以外に役立つソフト
When I was in Japan this past spring, I picked up a DS game called 美文字トレーニング ("bimoji training" or "pretty writing training") which is a program to... help people have nicer writing. My writing is okay - it's legible and probably middle-schooler level neatness (some fellow teachers told me it was "cute" once...) but certain letters like 美 大 心 蔵 I find really difficult to get the balance correct.
Anyway, I randomly found it at Book Off of all places (所沢店万歳♪), which is REALLY impressive since it had only been out for like a day at the time. o_O; It comes with a long, brush-shaped stylus so you can emulate real brush strokes.
I had forgotten all about it once the initial "woo, new game! :D" wore off, but on Friday I picked up 逆転裁判４ at the local BookOff (yes, I'm still finishing PW3 thankyouverymuch.... .....I just realized BookOff's initials are "B.O." and I can never, ever shorten it to that... orz) and was going thru all my little game cartridges when the bimoji brush popped out and got me re-interested.
I've trained for the past two days and can now get 100% on writing the number 1: 一. (Don't laugh, it's harder than it looks...) I had no idea there were so many little things, like the thickness of the line being a certain gradient, the balance and spacing versus other pieces of the kanji, the angle of each stroke... @_@;; ムズいっす。
The software also has a "write 四字熟語 nicely!" section, and I can write "一生懸命" from memory now. :D (I could never remember all the pieces of 懸 before).
The game also has really useful features like common phrases used in formal letters, city and personal names, etc. Right now I'm ranked at 中の下, or "bottom of the middle", so I'm aiming for 上の下 "bottom of the top". 因みに最初にやってみた時に一緒にいた日本人の二人は「中の中」と「中の下」をとったので、自分のスコアは案外良かったと思う。
I have tried actual calligraphy. They teach it as a subject (I think it was an elective like music and PE) in elementary. Some of my 6th grade boys were practicing at lunch and let me borrow their stuff, so I tried writing the kanji version of my name 鈴慈 （りんじ） and... it turned out a miserable, sloppy mess. -_-
If I've gotten any of you interested, Play-Asia has it in stock. Let's trade tips! :D
Anyway, I randomly found it at Book Off of all places (所沢店万歳♪), which is REALLY impressive since it had only been out for like a day at the time. o_O; It comes with a long, brush-shaped stylus so you can emulate real brush strokes.
I had forgotten all about it once the initial "woo, new game! :D" wore off, but on Friday I picked up 逆転裁判４ at the local BookOff (yes, I'm still finishing PW3 thankyouverymuch.... .....I just realized BookOff's initials are "B.O." and I can never, ever shorten it to that... orz) and was going thru all my little game cartridges when the bimoji brush popped out and got me re-interested.
I've trained for the past two days and can now get 100% on writing the number 1: 一. (Don't laugh, it's harder than it looks...) I had no idea there were so many little things, like the thickness of the line being a certain gradient, the balance and spacing versus other pieces of the kanji, the angle of each stroke... @_@;; ムズいっす。
The software also has a "write 四字熟語 nicely!" section, and I can write "一生懸命" from memory now. :D (I could never remember all the pieces of 懸 before).
The game also has really useful features like common phrases used in formal letters, city and personal names, etc. Right now I'm ranked at 中の下, or "bottom of the middle", so I'm aiming for 上の下 "bottom of the top". 因みに最初にやってみた時に一緒にいた日本人の二人は「中の中」と「中の下」をとったので、自分のスコアは案外良かったと思う。
I have tried actual calligraphy. They teach it as a subject (I think it was an elective like music and PE) in elementary. Some of my 6th grade boys were practicing at lunch and let me borrow their stuff, so I tried writing the kanji version of my name 鈴慈 （りんじ） and... it turned out a miserable, sloppy mess. -_-
If I've gotten any of you interested, Play-Asia has it in stock. Let's trade tips! :D