Hands-free · Free · No app store
Kotoba teaches you a word, hears you say it back, and quizzes you days later — a complete vocabulary trainer you run entirely by voice, built for your commute.
Start learning free →Kotoba says
apple … in Japanese … りんご … riiin—gooo
You say
「りんご」
✓ That’s it.
For example: 毎朝りんごを食べます。
A real exchange from a session — it hears whether you got it right.
How it works
1 · It teaches
A slow, spoken breakdown of each new word, then the word in a natural sentence.
“apple … in Japanese … りんご … riiin—gooo. For example: 毎朝りんごを食べます”
2 · You say it back
Speak it out loud. Kotoba listens with cloud speech recognition and confirms you got it.
Say りんご and it knows. If it mishears, you self-grade — by voice.
3 · It brings it back
Each word returns right before you’d forget it, quizzed and graded entirely by ear.
Modern spaced repetition (FSRS) — no streaks, no gems, no guilt.
The scheduler adapts to how well you actually know each word and brings it back at the moment you’d start to forget. No streak-shaming, no XP — just words that quietly stick.
Every new word arrives inside a natural example sentence. Once a word matures, you hear the sentence with a beep where the word goes — and say the missing word. Context, still 100% by ear.
What you’ll learn
Nearly 3,000 words with over 40,000 native-quality audio clips. Alternate readings are taught and accepted — “yes” is はい, but ええ counts too.
JLPT N5
N5 Starter
The ~120 most essential words. The right first week.
JLPT N5
Full N5
All ~670 N5 words with native audio and example sentences.
JLPT N4
Full N4
~600 words to carry you past the basics.
JLPT N3
Full N3
1,640 intermediate words — passive, casual speech, real conversation.
Built for the road
Made for AirPods and car audio. Voice commands handle everything mid-session, so your eyes stay on the road. Works offline once cached — cell dead zones included.
Quiz · word 12 of 20
“bicycle”
YOUR ANSWER?
listening…
The difficulty ladder — from first listen to free production
Hear it
LiveRecognize the spoken word and answer by voice.
Complete it
LiveHear a sentence with a beep — say the missing word.
Say it back
In betaShadow full sentences, graded by ear.
Build it
In betaMake your own sentence with the word, graded with instant feedback.
言葉
Free · No app store · Works in your browser
Start learning free →