Kana Invaders from http://learnjapanesepod.com a GREAT way to practice reading kana!

If you’re having trouble getting really comfortable reading hiragana and katakana, I HIGHLY recommend trying your hand at Kana Invaders, a Flash game from http://LearnJapanesePod.com and designed by Ricardo from cataplasma.net.  The game play is simple—each invader carries a big sign with a kana on it. Spell out the sound for that kana and your tank destroys the invader.  Here’s me about to die at level 15:



I got distracted trying to take that screengrab and couldn’t recover in time, so here’s me lost:



There are 20 levels for both hiragana and katakana, so there’s definitely some challenges there for you if you’re not yet comfy reading quickly.  Hell, I bet level 20 might even give some fluent Japanese speakers a run for their money. :)

I’ve been informally studying Japanese off and on for ten years and I’m still a little shaky with my reading skills, so I’m loving this game. I think it’ll be my new study buddy until I finally nail kana once and for all!

Now if they can just whip up a Kanji Invaders game! :)

TheKey (my novel!) makes a great gift! http://snurl.com/thekeybook

Buy my book!

Just a quick note for anyone who is still looking for something to get the book reader in their family: my novel, TheKey is available right now at Lulu.com here: http://snurl.com/thekeybook where you can get it for just $11!!. WHAT A VALUE! PLUS you can download the, uh, downloadable version for just $2!!
 
What's it about? Well, TheKey follows the adventures of a handful of amateur conspiracy theorists as they go on a quest to find and destroy one of the most powerful computer viruses ever devised. A virus so powerful, it is capable of destroying every computer on the Internet. Along the way they discover that every conspiracy they've heard of is true and worse than they could have imagined. They also learn that accepted history itself is a lie crafted by the very people who are out to beat them to that virus--a tiny computer program known as, TheKey.
 
So, not only is it perfect for the book reader in your life, it's IDEAL for the conspiracy freak in your life! And if you're like me, you ARE one!! OK, I only entertain conspiracies--but the story is a lot of fun. Pick up a copy and support ThePete!!!
 
PLEASE DON'T HESITATE! If you want to by TheKey in paperback, you must order before December 19 to get it by Christmas! (and even then I think you'll have to pay a bit extra for shipping :( )
 
Not celebrating Christmas? Well, why not pick up a copy anyway? It's good conspiracy fun for the whole--well, almost the whole family. If it were a movie, it'd probably be PG-13. But ANYway, please order a copy of TheKey today! (Or, whenever is convenient, really--I don't want to pressure you.)
 
Oh and THANKS!