You may remember that I started learning Japanese some time ago. Especially the multitude of different characters make it difficulty to learn the language. Compare learning English with its 26 language characters to learning Japanese which has thousands. Even if you do not have to know all of them, you are still stuck with learning hundreds of different Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji characters and their meaning.
Keolah Learns Japanese is an Open Source Japanese learning software for the Windows operating system that is most useful for students who already know the basics of the language. New students who do not know any characters won't be able to use the program efficiently as it requires at least basic knowledge of the three alphabets.
Users who already know at least one of the alphabets can use the program for various tasks. This includes practicing the characters of each alphabet, translating words from Japanese into English and vice versa, and conjugating words.
Depending on the selection, lessons are either displayed as multiple choice tests or direct input tests.
The options can be used to change the screen resolution of the window and, more importantly, the difficulty. The default difficulty is set to first grade which an be changed all the way up to high school and advanced.
Japanese students can use Keolah Learns Japanese to practice Japanese vocabulary and their Japanese skills. Probably the biggest drawback right now is that the learning software does not start at the very beginning. It would be great if if would offer options to learn the alphabets and vocabulary before running the tests.
For now, this is not the case and that's why users need a solid understanding of Japanese to make use of the program. And since it is possible to translate the other way round, it may be useful for Japanese students who want to learn English.
Students of Japanese can download the latest version of the Open Source software from the Sourceforge web page.
Another excellent program for Japanese students is Kanji Sketch Pad which can be used to learn how Japanese symbols are drawn correctly.Advertisement
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Ghacks is a technology news blog that was founded in 2005 by Martin Brinkmann. It has since then become one of the most popular tech news sites on the Internet with five authors and regular contributions from freelance writers.