I wanted to do a small review of StickyStudy Japanese. It’s an app for iPhone and iPad and is relatively inexpensive considering the amount of features and information included.
I’m not sure exactly when, but I think I discovered StickyStudy Japanese in 2011. I was preparing to take the JLPT N4 for the first time. I wanted to review all the necessary kanji so that I wouldn’t encounter unknown words on the test.
Why am I talking about StickyStudy Japanese?
It is almost a crime that no other Japanese-focused websites mention this app. I have never seen any Japan blogs talk about StickyStudy Japanese and that’s a real shame.
How I use StickyStudy Japanese
This app is a great tool that helped me learn and study the kanji for each JLPT level. I used it for N4 and N3, which certainly made reviewing super easy and convenient. I think I found some other methods to study for N2, but now I use StickyStudy for reviewing words I don’t know when reading textbooks (N1) or magazines.
StickyStudy Japanese features
I don’t want to rattle off stuff verbatim off the developer’s website, so I want to try to list the features from memory.
Download and go
StickyStudy Japanese comes pre-loaded with not only kanji decks but also vocabulary decks! Whether you want to only focus on kanji or learn the vocabulary for the JLPT level, there’s something for you here.
Add your own words without typing a lot
Want to input words you want to study or review? Isn’t inputting words and meanings tedious? Yeah, I thought so. That’s why I’m so glad StickyStudy has a built-in dictionary. This feature is really a big deal for me. Using the dictionary, I can look up unknown words and with one tap, the word is added to a study deck and I’m taken back to the search page. This tap to add and go back to the main screen feature is something that makes me extremely happy when I’m adding a lot of vocabulary from my study books. I can spend more time reviewing and less time typing definitions and kanji.
Flashcards, but better
A SRS review system. This is like having intelligent flashcards. If you get something wrong or don’t know the answer, you can hit the red X button and the flashcard will stay a red color. If you get answers right, the cards will slowly change color and move towards the “know” piles. It’s a really nice visual system and there’s even a line graph to show you how well you’re doing between each study session.
Design
My goodness, I can’t tell you how many ugly apps there are in the Apple app store. Most of them are ugly and are not easy to use. StickyStudy’s developer has made great design and functional choices here. The inclusion of the visual card layout for seeing your progress is really satisfying.
The developer
StickyStudy is made by one guy. Despite the app being pretty amazing already, he constantly works to improve this app and add features. I don’t like apps that are neglected and never updated, so I appreciate the developer’s efforts. He’s also very receptive to feedback and will likely give you a reply if you send him an email.
Final thoughts
StickyStudy Japanese is a wonderful hidden gem that deserves to be on everyone’s iOS device. Use this app to further your Japanese studies and create good study habits. If you have time to send messages to your friends on your iPhone or iPad, there’s no reason why you can’t study too!
For more information, take a look at the App Store for iOS.
I don’t think people need to waste their money on apps like these. There are plenty of good free apps for Android.
If you can find free apps that do what you want, that’s great. However, there are some apps that I think are worth paying for if they help with your studies.
Thanks for this Bryan! I’ve paid for iOS apps like Midori and Kanji LS too. I agree with you that Midori is the best. Now, I’ll try this StickyStudy to master more Kanji.
P.S. You can also make a deck of flashcards on Midori. ☺️
Thanks for the comment, Dai! Yeah, I knew about the flashcard feature in Midori, but I wasn’t really satisfied with it. I’ll have to try it again and see if it has been improved since I last looked at it.
Do you think it works learning isolated words? You know, I feel a little insecure with this method. Wouldn’t it be better to learn these word in sentences?
Today is the first time I come to your website. It seems to be really good!
Keep on your work!!
P.S.: I’m from Brazil! 🙂
Hello Márcio and thanks for visiting the site!
You are absolutely right. It is better to learn words in context if you can, so example sentences are wonderful if you can find them. When I was studying for the N2/N1, sometimes I couldn’t find good example sentences. However, these days there are many more great Japanese websites for learning.