Hello out there!
It's Thursday and here I am with another blog, just like I said I would!
Amazing, isn't it?
Anyway, as I'm between classes today, I don't have that much time to write any long, detailed reviews of intensive learning websites. So instead, I'm going to offer up a website that's geared more towards intermediate and advanced learners of Japanese, but can also be utilized by beginners just starting out who want more practice.
The site is Lang-8, an international blogging community. What makes it different from sites like Blogger, LiveJournal, or even Facebook and Myspace is that you write your journals/blogs in the language you are studying, and native speakers of that language will graciously correct any mistakes you have, and will usually provide feedback as to why they corrected why they did. As gratitude, you yourself find blogs written in your own native language and correct those. By doing so you not only improve your language skills by putting it into contextual use, you also assist others from around the world in learning your own language. Talk about give-and-receive!
There's also a variety of forum boards. These forum boards are in the form of groups, much like those on Facebook or Myspace. You join in a group for the language you're studying or something you have interest in, and there's a group discussion board where you can talk to others outside of the normal blogging corrections.
The site in general seems to really emphasize communication between native speakers and learners of each language.
If you create a profile, there's a widget-looking thing that matches you with other users who are either native speakers of the language you are studying, or students of your native language. This makes it easy to find blogs to correct without having to dig around the site very much. There's also a section that shows recently posted blogs in your native language that would like corrections made, which once again makes it so you don't have to dig around much.
A neat feature for the corrections is the implementation of "thanks points" and "nice correction points". "Thanks points" are points that the original writer of the blog gives to each correction suggestion made in the comments. If it's a good correction, the more "thanks points" (up to five) the writer may give. If the correction isn't helpful or is wrong, the writer doesn't have to give any points. "Nice correction points" are points other correction givers give out to other corrections they see. Read a blog and found a correction comment similar to the one you were going to give it? Hit the "thumbs up" button to show the blog writer that this correction is dittoed! Both points also have their own rankings, so you can see who gives out the most thanks and has the best corrections for what ever language you're studying. There's also a "native nod" point, which I guess is a point that native speakers can give you to as a sign that your grammar and word usage is native-level or getting there. Sadly, the help section doesn't have an explanation for that type of point.
Overall, I think this site is a great tool for those who want their writing to become more native-like. It won't help you very much with conversing face-to-face, but it'll help you get written grammar, which is almost always more formal, down pretty good. Beginners and advanced students alike can put this site to good use if they are truly motivated to learn the language.
It's free, so why not give it a shot?
I'm writing my first entry there as soon as I post this. You can find me here.
It's Thursday and here I am with another blog, just like I said I would!
Amazing, isn't it?
Anyway, as I'm between classes today, I don't have that much time to write any long, detailed reviews of intensive learning websites. So instead, I'm going to offer up a website that's geared more towards intermediate and advanced learners of Japanese, but can also be utilized by beginners just starting out who want more practice.
The site is Lang-8, an international blogging community. What makes it different from sites like Blogger, LiveJournal, or even Facebook and Myspace is that you write your journals/blogs in the language you are studying, and native speakers of that language will graciously correct any mistakes you have, and will usually provide feedback as to why they corrected why they did. As gratitude, you yourself find blogs written in your own native language and correct those. By doing so you not only improve your language skills by putting it into contextual use, you also assist others from around the world in learning your own language. Talk about give-and-receive!
There's also a variety of forum boards. These forum boards are in the form of groups, much like those on Facebook or Myspace. You join in a group for the language you're studying or something you have interest in, and there's a group discussion board where you can talk to others outside of the normal blogging corrections.
The site in general seems to really emphasize communication between native speakers and learners of each language.
If you create a profile, there's a widget-looking thing that matches you with other users who are either native speakers of the language you are studying, or students of your native language. This makes it easy to find blogs to correct without having to dig around the site very much. There's also a section that shows recently posted blogs in your native language that would like corrections made, which once again makes it so you don't have to dig around much.
A neat feature for the corrections is the implementation of "thanks points" and "nice correction points". "Thanks points" are points that the original writer of the blog gives to each correction suggestion made in the comments. If it's a good correction, the more "thanks points" (up to five) the writer may give. If the correction isn't helpful or is wrong, the writer doesn't have to give any points. "Nice correction points" are points other correction givers give out to other corrections they see. Read a blog and found a correction comment similar to the one you were going to give it? Hit the "thumbs up" button to show the blog writer that this correction is dittoed! Both points also have their own rankings, so you can see who gives out the most thanks and has the best corrections for what ever language you're studying. There's also a "native nod" point, which I guess is a point that native speakers can give you to as a sign that your grammar and word usage is native-level or getting there. Sadly, the help section doesn't have an explanation for that type of point.
Overall, I think this site is a great tool for those who want their writing to become more native-like. It won't help you very much with conversing face-to-face, but it'll help you get written grammar, which is almost always more formal, down pretty good. Beginners and advanced students alike can put this site to good use if they are truly motivated to learn the language.
It's free, so why not give it a shot?
I'm writing my first entry there as soon as I post this. You can find me here.
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