Reason Behind This Series
The reason I have decided to make the "Language of the Sun" series is due to a common problem people have. This problem has to do with with learning languages. Many people struggle with it because studying it is so monotonous. This is a fact that is true for any language. Japanese happens to be a language, that while not anymore difficult to learn, does require more time. More time doesn't necessarily mean more difficult, but it can make you feel as though you are getting no where. With learning Japanese, I find that most common problem time wise is with the writing system adopted from the Chinese language. Most people try to learn this simply by repetition, and while this is how native Japanese speakers learn to read, it is not truly an effective way for most people to learn the Kanji. There are two reasons why:1. Repetition eats away at time. Some people have a wonderful memory, and others have not so good memories. Depending on how long it takes you to remember can put hours onto your study time.
2. I'm not going to lie. It's boring.
The only reason why students in Japan are able to learn these kanji in this way is because they study it in class, day after day, and a new set of hundreds of kanji are introduced every grade that they are in school. This shows, yes, it takes even them years to learn so many kanji. The difference between us and them, is that they start to learn these symbols earlier then we do, therefore they already know them by the time they need them as adults. So this got me thinking, while I was taking a college Japanese class, I learned more then self study, and here is why I think this happened. It was FUN. We used pictures, examples, played games and interacted, and we had fun assignments for finals and tests. Now, how do we use these methods for self study? We have no other people to talk to, guide us, or grade us. But what about a handy tool every one has, what about our computers? With computers I we can design software that has all of these features. And the best part is, computers really can interact back with us. So, why not make a game?
