Robosensei

Robo-Sensei is a Japanese language learning program that helps students improve their grammar through guided exercise. Robo-Sensei is installed on the lab machines in the Culpeper Language Center for use by Gustavus Japanese students. Robo-sensei is run using the web-browser Firefox.

Trouble-shooting Robo-Sensei

Here are some basic tips for trouble-shooting problems with Robo-Sensei

Problems opening Robo-Sensei

Double-click on the Robo-Sensei icon in the Applications folder to launch the program. When trying to open Robo-sensei for the first time, users may need to double click on the program twice: once to open Firefox, and once to launch the application. If the program still does not open, try opening it with Safari, the other web-browser on lab Macs. If the program still won't open, contact the center assistant or Culpeper Director.

Program opens, but exercises are blank

If you open the program successfully, but find that when you click on an exercise nothing loads, the first thing to try is to re-load the page and wait. The program uses Java Applets, which can take some time to load and can get stuck if you click too many times. If it still does not load, try the other browser (if you are using Firefox, try Safari, and vice-versa.) If the program still won't run properly, contact the center assistant or Culpeper Director.

How do I input Japanese kana?

To use the Japanese inputs, click on the American flag on the top-right part of the computer screen and scroll down to あ Hiragana. The Hiragana should then appear as you type. Here are a few other tips for using this input method:

• To get kanji, type the word in hiragana, then hit the space bar. The first choice of kanji should appear. If this is not the Kanji you want, hit the space bar again and a list of possible kanji will appear, arrow down to the one you want then hit the enter/return key.
• To get katakana, hold down the shift key as you type, or go back up to the input menu and choose カ Katakana.
• To get the particle o (を）type "wo" (typing the letter o will get you お).
• To get a "small tsu/ya/yo/yu", type double letters, as you would in romanji (ex: matte = まって, kyo = きょ)

If you need any additional help with Japanese inputs, please see the Culpeper Director.