Trace and Learn: Kanji Grade 1

Learn the 80 kanji taught in grade 1 of Japanese elementary school by tracing them in the correct stroke order. The 80 kanji follow the “Allocation of Kanji by School Year” of Japan’s Ministry of Education (MEXT).

TRACE
The stroke that is lit up is the one to write. Follow it from the start of the stroke (the numbered dot) to the end. The strokes come one at a time, in the correct stroke order. When the whole kanji is traced, Namamono holds it up and cheers. Lines that have nothing to do with the lit stroke are not counted, and a voice asks you to trace it again.

WRITE IT
Write the kanji that goes in the box of an example sentence without looking (5 questions each time). If you are not sure, tap “Show me” to see the model kanji and its stroke order numbers, and practice by writing over it. At the end, the kanji written without looking are counted up with a flower circle. No score is shown. If the writing is clearly different, for example lines simply placed side by side, you are asked to try writing it again. The app does not grade how neat the writing is.

FRIENDS
When you finish tracing your first kanji of the day, a new friend joins you (one a day). Sakigaki writes the stroke first to show you how, Hakari weighs the kanji you traced today, Karappo finds kanji you haven’t written yet, Sekisho gives you a stamp for every 10 kanji you complete in the order of the school list, Pokayoke guards the lock on the settings, Yamedoki lets you know when it’s time to stop, and Namamono cheers you on. Each friend speaks in their own voice. In the friends’ room, choose a favorite friend to cheer when you finish a kanji.

READING VOICE
Example sentences and questions are read aloud in the voice of Zundamon (VOICEVOX:ずんだもん).

PLEASE NOTE
The app screen is in English, but the reading voice, the example sentences and the readings are in Japanese. The app is for children who can read hiragana.

FOR PARENTS
・ No ads and no in-app purchases
・ The app does not connect to the internet, and collects no names or other information
・ Practice records are kept on this device only
・ Settings open only after an arithmetic question for grown-ups (two-digit multiplication). You can set a daily play time (just a reminder, or ending for the day)
・ You can rate this app on the App Store from Settings

SOURCES
・ Kanji: Japan’s Course of Study for elementary schools (2017), appended table “Allocation of Kanji by School Year” (学年別漢字配当表)
・ Readings: Japan’s Ministry of Education (MEXT), “Table of On and Kun Readings by School Level” (音訓の小・中・高等学校段階別割り振り表)

CREDITS
・ Voices: VOICEVOX:ずんだもん, VOICEVOX:中部つるぎ, VOICEVOX:九州そら, VOICEVOX:中国うさぎ, VOICEVOX:四国めたん, VOICEVOX:東北きりたん, VOICEVOX:東北イタコ
・ Stroke order and model character shapes: adapted from KanjiVG (c) Ulrich Apel (CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ · http://kanjivg.tagaini.net). The adapted stroke data is published under the same license (https://nazotte.github.io/stroke-data/).