This Dr. Moku's Hiragana Mnemonics app also includes:
- Assessment
- Vocabulary
- Join to access all included materials
What do repulsive reptiles and a farting cow have to do with hiragana? Find out as you master the basics of hiragana quickly and easily. Each syllable is paired with an image and a sentence designed to stick in your mind. You won't be able to stop yourself from remembering the associations...and the syllabary!
Additional Tags
App Overview
Steps to Start Learning:
- Tap Learn Hiragana
- Select either Manual or Autoplay
- Look at the image and read the mnemonic
- Tap the speaker icon to hear the character
- Touch the character in the top-left corner to watch the stroke order; note that, if you tap this, you can't go back to the mnemonic page for a character until you start over again
- Slide the page to view the next character
Test Yourself:
- Press Quiz in the menu along the bottom
- Select a difficulty level (easy, hard, master)
- Given four choices, choose the sound that corresponds with each character
- Hide multiple choice options in the quiz for an oral exam or flashcard-style experience
- Quiz yourself on modified hiragana (dakuten, handakuten, yoon)
- Share your quiz score on Facebook or Twitter
Other Features:
- View the stroke order for all of the characters; tap the circular arrow to repeat the animation
- Use the Quick Ref. page to jump to any character
- Learn some basic words and phrases taken from some of the developer's other apps
- View a brief tutorial and read about the program
- Read about hiragana and modified hiragana
- Rate and share the app
- Go to the developer's website
Instructional Ideas
Go through the mnemonics as a class with the app projected up on a screen. You can practice the sounds as a class and have individuals copy down the characters as they learn them.
Play the stroke animations as you teach how to write the characters. Class members can watch them on the screen while you circulate and offer assistance.
Make a game out of the quiz. Try out both the multiple choice and the hidden-answers option for variety.
Have pupils practice with the app individually or in small groups. After reading through the mnemonics, they can quiz themselves and one another.
Classroom Considerations
Dr. Moku's Hiragana Mnemonics is a fun way to memorize the characters, but most pupils will need additional practice, especially with writing the characters.
The developer offers a free lite version of this app. Try it out first if you are unsure about purchasing the app. The developer also offers apps for katakana and Japanese words and phrases.
Pros
- Silly and sometimes cheesy mnemonics and pictures make memorizing the syllabary simple
- Audio recordings and animations of stroke order reinforce retention
- Quick reference chart allows for targeted study
Cons
- While fun, learners will most likely need additional instruction to fully learn the characters
- There are a couple of typos in the English parts of the app