Learning Japanese has been ten years and counting. I've tried different books, computer programs, a wife, sticky notes... with not much progress. I'm a MATH person, not a language person. I learned how to say, "Thank you" from the STYX song.
Nintendo DS, though, with it's long battery and addictive games seemed to be an answer sent from heaven. The last time I went to Japan, I was excited to see that there were many different titles which catered to learning a different language. Problem was, there wasn't one for learning Japanese (figures... I guess people in Japan don't NEED to learn Japanese). Once back in Canada, I always kept it
in the recesses of my mind to search in gaming shops to see if such a software existed. Well, a few years later and finally, UBISOFT has created My Japanese Coach. I jumped at the chance to buy it.I'm into my third day of playing and I'm hooked. The games make it fun to learn. It doesn't matter what level you're at. There are 1000 interactive lessons, 10000 words and 1500 phrases. Hopefully, this time, I'll be able to master enough Japanese vocab to move onto the next level...speaking with the wife's parents.
5 comments:
Thanks for the heads up on this great game and learning resource. I too have wanted to learn Japanese since forever ago, but the momentum has never been able to overcome the laziness. And now I have an excuse to buy a new DS. I can throw away my ugly GB-SP and be cool again. Yipeee! Great blog, please do show and tell more great Japanese stuff. Your fan, michael
I've got a DS, and I love that there is so much educational software for it. I bought much of my software in Japan, rakubikijiten, kanken ds, and eigoduke for the wife, even an opera browser so I can twitter away any where there is a wifi point.
I'll be keeping my eye out for more software when we head back for a short holiday in February. I'll let you know what I find.
Hey jrfiction,
yeah, the educational Japanese software is much better than in North America (although it's getting a bit better). If you like to cook, there's a great step-by-step cooking manual which helps you make dinner with what you have in the fridge. It has pretty cool music, too.
I'd like to buy more software, but with the AU Dollar being what it is at the moment I'm more inclined to wait. How things change in such a short time.
Things are bound to get cheaper in Japan again one day.
Yeah, I agree. The Yen is beating up the Canadian dollar, too. I was hoping for a trip to Osaka soon, but I think it may have to wait until the fall. In the meantime, I'll keep practicing my Japanese. I have a hiragana kindergarten book, too, which is good for vocab.
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