Android
Karuta fits in a pocket.
The Android app is where Karuta began: you study in a queue, on the sofa, five minutes before bed. It is free, and it works offline.
Scan with your phone, or open the listing here.
Open on Google Play
How it works
Reviews turn up at the right moment.
Karuta looks after the calendar: after each card you say how easy it felt, and it works out when to bring the word back. Words you already know return rarely, shaky ones return sooner. You bring the curiosity, the rest is its job. And the same word can come back in four different shapes, so reviewing never turns mechanical.
Reverse
You start from the translation and reach for the word: the step that leads from understanding to speaking.
Listening
The word arrives as sound, so your ear trains alongside your memory.
Multiple choice
Four options and one answer. Handy while a word is still fresh.
Matching
Terms and translations to pair up: a small game that counts as a review.
Community
You never start from a blank page.
Dozens of ready-made decks, written by people studying the same languages as you. Import one in a tap and you are straight to work; then, whenever you feel like it, edit it and make it yours. You can browse the same decks here too, before you even install the app.
Japanese Essentials (A1) — Top 40 Words & Phrases
The 40 most useful Japanese words and phrases for absolute beginners, with readings (romaji) in the notes: greetings, core nouns and verbs, key adjectives, and survival expressions.
French Essentials (A1) — Top 40 Words & Phrases
The 40 most useful French words and phrases for absolute beginners: greetings, core nouns and verbs, key adjectives, and survival expressions.
Korean Essentials (A1) — Top 40 Words & Phrases
The 40 most useful Korean words and phrases for absolute beginners, with romanization in the notes: greetings, core nouns and verbs, key adjectives, and survival expressions.
Search and import
Japanese, Korean, Arabic, German and more. Find the deck you need, download it, begin.
Follow whoever you like
When somebody publishes decks that suit you, follow them and you will know when new ones arrive.
Publish your own
Once you have built something good you can share it, and somebody else gets to start from there.
Offline
It works offline.
On the underground, out in the countryside, on a plane, and on the moon if it comes to that. Cards and progress live on the phone: the network is only there to find them again when you change device.
All on board
Cards, reviews and progress stay on the phone. No connection needed to study.
It syncs itself
Back online, Karuta lines everything up. The account is for finding your things elsewhere, not for getting started.
Progress
See how you are getting on.
A calm place to look over your progress, without having to work it out in your head.
Words learned
How many you have put away, deck by deck.
How it is going
The way your recall shifts from one week to the next.
Time and habits
When you study most, and which decks get the time.
Karuta outside the app as well.
With the dedicated widgets you keep Karuta on your home screen: a quiet reminder, and a shortcut back to where you left off.
A minute to install.
Free on Google Play. You can start straight away: the account is only needed when you want to sync or publish.
Scan with your phone, or open the listing here.
Open on Google Play