Learners interface of a CAL system for foreign students to learn Hiragana/Katakana characters

The paper describes the learners interface of a computer aided learning system for foreign students to learn Hiragana/Katakana characters. Since the system is used during a short period for learning them, its user interface must be self explaining without requiring time and effort to get accustomed to it. Moreover the system must enable learners to practice writing of characters like on a piece of paper, since it is essential for learning characters. In order to add computer support for learning on paper, a pen PC is employed as a platform and easy operation of the system with a single pen is sought. Other design policies such as concurrent learning of writing and listening have been set up. The first version was developed and experimentally used for half a year, which revealed successful points as well as unsatisfactory points. The paper reports them and describes how the design and implementation have been revised to realize each design policy. The system is in use at our Foreign Student Center.