Windows 8 App To Learn Japanese: Hiragana and Katakana
Hiragana and Katakana is a free app for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 devices which allows you to learn the Japanese script easily without any hassles. The app has various learning modes like Study cards, detailed lessons, quizzes, etc. The app is perfect for people who want to master using the Hiragana and Katakana Japanese scripts. You may find this to be extremely helpful because of the various learning ways provided in the app. Upon launching the app, you will be presented with an interface which allows you to quite easily select the type of the learning lesson that you wish to open up via tiles.
Hiragana and Katakana is available for free from the Windows App Store.
Features of Hiragana and Katakana for Windows 8:
When you install and launch Hiragana and Katakana app on your Windows 8 device, you will be presented with the main interface of the app which looks like the below screenshot.
In the above screen, you can choose from Study Cards, Lesson, Quiz, Study Bank, Random, Website or Marketplace. Each of these button accomplish different functions as we will see below.
The above is the interface which shows the Study Cards mode of the app. In this mode, you will be presented with various study cards that you can select from the left side of the screen and then read about them when the card opens up in front of you in the center of the screen. You can also switch from Study Cards to Flash Cards mode via radio buttons present at the right side of the screen.
Quiz Mode: When you select the Quiz button in the main screen of the app, you will be thrown a variety of questions at you to which you have to select the correct option by clicking on the option which you feel is correct from the four displayed options. You will be able to see your score at the right side of the screen.
At the end of the quiz, you will be shown your score.
Lesson: When you click on the Lesson button in the main screen of the app, you will be able to see the detailed lessons of Japanese in the app. You can read more about various script letters, their usage etc. along with examples. You can also easily switch to the next lesson by clicking on the arrow buttons at the bottom right of the screen.
You can also click on the Lesson Navigation button to be taken to a screen where you can directly choose the lesson that you wish to read by clicking on its preview.
Similarly in Study bank mode, you can add the cards from study cards mode and can later view them for ease of access. Marketplace is the area where you can perform in app purchases and hence, support the developer. Overall, this sums up the features of using the Hiragana and Katakana app on your Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 devices!
The verdict:
Hiragana and Katakana is a great app that you can download and use on your Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 devices if you want to learn the Japanese script, or simply for informational purposes. Overall, this is one well designed app that can ease your task of learning Japanese by providing various tools for learning including quizzes, flash cards, study cards, detailed lessons and a lot more! My only complaint with this app – it has ads, but it’s okay because the ads are non intrusive and don’t get in the way of using the app, as they are present only in the main screen of the app.
I rate this app a 4 out of 5.