Flashfriend and WaniKani
WaniKani teaches kanji through radicals and mnemonics. Flashfriend teaches the most useful words with pictures you make. How they compare, and how to use both.
WaniKani takes you from simple parts, which it calls radicals, to around two thousand kanji and thousands of words that use them, with a mnemonic for each and spaced reviews to keep them. Its first three levels are free, and the rest needs a subscription.
Flashfriend starts from words, the most useful first, with a memory picture you make for each one. The two take different routes into Japanese, and they work well side by side.
What WaniKani does well
- A clear path through the kanji. Radicals first, then the kanji built from them, then words that use those kanji. Each level unlocks the next once you know enough of it.
- A mnemonic for everything. Every radical, kanji and reading comes with a short story to help it stick.
- Spaced reviews. Each item comes back at growing gaps, and you type the meaning and the reading to answer.
- A big community, with add-ons, forums and reading clubs.
WaniKani focuses on reading kanji. It doesn’t teach writing by hand, grammar or conversation.
Where Flashfriend is different
- Words in order of usefulness. WaniKani’s order follows the kanji, from simple to complex, so some everyday words arrive late. Flashfriend starts with the most frequently used words, whatever their kanji.
- Your own memory picture. WaniKani’s mnemonics are written for everyone. In Flashfriend you pick a place you know and a scene from a phrase that sounds like the word, and Flashfriend paints it. Pictures that relate to you, and that you chose, are among the easiest things to recall (Symons & Johnson, 1997; Slamecka & Graf, 1978).
- Sentences and grammar. Once you know enough words, you read sentences with one new word each, and grammar points such as particles and verb forms arrive one at a time, in sentences you can already read.
- Listening and speaking. Every word and sentence has audio, and with Pro you can practise conversations with Claude or ChatGPT, by text or voice.
- Your pace. You choose how many new words a day. Nothing waits for a level to unlock.
- Words you find. With Pro, words you look up with Yomitan or save from asbplayer go straight into Flashfriend.
Side by side
| WaniKani | Flashfriend | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Kanji, then words that use them | The most useful words, then sentences and grammar built from them |
| Order | Radicals, kanji, vocabulary, by level | Most frequently used words first |
| Mnemonics | Written by WaniKani, the same for everyone | A picture you make, with a sound-alike hook |
| Pace | Set by levels unlocking | As many new words a day as you choose |
| Answers | Type the meaning and reading | Recall, then mark how well you knew it |
| Audio | On vocabulary | Every word and sentence |
| Sentences | Examples on each word | Sentence cards with one new word |
| Grammar | Not taught | One pattern at a time, in sentences |
| Price | First three levels free, then a subscription | 14 days free, then a monthly or yearly plan |
| Languages | Japanese | Mandarin, Japanese and Spanish so far |
Using both
Some learners use WaniKani for kanji and Flashfriend for the words, sentences and grammar they need first. If that’s you, keep your daily new items modest in each: both bring reviews with them.
See how to remember kanji, how to remember Japanese vocabulary, or read more about Flashfriend for Japanese.
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