We found a neat smart phone app for writing practice of hiragana released from Gloding Inc.
The app is free and available for both Android and iOS.
The basic components of the app will be explained.
Go to the home page of Kana Bimoji.
Go to "App Store" and search for "Beautiful Japanese Handwriting."
We recommend students use a stylus pen to simulate writing motion with a pen.
Stylus pens are available for purchase at a major computer or stationery store for $5 to $10.
Open Bimoji app and touch "スタート" (start) in blue. Touch the first character "あ."
Characters are arranged vertically from right to left.
* If you want to turn BGM off, click the circle on the left.
In the blank white box, write the character "あ" following the correct stroke order.
The number on the upper left indicates remaining time in seconds to finish writing.
The program rates handwriting in three levels: "残念" (bad), "並" (good), or "美" (great). The objective is to get "美" rating. Students don't have to be able to understand the feedback, since enough visual cues are provided to guide them.
Or, simple explanation of common feedback is sufficient.
Touch "新規" (New) in the lower left corner to write again.
The arrow ▶ brings up the next character.
Touch "戻る" (return) on the top right corner for the table.
The table shows the current rating on characters students have practiced.
The goal is to get "美" stamps on all hiragana.
Kazumi Hatasa
Purdue University / Middlebury School of JapaneseShino Hayashi
Washington University
