Good already, could be even better.
Would be good to add audio playback of character to reinforce learning. Would also be good to be able to more easily sub-divide each group further for more bitesized learning.
Best-of-breed kanji-learning app
I bought Kanji LS Touch 1.4.1 a bit over a week ago, and it has been an epiphany for me on how kanji learning apps should work. I love it.
There is some limited overlap between this app and the excellent and free Kotoba! app, but I prefer Kanji LS Touch by far for studying kanji systematically. In practice mode it allows you to paint the kanji with your finger, and you can turn cuing on or off. In cuing mode, it shows a faded version of the kanji in the background (either system font or handwriting font) that you want to paint, and indicates the next stroke and where it starts. You can and should turn that off after a few practices so as to exercise your own memory, but you can always toggle it back on. The kanji set you want to study is highly configureable, as is the way you test yourself. Generally useful predefined kanji sets come with the app (grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, secondary school kanji, JLPT N5, N4, N3, N2, N1, all joyo kanji, and all kanji (over 5,000), as well as custom sets that you create and import yourself via a free service such as dropbox.
As mentioned, the flashcard tests you set up are highly configureable, with reading to kanji, kanji to reading, meaning to kanji, kanji to meaning, fill in the missing kanji, etc. with options for either timed multiple choice or your typed-in answer or painted-in kanji. When you paint in the kanji, you end up being the ultimate judge of whether the kanji is right or wrong. To decide, you touch the "solve" button, and the kanji you just painted is displayed alongside the correct kanji (again, toggle-able between system and handwriting font). But one of the refinements that make this an absolutely best-of-breed kanji learning app is the "stroke" button you can push to check your work while you're on this screen. Push it once, and you can see both the correct first stroke and where it starts juxtaposed against your first stroke and where you started it. Pushing this button repeatedly, you can step your way through the entire kanji, making sure you got all the strokes right. If you got the order or direction wrong, you'll notice it, and if you left one out, even a "minor" one, you'll really notice it when the highlighted strokes get out of sync as you step through. And even if you got it right, this serves as one additional reinforcement of the correct stroke order. Again, it is up to you how stringently you want to grade yourself. If I'm off with the proportions, but get the stroke order right, I score it as "right" even though an elementary teacher might mark it "wrong." But if stroke order doesn't matter to you, you're free to ignore even that.
Also, as with many flashcard kanji learning systems, you can turn on the Leitner system, which basically keeps track of which kanji you're having more trouble with, so that you can study them more.
My only quibble with this app is that the choice of kanji-related vocabulary is occasionally curious in containing seldom-used words.
Many will be disinclined to purchase a $12 app when a very good app like Kotoba! is already available for free. A miser by nature myself, I can identify with this attitude, but it is a false economy. How much is your time worth? Kanji are absolutely essential in advancing your Japanese language skills, but they are a high mountain to climb. You should give yourself every advantage for mastering them efficiently!
There is some limited overlap between this app and the excellent and free Kotoba! app, but I prefer Kanji LS Touch by far for studying kanji systematically. In practice mode it allows you to paint the kanji with your finger, and you can turn cuing on or off. In cuing mode, it shows a faded version of the kanji in the background (either system font or handwriting font) that you want to paint, and indicates the next stroke and where it starts. You can and should turn that off after a few practices so as to exercise your own memory, but you can always toggle it back on. The kanji set you want to study is highly configureable, as is the way you test yourself. Generally useful predefined kanji sets come with the app (grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, secondary school kanji, JLPT N5, N4, N3, N2, N1, all joyo kanji, and all kanji (over 5,000), as well as custom sets that you create and import yourself via a free service such as dropbox.
As mentioned, the flashcard tests you set up are highly configureable, with reading to kanji, kanji to reading, meaning to kanji, kanji to meaning, fill in the missing kanji, etc. with options for either timed multiple choice or your typed-in answer or painted-in kanji. When you paint in the kanji, you end up being the ultimate judge of whether the kanji is right or wrong. To decide, you touch the "solve" button, and the kanji you just painted is displayed alongside the correct kanji (again, toggle-able between system and handwriting font). But one of the refinements that make this an absolutely best-of-breed kanji learning app is the "stroke" button you can push to check your work while you're on this screen. Push it once, and you can see both the correct first stroke and where it starts juxtaposed against your first stroke and where you started it. Pushing this button repeatedly, you can step your way through the entire kanji, making sure you got all the strokes right. If you got the order or direction wrong, you'll notice it, and if you left one out, even a "minor" one, you'll really notice it when the highlighted strokes get out of sync as you step through. And even if you got it right, this serves as one additional reinforcement of the correct stroke order. Again, it is up to you how stringently you want to grade yourself. If I'm off with the proportions, but get the stroke order right, I score it as "right" even though an elementary teacher might mark it "wrong." But if stroke order doesn't matter to you, you're free to ignore even that.
Also, as with many flashcard kanji learning systems, you can turn on the Leitner system, which basically keeps track of which kanji you're having more trouble with, so that you can study them more.
My only quibble with this app is that the choice of kanji-related vocabulary is occasionally curious in containing seldom-used words.
Many will be disinclined to purchase a $12 app when a very good app like Kotoba! is already available for free. A miser by nature myself, I can identify with this attitude, but it is a false economy. How much is your time worth? Kanji are absolutely essential in advancing your Japanese language skills, but they are a high mountain to climb. You should give yourself every advantage for mastering them efficiently!
Show less
Exactly what I wanted
I love the fact that I can write and compare my stroke order for the kanji. I was previously using an SRS and handwriting the kanji and even though I might get the kanji right, I'd wonder whether the stroke order was correct and would have to flick through my textbook which just became tedious.
It might seem a little pricey but it's definitely worth it. I'm currently working through "Remembering the Kanji" and I use it all the time.
It might seem a little pricey but it's definitely worth it. I'm currently working through "Remembering the Kanji" and I use it all the time.
Show less
Perfect app for learning kanji
The test modes are great for consolidating your knowledge, especially of writing kanji in direct input mode; answers are played back against the correct stroke order and you can opt to repeat any mistakes at the end. Starting with multiple choice by meaning and then by reading, and working in both directions, before progressing to direct input makes for painless and effective learning.
Show less
Thank you so much!
This app is the best thing out there now for learning kanji. I find the interface to be elegant and intuitive. I look forward to any improvements that you make in the future but in the meantime I will enjoy the app as it is now.
Horrible
I wish I hadn't wasted my money, the colour scheme hurts my eyes after about 10 minutes of use. Limited prefs e.g. no option to turn off English readings. Really badly designed both in form and functionality. Try KanjiBox for serious study, drills and quizzes plus a decent dictionary app like Midori instead.
Show less
Please reconsider the graphics, improved app loadtime.
This is a big downgrade in the graphics department for this version.
All the icons are now the same colour making them less distinguishable, the graphic-stroke is poorly done (photoshop does this badly at the wrong settings and selection) creating a very jittery white line that would normally be clear, in fact the extra white separator lines added make the app look worse, the "i" in that font looks amateurish, the difference between the icon that switches between print and handwriting font now is almost indistinguishable, that extra-burnt and ultra-metal glossy button effect - what were you thinking? - even in the example screenshot, you can see how "before, ahead, previous, future, precendence" is very hard to read given white text on white highlight.
The upside and purely on the programming side, is the app now loads significantly quicker.
I'm removing it and restoring previous version - it's just all too ugly. I hope for a dev rethink.
All the icons are now the same colour making them less distinguishable, the graphic-stroke is poorly done (photoshop does this badly at the wrong settings and selection) creating a very jittery white line that would normally be clear, in fact the extra white separator lines added make the app look worse, the "i" in that font looks amateurish, the difference between the icon that switches between print and handwriting font now is almost indistinguishable, that extra-burnt and ultra-metal glossy button effect - what were you thinking? - even in the example screenshot, you can see how "before, ahead, previous, future, precendence" is very hard to read given white text on white highlight.
The upside and purely on the programming side, is the app now loads significantly quicker.
I'm removing it and restoring previous version - it's just all too ugly. I hope for a dev rethink.
Show less
Great app!!
I was looking for a tool to study Japanese that would allow me to do more than just memorize flashcards and this app is exactly what I wanted. It allows for practicing writing kanji and not just learning meanings (although it does that too). It has stroke order and allows you to test yourself without seeing the character first although in the practice you have the option of seeing it or not. This app is a bit hard to figure out at first but the programmer answered my emails extremely quickly and helpfully. The only real downside is it's a bit pricey but as someone who usually only downloads free apps I think it is totally worth it.
Show less
Not too shabby
It's a bit overpriced for what it is, but it's decent. The UI could be improved a bit. I think it would be nice if the program itself could decide whether your input was correct or not--at least in the practice window where it shows you where to draw the lines. Instead, you have to tell it whether you were right or not. And it would be nice if you didn't have to go to the settings menu to change what kind of test you wanted to do and what set of kanji to test. When you start a new test it should open up a window asking you what kanji set to use and what type of test to do, maybe even how many characters to test. The data could be populated by the defaults set in the settings menu, but it should be something you don't have to go to the settings menu to change.
Also, I just opened it up again after having closed it and now when I check my answers it doesn't show the right answer, so I don't know if I'm right or wrong. This bug needs to be fixed.
Also, I just opened it up again after having closed it and now when I check my answers it doesn't show the right answer, so I don't know if I'm right or wrong. This bug needs to be fixed.
Show less
Best iPod kanji app
Very cleverly overcomes the iPod's crappy touch resolution to make practicing writing kanji possible.
Needs the ability to edit lists from within the app. Importing custom (but static) lists is not quite good enough, especially if you like to come up with mnemonics while studying.
Still, it blows away the iPod kanji competition.
Needs the ability to edit lists from within the app. Importing custom (but static) lists is not quite good enough, especially if you like to come up with mnemonics while studying.
Still, it blows away the iPod kanji competition.
Show less
