Language Journal: February 14th - What I Use
Just thought I'd do a quick recap of what I'm using at the moment, and a hopefully very brief explanation of what they are and why.
So, here is the list:
Anki I've covered often. It is an SRS Flashcard system. I use it daily. I study about 250 cards a day in 45 mins-1 hour. It is an indispensable tool for every level of learning I've gone through so far. Not being in Japan or immersed in the language in any way, it helps to make sure I don't forget what I've learned.
Box Of Manga Immersion is key. And reading is one of the best ways to reinforce and promote learning of a language. BoM sends out a new box every month with 4 volumes of Manga. I could probably do a whole post on the value of this service, as I've seen some criticisms online. All I'll say is this, English translations of Manga cost over $10 a volume new in Canada. After taxes and shipping, this costs less than that. And I'm willing to pay MORE for native language materials, so this is a win for me. These are used, but the condition is always perfect, or near as matters.
Crunchyroll I wouldn't call this immersion. But, it is a fun way to enjoy the language and culture. You CAN use anime as a learning tool, but unless you're quite far along, it is a challenge. I use this to see how much I can follow by listening. But, I'm not stopping and translating every line on my own. I just enjoy it.
DVD's Same as Crunchyroll. I've bought some stuff. I've never sat down and translated it. But, movies are better than anime usually if you're into that. They have more replay value for people in general. And are generally more natural Japanese than anime (unless it is an OVA for an anime).
Google Translate I use this increasingly less often. The offline translations can be horrible. It sucks at translating from the camera. But, it can translate whole sentences or paragraphs. Which was definitely good when starting out. I use it now as a guide when I know all of the words in a sentence but maybe can't get the exact idea of what they mean.
Takoboto is a free dictionary for Android. It has a lot, and a lot of good entries. This is my primary translation tool. Where Google will default to the most common meaning of a word which sometimes result in hilarious mistakes, a good dictionary will give a much wider selection of meanings which has helped on many occasions when seeing a new word, or a word in strange context. It also has a limited ability to try and figure out a Kanji based on radicals. But, I don't find the detection perfect, or all that good, which is why I added the next one to my collection recently.
Kanji Recognizer in an Android app which allows you to write out the kanji with your finger and have it help you identify it. As your level in Japanese increases, your exposure to non-basic kanji and/or kanji without Furigana goes up. This can make translation INSANELY slow and infeasible while still learning. Figuring out Kanji by radicals is slow and sometimes confusing and not all tools work all of the time in my opinion. Jisho.org is great, but I'm not always online and the tool isn't really meant for phone usage. Kanji recognizer is meant for this.
These are the tools I'm using right now. I don't really know what my level in Japanese is. I would say "advanced learner". If I were to lean on JLPT levels I would say I'm probably somewhere between N3-N2. I'm definitely NOT N1, and probably not a solid N2. Pointing this out because the tools I've used have definitely changed over time. Kanji Recognizer would have been useless to me early on, and even Takoboto would have been pointless before I got further along with grammar.
Anyway, that is what I use right now.
So, here is the list:
- Anki
- Box Of Manga
- Crunchyroll
- DVD's
- Google Translate
- Takoboto
- Kanji Recognizer
Anki I've covered often. It is an SRS Flashcard system. I use it daily. I study about 250 cards a day in 45 mins-1 hour. It is an indispensable tool for every level of learning I've gone through so far. Not being in Japan or immersed in the language in any way, it helps to make sure I don't forget what I've learned.
Box Of Manga Immersion is key. And reading is one of the best ways to reinforce and promote learning of a language. BoM sends out a new box every month with 4 volumes of Manga. I could probably do a whole post on the value of this service, as I've seen some criticisms online. All I'll say is this, English translations of Manga cost over $10 a volume new in Canada. After taxes and shipping, this costs less than that. And I'm willing to pay MORE for native language materials, so this is a win for me. These are used, but the condition is always perfect, or near as matters.
Crunchyroll I wouldn't call this immersion. But, it is a fun way to enjoy the language and culture. You CAN use anime as a learning tool, but unless you're quite far along, it is a challenge. I use this to see how much I can follow by listening. But, I'm not stopping and translating every line on my own. I just enjoy it.
DVD's Same as Crunchyroll. I've bought some stuff. I've never sat down and translated it. But, movies are better than anime usually if you're into that. They have more replay value for people in general. And are generally more natural Japanese than anime (unless it is an OVA for an anime).
Google Translate I use this increasingly less often. The offline translations can be horrible. It sucks at translating from the camera. But, it can translate whole sentences or paragraphs. Which was definitely good when starting out. I use it now as a guide when I know all of the words in a sentence but maybe can't get the exact idea of what they mean.
Takoboto is a free dictionary for Android. It has a lot, and a lot of good entries. This is my primary translation tool. Where Google will default to the most common meaning of a word which sometimes result in hilarious mistakes, a good dictionary will give a much wider selection of meanings which has helped on many occasions when seeing a new word, or a word in strange context. It also has a limited ability to try and figure out a Kanji based on radicals. But, I don't find the detection perfect, or all that good, which is why I added the next one to my collection recently.
Kanji Recognizer in an Android app which allows you to write out the kanji with your finger and have it help you identify it. As your level in Japanese increases, your exposure to non-basic kanji and/or kanji without Furigana goes up. This can make translation INSANELY slow and infeasible while still learning. Figuring out Kanji by radicals is slow and sometimes confusing and not all tools work all of the time in my opinion. Jisho.org is great, but I'm not always online and the tool isn't really meant for phone usage. Kanji recognizer is meant for this.
These are the tools I'm using right now. I don't really know what my level in Japanese is. I would say "advanced learner". If I were to lean on JLPT levels I would say I'm probably somewhere between N3-N2. I'm definitely NOT N1, and probably not a solid N2. Pointing this out because the tools I've used have definitely changed over time. Kanji Recognizer would have been useless to me early on, and even Takoboto would have been pointless before I got further along with grammar.
Anyway, that is what I use right now.
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