Features
Everything Wakatta does
Wakatta is a Japanese listening app for iOS and Android. It takes real Japanese podcasts — the ones native speakers and learners actually listen to — and gives each episode a transcript that follows the audio word by word, a dictionary behind every word, and an AI that explains any sentence you get stuck on. It is free to start and works without an account.
Press ▶ and the highlight follows the speaker, word by word. Tap any word to jump the audio there, or hit I got lost to keep the line for later. This is the real screen, not a picture of it.
Most listening apps ask you to choose between material you enjoy and material you can follow. Wakatta removes the choice: you listen to the podcast you wanted anyway, and the understanding is layered on top, one tap at a time.
At a glance
| Feature | What it does | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Live transcript | Highlights each word as it is spoken, with furigana and romaji toggles | You always know which word you are hearing |
| Hold to define | Dictionary form, reading, part of speech and every sense — without leaving the audio | Lookups stop breaking your listening |
| Explain | An AI breaks down a whole sentence in plain language, in your language | For when every word is known and the sentence still will not click |
| Moments | One tap marks the sentence you just heard, eyes-free, and explains it | Getting lost stops being a dead end |
| Audio-backed review | Saved words come back with the clip you heard them in, ready to replay | Words stay attached to where they came from |
| YouTube channels | 170+ hand-picked Japanese channels alongside the podcasts | Same tools, when you want to watch instead of listen |
| Your own audio | Import any Japanese clip and Wakatta transcribes it | The catalogue stops being the limit |
Listening you can actually follow
A transcript that keeps up with the speaker
Every episode has a time-synced transcript. As the speaker talks, the current word lights up, so you are never hunting for your place in a wall of text. Furigana sits above the kanji when you want it and disappears when you do not, and romaji is one toggle away for the days you need it. Tap any line to jump the audio there and hear it again.
A dictionary behind every word
Hold a word and a card comes up with its dictionary form, its reading, its part of speech and every sense the dictionary lists — while the audio waits for you. This is the difference between looking a word up and stopping to look a word up, and the second one is what makes people give up on listening practice.
An AI for the sentences that still will not click
Sometimes you know every word and the sentence still means nothing. Tap Explain and you get a natural translation on one line, then a bullet for each piece of grammar doing the work — the particles, the verb ending with its dictionary form, the set expressions — and a note on register when it matters. Written in whichever of the 11 supported languages you read most comfortably.
Getting lost, handled
Moments
You are walking, or cooking, or on a train, and a sentence goes past that you did not catch. Stopping to deal with it means stopping the walk. One tap marks the sentence you just heard — no looking at the screen, no scrubbing backwards — and Wakatta keeps it, with its clip. Afterwards it is waiting in Learn, explained, and you can say what tripped you: grammar, keigo, an idiom, the speed.
すぎる attaches to the stem to say something goes too far — here, too busy to sleep. んだ adds the sense of explaining why.
It is the feature learners tell us they have not seen anywhere else, and the reason is that most apps treat confusion as a failure to be avoided. Confusion is the signal. Marking it is the whole point.
Full guide: why words stick better in context
Review that remembers the voice
Words you save do not become naked flashcards. Each one comes back with a play button for the exact clip it came from — you hear the sentence again before you try to remember anything — and the transcript is one toggle away when you want it. Your saved words and your Moments live side by side in Learn.
Material worth listening to
Podcasts, tagged by level
The curated catalogue is 52 shows, each tagged from N5 to N1, so you can start where you actually are instead of where a course thinks you should be. Follow the ones you like and they build into your own library. Browse the full directory, or start from the best shows for beginners.
170+ Japanese YouTube channels
Hand-picked channels sit alongside the podcasts, with the same transcript, the same hold-to-define and the same Moments. When you would rather watch than listen, nothing changes except the screen.
Bring your own audio
Import any Japanese clip — a lesson, an interview, something a friend sent you — and Wakatta transcribes it so you can hold the words and mark the moments in it too. The catalogue is a starting point, not a fence.
Common questions
Is Wakatta free?
Yes. It is free to start, and you can listen without creating an account. The catalogue, the transcripts, the word lookup and the review system are all available for free.
What level do I need to be?
Anywhere from complete beginner up. Shows are tagged N5 to N1 and the beginner ones are genuinely slow. If you can read hiragana you have enough to start; furigana covers the rest.
Which languages does the app speak?
Eleven: English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. The AI explanations come in your language too, not only in English.
Do I need an account?
No. You can listen, hold a word for the dictionary and save it to review without creating one. An account is what carries your saved words and Moments across devices.
Each feature, in detail
Start with the podcast you were going to listen to anyway
Free to start, no account needed. iOS and Android.
