Gus on the Go: 日語

This game could be fun, but if you don't ALREADY know Hiragana and Katakana it won't be much use to you. The very first level has everything written in the Kana. I already know Hiragana and some Katakana, but I can't read all the words because of the Katakana I don't yet know.

This app has annoying bleeps likes you are at a cashier line at the grocery store. It also sounds like the words in this app are spoken by a non-native speaker -- the pronunciation is anglicized. Also, if there is a choice of words between a japanese word and an assimilated "foreign" word, the foreign word is chosen over the native word. Lastly, especially if this a starting learning app, why are so many words written in katakana? Only non-native foreign words (phonograms) should be written in katakana. The actual words in the Japanese are getting lost by popularizing the teaching of the language this way.

Both my young kids enjoy the Gus apps. It's very easy to follow and the narrator speaks clearly. The illustrations colors are vibrant. Each lesson is perfect length, not too much where young children get info overload. I think that promotes recall in my kids much easier.