Fluency Tool: JLPT & Shadowing

Fluency Tool

Contains adsIn-app purchases

About this app

Fluency Tool is a structured Japanese speaking system built around Echo Fluency: a hands-free shadowing loop that plays a native sentence, opens your microphone automatically, records you repeating it, and scores your pronunciation with speech recognition. You stop just listening to Japanese and start producing it.

WHAT YOU CAN PRACTICE

Echo Fluency Shadowing
A JLPT-graded sentence plays in a native voice. Your mic opens on its own the moment playback ends, no button to press. Your recording plays back immediately so you hear the gap between your Japanese and the model's. Speech recognition grades the attempt: correct moves you forward, incorrect re-queues the sentence in the same session. A pitch accent visualizer shows where your intonation drifts from native pitch.

SM-2 Flashcards, Anki-Compatible
Rate each card Again, Hard, Medium, or Easy and the SM-2 algorithm sets the next review interval from there. JLPT vocabulary decks for all five levels are preloaded. Long-press any kanji for on'yomi, kun'yomi, and meaning.

JLPT Grammar Guide, N5 to N1
Every JLPT grammar pattern in one reference, with native audio on each example sentence and a quiz attached. Each pattern tracks as Learning, Reviewing, or Mastered.

Vocabulary Games From Your Own Decks
Fever Pitch speed-tap, kanji Hangman, matching, and Japanese crosswords, all built from the words you are actually studying rather than a fixed list.

WHO IT IS FOR

Intermediate learners (N4-N2) who can read Japanese but hesitate to speak it. A week of daily Echo Fluency sessions changes that.

JLPT candidates who want speaking practice and a grammar reference organized by the same level structure as the exam. The JLPT itself tests reading and listening only, so speaking is the gap most exam-focused study leaves untouched.

Learners who already know what spaced repetition and shadowing are, and are finished with apps that gamify without producing real speaking ability.

HOW IT WORKS

Set your JLPT level and sub-level (25 in total, five per level) in onboarding. Each day, Echo Fluency serves sentences from your level; flashcards, grammar, and games all pull from the same word lists, so progress in one shows up in the others. The Dashboard tracks your daily goal, a 7- or 30-day activity chart, and a roadmap of remaining sentences across all 25 sub-levels.

WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT

Most Japanese apps isolate one skill and leave the rest to you. Fluency Tool runs four loops in parallel around one set of graded content: speaking, vocabulary, grammar, and recall. The core loop is fully hands-free, and speech recognition means you get feedback on your own voice rather than tapping a multiple-choice answer.

IS IT USEFUL FOR JLPT STUDY?

Yes, for vocabulary and grammar review organized exactly by exam level. It will not replace reading and listening practice for the exam itself, since the JLPT does not have a speaking section. Use it alongside your exam prep for the speaking ability the test does not measure.

WHAT YOU NEED TO START

You should be able to read hiragana and katakana; the app does not teach kana. Beyond that, the onboarding wizard covers everything else, including TTS voice, playback speed, and recording mode (auto, timed, or hold-to-record).

PRICING

Echo Fluency, all flashcard features, the full grammar guide, vocabulary games, and crosswords are free with no subscription and no trial. A single optional one-time purchase removes banner ads.

Requires an internet connection for Echo Fluency audio and speech recognition. Flashcards, games, and crosswords work offline.

Ratings and reviews

pretty good so far, i like it !! however, there are some weird glitches. I had echo fluency off and got the example sentence, ３にん人がいた and i said that exact phrase (san-nin hito ga ita). HOWEVER, it was marked wrong because the app registered "san" as being a half-width three (3) and not the full width one given in the sentence (３). thank god you can proceed anyway, but it was confusing lmao. thanks for the app, though! itd be cool if we could use our own sentences maybe in the future.

Was really excited to give it a try since the reviews looked good. But I couldn't even get through the first word. Kept giving me the error message: (ERROR_CLIENT). Not a very helpful message to explain what's wrong. I thought it was a permissions issue, but the mic permission is on for sure.

Good app so far however the echo fluency tool just decides when it wants to work sometimes and it can be frustrating when you're saying the phrase perfectly