Showing posts with label Kanji. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kanji. Show all posts

Friday, April 4, 2014

Nouben ・ のうべん














Nouben is a Japanese dictionary website with a twist...

Not only can you look up words and see example sentences, but you can look in detail at the Kanji for different levels of the JLPT exam and also take quizzes!


















There is a great deal more to explore too and I think that it is a really useful learning tool.

Monday, March 31, 2014

Mysterious Thief Nekopi ・ 怪盗ねこぴ




The Nekopi website is designed for Japanese elemetary school children and so the site is all in Japanese, but the language used is simple and there are furigana over the Kanji. 

You can learn about Japan (and the rest of the world) in Japanese and through various quizzes and games. To start you off here are some links to various pages...

108 Proverbs for example -
石の上にも三年 (for when you are doing something very difficult and want to give up trying - keep trying for just a little bit longer もう少しがんばってみてください!)

Kanji writing practice - these can be printed out 
(look for きのうのこたえ and then )


Games

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

japanese-lessons.com ・ にほんごのおべんきょう
























This is a good site for beginner learners of Japanese.

The explanations are in English and the examples are mostly in romaji.

The resource pages are also very good and as well as hiragana and katakana practice sheets, there are even some  practice sheets for writing Kanji to download.




Monday, March 24, 2014

Genki Practice Exercises ・ げんき(練習)


Genki Exercises are free on-line quizzes produced by Lyon College in Arkansas, USA. They are designed to be used with the Genki Textbook and cover lessons 1 through 23 and although there are no instructions on the website it is fairly easy to understand how the quizzes work. (Some are click and drag and some are multiple choice).


The Japan Times, who publish the Genki Textbook have page samples and audio samples on their dedicated Genki website. Their page of free Self Study Resources is impressive and I particularly like My Kikitori.

[Note for teachers of Japanese ]
 
The Japan Times Publications Department will send free examination copies of Japanese language textbooks and workbooks to teachers who wish to consider adopting them for their classes. (Delivery is through overseas distributors so every country in the world is not eligible for this offer).


What is the Genki textbook? Here is the official description -

"GENKI is a highly acclaimed series of integrated resources for learning elementary Japanese through a well-balanced approach to all four language skill areas—speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Divided into two volumes, the 23 lessons of GENKI introduce students to a wide range of elementary grammar points, nearly 300 kanji, and approximately 1,100 vocabulary terms. GENKI also incorporates many words and expressions that are closely tied to students’ everyday lives, and provides a full lineup communicative practice. GENKI is designed to make it easier for instructors to prepare student-centered lessons that are as fun as they are effective—another reason why GENKI is used in many Japanese language courses around the world."

Wednesday, March 19, 2014






Skritter is designed to help you learn to write Japanese (kanji) or Chinese characters.

As well as the Skritter website there are i-pad, i-phone and android apps.

The apps, naturally, cost money, but there is a demo page on the website which give a good idea of the basic package and, if you decide to sign up, there is a weeks' free trial during which you can cancel your subscription.

Skritter is not the same as picking up a pen and actually writing, but it is good fun and saves paper!



Thursday, March 13, 2014

The Japanese Kanji Aptitude Test ・ 日本漢字能力検験


This is an example from the easiest (first year) paper
There is a good Wikipedia article about The Japanese Kanji Aptitude Test but it does not mention that in order to use the Japanese website and use the free resources your Kanji reading skills need to be very good already.

So if you would like to try out the different levels of free practice papers here is some help -

Year 1  少学校 Primary School(10 級)
Question Paper  this is the link to open the question pdf
Answer Paper this is the link to open the answer pdf
Link for practice books for all levels

Year 2  少学校
Question Paper 
Answer Paper

Year 3 少学校
Question Paper 
Answer Paper

Year 4 少学校
Question Paper 
Answer Paper

Year 5 少学校
Question Paper 
Answer Paper

Year 6 中学校 Middle School, Secondary School
Question Paper 
Answer Paper

Year 7   中学校 
Question Paper 
Answer Paper

Year 8  高学校 High School
Question Paper 
Answer Paper

Year 9  高学校 ・ 大学 High School and University
Question Paper 
Answer Paper

Year 10  大学 University(1級)
These questions are very difficult!
Question Paper
Answer Paper

Question Paper
Answer Paper

The official practice books are available on Amazon, but I think only from Amazon.jp