Comme ça du Japon

This article is the fourth part of a series dedicated to the different software for the Nintendo DS to learn the Japanese Kanji.

Kanji kentei - Kanji examination

The Kanji-kentei is the official test of the knowledge of th Japanese Kanji. There are 12 different grades (from 10 to 1 and two intermediate levels) with progressive difficulty based on the japanese education system. The software 200万人の漢検 (Ni Hyaku ManNin No KanKen) とことん漢字脳 (ToKoToN KanJi Nô) “Kanji examination for 2 millions, Kanji brain non-stop” was the first software available on the Nintendo DS to prepare for the Kanji kentei (or Kanken in short) (november 2006, IE Institute). It features 7000 questions covering all the levels of the Kanken, from the easiest 10級 (Jû Kyû) “10th grade” to the expert level of the 1級 (IkKyû) “1st grade”. Note that the pre-1st grade and the 1st grade are mixed into on category in this software. Also, a new version titled 250万人の漢検 (NiHyaku ManNin No KanKen) “Kanji examination for 2 millions and 500 thousands” featuring a Kanji dictionnary and 47000 questions has been released on november 2007. In this article, we will review the first version of the Kanken series.

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This article is part of a series dedicated to the different software for the Nintendo DS to learn the Japanese Kanji.

Kanji exercises for Adults

Among all the Kanji learning software for the Nintendo DS that I own, なぞって覚える大人の漢字練習 (NaZotTe OboERu Otona No KanJi RenShû) "remember by tracing, Kanji exercises for Adults", published by Now Production is the one that I prefer. This time there is no seal of approbation by some authority like it was the case for Tadashii Kanji Kakitori Kun or for Tsukawa Shiki Kanji Kioku Jutsu. The sales pitch is a simple idea that consists in tracing the Kanji by following a model like in the invaluable Kanji to Kana I and Kanji to Kana II books. Let’s see what’s in it for us.

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This article is the first part of a serie dedicated to the different softwares for the Nintendo DS to learn the japanese Kanji.

Kageyama method

The software 正しい漢字 (TadaShiI KanJi) かきとりくん (KaKiToRiKuN) “Tadashii Kanji Kakitorikun” was developed with the cooperation of 陰山英男先生 (KageYama HideO SenSei) “professor Kageyama Hideo”, the vice-director of a primary school and honorary member of the special governmental commission in charge of the national education reform. He is known for 陰山メソッド (KageYama MeSodDo) “the Kageyama method”. It is mostly based on a healthy life style (breakfast, sleep early and wake up early, no exercise late at night) and on a regular practice with reading, writing and calculation ???? drills. The 百ます計算 (HyakuMaSuKeiSan) “10 by 10 calculation table” is the quite famous in Japan because of the software version of the drill for the Nintendo DS. You can read this article on the Kageyama method to understand all the details. For now, let’s dive into Tadashii Kanji Kakitorikun for the Nintendo DS.

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The most difficult thing in learning Japanese is probably learning the multitude of Kanji. If with some effort and perseverance, it is quite possible to learn how to read the Japanese Kanji, it’s much harder to learn how to write the Japanese Kanji. The main reason being that there are very few circumstances where you actually need to write Kanji by hand. Most of the time you will just work on a computer and use it to transform the reading of a Japanese word to its writing in Kanji. Even the Japanese have to resort to using their mobile phone to check how to write some of them. As far as I am concern, I usually rely on the computer or on my electronic dictionary that I always carry with me. However, there are some situations where the use of such devices is either forbidden or inappropriate. I am thinking of note taking during a meeting at work, or more radical, the occasional examinations in one’s business carrier. In the first case, I skip the most difficult Kanji and just write them in hiragana or translate on the spot in either English or French. For the examinations that are not based on a mark-sheet, there is no escape. So I took the decision to practice the writing of Kanji before facing such a situation. For that, I got a Nintendo DS with a bunch of softwares.

In the next few days, I will review each of the software that I bought. Here is the list :

• 漢検 (KanKen)DS2 + 常用漢字辞典 (JôYô KanJi JiTen) “Kanji test DS 2 + Usual Japanese Kanji dictionary” by Rocket Company
• 漢検 (KanKen)DS “Kanji test DS” by Rocket Company
• 漢字記憶術 (KanJi KiOku Jutsu) “The art of Kanji memorization” by LukPlus
• 大人の漢字練習 (Otona No KanJi RenShû) “Kanji training for adults” by Nowpro
• 正しい漢字 (TadaShiI KanJi) かきとりくん (KaKiToRi Kun) “Correct writing of Kanji” by ShôGakKan
• 200万人の漢検 (NiHyaku ManNin No KanKen) とことん漢字脳 (ToKoToN KanJi Nô) “200 millions people’s Kanji test - a thoroughly approach to Kanji” by IE Institute

If you have a question, feel free to post it to the comments. I will do my best to answer them when reviewing the Nintendo DS softwares for learning the Japanese Kanji.