Learn languages the entertaining way

Anpanman screenshot.

Japanese: Nintendo DS games

The makers of Super Mario Brothers turn language drills into play (Play Asia lists more than a dozen games). Anpanman, the cute bread roll character, helps beginners with hiragana and katakana mini-games (US$60). In the more advanced Kanji no Wataridori (US$40), players kill ninjas by writing kanji and outwitting bosses. The stylus recognition can be a bit off but “once you find your handwriting getting better, you’ll find the system much easier to work with," according to one customer review.

How good is your chinese?

Chinese: Facebook applications

It’s ironic that Facebook is sometimes banned in China, because its free language acquisition apps are superb. You can compete with friends in a How good is your Chinese quiz based on national exam questions. Chinese Flashcards is “a very simple app, but it draws on a wealth of hanzi to keep our minds worked," according to one user on the Facebook app’s Wall.

Thai: Textbook for gay tourists

The vocab begins with, “You have a nice body: kun hùn dii” and grows progressively racier. "Even if you have had no prior knowledge of Thai, this book clearly presents the sound system, shows the Thai script, and gives quite a bit of background from gay Thais about life in their country," according to reviewer T. Berry on Amazon. (US$11.86, product page)

Dictionary Switcher.

Indic languages: Firefox translation apps

A collection of free Firefox apps that simplifies Web surfing in India. Dictionary Switcher is another that allows you to translate any text to Hindi by highlighting and right clicking.

Vietnamese iPhone app

Vietnamese: iPhone apps

There’s a Vietnamese iPhone app for every learning level. WordPower Lite (US$0.99) delivers a daily word to your phone. The free World Nomads app provides basic phrases and travel resources. English Vietnamese Dictionary (US$5.50) has a simple search function and speaking module with more than 100,000 words.

Click the image for the video.

Korean: Hangul rap song

Who knew the complicated Korean alphabet could be rendered into an addictive rap ditty? “Oh, wow, that was fun, and I didn’t feel lost like I do in a lot of videos where you listen and repeat!” declared user JrockTilDeath on YouTube about the Hangul rap song video from GenkiJapanNet.

La Carmina writes about Harajuku pop culture and all things spooky-cute. She is the author of three books about Japanese pop culture and food, including Cute Yummy Time and Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo – for which she did all the photos and illustrations. Both books were released in October, accompanied by a US major city book tour.

For more, please visit her website.

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