Study Hiragana

Study Hiragana helps you learn to write Japanese by hand. Ask to practise a character and an interactive writing canvas opens in the conversation, where you draw with your finger, a stylus or a mouse.

• Trace: follow the character's outline with stroke-order guides.
• Free Hand: write it from memory on a blank canvas. Your writing is checked for shape, stroke order and stroke direction, with a tip when a stroke is out of order or drawn backwards. The character stays hidden until you finish.

Every hiragana and katakana character is covered, including dakuten and combinations such as きゃ, plus about 300 kanji (mostly JLPT N5 and N4, with more added over time). The canvas opens on the character you asked for; for kana you can then tap any other character in its row, pick another row, or switch between hiragana and katakana without asking again. Kanji open one at a time, on request. Under the canvas you see an example word and a pronunciation tip for kana, or on/kun readings and example words for kanji. You can also ask for a stroke-by-stroke explanation of a character in text, or for a list of the characters available.

The stroke-order data was traced by hand by Study Hiragana. Your drawing is checked on your own device and is not sent anywhere. No account is needed.

Limitations: kanji without stroke data (most kanji beyond JLPT N4) cannot be practised on the canvas yet. Free Hand for kanji checks each stroke in order as you draw rather than the finished shape. The canvas cannot read photos of handwriting.