by John Fotheringham | Dec 2, 2016 | Apps, Blog, Japanese Language, Websites
Today’s Japanese learner is but a click or tap away from a dizzying array of digital Japanese dictionaries. But which should you choose? The plethora of options available can lead to what author Barry Schwartz calls the “paradox of choice”. To help you avoid the anxiety, paralysis by analysis, and decision fatigue associated with so many choices, I have waded through dozens of Japanese dicitionary sites and apps for you and selected just the essential few that I think are best suited to mastering the Japanese language. Here now are the top eight Japanese dictionaries available online and on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows.
by John Fotheringham | Nov 18, 2014 | Apps, Japanese Language, Websites
We have been conditioned by well-intentioned mothers to believe that television will “destroy our brains”. This might well be true if one spends their time watching “reality” TV shows that don’t actually reflect reality, the sensationalist 24-hour news cycle, and tasteless drivel that neither entertains nor educates. But if you watch television in Japanese, this otherwise time and brain-waisting activity can become a constructive form of language learning that even mommy should be able to get behind! To that end, here are my top ten favorite tools for streaming Japanese drama and anime series online:
by Saravanaa Vijay | Mar 18, 2014 | Guest Posts, Websites
I’ve already written many tens of thousands of words about how to learn Japanese using modern online tools, so it’s time to let someone else share their point of view on the subject. In this guest post, Saravanaa Vijay from Lang-8 (which happens to be one of my favorite online language learning tools!) discusses the advantages and disadvantages of learning languages online, and why Lang-8 should part of any language learner’s online arsenal.
by Teddy Nee | Oct 8, 2013 | Apps, Mandarin Language, Resources, Websites
In this guest post, website developer, language tutor, and language enthusiast Teddy Nee shares how you can learn a foreign language better by immersing yourself via social media networks, plus some powerful little features that you might not know about.
by John Fotheringham | Sep 7, 2012 | Apps, Japanese Language, Languages, Mandarin Language, Product Reviews, Websites
Skritter has been on my radar for quite some time, but the need to sit at a computer was less than ideal. With the release of their iOS apps, however, Skritter has finally been given the touch-based format it deserves.
by John Fotheringham | May 17, 2011 | Product Reviews, Spanish Language, Websites
If you are learning Spanish on your iPhone, Brainscape’s Spanish! app is definitely worth checking out. Read on to see why.