Writing Japanese Characters (Kanji). Mac 1 – PC 0 (Mac wins)

Snow Leopard has announced a new feature that lets you write “Chinese Characters” via the trackpad. This negates the need to have a tablet, and it gives you just one more way to practice your kanji. I know it says “Chinese characters,” but if it’s anything like the iPhone, it’s the same thing.

One of the huge disadvantages about learning Japanese on a computer is that you never have the opportunity to write (well, you could get away from your screen, but we both know that’s not going to happen). With this feature, which looks like it even features stroke pressure, you’ll be able to practice your kanji and see how it looks on the screen. If it doesn’t come up correctly, then you’ll know you write like a clown; if it does, well then, good for you.

Built-in Mic and Webcam. Mac 2 – PC 0 (Mac wins)

One of the nice things about Macs (and one of the crappy things, as well), is that hardware is standard, and there’s very little room for customization. This also means that you’ll see features across the board that you won’t see when you get a PC. Now, that’s not to say you can’t get these features on a PC, because you can, but with Macs, it’s actually really hard to get one that doesn’t have a built in Mic or Webcam.

The world is changing, and the way we are able to learn is changing as well. With a mic and webcam, there is plenty of opportunity to take live online Japanese classes, practice speaking with a language partner, and so on, which you can’t do if you don’t have one. Want to learn Japanese, you can now do so from someone who’s in Japan. Now that’s really cool.

Japanese Learning Applications. Mac 3 – PC 1 (tie)

Most learning applications are either browser-based or work on both systems. Things like smart.fm, Lang-8, NihongoUp (which I just reviewed), Anki, Rikaichan, etc., are available across all platforms.

I think that things like this are heading to the Internet and will be browser based. Now, I think I’m being nice here – we wouldn’t want to have to compare Internet Explorer and Safari. At least both have Firefox to use, though PC wins in terms of Chrome. Good job PC-folk, good job.

Language Support. Mac 4 – PC 1 (Mac wins)

Both Mac and PC have good language support for Japanese. On Windows, however, you have to go out of your way to install Japanese compatibility when installing the OS, but on Mac it’s added via the default installation. You’ll have Japanese support out of the box.

Another thing I like a little more on the Mac is the language bar. The Windows language bar kind of gets in the way, and does funny things sometimes. The Mac one is always tucked away in the top menu bar, nice and compact. I also like how the shortcut keys only take one step. On a PC, you have to activate Japanese first, then you have to switch to the correct input. One less step makes me a happy typer.

Japanese Text Rendering. Mac 5 – Windows 2 (tie)

Can’t really complain about either. I personally like the Mac’s version of Japanese default text rendering, but they’re both acceptable. Mac makes things more smooth, and I think more natural, while Windows is a little more choppy.

We’ve got a tie here, folks. It’s just text we’re talking about.

Watching Japanese TV. Mac 5 – PC 3 (PC Wins, for once)

There are a few ways to watch Japanese television via your computer, and PC’s have more options, which are often better. There’s KeyHoleTV and Gya0 for PC only. Then, there’s some other alternatives that work on both like TVU, Livestation, and Freshverse. I suppose there’s also Japanese television on Hulu for both platforms as well.

More (and better) options when you’re running a PC box. That’s all there is to it.

Final Score. Mac 5 – PC 3 (Mac Wins)

Yep, you can accuse me of bias. You can accuse me of being a mactard. Both are probably true, but I still think Macs are better for Japanese study (not to mention almost everything else… I’ll give PC’s gaming though).

So, with that, let the age-old debate begin. Macs versus PCs. Go! …and do your best to pull Japanese related stuff into the convo, if you can.

APPPLLLLEEE FANNNBOYYYY

]]> http://www.tofugu.com/2009/06/09/why-you-should-use-a-mac-to-study-japanese/feed/ 179 http://www.tofugu.com/2009/06/05/practice-kana-kanji-and-particles-with-nihongoup/ http://www.tofugu.com/2009/06/05/practice-kana-kanji-and-particles-with-nihongoup/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:04:37 +0000 http://www.tofugu.com/?p=1645

Philip Seyfi sent me an e-mail asking me to check out his Adobe Air application Nihongoup (for a long time I thought its name was some sort of weird misspelling, or a fish reference, which of course we approve of Ha! Logo is now NihongoUp! Don’t say we never did anything for you). He hooked me up with a free copy (it’s normally $4.99) as well as five more to give away to all of you. You’ll have to keep reading to figure out how you can win.

Nihongoup is nice and simple and runs very smoothly. When you start up the application, you have four choices: Katakana, Hiragana, Kanji, and particles.

Hiragana and Katakana:

In this game, balloons with different hiragana (or katakana, if you’re playing that game) come down. Before they fall all the way down, you have to type in the corresponding romaji to make them disappear. My only complaint is that there aren’t enough zombies in this typing game. I suppose we’ll have to settle. If you’re learning hiragana or katakana, this is definitely an easy way to study. It’s not particularly exciting, but it’s better than a lot of other options out there.

Kanji:

In the kanji game, you get a sentence at the bottom with a highlighted section. You have to click on the balloon containing correct kanji to move on to the next one. I do wish more of the sentence was in kanji, but I guess it makes sense since the game is only available in JLPT 3 & 4 levels. According to the website JLPT 1 & 2 are coming soon, so I’ll be playing Nihongoup a bit more when those are released.

Particles:

The particles game is Nihongoup’s “ace up the sleeve.” I really like this idea. You get a sentence with a missing particle, and then four choices. You have to pick the correct one, and it’s a lot harder than I thought! I think I need to practice my particles a bit more. Just like the kanji sentence, I wish more of the sentence was in kanji (perhaps with furigana, for beginners?). All hiragana is difficult to read, even with the little spaces.

Really, though, if you’re going to buy Nihongoup, this is the section to do it for. I haven’t seen too many other resources out there that do particle practice, and Nihongoup does a good job at it. Perhaps it would be good with my Japanese Particles Cheatsheet?

Overall Impressions:

Nihongoup is a good application, it runs well, and does some neat things for Japanese language practice. There’s some room for improvement, which is fine because it’s an early product, and I know improvements are being made by the developer. It’s kind of one of those things where it’s really good that it’s simple, but has room for a little more (I think?). I do wish the sentences were easier to read (more kanji, please!), and I’d also like to see more settings for different difficulty levels within each section (faster speeds, etc).

You can buy this application for $4.99, which I think is a pretty good deal. I wouldn’t buy it if it was any higher, but it’s worth the money if you use it a lot.

How can YOU win a copy?

I’m allowed to give away five copies of the game (thanks to the Nihongoup folks). If you want a copy, though, you have to work for it a little bit… though not that much.

What you have to do: Leave a comment telling me why you think you should get a copy of this sexy software. It runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux, so everyone should be able to get in on it. If you leave a video comment, you might get extra points (or lose extra points if you’re a sad clown). Poems might get you extra points. Godzilla references may help you as well. Other creative comments are also welcome. I’m just going to choose the ones that I like the best, so yep, bribery works as well. And tweets… Tweets are good.

When will the winners be chosen? Pretty much when I feel like it… Probably sometime in the next week. If I see a comment I really really like, though, I may mark it as a winner early by responding to it. You never know.

How will I get my prize? I’ll send your e-mail to someone who will get you a product key.

Off to the races! It’s time to learn Japanese!