Free Software for Practicing
Japanese (Elk Grove H.S.)Free Software for Practicing
Japanese (Elk Grove H.S.)The links below allow you to download free Macintosh software for practicing the Japanese language. These are designed for people who have already been studying some Japanese. There is a verb drill program and there are several versions of a vocabulary program called Tango. They all use Japanese script, but the Tango programs can be set up for use with romanized script only.
There are certain system requirements. All of them require Hypercard or Hypercard Player. Hypercard Player comes included with the system software. If it is not loaded, check for it under Apple Extras on your system disks or system CD. Most of them also require that the Macintosh be Japanese-enabled with either Apple's Japanese Language Kit (JLK) or KanjiTalk. (The Japanese text should also be readable on a computer with MacOS 8.5, even without the JLK.) The JLK can be purchased from Apple/Claris or from catalog suppliers; educational and governmental organizations can receive substantial discounts on the JLK by contacting Claris directly. KanjiTalk is available only in Japan or from special distributing companies in the U.S.
Freeware is no-cost shareware. Please feel free to download them and use them to brush up on your Japanese. Copies may freely be made for non-commercial distribution. (Rights for the software are, however, reserved by their creators.)
A Verb Drill for the -TE form allows students to practice the difficult TE-form. This freeware program, written by Elk Grove High School Japanese teacher Cliff Darnall, runs on Hypercard Player 2.1 or above. It is in multiple-choice format, where students must select the correct form to correspond with the picture. Students can click to hear the dictionary form of the verb used in a short sentence (a verb phrase). They are directed to explanatory pages if they make the incorrect choice on a problem. Students can also click to hear and learn my -TE Song, which is sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". Please note that this program does NOT require that your computer be Japanese-enabled, for the Japanese text has been saved in picture format. DOWNLOAD A Verb Drill for the -TE form
There are also a series of TANGO Vocabulary Builder programs for learning vocabulary. The original TANGO program version 1.0 and version 1.1 were created by Masako Uchida, a Japanese teaching assistant who worked in Indiana with Japanese teacher Linda Worman on the JALEX program a few years back. EGHS teacher Cliff Darnall modified, with permission, Ms. Uchida's program to create VERSION 1.2, which has more security built in and which allows students to easily navigate between four sets of ten vocabulary items each.
All TANGO Vocabulary Builders require Hypercard Player 2.2 or Hypercard 2.2 or above to run properly, but the vocabulary in the TANGO stacks can be changed with Hypercard 2.1. The program will not, however, run completely to the end in Hypercard 2.1,
The TANGO Vocabulary Builder Japanese samples and template I have included require the JLK or System 8.5 or KanjiTalk. (Teachers who wish to use romanized text or who wish to use the hypercard stacks to teach vocabulary in English, ESL, other languages, or other subject areas can download samples of other language TANGO programs.) Of course, no Japanese language kit is needed for them.
By the way, the TANGO programs have nothing to do with dancing. "Tango" means "word" or "vocabulary word" in Japanese!
TANGO Vocabulary Builders for Japanese
TANGO Vocabulary Builders for Other Languages