DS Kanji Training

In my third post of the day, I want to talk about the first piece of DS software that I've enjoyed in a few months.

I pretty much stopped studying Japanese after I took the JLPT Level 2 exam in December 2005. It was such an effort that after 4 years of studying, I just needed a break.

It's surprising how much your standards can slip in 14 months.

I've been looking for a while now for some good Japanese training software. The problem is that after Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training, these "edutainment" games became so popular that the market became flooded with me-too titles, making it really hard to find anything of quality. Added to this is the problem that all the software is designed for Japanese people rather than people learning the language.


Well, this is the first software that I have felt is a good match. It's called - wait for it - Zaidan Houjin Nihon Kanji Nouryoku Kettei Kyoukai Koushiki Soft 200-Man Nin no Kanken -- Tokoton Kanji Nou.

Phew. Let's just call it ZHNKNKKKS200MNNK-TKN to make things simpler, shall we?

I could tell you how ZHNKNKKKS200MNNK-TKN works, or, you could just watch this video;



I really recommend this software for anyone who already knows a couple of hundred kanji already, but wants to get some thorough practice in. The game isn't much use for learning new kanji, so you will probably want to play it with your dictionary at hand. But it is peerless for helping you to commit kanji that you know to memory.

I only have a few gripes;

--Sometimes there are kanji that I don't know. In an ideal world, where all software is designed specifically with me in mind, there would be a way of showing me the English translation of these words.
--The program has occasional problems recognising my handwriting - specifically the Kanji for fire (火) and the number '5', which, as you can imagine, is pretty frustrating. I have spent minutes just repeatedly scribbling 5 in as many different styles as I can imagine, only to end up exasperated and swearing wildly.
--The menus are all in kanji, which I find a little strange - surely, if you are using kanji training software, there is a possibility that your customer won't be able to read some of this? Is it so hard to use furigana? Perhaps, once the student has come across and passed those kanji in-game, the furigana could then disappear?

Other than that, this is definitely gaijin-friendly stuff. But don't throw away your kanji cards out just yet.

Rating: Sweet pickles/Japanese foods
Price: 2500JPY (Cheap! Just over a tenner!)