Software publisher Hudson has what looks to be like a great Japanese language title coming out in September for the DS. Mondaina Nihongo DS is based off of the popular book series of the same name.
I've bought both books (so far two in the series) and they're really good for brushing up on keigo, idioms, kanji, grammar, and vocabulary that is hard to use even for Japanese people (along with the usual common mistakes that are made by native speakers...here's a sampling of the kind of things the books deal with). I just hope that the DS title explains answers with the kind of clear, detailed explanations that the books do.
The site is a bit sparse as there is still a couple of months to go until the September 6th release, but it looks like there will be 4 game modes, a chart to see your progress and problem areas, and a mini 検定 section (up to ５級）where if you clear it, you unlock 60 "cute" mangas featuring the cat mascot.
All in all, if it follows the form of the books...advanced students might want to think about picking this one up (of course we will be reviewing it here..I plan to pick up a copy at least).
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Kanken DS 2 Coming Soon
According to a recent press release, Rocket Company, who released Kanken DS (漢検DS) for the Nintendo DS will be releasing Kanken DS 2 (漢検DS 2) in late September. In response to feedback from consumers, Kanken DS 2 will include questions from 準１級 and 1級, which were not available in Kanken DS. Kanken DS 2 will also feature a kanji dictionary with entries for all the joyo kanji. The press article reports that when you miss a question, you'll be able to access the dictionary on the spot to see what you've missed and review. The software will include more than 40,000 questions, covering every level of the official Kanji Kentei examination.
This sounds like it will be an amazing learning tool. Kanken DS is a phenomenal piece of software, and with added questions and an entire kanji dictionary at your disposal, it sounds like Kanken DS 2 will be the ultimate kanji learning tool for the Nintendo DS.
Kanken DS and Kanken DS 2 are kanji learning software intended to support those studying for the Kanji Kentei examinations held in Japan.
Kanken DS 2 will be released in late September and cost approximately 3,990 yen.
This sounds like it will be an amazing learning tool. Kanken DS is a phenomenal piece of software, and with added questions and an entire kanji dictionary at your disposal, it sounds like Kanken DS 2 will be the ultimate kanji learning tool for the Nintendo DS.
Kanken DS and Kanken DS 2 are kanji learning software intended to support those studying for the Kanji Kentei examinations held in Japan.
Kanken DS 2 will be released in late September and cost approximately 3,990 yen.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
The Power of Negativity
I thought I'd share a little language tidbit that happened at two different grade schools where I teach at recently.
When I teach the younger kids, the 1年生 and 2年生 are usually combined into a giant monster class of about 50 kids. For the first part of my class I usually have a review time where we go over the words we studied from last time. I hold up a word card (with picture) and ask, "What's this?!" and the kids shout back the answer.
Of course with 50 kids shouting out variations on one word, it's a little hard to make out if their pronouncing it 100% correctly, but I can usually tell if their in the ballpark or not. But when somebody says the wrong word - that sticks out. This little language story deals with that.
Two different kids (at two different schools) used a very interesting Japanese grammar point that I thought was worth mentioning here...if only just to help show how Japanese is both harder, but sometimes more convenient than English.
Here was basically the situation, notice the sly use of the negative form by this one Japanese student (the scene is me at the front of a classroom holding way more cards than I should be)...
Me: "Okay!! Let's review!! 復習しましょう！
Kids: (various things are usually being shouted to me at this point that I ignore)
Me: "What's this?!"
Kids: "Pig!!"
Me: (changing cards) "What's this??"
Kids: "COW!!"
Me: (changing cards) "What's this?!"
Loud Kid: "HORSE!!!"
Kids: "SHEEP!!"
Loud Kid: "じゃなくてSHEEP!!!"
I really found that interesting, by simply sliding in a じゃなくて, you can completely negate what you just said...and that kid knows that! No less than 2 seconds after starting to hear that he was wrong, he slipped that in and then just repeated what everyone else did...in that way (in his mind) it looked like he got the answer correct.
I was trying to think if there was any way you could get away with this in English. You could say something like "Horse, is not what I was going to say but sheep", or "It's a Horse..NOT! It's a sheep" but nothing I could think of would come out as smooth as in Japanese when you are able to just slip in a じゃなくて at the end of what you say to completely negate it's meaning (and saying, "not" at the end of an English sentence is more for comedic value rather than serving any grammatical function).
When your verb (or adjective) comes at the end, it's easier to play around with your meanings and even change something mid sentence! その映画はめっちゃ面白・・・・い？くない？If mid sentence you notice that the person you are talking to seems to not like the movie, and you were about to say it was interesting, you could stretch out that ろ a little bit and turn your good review into a negative one. In English once you say "not", you've committed yourself to a negative sentence. No going back unless you do some backtracking and more explaining.
I guess more than anything I was surprised at the slyness of those two kids who though they were being pretty slick by negating their answer like that.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
nekomanga.exe
I recently discovered a great Japanese site called ロストワールド. The admin and comic artist, しなごーく, has a great sense of humor, and it really comes through in nekomanga.exe, a hip and witty web comic.
What I like the most about nekomanga.exe is that many of the comics are based on language and wordplay. Reading comics like these is a great way to work on your own Japanese sense of humor. Reading and repeating what you hear from native speakers is usually good advice, and if you're going to mimic anybody, mimic somebody who's funny, right!?
Take a look at the comic on the right.
The yellow guy says that even though he shut down his computer, the power wouldn't turn off. (PCを終了させても電源が切れないよ)
In response, the white guy whips out Zantetsuken, a legendary sword from Japanese history (and a name used quite frequently in anime and video games), and declares that it will cut anything--except konnyaku.
(コンニャク以外ならなんでも切れるよ)
Do you get it?
The joke is based on word play using 切れる.
Normally, 切れる is used when something shuts down or turns off. The joke lies in the intransitive 切れる being treated as the potential form of 切る, to cut.
So you have to read the yellow guy's first statement as "Even though I shut down my computer, I can't cut the electricity!"
So the white guy gives him the ultimate sword that can cut anything--even electricity! ;)
Okay, after that explanation, it probably isn't funny anymore... But a good comic, right?
しなごーぐ has a large collection of comics, so check them out! They're intelligently written, funny, and a great way to study Japanese!
What I like the most about nekomanga.exe is that many of the comics are based on language and wordplay. Reading comics like these is a great way to work on your own Japanese sense of humor. Reading and repeating what you hear from native speakers is usually good advice, and if you're going to mimic anybody, mimic somebody who's funny, right!?
Take a look at the comic on the right.The yellow guy says that even though he shut down his computer, the power wouldn't turn off. (PCを終了させても電源が切れないよ)
In response, the white guy whips out Zantetsuken, a legendary sword from Japanese history (and a name used quite frequently in anime and video games), and declares that it will cut anything--except konnyaku.
(コンニャク以外ならなんでも切れるよ)
Do you get it?
The joke is based on word play using 切れる.
Normally, 切れる is used when something shuts down or turns off. The joke lies in the intransitive 切れる being treated as the potential form of 切る, to cut.
So you have to read the yellow guy's first statement as "Even though I shut down my computer, I can't cut the electricity!"
So the white guy gives him the ultimate sword that can cut anything--even electricity! ;)
Okay, after that explanation, it probably isn't funny anymore... But a good comic, right?
しなごーぐ has a large collection of comics, so check them out! They're intelligently written, funny, and a great way to study Japanese!
2007 JLPT Applications Available
Applications for the 2007 Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) are currently available at bookstores and other locations around the country.
The deadline for applications is September 11, 2007.
The test date is December 2, 2007, and it costs 5,500yen ( approx. $45) to take the test.
Good luck to anybody taking the test! If you plan on taking it, let us know which level you're taking and what you're doing to study.
You can find more information here (English) or here (Japanese).
The deadline for applications is September 11, 2007.
The test date is December 2, 2007, and it costs 5,500yen ( approx. $45) to take the test.
Good luck to anybody taking the test! If you plan on taking it, let us know which level you're taking and what you're doing to study.
You can find more information here (English) or here (Japanese).
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Google Book Search
Google Book Search offers a fantastic way to find books on Japanese (or just about anything) that you want. With so many different books out there by so many authors, it can be really difficult to find just the right book on the topic you're looking for. And if you're like me, you do a lot of your shopping online, which means you usually can't take a peek inside a book before you buy it. Google Book Search makes it all possible, though.
All you have to do is search for a title, an author, a keyword... It works just like Google's standard search engine. It's easy to use and the interface is intuitive. With Google Book Search, you can search through the full text of all the books in Google's digitized archives with the ease of searching on the Internet.
Google Book Search is the product of a lot of hard work done by the folks at Google and at libraries and book publishers around the world. You can view pages and pages of books online without going to a bookstore. Sometimes it's even possible to view or download an entire book!
Once you've found a book you're interested in, you can continue searching within the book for specific content to make sure it's exactly what you want. There are even links to online bookstores if you decide to make a purchase.
A search for Japanese brings up 189600 books. Kanji brings up 1778.
Besides being a great tool for finding books to buy, it also eliminates the need for a trip to the library when you're researching or writing an essay. The possibilities are almost endless.
On July 5th, Google Book Search became Japanese-compatible as well, allowing you to search through Japanese books.
All you have to do is search for a title, an author, a keyword... It works just like Google's standard search engine. It's easy to use and the interface is intuitive. With Google Book Search, you can search through the full text of all the books in Google's digitized archives with the ease of searching on the Internet.
Google Book Search is the product of a lot of hard work done by the folks at Google and at libraries and book publishers around the world. You can view pages and pages of books online without going to a bookstore. Sometimes it's even possible to view or download an entire book!
Once you've found a book you're interested in, you can continue searching within the book for specific content to make sure it's exactly what you want. There are even links to online bookstores if you decide to make a purchase.
A search for Japanese brings up 189600 books. Kanji brings up 1778.
Besides being a great tool for finding books to buy, it also eliminates the need for a trip to the library when you're researching or writing an essay. The possibilities are almost endless.
On July 5th, Google Book Search became Japanese-compatible as well, allowing you to search through Japanese books.
Tsugawa Method DS Review
Professor Hiroyoshi Tsugawa has a very simple method for reviewing kanji, and ERTAIN has put it together on the Nintendo DS in Tsugawa Method DS. I had never heard of Professor Tsugawa's method before this game out, and at first I was a little bit skeptical on how it would work as a learning tool. But after using the software for over a week now, I'm convinced--the red circles work.
Tsugawa Method DS has two main modes: memorization and testing. Let's take a look at memorization first.
After starting up the memorization mode, you can select from six topics:
基本 (Basic)
ビジネス (Business)
暮らし (Daily Life)
常識 (Common Sense)
漢検 (Kanji Kentei)
自慢 (Bragging Rights)
Most of these topics should be pretty self-explanatory. Basic covers characters that you encounter almost daily. Business covers kanji that you might find at the office or in business documents. Daily Life covers some interesting topics ranging from special characters for the zodiac animals to greetings. Common Sense characters are a little bit tricky, but no native speaker would be caught dead not knowing them. Kanji Kentei covers characters that pop up on the tests. Bragging Rights cover some extremely difficult characters that you can show off to your friends once you've memorized them.
Once you've selected a topic, you can choose a subset of characters within that topic to study, called "steps". Each step done in sets of ten problems.
So how's it work exactly? Let's get started.
First you'll be given an example sentence with the written in red. Then the kanji will be displayed alone and you will be prompted to circle the corresponding hiragana reading for kanji. In the picture, you can see that 静 corresponds to せい, and 寂 to じゃく. This is excellent reading practice and really helps hammer in how different kanji are pronounced and how they combine together to form compounds. If you make a mistake, the software will prompt you to try again.
Then you will be asked to circle one or more spots on the kanji (or kanji compound) that you have difficulty with. Once you've made your circles, you can take a good look at the character and at your problem spot.
The next step is to see if your circling has paid off. The software will ask you to write the kanji you just memorized. Once you've written it in, you can compare it with the correct answer. If you failed to write it correctly, you'll go back to the circling screen and given another chance. If you answer correctly, you'll go on to the next problem.
After the first five problems, you'll be given a quick quiz for review before moving on to the second half (which also has a quiz). Answering quiz problems correctly earns you points that contribute to your Tsugawa Method Rank.
The structure of the lessons and the variety of characters to study make the software an excellent learning tool. You can move step-by-step at your own pace, and if you mess up, you're forced to overcome your weaknesses.
The testing mode allows you to review the characters you have memorized in the first mode. There are a few types, but my favorite is the standard review (復習) option. In this mode, you'll be given ten problems at random featuring kanji that you have already memorized in the past. If you get a problem wrong, the test will be over and the software will tell you in which topic and which step the kanji you missed can be found. The software does a great job of pinpointing your weaknesses and also giving you the tools and information necessary to fill in the gaps.
You'll need to be coming in with a pretty good understanding of kanji to get the most out of the software. At the absolute least, you should know about 1000 characters. If you know 1600 or more, though, you'll be able to really use the software to its fullest potential. I've been able to hammer down a lot of characters I used to trip over when I wrote. I've also learned some very difficult characters that most native speakers can't write with confidence (or at all).
I should also mention that the input recognition is great, and the music's pretty enjoyable, too.
Tsugawa Method DS gets two thumbs up.
Tsugawa Method DS has two main modes: memorization and testing. Let's take a look at memorization first.
After starting up the memorization mode, you can select from six topics:基本 (Basic)
ビジネス (Business)
暮らし (Daily Life)
常識 (Common Sense)
漢検 (Kanji Kentei)
自慢 (Bragging Rights)
Most of these topics should be pretty self-explanatory. Basic covers characters that you encounter almost daily. Business covers kanji that you might find at the office or in business documents. Daily Life covers some interesting topics ranging from special characters for the zodiac animals to greetings. Common Sense characters are a little bit tricky, but no native speaker would be caught dead not knowing them. Kanji Kentei covers characters that pop up on the tests. Bragging Rights cover some extremely difficult characters that you can show off to your friends once you've memorized them.
Once you've selected a topic, you can choose a subset of characters within that topic to study, called "steps". Each step done in sets of ten problems.
So how's it work exactly? Let's get started.
First you'll be given an example sentence with the written in red. Then the kanji will be displayed alone and you will be prompted to circle the corresponding hiragana reading for kanji. In the picture, you can see that 静 corresponds to せい, and 寂 to じゃく. This is excellent reading practice and really helps hammer in how different kanji are pronounced and how they combine together to form compounds. If you make a mistake, the software will prompt you to try again.Then you will be asked to circle one or more spots on the kanji (or kanji compound) that you have difficulty with. Once you've made your circles, you can take a good look at the character and at your problem spot.
The next step is to see if your circling has paid off. The software will ask you to write the kanji you just memorized. Once you've written it in, you can compare it with the correct answer. If you failed to write it correctly, you'll go back to the circling screen and given another chance. If you answer correctly, you'll go on to the next problem.After the first five problems, you'll be given a quick quiz for review before moving on to the second half (which also has a quiz). Answering quiz problems correctly earns you points that contribute to your Tsugawa Method Rank.
The structure of the lessons and the variety of characters to study make the software an excellent learning tool. You can move step-by-step at your own pace, and if you mess up, you're forced to overcome your weaknesses.
The testing mode allows you to review the characters you have memorized in the first mode. There are a few types, but my favorite is the standard review (復習) option. In this mode, you'll be given ten problems at random featuring kanji that you have already memorized in the past. If you get a problem wrong, the test will be over and the software will tell you in which topic and which step the kanji you missed can be found. The software does a great job of pinpointing your weaknesses and also giving you the tools and information necessary to fill in the gaps.You'll need to be coming in with a pretty good understanding of kanji to get the most out of the software. At the absolute least, you should know about 1000 characters. If you know 1600 or more, though, you'll be able to really use the software to its fullest potential. I've been able to hammer down a lot of characters I used to trip over when I wrote. I've also learned some very difficult characters that most native speakers can't write with confidence (or at all).
I should also mention that the input recognition is great, and the music's pretty enjoyable, too.
Tsugawa Method DS gets two thumbs up.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Nihongo Ou Summer Special
If you're going to be home this Wednesday (July 4th) at 6:55pm, then tune in to TBS and test your Japanese powers with クイズ！日本語王’０７. The show will feature loads of content exploring the Japanese language. Throughout, questions will be introduced that you can follow along with and answer at home.
You can download the test sheet here and grade yourself as you watch the show! (The page still shows January's test sheet, but it should be updated before the show starts on Wednesday.)
Here are some examples from the website:
「じんこうこきゅう」正しい漢字はどっち？
A人工呼吸 B人口呼吸
Hmmm, well that one's not too bad, right?
【？】に言葉を入れて「辛党」の正しい意味を答えなさい
⇒辛党とは「【？】が【？】な人」という意味
Ooh, that one's pretty bad...
“ハマグリ”から生まれた言葉で「正しい道を外す」という意味の日本語は何？
Hmmm, ah, yeah... *gulp*
ウマに由来する言葉で「隠していた正体や悪事が現れる」という意味の日本語は何？
【？】を露わす
Check please!
So yeah, it's pretty tricky. The show should be a lot of fun, though. They'll have Sakana-kun the fish fetish guy and Governor Higashikokubaru from Miyazaki, along with the usual panel of celebrity talents.
If you're interested in word etymology and the history behind Japanese, be sure to tune in!
And if you do, let us know how you scored!
You can download the test sheet here and grade yourself as you watch the show! (The page still shows January's test sheet, but it should be updated before the show starts on Wednesday.)
Here are some examples from the website:
「じんこうこきゅう」正しい漢字はどっち？
A人工呼吸 B人口呼吸
Hmmm, well that one's not too bad, right?
【？】に言葉を入れて「辛党」の正しい意味を答えなさい
⇒辛党とは「【？】が【？】な人」という意味
Ooh, that one's pretty bad...
“ハマグリ”から生まれた言葉で「正しい道を外す」という意味の日本語は何？
Hmmm, ah, yeah... *gulp*
ウマに由来する言葉で「隠していた正体や悪事が現れる」という意味の日本語は何？
【？】を露わす
Check please!
So yeah, it's pretty tricky. The show should be a lot of fun, though. They'll have Sakana-kun the fish fetish guy and Governor Higashikokubaru from Miyazaki, along with the usual panel of celebrity talents.
If you're interested in word etymology and the history behind Japanese, be sure to tune in!
And if you do, let us know how you scored!
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