Japanese Writing Practice: Nihongo Nikki Note

With computers, cellphones, e-mail, and whatnot, is Japanese handwriting over-rated these days? It seems as if even the Japanese are having trouble writing by hand nowadays.

From beginners to advanced being able to write even close to native Japanese level is a quite difficult, if not impossible task. However, being able to get your point across in a legible and meaningful manner is not. Enter Nihongo Nikki Note from ALC (にほんご日記ノート – ISBN: 978-4-7574-1555-3). Nihongo Nikki Note is a multi-language writing guide designed to teach you basic grammar principles through daily diary writing practice.

Writing Japanese by hand, combined with on-screen composition and maybe a service like Lang-8, would be an excellent way to improve your Japanese writing. World of Choko Choko has a wonderful review of Nihongo Nikki Note, while Nihongo Nikki Note can be ordered at beNippon for worldwide shipping.

Kanji Fail: Shokotan-hen

The other morning multi-talented and cosplay loving Japanese idol/singer/illustrator, Shoko Nakagawa (中川 翔子) was on TV, where she discussed a concert she held at the Budokan in Tokyo. The concert series was entitled, “Cho-Donyoku Matsuri” (Super Insatiable Festival???), but the tickets were ended up being printed wrong (see above).

If you look closely, 貧 (hin, bin, mazu-shii) is used instead of 貪 (tan, ton, musabo-ru). So if you haven’t broken out your Japanese electronic dictionaries yet, the meaning on the ticket means roughly, “wanting to live in extreme poverty!”

Wow, talk about a kanji fail! Remember kids, anyone can make mistakes. But, I wonder if some poor proofreader got shown the door.

Image source [heyheytaxi]

New Kanzen Master JLPT N1 Kanji

Continuing where N2 Kanji left off, is the New Kanzen Master JLPT N1 Kanji textbook (新完全マスター 漢字 日本語能力試験 N1, ISBN: 978-4-88319-546-6) the newest title from the 3A Corporation.

In this Japanese language kanji text, you’ll study the remaining 677 Japanese kanji characters’ reading and usage needed for the N1 level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. 3A’s editors have rethought this kanji guide to provide an improved method for studying kanji and kanji compounds, including teaching the learner to understand the meanings of unknown kanji characters through the use of challenge quizzes.

New Kanzen Master JLPT N1 Kanji is available through many online outlets. Buy your copy before the spring rush. With over 100,000 JLPT N1 applicants in Dec. 2010, 3A may have a hard time printing enough copies for the world.

Improve your Japanese handwriting with the DS.

The Nintendo DS series of portable gaming systems was revolutionary in that not only were games produced, but there are also a wide variety of learning and informational “games.” For those studying Japanese, there are plenty of options for learning vocabulary and kanji, however they’re mostly geared toward Japanese nationals.

One of the great features of learning Japanese on the Nintendo DS is the touch screen that allows you to write the Japanese characters directly on the screen instead of using soft-keys. Utilizing this feature there are several titles that teach you how to write Japanese characters more beautifully. After all, writing Japanese characters is an art.

DS Bimoji Traning

Using the special brush-like stylus included with the game, you learn how to write individual kanji characters with the proper stroke order and proportions. It’s like having your own shu-ji teacher in your pocket.

Empitsu de Oku no Hosomichi DS

In Japanese, “penji” is the word used to describe the “art” of writing beautiful Japanese characters with a pen or pencil on paper. Empitsu (pencil) de Oku no Hosomichi DS teaches you how to write the various hiragana, katakana, and kanji characters as if you were writing out the characters on paper.

U-Can Penji Training DS (with stylus)

U-Can is a certification agency in Japan, that created this Penji learning title. Using the special drills, learn how to improve the look of your kanji characters, and impress your Japanese teacher.

There are tons of titles on the Nintendo DS to aid in your Japanese language studies. Find many of them in the Nintendo DS section at beNippon.

New Kanzen Master JLPT N2 Kanji

3A Corporation, the publishers of the extremely popular Kanzen Master series of study guides for all levels of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (日本語能力試験) has finally started to publish study text based on the new JLPT exams.

This first book entitled Shin-Kanzen Master Kanji Nihongo Noryoku Shiken N2 (ISBN: 978-4-88319-547-3) is for students of Japanese language wanting to acquire more advanced kanji and kanji based vocabulary. This textbook is designed to give the Japanese learner a well balanced basic level of kanji ability for the 1046 kanji expected to appear on the JLPT N2 examination.

Given the popularity of the previous Kanzen Master Japanese textbooks, the New Kanzen Master series is sure to be a hit with Japanese language learners.

Memorize Kanji the Japanese Way.

How do you study Japanese and kanji these days? While most people have computers, and use software such as Anki do you carry a notebook computer with you everyday? I don’t bother, it’s too heavy and I don’t like carrying around a laptop bag with me everywhere.

While an exchange student in Japan, I came across the ingenious method for memorizing that the Japanese students use to study, and it works great for learning kanji… the old fashioned way.

These memorization kits are just small blank cards (90x35mm), with two pieces of clear red and green colored plastic sheets. To use the cards, you write your Japanese sentence or hiragana/katakana/kanji word on the card with the information you are trying to memorize in green or red. For example, you can write a kanji character in pencil or pen, then in red or green you can write the furigana or pronunciation. When you cover the card with one of the included clear plastic sheets, the furigana disappears from view.

These memorization word cards are small and can be carried anywhere in your pocket, and best of all no batteries are required! They’re sold at beNippon for a great price.

Casio EX-word XD-B7200: Part 2, white is the new black.

This second post in our EX-word XD-B7200 series we’re going to take a look at the new design of the 2011 Casio EX-word XD-B series electronic dictionaries.

Starting with the release of Casio’s XD-500 in 1996, Casio has celebrated a long 15 year history ending 2010 with 7 consecutive years as Japan’s #1 electronic dictionary. 2011 brings the EX-word dictionaries into a new era with a complete redesign, which is consequently the first major full redesign in recent years.

In short, everything you’ve come to know about the design of the EX-word is different. First of all, the overall appearance is more book-like, as if you have a paper dictionary with endless pages in your bag. Gone are the sharp corners, everything has been rounded off making it comfortable in the hand as well as pleasant to the eyes. The outer shell which originally was a blend of alloy and plastic parts was replaced with a smooth, glossy plastic shell. In fact, while last year’s English version the XD-A9800 was the only foreign language version to sport a white shell, this year all foreign language models came molded in glossy white, like it or not. However, the Chinese get an additional red glossy version, and a few of the Japanese “lifestyle” models come in a textured finish. Those looking to stand out with want to opt for the XD-B10000 continuing its Sapphire Black color scheme.

Taking a look at the bottom of the device, you can see all the labels for the ports. What has changed the most is everything has been flattened out, from the battery bay to the port areas. It’s much more cleanly designed, and gets a huge thumbs up!

On the right side we can see the stylus bay towards the screen hinge. Next to that is the must-have lanyard loophole, for your favorite character lanyard. And finally, the micro-SD slot cover. I must throw up a complaint here, as the XD-A series cover seemed a lot more sturdy. The XD-B cover is a little flimsy, but with this design they were able to reduce the micro-SD slot protrusion. Granted, I’ve yet to even open the micro-SD slot, so I don’t see it as a major problem.

Here on the left side, there’s the 3.5mm headphone port. The switch next to it allows you to flip the output between the internal speaker and headphone port, I never understood why this switch is needed or even necessary, but oh well. Finally, the USB mini port allows for a USB connection to the computer from which you can power the denshi jisho in a pinch (does not charge, though).

Aside from the outer shell, the keyboard also underwent some drastic changes. Along the quick-launch button row at the top, the power button, previously round and metallic, has been plasticized in gray and is now square. The quick launch buttons are also a grayish plastic now. Additionally, the bottom controls which were previously individual buttons have been integrated into rounded rockers. The right side houses the selection navigation, with offset sound engagement and “back/list” buttons. While the left houses the internal speaker, with (clockwise) history, layout, jump, text size buttons; the page up/down buttons are offset. This redesign has allowed the keyboard to become smaller while keeping a usable size. With these new rounded rockers, I appreciate the tactile feel when pressing the buttons. The XD-A series was “mushy,” but the new buttons feel “stiffer” when pressed.

As we have seen, the Casio XD-B7200 EX-word has undergone major design changes this year. The overall look is very nice, and I appreciate the desire to remove the bottom protrusions, along with the slightly smaller size. On the downside, the new shell feels somewhat cheap compared to the EX-word XD-A’s metal cover. However, if you carry you denshijisho in a case you probably won’t notice either way.

Order your Caiso EX-word XD-B7200 from beNippon, they carry all XD-B foreign language models at great prices.

Casio EX-word XD-B7200: Part 1, the unboxing.

We have in front of us the box of Casio’s newest French/Japanese language electronic dictionary, the EX-word XD-B7200. Which is the successor of the popular A7200 series for 2011. It’s got a really nice simple white/blue design with tiny squares. This box sets the stage for the new model inside. Let’s take a closer look.

When you first open the box, you’ll find these nicely wrapped plastic bags. In the picture we can see that Japanese language user’s manual and usb cable. Time to unpack.

Inside the box is everything to get you started. There’s no need to rush to the store because the EX-word comes with headphones (3.5mm miniplug, you can use your own cans if desired), usb cable for computer hookup, two AA alkaline batteries, and the owner’s manual (Japanese language, but there should be a multilingual quickstart guide). Oh yes, can’t forget to mention there’s the electronic dictionary in there too.

And finally, here we have the climax. The XD-B7200 in all its powered off glory. Once you get it out of its plastic protection this slab of plastic and integrated circuitry is ready to help you unleash your Japanese language potential.

Next time we’ll take a closer look the newly designed EX-word XD-B7200. Yes, white is the new black for 2011.

The new Casio EX-word XD-B7200 and other foreign language electronic dictionaries can be ordered at beNippon.