Frequently Asked Questions

Is this really free?

Yes. Every PDF, every page, every translation. No signup wall, no "premium tier", no ads. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Why CC BY-SA and not public domain?

ShareAlike means anyone who builds on these worksheets has to keep them open too. We don't want a future where someone takes our content, polishes it, and locks it behind a paywall. Attribution is just credit — keep our name on it and we're happy.

Can I use these in my paid course / textbook / school?

Yes, including commercially. Just attribute and share derivatives under the same license. If you sell a printed compilation of our worksheets, that's fine — the same compilation has to be downloadable for free under CC BY-SA, that's all.

Can I edit the worksheets?

Absolutely. The original LaTeX source is on GitHub. If you can't use LaTeX, just print the PDF and write on it.

Why these 3 languages first?

English (lingua franca for teachers globally), Bahasa Indonesia (largest population learning Japanese outside East Asia), Yorùbá (proof point that we can serve under-served languages, not just the easy ones).

When will [my language] be added?

Phase 2 (later in 2026) will add 4–10 more languages, picked by what learners actually request. Open a Discussion to vote.

Are the translations accurate?

English and Japanese: hand-reviewed.
Bahasa Indonesia and Yorùbá: machine-translated (Claude API) and marked review_status: beta. Native speakers reviewing them is the single highest-value contribution. See how to help.

Why no audio?

Phase 1 is print-first because that works in low-bandwidth, low-device classrooms — the audience we built this for. Audio is on the Phase 2 list (probably AI TTS with QR codes on each PDF).

Where are the answer keys?

Trace and write sheets don't really need keys (the kana itself is the answer). For recognize sheets, the kana–romaji mapping is universal. We're considering adding answer-key PDFs in Phase 2 — let us know if you want them.

Is this an Anthropic / Cloudflare / Google project?

No. It's a solo, unfunded project run by one person who got irritated that learning Japanese in your native language shouldn't require English first. We use Anthropic's Claude API for translation drafts and Cloudflare for hosting because those are the right tools for the job; nothing more.

How can I support this?

Three options, in order of impact:

  1. Tell one Japanese teacher this exists.
  2. Review a translation in your native language (how to).
  3. Phase 2 will open an Open Collective for donations. For now, your time matters more than your money.

I found a typo / a bug / a mistake

Open a GitHub Issue with the file and what's wrong. We aim to fix typos within 48 hours.