New site for intermediate to advanced Japanese learners

Hey all, I've just started a Japanese-learning blog for intermediate to advanced learners of Japanese, and I wanted to tell you guys about it. I plan on putting a lot of effort into making it interesting, educational, and accurate, and I thought that a lot of people on these forums could benefit from it.

beforebreakfast.net: 日本語を朝飯前にするウェブサイト

My site isn't really for beginners (sorry ). A good grasp of grammar, as well as hiragana, katakana, and basic kanji, is assumed. But I hope it'll help advanced learners to enrich their knowledge, and help intermediate learners to take their skills to the next level.

So visit the site, and hopefully you'll learn more and improve your knowledge of the wonderful Japanese language.

It looks like almost all of the sites in the "Japan on the Web" forum are dedicated to culture, not language, so I'm double-posting this here to make sure that Japanese learners see it, as well. I hope this isn't out of line.

---

Hey all, I've just started a Japanese-learning blog for intermediate to advanced learners of Japanese, and I wanted to tell you guys about it. I plan on putting a lot of effort into making it interesting, educational, and accurate, and I thought that a lot of people on these forums could benefit from it.

beforebreakfast.net: 日本語を朝飯前にするウェブサイト

My site isn't really for beginners (sorry ). A good grasp of grammar, as well as hiragana, katakana, and basic kanji, is assumed. But I hope it'll help advanced learners to enrich their knowledge, and help intermediate learners to take their skills to the next level.

So visit the site, and hopefully you'll learn more and improve your knowledge of the wonderful Japanese language.

Awesome site!
Everybody should check it out.

Interesting, educational, and well-written.

Hi, thanks, nice work.

However, it shouldn't really be double posted... It takes up valuable server space y'know.

Anyway, whatever. It looks like an OK site. Well written.

Thanks for your compliments, guys!

magevampjoe said:

However, it shouldn't really be double posted... It takes up valuable server space y'know.

Click to expand...

There are almost 500,000 posts on this board. I think the vBulletin database will be okay.

Hey guys, just thought I'd ping this thread to let you know that I'm having a contest on my blog, and I'm giving away Japanese language-learning materials (the type of your choice) to whoever wins. You might wanna take a look!

NattyBumppo said:

Thanks for your compliments, guys!
There are almost 500,000 posts on this board. I think the vBulletin database will be okay.

Click to expand...

Sorry, but double-posting is now allowed on this forum. The two have been merged

I might give it a try. I am very skeptical about flash card programs and vocabulary lists. It seems to be a crutch that people are not willing to let go once finishing their Intermediate classes. Although I admit it would be far easier to keep track of what you have learned from the old school "just read" method. I could see a use for both, as long as there is a heavier emphasis on reading.

Sorry, think I turned this into a debate. I'll take a look at the site when I'm off work.

It's perfectly possible to store entire articles of texts as flashcards. That's what I have done. Not much different from printing things out and making a book. Although I have done this too.
I store entire dictionary pages entirely in japanese, Yomiuri shinbun articles, video game dialogue etc.

Macrobiotic said:

It's perfectly possible to store entire articles of texts as flashcards. That's what I have done. Not much different from printing things out and making a book. Although I have done this too.
I store entire dictionary pages entirely in japanese, Yomiuri shinbun articles, video game dialogue etc.

Click to expand...

And is it really effective with you? I think words and maybe, some sentences with them is enough already. You not going to learn grammar by using flashcards.

Andromedashun said:

And is it really effective with you? I think words and maybe, some sentences with them is enough already. You not going to learn grammar by using flashcards.

Click to expand...

I learned grammar beforehand and along the way while practicing with easier sentences (still learning things from time to time). My first flashcards were just words and simple practice sentences but I kept adding new things as I started to understand more. Texts in flashcards is for general reading practice. It's a convenient way to store a lot of information. I noticed that it is effective to reread the same newspaper articles several times instead of just skimming through. Reading them loud or memorizing and reciting from memory is also effective. For this reason, storing texts in for example a flashcards program is effective I think but it would be similar to print out material (or cut out from physical newspapers), photocopy things from dictionaries etc and make it all into a sort of big practice book while continuously adding new texts.
Gradually some of these texts I enter in the program become less challenging since the vocabulary is memorized and then I just give them a higher grade and they won't show up again for 6-12 months or so. I have over 10 000 texts but I only practice a few of them every day in this way, and it still leaves time to read new things at the same time. In my case I prefer to use this time for video games or to read and copy new newspaper articles.

To be honest, my self-esteem and faith in my own ability is very low and I might be considered a "slow learner". I created a system which works for me. I don't understand everything (far from) but I understand a good deal of japanese after 3 years doing this and to me it is evidence enough I have done something right.