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Post by Jembru on Jan 21, 2015 3:08:27 GMT
I found jpod kind of sneaky too though. I signed up just for the basic free account, and then they'd keep sending me emails telling me if I signed up for premium right now they'd give me a discount! What if I'd signed up for premium straight away? Would I just have had to pay the full price? Who knows... You have a point there! Jpod's advertising does resemble that of some crappy free to play game. I took them up on the premium trial actually. It was exactly like the regular free trial only everything was unlocked. So long as you switched your account status by the end date, you were never billed! When you down grade or cancel a subscription, you still get access to the extras right up to the date you'd have been billed again. I didn't get much use from the premium features though, so I just down graded. I don't know what to do with langq. I want to support the site, because there is just so much content, but the transcripts are shoddy.. adding spaces in words so the program doesn't recognise them, or counting different conjugations of the same word as entirely separate words, so that your vocabulary count is grossly exaggerated. Non paying users at least get to see the transcripts.. and the flashcard system is clunky next to anki (I accidentally marked all words as 'known' because I couldn't work out how to use it!). So for my money, I'd get a level counter based only on how many words I know, an avatar I can buy accessories for, the ability to have a word translated when I hover over it (yes, rikaikun DOES work btw) a vocabulary counter that thinks I know 10 times the words I really do, and a flashcard system I'd never bother with because I already use a better free system. Maybe I'll pay for a month or two, just to ease my guilt. They HAVE worked very hard after all.
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Post by Bokusenou on Feb 19, 2015 19:18:23 GMT
I found out that the Google Play store will let people outside Japan buy Japanese ebooks! You need to search for them, but they do exist! Might work for movies and music as well, though I haven't tried those yet. play.google.com/store?hl=ja
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Post by Bokusenou on Apr 3, 2015 20:42:16 GMT
www.shiritori.orgFound an online shiritori game. It's pretty fun if you like word games.
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Post by Jembru on Apr 5, 2015 20:24:52 GMT
I only just discovered that google translate has a speech options! I thought I was pretty smug for knowing that you can use it to type Japanese using direct input, because not everyone realises it can do that. Thing is, the icon you click on to enable Japanese input is right next to the speech buttons.
One of my issues with posting on lang-8 is that I'm not very motivated to proof-read. Then I get annoyed with myself when most of my feedback is correcting sloppy typos. By typing my journal into google translate, I can now click on the speech icon and hear it read back. The voice is at a moderate but natural speed, and although clunky, uses accurate enough intonation that it isn't too hard to listen to. I can then at least check that I've written what I intended to, before I post!
Then there is the microphone. This actually, weirdly enough works pretty well! It doesn't do punctuation or anything, but somehow does actually get what I'm saying. Here is a little sample I did..
はじめまして 私は心(I said kokono not kokoro)3年間 日本語を勉強していました まだ上手じゃないけど 毎日努力して うんちをしています(I swear this is what it said, I didn't edit this. I'd said 'benkyou' so I yelled at it, repeating the last part and this time it typed..) 勉強しています 何について話したらいいかなー それだけ これはいいね
That again without my annotations.. はじめまして 私は心3年間 日本語を勉強していました まだ上手じゃないけど 毎日努力して うんちをしています 勉強しています 何について話したらいいかなー それだけ これはいいね
Not bad though! So I guess if I'm feeling really lazy, I could just speak what I want to post in lang 8, take out all the sh*t (literally it seems ^^), and add some punctuation.
Then again, the Japanese don't like it when I try to write as I speak. Even if I copy a line word for word from that shadowing book (which is all spoken style), they change it to more 'proper' Japanese. I know it's for my own good, but it's so mean, making me have to actually think about what I'm saying like that... ^^
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Post by Bokusenou on Apr 28, 2015 0:28:56 GMT
A friend showed me a name generator which changes names into ateji kanji in biker gang style, Takarazukka-style, etc. Really fun to try with long katakana names! www.isop.co.jp/main/ateji/atejiindex.htm
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Jacob
Junior Member
練習して、がんばりますね!
Posts: 95
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Post by Jacob on Aug 1, 2015 19:08:25 GMT
Me too, so don't worry about it! I always say that when it comes to a complex language like Japanese, you need to have a goal in mind, otherwise you end up wasting a lot of time learning things that aren't so important. For me, being able to converse in Japanese is far, far more important to me than being able to read, so most of my reading ability was gained passively by reading and typing in the language (although I have sat down and deliberately studied kanji for maybe 20 hours over the entire time I have been studying Japanese, not including reading chibimaruko, everything else has simply been picked up as I went along, looking things up and just seeing them all the time). Some people love kanji, others need kanji because they want to pass an exam or be able to read their favourite manga... others want to be able to live and work in Japan, using the language as their primary language. For me though, well... I just want to be able to sit around a table and have a good old-fashioned chin-wag in a beautiful language.. so I am better off spending my time practicing speaking and listening to Japanese conversations, than I am drilling kanji. Sadly, lately I have been wanting both skills but it is all a matter of if now is the right time to learn Japanese for me. However, I know even if I don't learn now in 60 years I will be trying to learn it again. I cannot remember if I have already recommended this game before but I really think for beginners, My Japanese Coach has some amazing vocabulary. I am somewhat a fan of how they teach it to you but I feel as though their initial placement test should be able to get you further from the basics. Now for Kanji I tried RTK and I think it works great on very simple kanji (like 早) but in my opinion I think readings are so important when learning Kanji because of my double standard of hoping to both be conversational along with being able to read. So I just use a kanji dictionary pretty similar to the one you recommended and write these kanji 6 times each (21 kanji a day) and turn them into a quizlet. Yes it is a lot more work but I think it is personally more efficient. I think its a matter of if you like to do things separately or all at one time. (Sorry ahead of time because this was confusing lol)
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Post by Jembru on Aug 24, 2015 18:52:54 GMT
Me too, so don't worry about it! I always say that when it comes to a complex language like Japanese, you need to have a goal in mind, otherwise you end up wasting a lot of time learning things that aren't so important. For me, being able to converse in Japanese is far, far more important to me than being able to read, so most of my reading ability was gained passively by reading and typing in the language (although I have sat down and deliberately studied kanji for maybe 20 hours over the entire time I have been studying Japanese, not including reading chibimaruko, everything else has simply been picked up as I went along, looking things up and just seeing them all the time). Some people love kanji, others need kanji because they want to pass an exam or be able to read their favourite manga... others want to be able to live and work in Japan, using the language as their primary language. For me though, well... I just want to be able to sit around a table and have a good old-fashioned chin-wag in a beautiful language.. so I am better off spending my time practicing speaking and listening to Japanese conversations, than I am drilling kanji. Sadly, lately I have been wanting both skills but it is all a matter of if now is the right time to learn Japanese for me. However, I know even if I don't learn now in 60 years I will be trying to learn it again. I cannot remember if I have already recommended this game before but I really think for beginners, My Japanese Coach has some amazing vocabulary. I am somewhat a fan of how they teach it to you but I feel as though their initial placement test should be able to get you further from the basics. Now for Kanji I tried RTK and I think it works great on very simple kanji (like 早) but in my opinion I think readings are so important when learning Kanji because of my double standard of hoping to both be conversational along with being able to read. So I just use a kanji dictionary pretty similar to the one you recommended and write these kanji 6 times each (21 kanji a day) and turn them into a quizlet. Yes it is a lot more work but I think it is personally more efficient. I think its a matter of if you like to do things separately or all at one time. (Sorry ahead of time because this was confusing lol) That post had been written back in 2013!! It's pretty cool to be able to reply as a future version of myself as I can now speak from the point of view of someone who left kanji until later. For me personally, I think I did the right thing in waiting, because my ability to converse is probably better than it would have been had I spent more time on reading in the early days. Waiting wasn't without its drawbacks though. It's definitely a trade-off. I'm using Remembering the Kanji and can now read around 1,400 characters, and I can write most of these from memory. I feel like I wasted the last 6 months of 2014, during which I learnt to write kanji in grade order. In hindsight, I wish I'd studied from RTK instead, and then started learning grade kanji from January this year. My kokugo textbooks and kanji workbooks would have made this more relevant and my prior knowledge of basic kanji components would have helped me to memorise those kanji in a fraction of the time it took me last year. The main drawbacks of waiting until this year to learn kanji are the fact that I read too slowly to be able to sit proficiency texts like JCAT or even the JLPT, and that Remembering the Kanji is actually more effective if you don't already know some Japanese. It is very frustrating, especially if you're using memrise to reinforce your memory of the kanji, if you already know many characters, because you're more likely to remember the meaning of a character form context and go with a different keyword, forever being told you don't know a kanji just for writing 'strive' instead of 'toil', or whatever (I tend to just switch these kanji off: I also use keyword flashcards for writing, so I still get to review them anther way at least). I've also noticed that I can memorise new words much more quickly now that I know kanji, so it does make me wonder if my vocabulary would be much better if I had studied kanji right from the start. I'll also never know if studying kanji would have really delayed my speaking skills. Maybe the other advantages of being able to read; exposure to more authentic texts, being able to use Japanese websites and search engines, and the fact that memorising new words is easier, might have meant that my speaking was actually better after 4 years, than it currently is! On the whole, I'm pleased I waited. If I were still sat here unable to converse in Japanese, I'd be beside myself with grief, I'm not exaggerating! However, my Japanese has hit a wall and I won't be able to improve beyond my current level until I improve my vocabulary and grammar. I could chat forever, and still not get used to more formal or written language, so the only way forward for me is to read more. I can't do that without a good grasp of kanji. There's definitely not one right order to study. You just have to go with what seems to be the best method for you.
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Post by Jembru on Aug 25, 2015 1:08:16 GMT
Jacob, I forgot to add earlier;
If you ever decide to give RTK a second chance, you might want to try what I do. I add a compound or two to anki, for each character that I learn. Where possible I only add words I already know as this makes it much easier to remember the readings. Then as I come by new words I will add them to the reading deck if I can read the kanji they contain but just didn't know the word.
Memrise also has the readings. They're separate sessions though, so you learn 15 new kanji, then their readings in the next session. I've switched all the reading sessions off (by marking all entries as 'ignore'), but I intend to go back and study these when I'm finished all the keyword sessions, to test myself!
EDIT: Just re-read this and thought I'd update in light of further experience. I eventually found that looking up even a few compound words for each and every new kanji got a little too time consuming. Learning 10 new kanji could quickly turn into an hour long session, and that's before you add the time spent reviewing previous characters! So now I am just editing existing anki cards as I come across them during regular reviews, and moving them to my reading deck. If you have more time to dedicate to studying, or if you decided to focus exclusively on kanji, then I guess adding compounds would be no big deal, but if you want to continue with other modes of study, then you might want to ignore my previous advice! ^^
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Post by Jembru on Oct 9, 2015 4:15:44 GMT
Got myself a mobile that isn't useless! Everything is infinitely easier with this phone, especially Japanese input.I still need to get used to typing with thid phone, both in English and Japanese, as it's still new to me, but compared to the last phone, this one is just so easy to use.
So, I installed a nice little app. It's a journalling app callef 'journey'. Its Japanese compatible so I can practice typing by keeping a journal on my phone. You can add imges and shory videos, and the entries can be edited at a later date. I'm still not confident enough to post in lang8 but if I ever feel up to it in the future, at least I'll have ready made journal entries I can tweek!
Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone else fancies giving it a go.
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Post by Jembru on Oct 16, 2015 7:23:50 GMT
I have been using Journey for over a week now and I'm finding it far more useful than I expected I would. I would point out though, that the regular memo pad that my phone came ready installed with, does most of the same things as Journey. It doesn't seem to be pass code lockable, but otherwise, I don't think you'd be missing out much if you used your memo pad for the same purpose.
Here are some of the ways this app has been really useful;
1) Keeping a Japanese journal As it's lockable, I can write what I want, and on any subject I choose. I have been reading back over my entries now and then, to pick out mistakes, add more detail, or rewrite a sentence so that it uses fancier grammar. My favourite trick is to go back after learning a new structure or expression, and see if I can segway it into an entry. You bolder learners could even post these to lang8 eventually, and check that you'd used everything correctly!
2) Collecting things I pick up from Japanese friends Now I have a usable copy/paste mechanism, and can easily flick between apps, I can copy interesting phrases I notice while chatting to native speaking friends. I have a special page just for this, and already have a few notes in there, like I saw someone use a question mark within a quoted sentence a few days ago. I didn't know you could do that (and I imagine it wouldn't be considered 'proper'), so I added it to my list so I didn't forget!
3) Useful phrase list Sometimes I find myself lost for words when I'm making announcements on the conversation group's FB page. So I've started a list of handy go-to phrases that I can quickly refer to if I get stuck. I might add other interesting greetings and expressions as I find them.
4) Things I don't understand list I used to keep a list of things I want to say in Japanese but can't find the words for (and we still have a thread based around that somewhere), so I could ask a native speaker when I got the chance. Now I've started a list of things I can't find out the meaning of, with the same intention. As it's on my phone, I'll hopefully never be caught out.
5) Things I'd like to try out I've got a list of interesting expressions or aspects of speech that I heard or read a Japanese person use. I can refer to the list while out with friends and then try to find an opportunity to try it out.
6) To-do-lists Of course, not just related to Japanese, I also use it to keep a reminder of things I need to do. Whether it's call my boss, send an important email, or remember to return a book.. I have it all there on my phone. I've made shopping lists and even a list of Christmas present ideas on there too!
Of course, I love real paper notebooks, but I can't deny that having a notebook on my phone, and being able to drop notes into it while I'm out and about without the awkwardness of taking out a pen and notebook, is really awesome!
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Post by Bokusenou on Oct 30, 2015 18:50:19 GMT
lifehacker.jp is an good site for those starting out reading Japanese articles. A good deal of the articles are translated from the English lifehacker site, (with links to the original English article) which might help when you don't understand something. Even the original Japanese articles are easier than others I've seen on the web. I tend to read the book reviews, which generally summarize Japanese productivity books.
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Post by Bokusenou on Jan 9, 2016 5:02:47 GMT
www.febe.jp/Lots of Japanese audiobooks, all with samples. Haven't tried to buy anything from there yet, but I've read that they even take non-Japanese credit cards without problems, which is great news.^^
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Post by menakatep on Feb 7, 2016 7:06:34 GMT
Hey guys! Jembru suggested I add this RPG game to the resources thread! It's called Slime Forest and it's located at www.lrnj.comBasically, you can learn all the kana, joyou kanji and then another set of around 2000 kanji for general reading! It's AMAZING but you gotta keep up with it if you play. So on top of learning the Kanji and kana themselves, it will also teach you readings of different words using each kanji and I believe you can do some grammar work in the game if I'm not mistaken? I haven't gotten through the general reading kanji yet so we shall see! Two different versions costing different prices the grade school kanji and also general use kanji. You'll be able to find them when you navigate to the website. The full version is about $20 I think maybe $25. They do however have a free demo version of the game which is like 1000 kanji and the kana. Plus a few sample quests that go over readings and grammar. I really hope you guys give it a shot because this is one of the few resources I can say has been absolutely invaluable in my learning. Perhaps from my own love for RPG genre games was it so worthwhile. Who knows! Recommended! Logan P.S. if you decided to get it and get confused, let me know on here or line. I'd be happy to answer any questions because the instructions for use are a teence vague.
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Post by Bokusenou on Feb 8, 2016 4:36:20 GMT
So, I recently found out that there's a Japanese version of Buzzfeed: www.buzzfeed.com/?country=ja-jpSome of it's articles translated from the English version, but it also has original Japanese content. Note: This can be a real time waster if you're not careful. menakatep That game looks like an awesome resource for learners!
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