Nihongojouzu

sci.lang.japan

Find out why Japanese people say "en" and not "yen" on what is left of the sci.lang.japan archived site

Blog in Japanese

Keeping a diary in Japanese is a great study technique. A weblog ("blog") is a web site which functions as an online diary. Blogging in Japanese achieves similar aims to a paper diary except that it is your typing which will improve, rather than your orthography, and in lieu of privacy your daily adventures will be accessible to millions of people. Assuming you are sensible enough not to post the most intimate revelations of your fetish for barnyard animals a blog has certain advantages over paper.

1. No stress over remembering how to write kanji - just enter the reading and the computer does the rest.
2. Learn valuable computer skills.
3. No more worrying about carrying a journal around - if you use a web based blogging client you can update from any internet-enabled computer.
5. You could become famous on the net
6. Complete strangers will write helpful comments on how you can improve your Japanese writing.

For your reading pleasure I have set up a basic journal blog in Japanese called Nihongoblog. I daresay there are mistakes in the Japanese, but someone will comment on them and then everyone gets wiser.

If you get an application which allows moblogging - a mobile phone, PDA, Blackberry or Bluetooth enabled digital camera - you don't even need a computer. (Well theoretically you could read blogs on your mobile devices too)

It only takes about 10 minutes to set up a basic blog. Here are some blogging clients - all are free, though some for a limited time. All allow posting in Japanese although Greymatter has had some issue with comments.

RadioUserland (30 day free trial)
Blogger
Typepad (30 day free trial)
LiveJournal
Greymatter

MIT OpenCourseWare

Want to study the same syllabus as MIT students? Go to MIT's OpenCourseWare and check out the courses for Beginning Japanese I, Beginning Japanese II or Intermediate Japanese I Keen beans can even opt for Linguistic Theory and the Japanese Language.

Kanji quizzes, photos of Japan with Quicktime format sound files and detailed syllabuses, all for free. Just don't be like certain Japanese politicians and claim that you are a graduate.

WriteKanji

WriteKanji is a flashcard program for people using Heisig's Remembering the Kanji. WriteKanji already contains all 2042 of the Heisig kanji - all you have to do is enter the stories that you have made up for each one and test away. You can select a range of kanji - say 50 at a time. The testing function isn't bad - you race against the clock (you get more time the more strokes the kanji has) though I would prefer to have an option where you can click through at your own pace. Shareware - $12.00. Windows users - sorry - this one is Mac only - Needs MacOS 10.15. Download it from Macupdate or Versiontracker

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Writing Letters in Japanese

Can you write a letter in japanese in horizontal format? How about vertical? Know how to address an envelope? A postcard? What opening phrase should you use? If you've ever had to write a thank you letter in Japanese and not known what to say and how to say it, this book is for you. (If you don't give a toss and are content with email then stop reading.) The written word is being superceded by the typed word, but if letter writing is on the endangered species list, Japan seems to be the wildlife preserve.
Writing Letters in Japanese provides a heap of example letters which you can adapt to your own needs. The first half covers the basics of letter writing - social concepts, letter format, seasonal greetings and fixed expressions. The second contains heavily annotated example letters: greetings, requests, thank-you letters, announcements, invitations and replies, apologies, news about yourself, employment queries and sending objects through the mail. WLIJ is easy to use - just find the kind of letter you want to write and adapt the contents (I'd still get a native speaker to check your letter anyway - especially if it is going out to someone important) With three samples seasonal greetings per month you can wow your friends with your detailed knowledge of Japanese customs (nothing to stop you adapting them to email either) The section on style highlights the subtle differences between spoken and written Japanese - follow these guidelines and you'll sound like a native. Note that WLIJ doesn't contain business letters - they constitute a whole subject on their own. An excellent resource, and my only criticism is that I would have liked even more example letters, but that's probably because I'm a lazy bastard.

Flashcard Suite

Flashcard Suite is a cool application. Java based so it runs in the Windows or Mac environments, Flashcard Suite lets you create decks of flashcards which you can even make available on the web.