Nazotte Oboeru Otona no Kanji Renshuu Kanzenhan (Nintendo DS)

If you’re really into playing Japanese import games, you know how important it can be to be able to read what’s on the screen.  If you’re learning Japanese, one of the most challenging aspects of it is memorizing kanji.  Japan has quite a few different kanji training games, but they are all aimed toward native Japanese speakers.  Unfortunately, Nazotte Oboeru Otona no Kanji Renshuu Kanzenhan is no different.  However, if you’re currently studying Japanese and have a year or two under your belt, chances are you’ll be able to utilize a good portion of this program without too much hassle.  And if your ultimate goal is to take the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test), then this game will definitely help.  Nazotte has 2261 kanji, grouped by levels 1 through 10.  If you can’t read any Japanese at all, don’t bother with this game.  My advice would be to wait for Ubisoft’s My Japanese Coach or take Japanese in school.  Then pick this up.

When you start the game, it asks for your birthdate so that it knows how old you are and then guesses what your proficiency level is based on your age.  You can also take a test to determine your level.  Although I can read about 300 kanji or so, I decided to skip the test and start at level one.  My reasoning was that I can READ a lot more kanji than I can write, so if I really wanted to get the most out of this program, I should start at the very beginning.  It teaches you five kanji at a time.  You can practice writing them as many times as you want.  For every 20 characters you learn, you unlock the corresponding test, which you can take as many times as you like, as well.  When it comes to learning kanji, or anything for that matter,  repetition is the key.  This program definitely lets you repeat things over and over and over in order to drill the characters into your head.  It shows you the different readings or pronunciations for each character, as well.  Obviously, the only thing it doesn’t teach you is its definition in English.  If you’re using this program to learn your kanji, you probably have a kanji dictionary or know how to look up kanji on the internet in order to ascertain their meanings and compounds.

In addition to the daily training and the tests, there is an option to write a kanji in the box and then you can practice it independently.  This is useful if you’re having a particularly difficult time with a character.  You can also create your own drills with whichever kanji you want.  That way you can focus on the ones that you need help with and not waste your time with the ones that you know inside-out and backwards and forwards.  Also grouped by level, you can practice reading, writing, stroke order, and tracing (perhaps for penmanship?).  If you need more time for any given character, you can add it to your custom drills.

There’s some fun stuff, too.  You can play picross, but instead of pictures, kanji are formed.  Then there are games where you have to fill in train station names or write the name of a certain area of Japan.  Since I’m not very far along in my training, I haven’t unlocked all the games.  You can also trace over the words and kanji for poems.  One game I found required me to fill in the blanks with either a hiragana character (their alphabet) or another kanji to create compounds.  There are other options which, honestly, I haven’t been able to figure out yet.  As I progress with my study of the Japanese language (along with my kanji), I’m certain to figure them out.

All in all, this kanji training game is easier to use than previously released games.  As I said before, if you don’t know any Japanese, this is not going to help you.  However, if you’re currently studying Japanese or want to brush up on your kanji, this is an excellent user-friendly resource.  It’s important to remember, though, that languages are difficult to retain if they aren’t used, so make sure you use the many features that allow you to review previously studied characters.