0
1

Delete article

Deleted articles cannot be recovered.

Draft of this article would be also deleted.

Are you sure you want to delete this article?

I Built an App to Learn Japanese Through Memory Games (Concentration)

Posted at

While studying programming, I had always been interested in Japanese language education and dreamed of someday creating an application that combined learning with entertainment. That's when I discovered "pairs.one," a beautiful memory game open-source project on GitHub. This project was a multilingual multiplayer concentration game developed by Max Grjn, built with the Elixir Phoenix framework and Elm language.

When I first saw this project, I was impressed by its simple yet sophisticated design and the multiplayer functionality utilizing real-time communication. However, an idea was forming in my mind: couldn't this game be transformed into an educational tool for Japanese language learners?

I decided to fork the original project and add my own improvements to it. The first major change was renaming the project to "Memory Grid." This name conveys the concept of a memory grid, representing the image of learners memorizing kanji and Japanese vocabulary through cards arranged in a grid pattern.

The first technical challenge I tackled was optimizing Japanese character encoding and font display. To beautifully display the four writing systems of kanji, hiragana, katakana, and romaji, I spent considerable time on CSS adjustments and font selection. Particularly, displaying kanji legibly within card sizes proved to be more difficult than I had imagined.

What I focused on most was developing the theme system. While the original project had several themes, I added themes specifically for Japanese learning. I started with the "Animal Kanji" theme first. I created cards that combined familiar animal kanji like dog, cat, bird, and fish with their readings and English translations.

This theme system was expanded gradually. For beginners, I created kanji and hiragana pairs; for intermediate learners, kanji and romaji pairs; and for advanced learners, related vocabulary kanji pairs, allowing customization based on the learner's level.

The most memorable part of the development process was when I had actual Japanese language learners test-play the game. Watching them naturally murmur Japanese while playing, guess the meanings of kanji, and work together with friends to find answers confirmed that I had achieved my goal of "fusing learning with entertainment."

Currently, Memory Grid has 15 different themes implemented. It supports Japanese learning across diverse fields including animals, food, and computer-related terminology. Each theme has three variations - kanji, hiragana, and romaji - allowing learners to choose according to their level.

Through this project, I was able to deeply understand the power of the open-source community and the potential of applying technology to education. A small improvement that started with one idea eventually grew into a tool that helps many Japanese language learners, bringing me great satisfaction. I plan to continue improving functionality and developing it into an application beloved by even more learners.

0
1
0

Register as a new user and use Qiita more conveniently

  1. You get articles that match your needs
  2. You can efficiently read back useful information
  3. You can use dark theme
What you can do with signing up
0
1

Delete article

Deleted articles cannot be recovered.

Draft of this article would be also deleted.

Are you sure you want to delete this article?