Learn Japanese · 日本語 🇯🇵
Learn Japanese by reading, one tap at a time
Graded Japanese stories with tap-to-translate and romaji — start reading real sentences long before you finish learning kanji.
This is the real Japanese reader — tap a word, hover a sentence, press play.
The Japanese library
朝のパン屋
The Japanese library is live on the same graded-ladder method as our Georgian catalog. The first book is free — no card, no account needed to start reading.
How it works
Reading is the method.
No drills, no streak guilt, no cartoon owl. You read real stories, and the app quietly removes everything that used to make that hard.
Tap any word
An instant gloss with romanization for every script — no dictionary detour, no losing your place in the story.
Tap a sentence
See the full translation only when you want it. Understanding stays a choice, not a crutch.
Listen along
Every catalog book is also an audiobook. Native narration highlights each word as it's spoken — karaoke for reading.
Read-along audio
Every book is also an audiobook.
- Native-quality narration for every catalog book, chapter by chapter — included, not an add-on.
- Karaoke highlighting. The word being spoken lights up as you read, so your ear and eye learn together.
- Your pace. Slow it to 0.5× while you're starting out, push past 1× when you're flying. Tap any sentence to replay it.
- Offline too. Download the audio with the book and listen anywhere.
Questions
Fair questions, straight answers.
Do I need kanji before starting?
No — every word shows its reading and romaji on tap, so you can read real sentences from day one and pick up kanji in context.
Is Japanese available now?
Yes — the Japanese graded ladder is live in the app, and the first book is free.
Is it free?
The first book in every language is completely free — no account, no card. A Pro subscription later unlocks the rest of each library.
How is this different from flashcards?
Flashcards teach words in isolation; stories teach them in context, with grammar and collocations attached. ReadNative tracks your vocabulary automatically while you read, so you get the measurable progress of an SRS without the grind. And if you love Anki, every book exports a ready-made deck.
Also on ReadNative
One subscription, every language.
Every language gets the same treatment: a graded ladder of real books, tap-to-translate, audio narration and vocabulary tracking.
Read your first Japanese book tonight.
The first Japanese book is free — no account, no card. Download the app and tap your first word in the next ten minutes.
