LingQ

[Jembru]

I've decided to bring this over to it's own thread rather than keep discussing it in the recommended resources thread. Here's the story so far... 

I found a podcast-based learning resource called lingq. I haven't explored its full potential yet, but it doesn't appear to 'teach' in the sense of teaching grammar and explaining Japanese. It does however have an impressive Japanese - English dictionary and an anki-style flashcard game for learning vocabulary, and there is a forum where language points can be more explicitly discussed. 

The site's strength is in vocabulary building and listening practice. The podcasts are entirely in Japanese and the transcripts too are in Japanese only. This does mean that tricky sentences are hard to figure out (I'm already planning on posting some of the parts I'm stumped on here, to see if my fellow Gaiwajins can help out). While they're probably most useful for intermediate and up (while some topics are vocabulary heavy, as it's spoken Japanese, there isn't much in the way of 'advanced' language used), I think it wouldn't hurt for beginners to dip in now and then. Even if you can't understand much just yet, it's good listening practice.  

The system works by highlighting all unknown words in blue in the transcript. You then have to tell the system which words you know and then words you're new to are highlighted in yellow and added to you list of 'lingqs'. You can then choose to drill new words in their anki-style flashcard game, or like me, write them in your notebook and add them to anki. 

You can collect points for adding lingqs which allows you to level up (this earns you coins that you can spend on your avatar). 

The program isn't free, but you have access to all of the audio tracks AND the transcripts even as a non-payer (which I think is very generous of them). I have been at pains over whether or not to pay and have made up my mind. But I think I'll move onto a separate post for that.  

[Jembru]

So... after much thought, I have decided I would definitely like to subscribe to this site. After a few days without paying, I am convinced that the free access is very good. I want it to stay this way, because I know there are a lot of younger Japanese learners who can't afford to pay monthly subscription fees. So for the sake of those who aren't in any position to pay, I have decided I will be subscribing. I remember when a podcast I loved stopped being free to use, and at that time I couldn't afford to pay... I don't want the same to happen with lingq; that one day they decide to limit access to just 3 or 4 audio tracks unless you're willing to part with your hard earned cash.

BUT

I'm not going to start subscribing until the end of February. I want to know for sure what kind of experience non-paying users can expect, so I can recommend it (or not) accordingly.

Which brings me to my next point. I wasn't surprised when after a few days I was told 'you've hit your lingq limit, please subscribe to continue adding lingqs', but what I WAS surprised by, is that when I DIDN'T throw my bank card at them, I got another message a day later saying, 'We don't want you to quit, so please have another 100 free lingqs'. To put this into perspective, so far, had I not messed up and marked some as 'known' by accident, I'd have added around 20 lingqs since I started using the site 4 days ago, so 100 is a generous limit if you've already been studying Japanese for a few years. 

Not a bad site at all... (even if the format of their transcripts is gaaaaaaahhhhhhh annoying to read at times).

[Bokusenou]

From looking at reviews, there seems to be a workaround for free users: copying and pasting lingq words into Anki or somewhere, and then deleting your lingqs.
www.fluentin3months.com/lingq-review/

[Jembru]

Jan 22, 2015 23:28:33 GMT Bokusenou said:

From looking at reviews, there seems to be a workaround for free users: copying and pasting lingq words into Anki or somewhere, and then deleting your lingqs.
www.fluentin3months.com/lingq-review/

That's clever! ^^ 

I'll do that for now then. I find copying and pasting a nightmare on there actually. When I didn't have lingqs left, I had to close the right hand side of the screen then Ctrl+a, Ctrl+c and paste the whole thing into gmail. Then I didn't get that stupid 'oopse' flash up every time I hovered over a word to check its meaning, and didn't have to wade through words the program thought I didn't know. Oh and then I can take out the damned gaps in words so I can read tricky sentences properly.. (a typical example of how they botch it up; '曲線' was written '曲 線', so anyone checking this word would just get 'song/track’ and 'line', which isn't much help when the speakers are talking about perms. This happens literally ALL THE TIME). Not being able to simply copy the single sentence is a real pain. 

Your link has really helped me actually. I wasn't paying attention yesterday and accidentally added チーム and 来た to my lingqs. I'm pleased I can undo this after all! And yes, apparently 来た, 来る, 来ない, 来よう and so on, are all different words! I'm trying to mark conjugations as 'ignore' so I have a more accurate vocabulary count.. but some sneak through when I'm going through quickly. 

Edit: here's another classic formatting slip.. 'DVD が 出て たり と か 本 が 出て たり と かする んです'　it wanted to know if I knew the word 'かする' erm.. ^^ Yeah, definitely a site for people who already know a good deal of Japanese. Beginners would lose their mind quite quickly I think. 

[Jembru]

I've only just noticed the 'hide spacing' option in the 'settings'. So you can make the transcripts much more readable after all. I also discovered the 'back 5 seconds' button at the top of the transcript page. It instantly bounces the conversation back 5 seconds, which is usually enough to replay a part you've missed! Very handy.

The trick with removing lingQ's as you add them to anki, really works, so it is definitely possible to use the site without paying for a subscription. I feel guilty though, so I'm going to start subscribing like I said I would.

I really love the conversations with Steve. He isn't fully fluent, but he is very capable in Japanese. He is a great role model to showcase how you can make the best use of the Japanese you do know! I've picked up a few little tricks from him already!

It's definitely a great addition to my study tools! Love it, love it, love it!

[Jembru]

Erm.. Something that may be helpful to others using the site: I've only just worked out that I can scroll to the bottom of the page and click 'I know all remaining blue words'. Then I can study the transcript at my leisure and when I come by a word I don't know I can double click and it lets me change it to a lingQ. I've been going through all blue words one by one telling the program if I know it or not and probably wasted hours by now, especially as I was clicking 'ignore' on words that were conjugations (or in some cases mutilations) or other words, clicking 'I know this word' only if it was in its dictionary form.

I think I'll give up on trying to get a more accurate count of my vocabulary this way. Some words I know may never come up in their dictionary form on lingQ, and I'm bound to know words that don't relate to any topic covered, so it was probably going to be an underestimate anyway. Oh well.. lets just let lingQ think I have a vocabulary of 20,000+ words then...