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Nintendo DS: 200 Mannin no Kanken

Nintendo DS: 200 Mannin no Kanken

This software is a great way to help improve your kanji writing ability. I made this video showcasing some of the quizzes:

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 4:10 pm and is filed under Japanese, 電子辞書. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “Nintendo DS: 200 Mannin no Kanken”

  1. Great demo Clay. You sound like a radio/tv/documentary announcer/narrator. Okay I guess I carried away with the past sentence.

    The kanji practice program looks very interesting. I’ll keep it in mind when I progress far enough in my studies.

    またれんらくします。

  2. Thanks!

    It is a really nice program. I have a few others that I am working on a video for that also look promising. The DS is great for kanji practice since it is portable and has a stylus.

  3. Whew!

    What a great video. When I first picked up a DS I thought “this would be great for my kanji” and once I found out there was software for that I immediately bought one. My 200 nin no kankan just came in today and I’ve been fiddling around and feeling woe-fully lost!

    Now at least I have some idea what I’m supposed to be doing with every button. Woo!

  4. Thanks Brittany!

    I’d love to hear what you think of it after a week or so of playing with it.

  5. Hey, I would like to thank you for the video too. but also would hope brittany writes to say how she likes it!

    have fun!

  6. Alrighty! Haha. Well, one month later and I totally love it.

    Overall I think it’s a really good piece of software and definetly worth the money. It’s not super entertaining - there are supposedly more ‘game’ like ones out there that I’d like to try - but it’s really addicting. I like playing it as much as I like playing any of my actual games.

    I have seen an improvement in my kanji skills and also in my vocabulary. Because I’m learning Japanese as a second language, I don’t always know what the meaning of a new kanji is. So to learn a new kanji I have to learn new words.

    The only complaints that I have is that the “Practice” sections are not shuffled or randomly generated. That means every time I go to practice writing my level ten kanji, the first sentence has “sensei” and the following sentences are in the same order. Eventually I had to start skipping through to the middle or else I would have never gotten to the end!

    Also, it doesn’t tell you the stroke order of the kanji. Most of the time you can figure it out if you have a working knowledge of how ‘typical’ kanji are written. The game also pays attention to stroke order when you write. If you write the strokes wrong, you might not get the kanji you want. Simple trial and error usually helps you figure it out. However, a few times I had to go look up stroke order online because I could not figure it out and the game would not recognize the kanji I was trying to write.

    Overall: 4.5 stars/5 stars

    If you already have a Nintendo DS, you should definetly get this game to help you with your Japanese. If you’ve been thinking about buying one, I think this game is enough to make it worth it. I had no intentions of buying a Nintendo until I realized I could use it to help my kanji and honestly I feel like I have gotten my $250 worth (for the system and game). The next thing on my wishlist is the Kanji Dictionary for the DS and I will be unstoppable!

  7. Hi Brittany! Great review.

    >> The only complaints that I have is that the “Practice” sections are not shuffled or randomly generated.

    Yes, why did they do that?! I love the practice section, but having the questions in order really defeats the purpose.

    I lost my recharger so I haven’t turned on the DS for two months. I really miss that game.

    Well, off to search for the recharger.

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