In Japanese, timingchanges the word.

Japanese pronunciation is about length: hold a vowel a beat longer and おばさん (aunt) becomes おばあさん (grandmother); pause before a consonant and きて (come) becomes きって (stamp). These are the contrasts PronounceFit trains, and how.

SOUNDS

Sounds that trip up Japanese learners

Each pair below is a real set from the app — the only difference is a beat of length, or one sound.

Short vs long vowels
- おばさん / おばあさん
- かど / カード
- はと / ハート
A long vowel lasts a full extra beat. Rush it and おばあさん (grandmother) turns into おばさん (aunt).
Short vs long I
- ビル / ビール
- おじさん / おじいさん
- ちず / チーズ
The same beat of length on I: ビル is a building, ビール is beer.
The small っ — a pause before the consonant
- きて / きって
- また / まった
- もと / もっと
The small っ is a silent beat that doubles the next consonant. Skip it and きって (stamp) becomes きて (come).
The Japanese R vs D
- らく / だく
- らん / だん
- れき / でき
The Japanese R is a light tap that sits between an R, an L and a D — and learners often land on the D.

TRAINING

How PronounceFit trains Japanese

Kana, one character at a time
A hiragana trainer with three kinds of rounds, so reading and sound are learned together — the same place a Japanese classroom starts.
The syllable grid
Browse the whole syllabary, tap any cell to hear a verified recording, then record yourself and get scored.
Pitch patterns, by ear
Japanese tells some words apart by where the pitch falls. PronounceFit trains those patterns by listening — it deliberately doesn’t score how you say them.

All of it runs on the same core loop: Learning path · Read & score · Word Coach

Privacy

Your voice stays on your device during normal practice.

During normal practice, audio is analyzed on your device and recordings stay there. If you sign in, your scores, error history and practice progress sync across your devices. Personal texts and their transcripts sync only if you turn that on. A recording is sent only when you explicitly choose a sharing option, such as feedback, a support request or an improvement donation.

Audio analyzed on device
Signed-in progress syncs
Text sync is opt-in
Recording sharing is opt-in

FAQ

Questions about Japanese pronunciation

Why do long vowels matter so much in Japanese?

Because length is part of the word: おばさん and おばあさん, ビル and ビール are different words that differ only in how long a vowel is held.

How accurate is the feedback for Japanese?

Japanese is in early access. You get the full practice and the same word-by-word marks; the scores are still being tuned for Japanese, so treat them as a guide — the app labels them that way too.

Does PronounceFit score Japanese pitch accent?

No, on purpose. Pitch patterns are trained by ear — you learn to hear where the pitch falls — but the app doesn’t grade how you produce them.

Other languages