Japanese on the DS
 

So this year when I start college I'm going to start taking Japanese. Since I'm really interested in the language I've been looking around a bit and found that in Japan they have games on the Nintendo DS for kids learning the language. They basically help them learn kanji. Since I'm going to Japan in a couple weeks I was thinking about maybe picking one or two of these games up to help me learn the language later on (once I get my katakana and hiragana down.)

There are Spanish and French games out now in the US that focus on teaching those languages, and from what I've heard and read on those games is that they do a pretty good job.

My question are, has anyone used any of these games (which one(s) and if so, how well did they work?

Thanks

not at game, but i basically have this with me everywhere i go
漢字そのまま楽引辞典
here's a video: YouTube - Kanji Sono Mama Rakubiki Jiten 漢字そのまま楽引辞典

As do I...

Awesome. Yeah, I don't really see any of these "games" as games, but that one is truly not a game. I found a blog that has a list of the "games" and has reviews for some of them, as well as a link to another site where you can read more reviews and buy them. They ship to the states, but I don't know about other countries. So basically, I answered my own question, because I can just look at their reviews but any other recommendations here are nice and appreciated.

Learn Japanese DS is the blog I mentioned.

Well, there a new game coming to the US, called "My japanese Coach", I saw a few days ago a new about it, I'm really interested in it, if I see some more info about it, I'll put it here.

Sounds Cool! Thanks for the heads up! I'll be looking out for this.

I have talkman on my PSP... it's sweet for learning phrases and stuff but not so good for learning grammar. :vsign:

Hiragana Problem
 

Along my studies with Hiragana I have come across many symbols that don't look the same. I use a DS Game Called My Japanese Coach I mainly bought it to learn how to write the symbols correctly. I got a book from my friend for christmas it's a TUTTLE Edition Hiragana and Katakana and I find it helps more then the coach program. anyway I noticed Ki on the coach program RIGHT and the book LEFT.

This has severly confused me. Have I been learning the wrong symbols all this time? I don't know which is the correct one. Could someone please explain this to a newcomer to the japanese script. Thank you ^^;

As i understand it the left one is more seen in hand writing whereas the right one would be seen in fonts on computers etc. like this き.

You'll see a lot of little differences between hand writing and fonts just like you do in English as you learn more, after a while you won't feel so confused :)

It's the same thing, you can write some of them a bit differently but its essentially the same thing. Look at "ri", sometimes the two lines in it are connected to form kinda half heart shape and somtimes people just leave them split with the right line longer and curving under the left shorter one. It's personal preference really. They(Japanese people or other people that know it) will know what you mean.

Both are correct, I must say.

In Japan, when kids are taught hiragana in schools in the first grade (or sometimes in the kindergarten), the style on the left is the one that's taught.
But as kids get used to writing kana, some change to the right. Same thing happens with さ. This is because many adults around them, including the very teachers who taught the kids to use the left, actually use the style on the right.

I myself was strictly taught to use the left in the first grade and I still do so. I'd say the majority of adult Japanese use the left. But no one will complain if you used the right.