Naruhodo!: Nintendo DS focused J-blog

Apologies, apologies - I have fallen prey to the Tokyo lifestyle and neglected my blog. A nagging voice in the back of my mind reminded me every so often but I had no problem ignoring it. It wasn't until people started posting comments saying "Update!" that my conscience, and sense of shame, kicked in. I was exhausted this evening, and contemplating a nice, concerted act of procrastination, but I received an email telling me to "update!", so here I go.

Today I am introducing the Japanese language learning blog Naruhodo! (Disclosure - Chris, one of the guys behind the site is a friend of mine and tried to influence this review by bribing me with an exotic cheese, which unfortunately for him, smelt like a turd.) Described as "Info about learning Japanese and testing your skills", Naruhodo! focuses on real-life Japanese, specifically as found in books, on TV and the Nintendo DS. Yep - if you are considering buying any language learning DS software you should check out the reviews on Naruhodo - the guys provide detailed, well written reviews, with lots of examples and good analysis. But not just learning-through-learning, these guys are into games too, championing the learning-through-gaming approach. There is plenty of non-DS stuff two - reviews of books, general commentary and study tips. Sprinkled liberally with kanji examples, those whose reading is not up to speed may need rikaichan or Moji to read everything, but the effort is worth it. The guys have their finger on the pulse and consequently have lots of topical material (Way ahead of me.....sniff.... ). I heartily recommend a visit, tell them that Nihongojouzu sent you, and watch out for the cheese.

Comments

[Coal]

Don't you be speaking ill of the cheese now you hear me! It may have smelled like a rotting wolf, but its appearance to taste ratio was greater than the grand master monja-yaki itself! The cheese honoured your house with its presence, as did I.

But no arguments on the site you speak of. I have bought exactly two DS kanji games based on their recommendations alone.

[Dave]

Nice...there better not be another "Update!" from now on. Just kidding. Was *just yesterday* having a nice chin-stroke on getting a DS w/language software, so thanks for the heads-up on Naruhodo. ああ，なるほどね！

[Chris]

Thanks for the kind words and the introduction, Will! Everybody going through to Naruhodo! should know that Nihongojouzu served as the inspiration for me creating a site of my own and continues to feed the fire!

You bring up a good point about my liberal spreading of kanji throughout the site. I always struggle between the ease of readability (for those who can read it) using kanji and the cluttered, yet easier to read method of using hiragana and/or romaji readings. Such is the burden of the Japanese blogger, I guess.

I should probably put up some info about rikaichan...

[anne]

Thanks for this good information. this is a really good blog. http://www.narutohits.com