DS Gakken Chinese all-in-one DS

Emerging Technologies and Edtech June 19, 2014

Country of Origin: Japan
Languages: Japanese
Developer: Gakken
Publisher: Nintendo
Year Published: 2008
Website: http://www.gakken.jp/dc/ds/chinese/
Platforms: Nintendo DS
Age Range: Adult
Subject: Language Skills

Gakken Chinese is a Chinese language learning game from Nintendo, designed to teach Chinese pronunciation primarily to Japanese language speakers. Gakken Chinese puts very powerful and useful technology into a low cost and highly available platform (Nintendo DS).  For non-Chinese speakers, one of the largest struggles of learning the language is how to properly represent the four tones of the language. Gakken Chinese allows users to visualize their own speech patterns in comparison to native speakers to optimize their use of the rising, falling, high, low tones of spoken Chinese:.

Gakken Chinese is intended primarily for adult learners, and includes a gamification layer, with collectibles and achievements to maintain player motivation. The presentation of the game is visually pleasing, and includes characters and animation, which is typical of Japanese learning software.