My Learning Challenge: Proposal

Title: Computers and kanji study: The modern answer to the flash card.

My challenge: As a speaker of such European languages as French and German, I find it difficult to adjust to the learning environment presented by my Japanese classes. Specifically, I find it a great struggle to learn and retain Japanese kanji and katakana scripts, as these are used less frequently than the hiragana script. In the past I have used flash cards to try and make up for this weakness, but as the number of kanji we learn increases, it becomes increasingly difficult for me to acquire new ones.

My Learning goal: Through the course of this project, it is my goal to learn at least 20 new kanji each week. I want to be able to learn and retain them; that is to be able to read, write and understand them. By the end of the project, I want to have a solid grounding in all of the basic kanji that we have learned so far in class.

My learning styles and strategies: I am a visual learner, which is not surprising given my introvert tendencies. Where strategies are concerned, I tend to use cognitive and social strategies most dominantly, and affective strategies the least. For my learning challenge, I intend to work on my memory and metacognitive strategies, both of which had middling scores on my SILL. These work best with the type of learning I am aiming for, using visual aids like virtual flash cards to enhance my learning, while also catering to my learning style.

The technologies I am going to test: It is my intention to test several different technologies during the course of this project. Firstly, I intend to use websites specifically aimed at learning the sets of kanji covered in my textbooks. Next, I am going to use an application called ‘Kanji Flip’, which is a flash card app specifically for kanji. I am also going to use an application called ‘iKanji Touch’, a customisable app which teaches stroke order as well. Finally, I am going to run a blog through which I can post Japanese writing and qualitatively assess my use of kanji over the course of the challenge. I believe that since these technologies are uniquely suited to learning kanji, as they are targeted in a way that most other language learning technologies can’t be, and they allow a certain flexibility of learning – I can focus on the kanji that I have the most difficulty with.

My plan: I will designate three hourly slots each week to practice kanji. The first slot each week will be the kanji website, followed by a session using ‘Kanji Flip’. The second slot of the week will be a session using ‘iKanji Touch’. Finally, in the last session of the week, I will write up a passage in Japanese using as many kanji as I can, and use this to document my progress by making a picture and putting it on my blog. This session will also be used to quantitatively test my recognition and writing of kanji.

My evaluation approach: In order to quantitatively measure my knowledge of kanji, I will use the flash cards I already have access to in order to test it. Every week I will sit down with my sister and go through them, measuring how many I can not only recognise, but give the meaning for. Then we will do the opposite, testing how many I can write when given the reading. As far as the blog is concerned, my weekly posts will give me time to reflect on my progress and write up a paragraph on how my learning challenge is, qualitatively, going.