Developing Self-Study Courseware for Foreign Residents in Japan to study Japanese Hiragana and Katakana

本研究项目的目的是为在日本的外国居民开发平假名和片假名的学习辅助工具。2011年，日本的外国居民人数超过200万人。最近，最初以外籍工人身份来到日本的秘鲁或巴西的日经人开始带着家人在日本定居。他们中的一些人会说流利的日语，不会读或写平假名或片假名。原因是他们在日本没有足够的时间学习日语书写系统。这意味着，在日本的外国居民学习日语读写系统的机会非常有限。日语阅读和写作能力是参与日本社会的必备技能。因此，这个学习辅助工具将为外国居民提供使用Android操作系统的智能手机学习包括平假名和片假名在内的日语读写系统的机会。由于大多数人现在都有智能手机可用，他们可以随时随地使用这一学习工具。他们用日常生活中熟悉的单词学习所有的平假名和片假名，将意思、字母和声音匹配起来，解决单词难题，并进行手写练习。

The aim of this research project is to develop the learning aid tool of Hiragana and Katakana for Foreign Residents of Japan. The number of Foreign Residents of Japan is over two millions in 2011. Recently, Nikkei-Jin from Peru or Brazil who came to Japan as foreign workers at beginning started to settle down in Japan with their families. Some of them who speak Japanese fluently cannot read or write Hiragana or Katakana. The reason why is that they didn't have enough time to learn Japanese writing system in Japan. This means that the opportunities to learn Japanese reading and writing system are very limited to Foreign Residents in Japan. The Japanese reading and wiring literacy is necessary to participate in Japanese society. Therefore, this learning aid tool will give a chance for Foreign Residents to learn Japanese reading and writing system including Hiragana and Katakana, using the Smartphone operated by Android operating system. As most of all people now have the Smartphone accessible, they can use this learning tool anytime and anywhere they want to learn. They learn all Hiragana and Katakana with well-known words in their daily life, matching the meanings, letters and sounds, solving the word-puzzles, and doing handwriting practice.