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 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 | Aug 10, 2011 | Apps, Japanese Language, Mandarin Language, Methods, Product Reviews
Chinese characters are arguably the most intimidating part of getting started in Japanese or Chinese, but I believe they can also be the most enjoyable if tackled correctly. This article shares the tips, tools, and psychology you need to master kanji and hanzi.
by John Fotheringham | Apr 5, 2009 | Apps, English Language, Japanese Language, Mandarin Language, Methods, Portuguese Language, Product Reviews, Russian Language, Spanish Language, Videos, Websites
Pronounced like the word “link” (not “ling-kyu” as it is often mispronounced), LingQ is an an online and iOS app based language learning system created by Steve Kaufmann. The “freemium” site allows users to easily look up and save unknown words and phrases (what they call “LingQing”, hence the name of the site)m with tools for 11 languages: Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish (which happen to be the same 11 languages Steve speaks).
