Japanese Learning Assistant

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  good answer

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  explanation

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  generate exercise

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  popup

Inspiration

Learning Japanese through real content like news or blogs is powerful, but switching between tabs, dictionaries, and flashcards breaks immersion. I wanted a tool that transforms reading moments into learning opportunities — directly where the text lives.

What it does

Japanese Learning Assistant is a browser extension that generates instant AI-powered multiple-choice exercises from any selected Japanese text. Currently, it focuses on generating relevant vocabulary and grammar questions to help learners reinforce comprehension in context.

How we built it

The prototype is built as a Chrome extension using vanilla JavaScript and HTML. It connects to Google’s Gemini API (models/gemini-2.5-flash) to analyze the selected text and return structured JSON containing vocabulary and quiz questions.

Challenges we ran into

Working with the Gemini API required fine-tuning prompts and output parsing to ensure structured, predictable responses. Another challenge was debugging service workers and background scripts in the Chrome extension environment.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We successfully built a working prototype capable of generating contextual exercises directly from web content — no external app required.

What we learned

We learned how to efficiently connect AI APIs with browser extensions, handle async background messaging, and control token usage based on input size for stability and speed.

What's next for Japanese Learning Assistant

Next, we plan to add spaced-repetition flashcards, performance tracking, and reading sessions linked to articles — transforming mistakes into personalized review decks and turning browsing into a full learning loop.

Built With

• api
• chrome
• extension
• gemini
• gemini-2.5-flash
• html5
• javascript