Time and time again I am asked to help intermediate learners of Japanese to help them freshen up on the one of the nations’ most popular modern languages. According to the “Japan Foundation”, 1 in approximately 2,500 people studied the Japanese language in 2006. Considering that the United States Census Bureau is predicting the nations’ total population of legal citizens to be around 300 million, that is a large number of people eager to learn Japanese.
Are you one of these thousands of people that want to learn Japanese but sitting in a classroom just does not sound all that thrilling? Well look no further than your Nintendo DS for inspiration and instructions on how to learn Japanese. For those of you that already know some Japanese but want to learn more, your DS will also become your newest friend.
Now holding a pink Nintendo DS, I snickered at myself for taking so long to purchase this tiny but mighty little gaming system. To tell you the truth, I am not much for the gaming world (hard to believe since I married a self-proclaimed former addict), but I came across this strange DS junkie on you tube.com that my interest was instantly charmed. This “you-tuber” had actually been so pulled in to the DS gaming world that he had married (I kid you not), married a character in this DS “Love Plus” . If you do not believe me, check out a recap of the marriage ceremony at this link. I looked further to find a Korean man marry a character from his DS system which can be seen at this link. Amazed at the dedication from not only these two men, but many others, I had to find out for myself what all the hype was with this gaming system.
Seriously, if Otaku (Japanese enthusiasts aka. “nerds”) would go as far as marriage to certain fragments of these games, I knew there had to be something even for me too. Delighted, I found there were many Japanese games that were made for learning second languages. My third language being Japanese, I found an American created game called My Japanese Coach which you can read the review here. Totally excited to get started, I purchased this game from Amazon.com and impatiently waited near the mailbox for its delivery. Unfortunately it was slightly too easy for a non-beginner (actually I have a degree in Japanese from a major university); hence, I found another Japanese DS game called, “Kanken 3: Deluxe Version”.Simply by looking up the term “kanken” at Play Asia, this game can be purchased for around $35.00. I purchased this game a few months ago and the price has not dropped so it confirms this product is a winner since it is not discounted. Unfortunately I have not been able to find anywhere else to purchase this game, so I highly suggest either looking at the link above or searching online for other whereabouts.
Once I stopped jolting up and down, I was able to try out the new game. The game was created in Japan, therefore everything is in Japanese. Simply put, this is not a Japanese game for people that want to learn Japanese Kanji (Chinese-style characters) and/or what to go beyond the few that one already knows. Do not be fooled by other “reviewers”, it is for intermediate and advanced players only. A good grasp on the language is not only necessary to play the game but to navigate throughout the interface.
Originally designed for Japanese citizens, this Nintendo DS game continually quizzes the player on a set of Japanese Kanji. It follows along the gakushu kanji Lists (Japanese school system list of tested Kanji all students should know by graduation) and other kanji used outside the lists created by the Japanese educational department. I am told by my Japanese friends that this game is purchased by adults for their children and for themselves to learn greater amounts of Kanji. Specialized schools were created years back to instruct from the same Kanji lists that are used in this game. Today, not only can students attend these schools with a tuition but one can learn from the Japanese game and take the Kanken tests online or in person.
After you place the game cartridge into the gaming system, one must take an evaluation test to setup a level of compatibility for the Kanji tests. Then, the user can freely click through learning new Kanji in free-form, taking tests over newly learned Kanji, write Kanji to assure proper writing strokes, correct Kanji input tests, and so much more. Truly there is a lot going on in this game, I am surprised the writers could fit so much into one small cartridge and still have room leftover for saving the player’s status.
If you are serious about learning Japanese Kanji, this is the Nintendo DS game for you. It has everything that will assist even native Japanese to improve ones’ Japanese reading and writing skills. It does have a slightly higher price than other Japanese Nintendo DS games however it is the game that can be played for years without boring the player.
Please Make Note: This information is based on my personal usage of the Nintendo DS console and game which I purchased for home use.
