Kanji in Motion is a program for learning to read, in a game-like way, the characters of the two sets of kana, plus the 2,136 Jōyō Kanji. The task of the player-learner is to quickly identify characters that move across a playing field and match them to their respective reading and meaning.
## About This Game
Brief description
Kanji in Motion (KiM) is a program for learning to read, in a game-like
way, the characters of the two sets of relatively simple Japanese phonetic
characters known as hiragana and katakana (together, they are called kana),
plus the 2,136 Chinese-like ideographic characters known as the J ōyō Kanji.
The goal of the player-learner is to quickly identify and “capture” previously
learned characters that move across a playing field. This learning game can be
played either as a game in itself or as learning reinforcement and review with
the book Japanese Kanji and Kana (newly revised 2012). The current version
of the program runs under Windows and macOS. The next version is planned for
Android systems.
Background
Kanji textbooks do not fully prepare the learner for the many ways in which
kanji confront us in today’s media. Why? Because when reviewing characters in
a textbook, they always appear in the same sequence in which they were
learned, with no variation in presentation. As a result, it may take a moment
of remembering to recognize a previously learned character when it pops up in
an unfamiliar context, and sometimes writing disappears before it can be
leisurely read: signs seen from a moving vehicle, subtitles in movies,
captions and “crawlers” under video images, and karaoke lyrics – they all go
by too fast to ponder over, much less look up. That’s what makes it so
valuable today to train yourself not just to grasp the readings and meanings
of characters, but to do so with speed and facility. And this is just the
thinking behind Kanji in Motion (KiM): to have the player quickly recognize
and “capture” already learned characters as they swirl around, in a playful
approximation of the kind of text that flashes by everywhere in Japan.
Concept
Five to ten characters freely chosen by the player or by random selection
float around on a playing field, and the player uses the mouse to drag them to
their romanization (kana) or their readings and meanings (kanji) along the
edge of the field, all within a prescribed time limit. Any of three different
time limits can be selected, according to the ability and reaction time of the
player.
Data
The data are based upon Japanese Kanji and Kana : A Complete Guide to the
Japanese Writing System (newly revised 2012) by Wolfgang Hadamitzky and Mark
Spahn. Included are the two phonetic character sets hiragana and katakana,
with the pronunciation and romanization of each character, and the 2,136 Jōyō
Kanji (Chinese ideographic characters), each given with one or two important
readings (displayed in either kana or roman letters, as specified by the
player) and meanings. The selection of characters and how they are to be
written is based on the official list of 2,136 kanji known as the Jōyō Kanji
(“everyday-use kanji”). The sequence of the kanji is the same as in Japanese
Kanji and Kana . The kana are arranged according to the Japanese alphabet
Aiueo.
Functions
* Selection of five to ten characters per game, taken from one of the hiragana, katakana, or kanji tables.
* Selection of five to ten characters randomly, taken from one of the hiragana, katakana, or kanji tables.
* Displaying kanji readings either in kana or in romanization.
* Selection of any of three time limits.
* Automatic upgrading of level of difficulty upon successful repetition of characters selected randomly.
* Immediate and automatic display of results for each round of play.
* Help texts and glossary.
* Turning background audio ON/OFF.
For whom?
Beginners, intermediate students, and professionals alike can all benefit from
KiM.
Minimum System Requirements | Recommended System Requirements | |
CPU | 1.2GHz | 1.2GHz |
RAM | 2 GB RAM | 2 GB RAM |
OS | Windows 7 or later | Windows 7 or later |
Graphics Card | Intel HD Graphics 5300 | Intel HD Graphics 5300 |
HDD Space | 200 MB available space | 200 MB available space |
Minimum System Requirements | Recommended System Requirements | |
CPU | 1.2GHz | 1.2GHz |
RAM | 2 GB RAM | 2 GB RAM |
OS | Mac OS X 10.12+ | Mac OS X 10.12+ |
Graphics Card | Intel Iris Graphics 5100 | Intel Iris Graphics 5100 |
HDD Space | 200 MB available space | 200 MB available space |