Post by Jembru on Feb 26, 2014 23:57:34 GMT
Welcome to Gaiwa! Please make yourself at home and let me give you a quick introduction to our cosy little corner of the Internet.
What is Gaiwa?
Gaiwa is a learning community. This means that the focus is on supporting and encouraging one another on our quest to master Japanese. While we're not a teaching site as such, that doesn't mean you won't get plenty opportunities to practice your Japanese, learn great ways to increase your Japanese proficiency, or pick up a thing or two about the language itself. While some forums for Japanese learners can become somewhat 'cliquey' or even hostile towards new learners, the staff here at Gaiwa are determined not to allow this to happen, valuing everyone's input, whether they have just started out, or been studying for years. We don't want this forum to become 'top heavy' with just a small elite of proficient speakers, dominating the threads, but we can only do this with your help in keeping ALL threads active, and welcoming all learners with open arms.
Gaiwa's Mission
Learning Japanese takes a considerable amount of time and effort, even when compared to other languages. Our hope is that as a community, we can help our members to improve their Japanese as quickly as possible. We aim to do this a number of ways, such as;
- Sharing resources and study methods that have worked for us
- Trouble-shooting obstacles that can hold you back from mastering Japanese
- Answering your questions about aspects of the language, in plain English
- Giving you a friendly place where you can practice Japanese without fear of ridicule or judgement
We also talk about Japanese culture and just about anything that our members find personally interesting. So what are you waiting for? Dive into our many threads and articles, and maybe even leave a post yourself.
Still not sure where to start? Well, why not tell me what you're interested in?
"I want to start practicing my Japanese right away"
Then why not check out the bilingual and monolingual sub-forums? More specifically, I recommend the following threads;
Introduce yourself in Japanese only
Or in English and/or Japanese if you prefer
Practice your spoken Japanese with video or sound clips
Test your reading with authentic texts
Or join in games and maybe pick up some vocabulary along the way (please take care to skip to the last page before posting)
We also have a chat room, if you want to have a conversation with other members. Japanese, English, kana only and romaji, are all okay.
"I want to study Japanese"
We're not really a teaching site, so you won't find any lessons on the forums, but if you check out our study assistance sub-forum, you can find a wealth of threads pointing you towards great resources, as well as threads about aspects of the language itself, such as..
Resource recommendations
Japanese Q&A
Talking about kanji or common kanji confusions
Maybe you could be inspired by hearing about how others make time for study in their busy lives.
"I'd like to talk about my interests such as music, anime, hobbies or Japanese culture."
We have a variety of interests here at Gaiwa, both related to Japan and otherwise, but if you can't find a discussion about a specific interest you have, please feel free to start your own thread. We won't get angry about threads started in the wrong place, or duplicate threads. We have plenty active staff who can move things around if need be, so there's no need to be shy.
Places you might want to check for existing threads are the Japan related and off topic sub-forums. You may also see discussions in the bilingual and Japanese only threads. While we ask you to stick to Japanese in the Japanese only threads, English only, or just small bits of Japanese here and there, is perfectly okay in the bilingual section if you're just starting out.
Also don't forget to check out our home page as new articles are being posted regularly on a wide variety of interesting topics and you can join in the discussion in the comments section.
Thank you for dropping by our little forum. We look forward to getting to know you better.
-Gaiwa Team