美文字トレーニング - Beautiful Kanji Training (DS G

[Tangram]

I recognize most kanji that are at my level, but writing them is difficult. I have dysgraphia (a deficiency in writing). Writing in English is difficult enough for me, and my Japanese looks very, very bad. Remembering stroke order and proportioning kanji properly are big problems for me. I've been looking into methods for learning, and have found the DS game Beautiful Kanji Training (http://www.yesasia.com/us/ds-beautiful- ... /info.html). I know the game is above my level, but it's hard for me to stay motivated with kanji right now. I think I can manage to find my way through the game, though.

Has anyone ever played this game and have any reviews on it?

[Belton]

I have this game. It's quite good. (although I use kakitorikun much more.)
However... it does seem aimed at Japanese adults who want to improve their handwriting. So it won't really help you learn readings or really introduce characters in a systematic way (that I can discern anyway). Although there is a sidegame where you go through all the kana and then the kanji in grade school order. It can also be hard to get into if you can't read kanji very well.
Primarily it helps you write kanji properly. ie well balanced. It won't accept incorrect stroke orders, or incorrect stroke counts. It gives a lot of feedback on the characters you draw. each point is marked with a circle for good points and a tick or triangle for bad points. Obviously it is all written in Japanese, but at the most basic level the graphical feedback is usually enough. The characters are also given a percentage score based on balance (out of 60) detail (out of 20) and line thickness (out of 20)

Personally I think Kakitorikun (the first edition) is a better title for learners. It covers the 1006 grade school kanji and teaches readings as well. The feedback on your kanji writing is fairly crude compared to Beautiful Kanji training however.
The kanken edition of kakitorikun has better feedback, like a cut down version of Beautiful Kanji, but overall it is far too complex if you don't already know the grade school kanji in my opinion. It's fine for the handwriting training but most of the reading and writing exercises will be frustratingly hard. I recommend the simpler first edition to start with it's much easier to get into.

Also none of these are games as such. They are more like textbooks with instant feedback.

kakitorikun site
http://100mas.jp/kakitorikun/

kakitorikun kanken edition site
http://100mas.jp/kakitori2/index.html

DS Beautiful Kanji training
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/avmj/index.html

Site that might help you understand Beautiful Kanji training
http://xn--wgv71a119e.heilling.net/dsbi-moji-toreningu


I'm not sure what would help with dysgraphia.
I have noticed that second language writing is markedly different to writing in your primary language. (My Japanese handwriting looks crude, my wife's English handwriting shapes likewise look a bit crude but her kanji are fairly sophisticated.)
Using guidelines and writing in a larger size may help.

--edit--
afterthought
You don't have to write to learn kanji.
Reading and keyboarding are probably more used by second language learners than writing by hand. It might be better to sidestep the problem if you don't have an immediate need to write by hand.

[Tangram]

Ah, you seem to have misunderstood me. I don't intend to use the game to learn kanji. I learn them just fine. I do just want to improve my handwriting. My dysgrahia is a mix of a learning disability similar to dyslexia and a motor control disorder; when my brain thinks of letters, words, and language in general, it doesn't send the proper neurological messages to my hand. In addition, I don't have good control of fine movements - to make it clearer, I also have difficulty with playing instruments like piano and guitar, drumming my fingers, and snapping. Learning to write in English was difficult and frustrating for me as a child, and learning to write in Japanese is turning out to be a similar process. While I can read just fine, writing is difficult and can even be painful.

However, writing is important to me. From what you've told me, Bimoji Training sounds like what I need. I wish I had had something similar for English as a child.