Lang-8, a bittersweet way to learn
Written by Jeshii on 2008.10.23 – 16:45 -
Ever since Tofugu‘s EXCELLENT entry on free ways to learn Japanese (which did not include Anki BTW ><;), I have been hooked on Lang-8. Basically, it is a social networking site designed for people learning other languages.
The way it works is that you choose a language you are trying to learn. Then you write entries in that language, and native speakers will come along and correct it. The BEST thing about it is that people really do come along and correct your entries. Withing 2 minutes of my first posting, someone had make some corrections.
While that is the sweet part, it is also bitter. You sit there and really see how much you SUCK at the language you are trying to learn. This is not a site for people who can’t take constructive criticism. You just have to swallow your pride and learn. That’s what’s so awesome about it.
And then, you can also go and correct others entries. When you make corrections, you can cross out, make bold, or change the color to blue or red to emphasize your points.
Another AMAZING feature on the site that I noticed is that is has the same functionality as rikaichan built in! I don’t know how many languages this works for, but at least Japanese has it.
I already have 3 friends. Yay! I think the funniest part is that the OLs correct my Japanese differently that the サラリーマン (sarariiman) do. The OLs seems to just do little mistakes, where as the サラリーマン seems to cross out my simple Japanese and add 漢字 (kanji) compounds.
Anyway, I’m in love with this site. This is now my Japanese blog of choice.
Go ready my Lang-8 blog!
Tags: blogs, Internet, Japanese language, learning, sns, social networking, study, 勉強, 日本語
Posted in blogs, language | 1 Comment »
Keep going until you cry Anki!
Written by Jeshii on 2008.10.11 – 21:09 -Some people ask me, “Jeshii, how do I learn Japanese?” I then hold back the urge to scream, “MOVE TO JAPAN!!!” and give them the following advice:
1. Download firefox and rikai-chan. Use firefox to visit Japanese pages that interest you.
2. Download Anki. It’s a fantastic flashcard program that will automatically add ふりがな.
3. Everytime you use Rikai-chan to look up a word you don’t know, hit “c” on the keyboard. This copies it to the clipboard.
4. Go in to Anki and paste it in a card.
Voilà, you are now building an extremely relevant flashcard library!
Tags: anki, firefox, flashcards, Japanese, language, learning, rikai-chan, rikaichan, software, study, 勉強, 日本語
Posted in language | 1 Comment »
