iPad | Kotoba, Inc Language Products

Hiragana and Katakana iPhone app Review

March 1, 2013 Leave a comment

I LOVE reading rave reviews for our products. Of course, it is like candy. It is far healthier review would be a three or four star with suggestions for improvement.

But being human, allow me to enjoy this piece of candy:

Very pleased! – This app is excellent for learning to read, write and speak Japanese starting with the different alphabets. I have been using this to supplement my learning, and it has been a wonderful tool to help me to quickly learn the alphabets. I am also using Rosetta Stone, but found it difficult to associate the written words with the pictures using that program (unless in romanji). This app has made learning the alphabets and words unbelievably easy, and helped me over the block that I was facing… Additionally, the support/(author?) of this app is extremely helpful and quick to respond. I had a technical question (which turned out to be my own user error). I shot an email over–the response was quick, friendly, and my problem was solved by the next morning! I highly recommend this app!

If you have an iPhone or iPad and would like to learn Hiragana and Katakana, try out our app. It is FREE (ad-supported). That means, it includes everything you need to know to learn hiragana and katakana.

Click to view in iTunes–it’s FREE!

Filed under Hiragana and Katakana Tagged with hiragana, iPad, iPhone, japanese app, katakana, learn hiragana, learn kana, learn katakana

Learn Japanese with Phrases and Lessons iPhone / iPad app Updated with Video

January 23, 2013 Leave a comment

It took us a few months to figure out a problem with the video lessons not showing for those who upgraded to the latest iOS on their devices. Well, I’m pleased to say, that has been fixed–sort of. The videos play, but there is still a problem: the app will crash if you exit the video using the app navigation instead of the Youtube navigation. We are working on a workaround, but, honestly, that shouldn’t affect many users.

Plus! New a new icon look.

Here is a review from a user in Spain:

Just awesome – I tried the lite version I upgrade it pro due of quality! Very easy way. Flashcards are awesome, the stats are very amazing o remember and do it again and again and again and again during hours and houers and hours! If you can spend two or three hours a day without nothing around you just you and the ipad, you will learn kana very very quickly! Thank you so much, you have created one of the best methods for learning japanese in years!

Check out Learn Japanese for your iPhone or iPad by clicking here.

Filed under Beginning Japanese Phrases & Lessons Tagged with iPad, iPhone, learn japanese

“Absolutely Perfect!” – Learn Japanese with Phrases iPhone and iPad app

September 12, 2012 Leave a comment

I hope to have two big announcements within the next month. We are working hard on having Japanese Phrases ported to Windows 8 and Android very soon. I’m especially excited about Windows 8 since it will also work on regular PCs. If you are interested in either of these OS options, please contact me. If we can do beta testing, I’ll send you a free copy for your advice.

I haven’t been posting reviews lately. But for the past few months, they have all be five stars! Of course, that gives me great pleasure, but I also always love hearing suggestions for improvements.

Absolutely Perfect! – This app is spectacular! It helps me out so much when I do my Japanese homework. It’s so easy to understand as well, you would be crazy not to download this app. ^____^

Please click here to read more reviews in iTunes. If you are a beginner or upper beginner of Japanese, this app will help you increase your vocabulary.

I was also humbled to receive a phone call the other day from a guy using our Kana app (it is free and ad supported–by the way) just thanking me for the app. That was it. No, “great app, but…” He just wanted to call to thank me. Wow.

If you have an iPhone or an iPad and you are new to Japanese, try our free Kana app. I don’t think the ads are that annoying and the content is top notch.

Filed under Apps, Beginning Japanese Phrases & Lessons, Hiragana and Katakana, iPad, iPhone Tagged with android, iPad, iPhone, windows 8

I wish I could contact iPhone / iPad / iTunes Reviewers

July 1, 2012 Leave a comment

We just got this nice review for our Japanese Phrases and Lessons iPhone / iPad app:

Amazing – Amazing app very useful and full of Interesting pages but can feel a bit clunky at times, when trying to turn page you have to push a button that does not always pop up. Would be 5 stars if they implemented the swipe page function. All in all great app with fully voiced words and phrases 4/5

I have no way to contact him or her to ask him or her more questions. The flashcards and study cards do have a swipe feature. It is possible that person isn’t aware of that because–at least for the flashcards–you have to start the swipe outside the card. (starting the swipe inside the card turns the flashcard over, naturally)

If you have ANY questions or problems with the app, please contact me directly first. I am always looking for ways to improve this app.

iTunes, it would be nice to be able to leave a comment on a comment at least–the way Amazon.com does for book reviews.

Still, it was a nice review–thank you!

Filed under Beginning Japanese Phrases & Lessons, FAQs and Support, iPad, iPhone Tagged with inc, iPad, iPhone, Kotoba, learn japanese with phrases

Japanese Idioms iPhone / iPad App FREE + TheJapanShop.com Newsletter Free Offer

June 19, 2012 Leave a comment

First, our second most popular iPhone app is on sale today for $0. It is quite a sale, actually. Grab it today for nothing and let me know what you think! If you like it, please review it on iTunes. If you don’t or have suggestions for improvement, please email me directly (clay AT The Japan Shop dot com). I’d love to hear from you either way. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

PLUS! We are now offering a free download for anyone who signs up for our TheJapanShop.com Monthly Newsletter. Sign up for free for news, coupons, and newsletter only specials AND now get an instant link to download our Kanji 100 PDF + MP3s product absolutely free. Sign up here.

Filed under Ebooks for Learning Japanese, iPad, iPhone, Japanese Idioms Tagged with freebies, idioms, iPad, iPhone, Japanese idioms

Japanese Phrases FREE iPhone App Reviews and Update

June 15, 2012 Leave a comment

First the good news:

Overnight, we got three new reviews for the Japanese Phrases FREE iPhone / iPad app. They were all solid Five-Star Reviews. Nice!

[A User in Canada ] Excellent – Love it, i learn much faster then with my books!

[A User in England ] woowow – amazing my first day of japanese i have learnt so much!!!

[A User in the US ] Very easy! – This is a great app. I’ve been trying to learn Japanese recently, but everything I was trying was just all over the place. They were tossing things at you and you don’t know what going on. This app however, makes it really simple and easy to understand. And teaches you in a fun way that makes it stay in your head. I’ve only started using this since last week and I can already read quite a bit of words in hiragana and katakana (kanji is annoying, lol). If u wanna learn japanese easily, this app works

If you haven’t downloaded the app and you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, PLEASE do so. It is free and helps our rankings. Click here for the iTunes link.

And for our Paid version, we also got this short and sweet review:

[A User in the US ] Just getting started – This is great! Thank you! Arigato!

–

However, the Free version does have a memory handling problem that can cause it to crash on some devices. I’m working on uploading a quick fix today. It doesn’t seem to affect most users, but I did get an email this morning about it.

Please contact me directly clay AT the Japan Shop dot com if you have ANY problems with any of our apps. I want to squash any bug we find.

Filed under Beginning Japanese Phrases & Lessons, iPad, iPhone Tagged with app, iPad, iPhone, Japanese Phrases, learn Japanese on iphone

New Video Lesson: Japanese Idiom 赤子の手をひねるよう taking candy from a baby

May 28, 2012 Leave a comment

This is just one of the hundreds of idioms covered in our Japanese Idioms iPhone app or one of the hundred-and-one idioms in our Instant Download Pack (for PCs & Macs with PDFs and MP3s)

Click here to see all the vocabulary as well as the grammar described at TheJapanesePage.com. There’s audio there too!

Filed under Japanese Idioms, MP3 Downloads, Videos Tagged with download, idioms, iPad, iPhone, Japanese, Japanese idioms, kindle, video, youtube

Karate Vocabulary

March 21, 2011 Leave a comment

Universal App! iPhone, iPod Touch, AND iPad. Buy once and use on all your devices.

Are you a student of the martial arts but are puzzled by some of the Japanese terminology? Are you interested in karate, Japanese culture, or the Japanese language? Do you have children taking karate?

Never studied Japanese? No problem! This app was made for you.

ALL vocabulary words have AUDIO recorded by a Native Speaker of Japanese!

This Karate Vocabulary app contains over 300 words (double since our launch) often heard during karate classes–all with audio by a native Japanese speaker.

* VOCAB – 300+ useful karate / martial arts related terms – more to come with future (free) updates
* AUDIO – All with crystal clear audio for correct (Japanese) pronunciation
* ROMAJI – Romaji (Japanese pronunciation written with the alphabet) along with the Japanese is given
* NOTES -Most entries have cultural or linguistic notes
* FLASHCARDS -Flashcard function for testing your memory–audio is just a tap away
* QUIZ -Take the Quiz: Listen to the speaker say the word then choose the English to match it
* iPad Support – Now a universal app. Run it on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch for no extra charge
* Added new Category: Days, Months, and Seasons
* Many new Settings: Show/Hide Romaji; Auto play sound; Auto read (change to next card); set how to display random and search result pages (flashcard or study card)
* Quickly add to favorites from category lists or from individual card pages
* Improved search engine