KanaForge
A modern web application for learning Japanese through flashcards, quizzes, and study sets with integrated visual and audio support.
Problem
A useful flashcard system for Japanese study needs more than text fields and cards. It needs to connect study items, matching images, Japanese text-to-speech, quiz flows, and progress tracking.
The hard part is that those supporting resources are not always clean, consistent, or easy to align.
Learning Model
The app supports structured study flows for Hiragana, Katakana, numbers, and other learning sets. Each study item is treated as a bundle of linked resources — text, image, and audio — rather than isolated fields.
Image Matching Approach
Finding or generating matching images for study items was a first-class concern, not a decorative feature. Bad visual matches actively reduce learning quality, so the system needed reliable ways to evaluate image relevance.
Japanese TTS Integration
Integrating Japanese text-to-speech reliably was a key challenge. Pronunciation output needed to support the study flow rather than interrupt it — that means handling pronunciation in a way that feels natural during quizzes and review.
Quiz and Progress Flows
The app supports both direct study and quiz-based reinforcement. The structure was kept extensible enough for future learning sets and student use cases, including student management and progress tracking.
Lessons Learned
Generic flashcard apps are easy to describe and easy to underestimate. The difficulty rises when the content needs to feel correct and useful, not just present. The project forced careful thinking around content quality, image relevance, language-specific TTS behavior, and practical learning UX instead of generic admin flows.