Studying Online, the Basics

Since Strongsville and Springfield, Ohio are not known for a large Asian population, I have had to find other ways of practicing Japanese. Luckily, many sempai (older students) have been able to give me great tips for studying at home, with friends, and online.

Here are a few of my favorite tools for languages:

Rosetta Stone - bright pictures, voice recognition, and repetitive study, Rosetta Stone lives up to its reputation as a language learning software. Instant feedback on pronunciation and slow progression through vocab, grammar, listening, speaking, and reading activities is a great way to practice old information or learn new phrases.

Smart.fm - This is a great way to gain vocab knowledge FAST!! An online flashcard site, smart.fm offers lists of words in various subjects and langues. Making an account is free (most of my study tips are free or low-budget), and not only can you use existing lists, but you can make your own. The one problem: because this is a community site, some people don't know their kanji or spelling as well as they ought, so you might find someone who doesn't know the difference between homophones like 上げる and 挙げる.

LiveMocha.com - My sister and her friend just showed this to me. It is another community made site where people who are interested in langues help each other learn. There are activities to learn how to read, write, and speak in a host of other languages, but be kind and help review the work of other people that are trying to learn your native tongue.

WordReference.com - This is a great place to get a quick answer to a language problem or to join in a world-wide forum about languages. This site part dictionary and part forum where people can help you with any question you have in almost any language. Just make an account and start a thread. Very helpful for late night conjugation tables, too (especially a romance language).

Of course there are a host of helpful sites out there. Language learning software is abundant, too. Just search around and find something that interests you; a program that tracks your progress is a bonus. And if you find something really helpful out there, please let me know too!!