way, I think in general the N5 listening could be quite tough for people who are studying towards N5.

But on the flipside, some of the notionally higher level vocab could be downgraded to lower JLPT levels, e.g.

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I’m enjoying looking through the site so far!

1 Like
#13

Awesome! Thank you for your work.

1 Like
#14

The audio is actually sourced from iKnow! – many Japanese resources and Anki decks use their audio as well. All sentences are spoken by native speakers, so you’re getting authentic pronunciation. For a few missing words, I generated audio with TTS (AI), but I’m planning to replace those with native speaker recordings too.

I also plan to add more audio, like clips from anime or other Japanese media, though it comes with challenges, like ensuring proper permissions and avoiding any needed censorship.

Thanks again for your interest, and feel free to reach out with more questions!

2 Likes
#15

Yes, I agree! Kikikata works best alongside other tools like WaniKani and Bunpro. Using it as a standalone tool can be challenging, as it does require some foundational knowledge in Japanese.

If you come across any words or sentences with issues (like inappropriate level), feel free to use the Report button – I’ll get an email notification and work on adjusting those as quickly as possible.

Thanks for exploring the site, and I’m glad you’re enjoying it so far!

1 Like
#16

This news is music to my ears! Genuinely!
My listening comprehension is practically non existant. I have only started using Kikikata today but I already know that it’s going to be a welcome challenge for me.

Thank you so so much for your hard work <3

3 Likes
#17

You could probably do without the failure sound effect when the user drops a level. I’m going to be hearing that for a while before I ever get one right on the first try. (also the user will have already gotten in wrong at least once before they actually get it right and hear that sound effect.)

4 Likes
#18

Thanks for the quick reply :slight_smile:
Just to mention, it could be useful to put “learned”/“added” words in a different color or something, so you can see at a glance which ones you haven’t added yet (and can consider adding to reviews).

1 Like
#19

Can we get an option for Reveal and Grade response rather than typing in the answer?

2 Likes
#20

Thank you for the feedback.
I will add session settings, where you can turn it off

1 Like
#21

Great idea, I will add it in the future!

1 Like