NIHONGO APPLICATION FOR ANDROID MOBILE PHONE

NIHONGO APPLICATION FOR ANDROID MOBILE PHONE PUBLICATION ARTICLE By: Novel Idris Abas Husni Thamrin, M.T., Ph.D Aris Rakhmadi, S.T., M.Eng DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATICS FACULTY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATICS UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH SURAKARTA JULY, 2013

NIHONGO APPLICATION FOR ANDROID MOBILE PHONE Novel Idris Abas, Husni Thamrin, Aris Rakhmadi Department of Informatics, Faculty of Communications and Informatics, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta Email: novelidris@gmail.com ABSTRACT Japan is an interesting country in many aspects. Most people, especially those who first come to Japan face problems. The problems include the difference of language. Nihongo, is a unique language. It has special structure of the sentence. In this research we develop Nihongo application which has focus two focuses, i.e. to ease Indonesian to communicate in Japanese language, and give some short information about Japan. Fix and Code Software development model is used to develop the application. The Nihongo application has features Hiragana table, Katakana table, daily conversations in Bahasa, Romaji, and Nihongo translation, video about Japan, top cities in Japan with its attractions, tips about staying in Japan, more than 2.000 vocabularies in Bahasa, Romaji, and Nihongo translation, and short information about Nihongo application. The application can be installed at Android Froyo OS (2.2) or later. The application is tested on Smartfren Andromax i, Sony Experia Miro, Samsung Galaxy mini 2, Samsung Galaxy S2, Samsung Galaxy W, Sony Ericsson Mini Pro, and Samsung Galaxy Ace 2. The result of the test proves that the Nihongo application run well. Our surveys say that the application clearly gives useful information about Japan, and eases Indonesian to communicate, socialize, and live in Japan. Keywords: nihongo, android mobile, Japan. INTRODUCTION Japan National Tourism Organization informs that on May 2012, there are 7.100 Indonesian tourists who visit Japan (HaloJepang, 2012). Most people, especially those who first come to Japan face problems. The problems include the difference of weather, culture, and language. Nihongo, or bahasa Jepang as Indonesian say, is a unique language. Nihongo uses four different writing systems; Kanji (Chinese characters),

Hiragana (phonetic alphabet for native words), Katakana (phonetic alphabet for foreign words), and Romaji (western alphabet use to write Japanese) (Facts about Japan, 2013). If we compare Nihongo and Bahasa we will find some different structures of sentences where Indonesian are not familiar with. The new comers to Japan have to study Nihongo prior to their departure. They usually have to bring bulky books which take space in their baggage. On the other hand, the development of telecommunication technology, especially mobile phone is fast. A new model of mobile phone appears every month. Ability of mobile technology in creating flexibility for users to communicate has caused the technology to change so rapidly in terms of number of users and the capabilities of the technology itself. Increase the ability of mobile phones has allowed to bring a variety of new functions as well as its primary function as a communication tool (Ridho, 2011). However, according to our searching in mobile phone software market, there is no application which provides information about Japan and Nihongo in Bahasa Indonesia. There are several alternatives to solve the problem. First, Indonesian may bring Nihongo and manual tourism book wherever they go. However, it has disadvantage that is not simple because books need space to bring. Second, before Indonesian people come to Japan, they should study Nihongo. It will waste much time. Third, they bring a Nihongo application on their mobile phone. The third solution will be simple enough and we don t need to spend much time to study. They can open the application everywhere when they are in Japan or will be in Japan. This writing is about Nihongo application development to solve the aforementioned problems on Android platform. The writer use android mobile because IDC reports that on September 13 th, 2012 Android is the most famous smart phone operating system in Indonesia (HL, 2012). LITERATURE REVIEW

Aryani (2012) said that mobile is all of activities that can be done in every time and everywhere without barrier. The development of information and technology makes everything can be done quickly and easily. In the education side, the use of good English is the main requirement which cannot be ignored, because can face the people s ability to use that language. English has also become international language that is used in any developed countries. English become compulsory lesson to study. In this research the writer tries to build an application which contains subjects, the example of the sentences, and the exercise. Lailasari, Kurniawati, Afriansyah (2010) said that nowadays, learning media uses book. Other media that can be used in the teaching learning process is internet. Today internet is one of people needs. This research explained how to make Japanese language web E-learning for beginners by using PHP and MySQL. The purpose of making the website is to make people learn through the web instead of using book. The web contains hiragana, katakana, particle and making sentence. The web contains quiz or exercise that can be done by user. Nadira (2011) discusses about making an application that can be run on Android platform. They made Italian language learning application on the Android platform, where by using this application, the user can learn how to understand and test their Italian language skills. The application can ease how to learn Italian language with features like subject matter, and test the user s skill with exercise features without restricting the dimension so can help Italian language learning process. Kusumawardani (2013) said that the system provide a service that can map the location of tourism more easily and quickly. The system is also designed in such a way to be more interactive with the user in its operation. This system will provide complete information on the tourism map of the location of objects that exist in Malang regency, travel guides to the tourists as tourist information, hotel, restaurant and

travel packages are available and offered by the Department of Tourism Malang. RESEARCH METHOD a. Code and Fix Diagram In creating this application, writer uses Code and Fix Development Life Cycle Models. Generally, Code and Fix Furthermore, if the application has not been fixed, then the writer will back to code and fix the program. In this research, writer expands Code and Fix Development Life Cycle Models and the activities are shown in a flowchart in Figure 2. Development Life Cycle Models can be described in a phase in Figure 1. Figure 1 Code and Fix Models Diagram Code and Fix Method contains some step to complete the life cycle, which are conceptual, code and fix, and release. In conceptual step, the writer collects the data and designs the general layout. After designing the application, then the writer goes to code the program. If the application has been fixed, then application will be release. Figure 2 Code and Fix Models in flowchart In developing Nihongo Application for Android Mobile Phone, there are some steps that must be done. First, the writer must collect data about the content of its application. The writer gets data from Japanese, website, and books. After collecting data, the writer must check completeness of data. If

data is not complete then writer must recollect data, but if data is complete then the writer designs the application. After designing application, the writer constructs application by using Eclipse Indigo. Next step is testing application, and ensure that the application runs well. If the application does not run application until application is ready to be released. When the application passes the test, the writer goes to reporting a research. b. State Diagram State Diagram on figure 3 shows how application works on Android mobile phone. well, writer must fix application and test Figure 3 State Diagram of Nihongo Application When application runs, user sees Hiragana, Katakana, Percakapan, main menu of the application. There are seven menus in main view, such as Jepang, Kiat Hidup, Kosakata, and About. When user clicks Hiragana,

then they will see Tabel Hiragana. When user clicks Katakana, then they will see Tabel Katakana, and when user clicks Percakapan, then user goes to sub menu. If user clicks sub menu, there will be kumpulan percakapan. If user clicks Jepang, user will see Video menu and Kota Populer menu. If user clicks Video menu, then user can watch video about Japan, and if user clicks Kota Populer menu, then user will go to sub menu. If user clicks sub menu, user will go to page of its sub menu which has attractions menu. If user clicks attractions menu, then user will go to its page. When user clicks Kiat Hidup, then user goes to sub menu. If user clicks a application. If user does not click any menus, and user clicks back in android devices, then application will close automatically. c. Testing System In order to ensure that Nihongo application is useful, the writer tested the application to the user by using questionnaires analysis system. Moreover, system testing is used to prove that the application can be run well. RESULTS and ANALYSIS In implementing Nihongo application for Android mobile phone, the application is tested by using android mobile phone. The results are as follows: sub menu, user will see Kiat-kiat hidup. If user clicks kosakata, then user goes to kosakata page, and if user clicks about, then user will see information about application. If user clicks website link, then the application will open its website page by using web browser a. Percakapan Sehari Hari Page Figure 4 shows list menu of Percakapan page. User can find this page by clicking Percakapan button in main menu page. Percakapan Sehari Hari page contains twenty four daily

conversations in Japanese language to Bahasa Translation. The daily conversations include Ungkapan Berguna 1, Ungkapan Berguna 2, Perkenalan (Nama, Negara, Pekerjaan), Perkenalan (hobi), and Perkenalan (Keluarga pekerjaan rumah Figure 5 Display of Tiba di Rumah Keluarga Angkat page. b. Kosakata Page This page contains more than 2.000 words in Bahasa, Romaji, and Nihongo words. Figure 6 shows Kosakata page. User can put words in the text fields, and then the application shows Figure 4 Display of Percakapan page If user clicks a menu, user goes to the words in Bahasa, Romaji, and Nihongo words. its page. For example, if user clicks Tiba di Rumah Keluarga Angkat menu, then user will go to Tiba di Rumah Keluarga Angkat page. In this page, user can hear and read conversations about visiting Japanese family. Figure 5 shows Percakapan sehari hari page. Figure 6 Display of Kosakata Page c. Questionnaire Analysis Questionnaire analysis is conducted to infer how effective this application is used for Indonesian generally, and Indonesian who first come to Japan. Questionnaire is done on 14 th of June, 2013 with respondents are Indonesian

who will work in Japan on August, 2013. After getting the data, the writer processed the data by using formula. The formula is: The highest score/ ideal score (SMax): 5 x n = 5n (SS)... (1) 61-80 (strong) 41-60 (enough) 21-40 (weak) 0-20 (very weak) After processing the data, the writer got the data in percentile rank. The data is shown in figure 7. The lowest score (SMin): 1 x n = n (STS), n = total respondent... (2) Score (S): (total respondent that choosing answer x answer weigh)... (3) Interpretation Percentage (P): Score (S) 100% SMax...(4) Where each answer has weighed; SS : Strongly Agree (5) S : Agree (4) N : Neutral (3) Figure 7 Display of Questionnaire result The description of Graphic s statement shows in Table 1. Table 1 Description of Graphic s Statement Question Abbreviation TS : Disagree (2) STS : Strongly Disagree (1) Moreover, the measurement of interpretation percentage (P) is using international scale (Riduwan and Akdon, 2007) as follow: 81-100 (very strong) Interesting display Application is easy to be used. Application runs smoothly in mobile phone. Conversation list, hiragana table, and katakana table ease Indonesian to communicate in Japanese language. Information is easy to be understood. Maximum graphical Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6

display. Clear audio. Application eases user to know city in Japan, its attraction, and Japanese culture. The vocabularies help Indonesian to communicate in Japanese language. Application will ease user to communicate, socialize, and live in Japan. I am satisfied with the application s performance Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Furthermore, Nihongo application gives comprehensive information about Japan. The facts above is proved with 79,41% respondents said that conversation list, hiragana table, katakana table ease Indonesian to communicate in Japanese language. 73,53% Respondents mentioned that vocabularies in Nihongo application Nihongo application for Android mobile phone is an interesting application. It is proved that 85,88% respondents said that display of application is interesting, and 78,82% respondents said that the Nihongo application has maximum graphical display. It is also supported that 78,24% respondents mentioned that the application can run smoothly in mobile phone. Moreover, 84,12% respondents agree that application s audio is clear to be heard. Nihongo application can ease Indonesian to communicate in Japanese help Indonesian to communicate in Japanese language. Moreover, 77,06% respondents concluded that Nihongo application will ease Indonesian to communicate, socialize, and live in Japan. Nihongo application gives comprehensive information about Japan can be supported by facts that 82,94% respondents mentioned that Nihongo application ease Indonesian to know cities in Japan, city s attractions, and Japanese culture. Furthermore, 87,06% respondents agree that Information in Nihongo application is easy to be understood. language, socialize, and live in Japan.

Almost respondents said that Nihongo application is an effective application. It proves that 90,59% respondents agree that the application is easy to be used, and 77,65% respondents satisfied with the application s performance. d. System Analysis In order to analyze the Nihongo application system, the writer tested the application to several mobile phones with different specifications. Different specifications also affect the application s quality, especially the interface of application. Based on the system which has been tested, it proves that the Nihongo application can be run well on Smartfren Andromax I, Sony Xperia Miro, Samsung Galaxy mini 2, Samsung Galaxy S2, Sony Ericson Xperia Mini Pro, and Samsung Galaxy Ace 2. DISCUSSION The Nihongo Application has several features. The first feature is information about hiragana and katakana. The feature has a purpose to give information about hiragana and katakana character to the user. It helps user to read the Japanese character. The second feature is the daily conversations. In this feature, user can read the daily conversations in Bahasa, Japanese Language, and Romaji. The user can hear the daily conversations in Japanese Language. The daily conversations help the user to communicate, socialize, and live in Japan. The third feature is a video about Japan. The feature informs to the user about Japan in video. The fourth feature is information about several cities in Japan and some attractions of the city. The feature is useful to the user which will have vacation in Japan. The fifth feature is Japanese phrase. The feature provides more than 2000 phrase in Bahasa, Japanese Language, and Romaji. In this feature has searching box. The searching box is useable to search the phrase. The feature is useful

for the user when the user face the problem about Japanese language. The sixth feature is several tips about staying in Japan includes. In comparing the research with another research which relates in the literature review, there are some differences and similarities. The differences and similarities are 1. This research discuss about making Nihongo application with six features. The previous research is made by Aryani built the mobile phone application. The application about English with several features. The features include the English subjects, the example of the sentences, and the exercise. 2. Nihongo application is an application about Japan and Japanese language. This research is developed by Eclipse programming development software with Java programming and xml programming. There is a different development method with the previous research is made by Lailasari, Kurniawati, and Afriansyah made Japanese language web E-learning for beginners by using PHP and MySQL. 3. The research discuss about Japanese language and Japan. The Nihongo application is made for Android mobile phone. There is a difference and a similarity with the previous research is made by Nadira. The difference is Nadira discuss about the Italian language learning application. The similarity is the Italian language learning application is built for the Android mobile platform. 4. The Nihongo application informs to the user some information about several cities in Japan and some attractions of the city. The previous research is made by Kusumawardani construct the application with information about Malang. Malang

is one of cities in Indonesia. CONCLUSSION Based on the questionnaire analysis and system analysis, the writer concludes that: 1. Nihongo application for Android Mobile Phone can be run well in several mobile phones, such as Samsung Galaxy Young, Samsung Galaxy Wonder, Samsung Galaxy Mini 2. However, Nihongo application for Android Mobile Phone could not be installed in some devices, such as Samsung Galaxy Tab. 2. Nihongo Application for Android Mobile Phone gives information about Japan, culture, and its attraction clearly. It is proved in questionnaire analysis that 82,94% of respondents agree that Nihongo application can ease user to know city in Japan, its attraction, and Japanese culture. Furthermore, information in Nihongo application is easy to be understood. 3. Nihongo Application for Android Mobile Phone eases Indonesian to communicate, socialize, and live in Japan. It is evidenced that 79,41% of respondents agree that conversation list, hiragana table, and katakana table ease Indonesian to communicate in Japanese language. It is also proved that the vocabularies contained in Nihongo application help Indonesian to communicate in Japenese language. It is corroborated that 77,06% of respondents agree that Nihongo application will ease user to communicate, socialize, and live in Japan. Based on three points above, it can be concluded that the objective of Nihongo Application is done successfully. 87,06% of respondents agree that

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