Tankan

Text Search Engine

The selection of kanji can be further refined with a text search over English meanings or Japanese readings. Searching can be done by exact match on full dictionary entries, word or word stem matches, free substring matches.

Divide and Conquer

Independently of the selection methods by grade, JLPT level and so forth, Tankan divides all the kanji arbitrarily into sixteen sets. The search filter offers a matrix of sixteen checkboxes to select these sets, in any combination. With this filter, you can break up a large, undifferentiated kanji category into manageable chunks that can be learned independently, and gradually combined into larger sets.

Radical Search

Search for Kanji by selecting one of the 214 classical kangxi radicals.

Kana Reading Fluency not Required

With the click of a button, Tankan can display all Japanese readings in western letters (romaji) instead of Japanese hiragana and katakana characters, which is convenient for students who are not yet fluent in reading kana.

Easy Japanese Input

Japanese text can be entered in romaji. Though you can use your computer's Japanese input method (IME), it is not required. IME entry slower, and based on romaji anyway, just with some extra keystrokes.

Activation Model

Tankan comes with a trial demo license which provides limited functionality, and imposes a 90 minute session time limit.

Purchasing Tankan is initiated from within the application. When you initiate a purchase, the licensing server on this website gives you a temporary license that unlocks the full features of the program. When your payment is received, your temporary license will be replaced with a permanent license which is portable and comes with e-mail support.

Using the licensing screen within the program, you can check whether a new license is available from our server and provision it with the click of a button. We will notify you by e-mail when your new license is available.

Pricing

Option 1: Online Payment using PayPal

The online price is $35 CAD (thirty five dollars, Canadian).

Option 2: Mail-in Discount

A mailed-in payment is accepted in a number of currencies, as follows:

• $20 CAD or USD (Twenty dollars, Canadian or American)
• 15 EUR (Fifteen Euro)
• 1500 JPY (Sen go hyaku en)
• 15 GBP (Fifteen British pounds)
• 20 AUD (Twenty Australian dollars)

License Portability

The Tankan license file is bound to your computer by means of two pieces of information: the serial number of the disk volume where Tankan is installed, and the MAC address of the network adapter. If your hardware configuration changes, or you wish to use the software to another computer, you can activate your license on the new hardware free of charge. Simply install the program on the new computer, copy your existing license file over and invoke the license activation function from within the program.

Why "Tankan"?

Tankan is the name of sweet and delicious variety of orange which grows on the island of Yakushima. This is the inspiration behind the orange theme. The word tankan also has additional meanings. It means "single kanji" (written 単漢) and also "brevity" or "simplicity" (単簡). Both these meanings are close to what the program is about!

I'm trying to learn the N3/N2 JLPT kanji, but there are too many!

Enable Tankan's filter, and choose "Filter by: subset". A set of checkboxes, which break down the kanji into sixteen groups that you can select individually or in any combination. See the User Guide for more info.

How can I maintain custom lists or, dictionary entries?

Such features are left out of the program because they complicate the user interface without adding significant value. This is a program for kanji learning, not "kanji farming".

Does Tankan implement the Leitner system?

In short, no. Tankan keeps a detailed response history for each kanji. Kanji that require more study are identified by evaluating the history. Predating the era of personal computers, the Leitner system is a manual system of prioritizing the presentation of paper flashcards.

My kanji look blocky, not like the Tankan screenshots!

It's because your font: change it. If you're using Firefox, look in Tools/Options/Content. The font you see in the screenshots is MSMincho.

Why is there no multiple choice testing?

I didn't implement multiple choice testing in Tankan, because I find it irksome and slow. When you already know the right answer, you just want to blurt it out, rather than search for it among incorrect answers. Speed is of the essence. If you can answer three fill-in-the-blank questions in the time it takes you to do one multiple choice, multiple choice is not a good use of your study time.

Multiple choice testing has a niche in knowledge areas where the complexity of the objects makes it impractical to ask for a direct answer. Consider "Which of these six pictures is Da Vinci's Mona Lisa?" versus "Using color crayons, reproduce the Mona Lisa in the space below."

Is this the best way to learn kanji?

This program is only a tool for memorization, intended to complement other forms of study, especially "offline" study away from the computer. It's important to study the kanji in their context: words and sentences. Likewise, it is important to write the kanji.

Speaking of which, you can generate writing practice sheets using Tankan. Thanks to the web-based interface, anything you see in Tankan can be sent to your printer. I practise writing from time to time by selecting some Kanji, choosing either Japanese readings or English meanings, and then printing out the main page. Working with the printed pages, I cover up the left side to hide the kanji, look at the definitions on the right side and write kanji in the middle space. Then I uncover the kanji and check my work for incorrect or missing strokes.

I have a feature idea. Can you implement it?

Every feature suggestion will be carefully considered. More weight will be given to those from customers.

E-mail

If you require support, or have any questions, suggestions, concerns or comments, please write to:
tankan-support@kylheku.com

.