Just type romaji and it turns into kana: arigatou → ありがとう. Press Space for the next word.
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おかえり · Welcome back
Dashboard
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Score 0/46
あ
Hiragana sprint
All 46 characters in a random order. Type the romaji for each one. The clock starts when you press Play and stops on the last character, so go for your fastest time. Press Tab to skip one and come back to it.
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あ
Tab skip
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How Manekko works
An English sentence appears at the top. Type it in Japanese, word by word, on the lines below with your Japanese keyboard. Each line is one word or phrase, and its length is a clue. Use hiragana and katakana only. A correct word moves you on automatically, or press Space to go to the next word. When the sentence is done it opens up to show each word's job, its romaji and its meaning.
Finish with no mistakes and no hints to build a combo. Sentences you get right come back less often. Ones you struggle with come back sooner in the Review deck.
Typing Japanese
You don't need a Japanese keyboard. Type romaji and it turns into kana as you go: kyouha becomes きょうは, gakkou becomes がっこう. A single n gives ん (konbanwa → こんばんは, konnichiwa → こんにちは), and - for the long dash ー. For katakana words like コーヒー, typing koohii or ko-hi- both count.
If you'd rather use your computer's Japanese keyboard, that works too. Each word is confirmed for you as soon as its kana are right.
Setting up a Japanese keyboard (optional)
Mac: System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → Edit → + → Japanese → Romaji. Switch with Ctrl + Space or the globe key.
Windows: Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Add a language → Japanese. Switch with Win + Space, then Alt + ` to change from A to あ.
iPhone / iPad: Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard → Japanese → Romaji.
Space moves to the next word. Backspace on an empty line goes back a word.
Enter goes to the next sentence once you've finished, and Space replays the audio.
Tab shows a hint for the current word: press once for the romaji, twice for the kana, and a third time to hide it. Using a hint resets your combo.
Stuck? The eye button shows the Japanese answer under the English. Press it again to hide it. Translate mode at the top switches to Listening mode, where you hear the Japanese and type what you hear.
Voice
The voice is Kyoko. On a Mac you can make her sound more natural: System Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → System voice → Manage Voices → Japanese → download Kyoko (Enhanced).