Anzan Zen: Mental Math

Anzan Zen is a calm mental math trainer built around flash anzan, the Japanese abacus drill: numbers flash one at a time, you add them in your head and say the total out loud. Climb 20 levels, the 10 kyu to 10 dan of the Japanese exam: from two 2-digit numbers up to fifteen 3-digit numbers flashed in 3 seconds. FLASH ANZAN, 20 LEVELS Numbers appear one by one and vanish. After the last one, give the sum of them all. • Levels 1 to 20, from 10 kyu (two 2-digit numbers in 4 seconds) up to 10 dan (fifteen 3-digit numbers in 3 seconds) • Custom: 3, 5, 10 or 15 numbers, 1 to 3 digits, 1.5, 1.0, 0.7 or 0.4 seconds per number The levels follow the Japanese flash anzan exam table. They are not an official certification. One wrong total ends the run. Every level and setting keeps its own record: how many totals in a row you got right. DICTATION Nothing on screen. The phone reads the numbers aloud, one by one, the way an abacus teacher calls them out in class. Listen, add them up in your head and say the total when it stops. Choose how many numbers, how many digits and the pace: slow, normal or fast. Levels 1 to 6 run from 6 kyu (seven 1-digit numbers) to 1 kyu (ten numbers of 2 to 4 digits, lengths mixed within a round), following the Japanese dictation exam table. They are not an official certification. × ÷, TIMES TABLES AND BEYOND One problem at a time, like 7 × 8 or 56 ÷ 7. Say the answer or type it, and the next one comes straight away. One mistake, or running out of time, ends the run. • Times tables: the 2 and 5 tables, then 3 and 4, 6 and 7, 8 and 9, all of them mixed, and division by the tables • Bigger problems: 2-digit × 1-digit, division by a 1-digit number with a 2-digit answer, 3-digit × and ÷ 1-digit, 2-digit × and ÷ 2-digit CHAIN, ON SCREEN OR READ ALOUD A running total that never sits still. Start with 7 + 5, then × 12, − 9, ÷ 4. The total is never shown: hold it in your head and answer each step within 10 seconds. Play it on screen, or pick Audio: the phone reads each step aloud and the screen stays blank. ANSWER BY VOICE Just say the number. No tapping, no hunting for keys, so your eyes and attention stay on the numbers. Speech recognition is provided by Apple; Anzan Zen does not record or store your audio. Somewhere quiet? The keypad is always there. WHO IT IS FOR • Soroban and abacus students who want flash anzan and dictation practice at home • Anyone working toward the next grade and a faster mental count • Kids building mental arithmetic and addition speed • Kids learning their times tables, and parents practising multiplication and division with them • Adults who want a few focused minutes a day to keep the brain sharp • Former abacus learners getting their old speed back CALM BY DESIGN No noise, no clutter, nothing competing with the numbers. Available in English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) and Russian. FREE AND PRO Free: both chains, Flash levels 1 to 5, Dictation level 1, every times table in × ÷ with its division, and voice answers in every game. Pro, one purchase with no subscription: Flash levels 6 to 20 with your own settings, Dictation levels 2 to 6, and the bigger × ÷ problems. Made by the studio behind Math Zen.