Hibikitalk
Free beta · Japanese lessons · Beginners in Japanese (N5–N4)

Practice real-life Japanese — with a real person.

A Japanese partner plays the other role with you in a real-life scene, like ordering at a restaurant or buying a train ticket. About 30 minutes, on a video call in your browser (no app).

Apply for a free lesson

Free. No card. Stop anytime.

Lesson scene · At a ramen shop
  1. Japanese speaker: ご注文は?What would you like?
  2. You: ラーメンを 2 つください。Two ramen, please.
  3. Japanese speaker: お飲み物は?Anything to drink?

Why Hibikitalk

On language exchange apps, first chats usually stop at self-introductions. And practicing with AI is easy to quit. On Hibikitalk, you practice real-life scenes with a real person — a different scene each time, building up step by step. Someone is waiting for you, so you keep going.

This is a small test right now — your honest feedback helps a lot.

How it works

  1. Apply and pick your free times.
  2. We match you with a Japanese partner and set a time.
  3. Before your lesson: pick a scene for your level, with a short prep page in English.
  4. Your lesson: play the scene together. When you get stuck, the screen gives you a short explanation in English.

Your lesson (about 30 minutes)

  1. Say hello and chat a little
  2. Play the scene, round 1
  3. Look back: what you said, a better way to say it
  4. Round 2, with a small twist
  5. Look back again

Scenes you can pick

  • Ordering food
  • Buying a train ticket
  • Buying clothes
  • Joining a hotel tour

Before your lesson: a short prep page in English.

Who you'll practice with

An ordinary native speaker in Japan, not a professional teacher — and not me, the maker. Made by Shinya, a university student.

Good to know

  • Beta: we're starting small, so there may be a waiting list.
  • Explanations in English.
  • Recorded only if you agree.
  • For now, lessons are for people whose first language is English. If it isn't, you can still apply — you'll be on the waiting list.
  • Later, we'd like to make it an exchange (you help your partner with English), but for now it's Japanese only.

Do I talk to an AI?

No — a person. AI tools help with captions, your prep page, and the explanations on screen.