Ever stumbled upon a kanji that you don’t know, and not being sure of the radical, you are finding it hard to look it up in a dictionary? Well, now there is a place online where you can draw the kanji with your mouse and the site will suggest possible kanji, linked to Jim Breen’s dictionary. Yipee! Check out handwritten kanji recognition.
ToonDoo is an online comic-creating tool. You can sign up for free, or pay for an educational version.
To create comics in foreign languages, simply choose the text bubble that looks like this:
Find these and other great manga style characters under the ‘special’ tab (indicated by stars) in the ToonDoo maker.
This site also has the option to create your own cartoon characters, calledTraitR. What a fun way to explore describing what people look like in other languages. Students could create their own characters, then describe what they look like, or create a character from the description the teacher provides. Students could use it for self description too, as you can upload a photo as a reference – I had lots of fun creating a cartoon of myself!Do you need creative commons photos for your projects? Photo pin is a fabulous site that makes searching and attribution simple. Check out the stunning photos of Japan: http://photopin.com/search/japan
Consulting Leanne Smith 