Japanese
studying japanese? there's an app for that
Feb.26.10
Studying a new language slightly sucks. That said,
I'm having some fun doing so, thanks to some great
iPhone apps:
#1
Since we're using the Genki 1 textbooks in class, this aptly titled Genki 1 app was an excellent find. It featuresall most of
the vocabulary words organized by chapter (why
it doesn't include all the words is a tad
confusing) along with spoken pronunciations, and
has multiple ways to study (including
always-helpful quizzes). It's certainly not
perfect, though. The app strangely shows the
kanji for early chapter words (which are still
focused on hiragana) and you can't randomize the
quiz content, but to have this much information
always on hand makes for a great portable study
aid.
#2
I bought the iKana Touch app a while ago and quickly became bored with it, but now understand its magic. The ability to practice stroke order anywhere is awesome, and I'm nearly 100% with my hiragana already. Fantastic stuff.
#3
While KanaBalls isn't really a useful tool for learning hiragana and katakana, it's excellent for honing skills with its clean interface and deceptively simple "gameplay." The basic idea is you match the middle ball with one of the bouncing ones by touching them, which are in a different alphabet (romaji, katakana or hiragana), and you try to do this before the time runs out (correctly matching in a quick fashion adds a bit of time). The longer the game goes on, the more balls start bouncing around, and the harder it gets.
In terms of overall school progress, I've only been to three classes so far, but I'm absolutely loving it. The spattering of self-studying I've done here and there made for a great foundation, and — after a good 15 years of starts and stops — I have high hopes for actually learning the language one day. You know, for reals this time... :P
#1
Since we're using the Genki 1 textbooks in class, this aptly titled Genki 1 app was an excellent find. It features
#2
I bought the iKana Touch app a while ago and quickly became bored with it, but now understand its magic. The ability to practice stroke order anywhere is awesome, and I'm nearly 100% with my hiragana already. Fantastic stuff.
#3
While KanaBalls isn't really a useful tool for learning hiragana and katakana, it's excellent for honing skills with its clean interface and deceptively simple "gameplay." The basic idea is you match the middle ball with one of the bouncing ones by touching them, which are in a different alphabet (romaji, katakana or hiragana), and you try to do this before the time runs out (correctly matching in a quick fashion adds a bit of time). The longer the game goes on, the more balls start bouncing around, and the harder it gets.
In terms of overall school progress, I've only been to three classes so far, but I'm absolutely loving it. The spattering of self-studying I've done here and there made for a great foundation, and — after a good 15 years of starts and stops — I have high hopes for actually learning the language one day. You know, for reals this time... :P
japanese 101
Feb.17.10
I started up a Japanese class at Santa Monica College this
evening. Strangely, no Community-style hijinks ensued.
Oh well. That said, I think it's going to be a
neat experience. Been studying this damn
language off-and-on (well, more off than on) for
a good ten years now, and it's about time to get
somewhat serious about learning.
Goodbye Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons, it was fun while it lasted.
Goodbye Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons, it was fun while it lasted.