Hey guys, I'm still in the process of making a website/blog. I want to get something going by the summertime. I'm making a thread about this because I want to hear what you guys have to say/advice to give on this. I'm asking if you can mention what types of things would be useful with learning languages.(So example:transcription,translation,guides,visual-guides and so forth).


I decided I won't start anything until I have something that's worth trying, so I definitely feel there is no need to rush this. It's all about taking your time and once something is up and running, then it's time to move.

I'm sorry I'm too much into doing other things lately, but I can give you some abstract advice:

The base of everything should be: Fun& Addictive

2. Useful. Useful information that's being learnt.
3. Effective
4. It would really save our lives if it would develop all skills involved in languages at once. Or at least if we could see some progress of all skills somehow, not separately so that you have to figure out which of your sills sucks more and which one less.

I'd like to see something original.

One idea might be to do lessons based on dramas, anime, books etc. I'm thinking a cross between the structured lesson approach and the go out and consume anything in Japanese approach.

Some ideas about what each lesson might include.

-A (Subs2SRS) deck containing key lines from the study material: I would recommend against trying to learn every line in each episode and also use Morphman to choose sentences that are as easy as possible.
-A vocab deck.
-A complete deck that contains all the lines for the study material. (For hardcore students.)
-English summary
-English translation (possibly provide less and less translations as you move in to later lessons)
-A lesson that provides structured learning, using examples from the chosen media, and takes the learner through the target media.
-Possibly think about splitting episodes in to parts and doing a lesson for each one.

It would be very difficult to get the balance right between explaining too much and not enough, but I can imagine that it would be very satisfying for the learners to be able to watch their understanding of the native material improving as they advance through the lessons.

Just an idea, since I've no idea what you want to do with your site, but it's how I wish I'd started learning the language.

A site with exact subtitles for Japanese dubs of foreign DVDs. Perhaps an online interface similar to AegiSub, but where users could create subtitles collaboratively. The Japanese audio, an OCR scan of the non-exact Japanese subtitle from the DVD and the English translation would be available to aid the transcription process. Users would be able to listen to a portion of the audio and be asked to transcribe it exactly. Users could also upload their own audio and non-exact subtitles and download the subtitles that have been created collaboratively by the users of the site.

maybe you could team up with someone from this forum. You could create better things.

Sunspot Wrote:A site with exact subtitles for Japanese dubs of foreign DVDs. Perhaps an online interface similar to AegiSub, but where users could create subtitles collaboratively...

If ta12121 is creating a web app, having a central repo of timing matched Eng+Jpn subs (perhaps also tagged with video release info like release group, length, checksums, whether OP/ED are split out, etc) seems like it would be pretty handy.

That said, I was assuming he was thinking of something more like lesson plans and studying tips.

jettyke Wrote:I'm sorry I'm too much into doing other things lately, but I can give you some abstract advice:

The base of everything should be: Fun& Addictive

2. Useful. Useful information that's being learnt.
3. Effective
4. It would really save our lives if it would develop all skills involved in languages at once. Or at least if we could see some progress of all skills somehow, not separately so that you have to figure out which of your sills sucks more and which one less.

So something along the lines of fun/addictive,useful info,effective in learning and building all language skills.

Splatted Wrote:One idea might be to do lessons based on dramas, anime, books etc. I'm thinking a cross between the structured lesson approach and the go out and consume anything in Japanese approach.

Some ideas about what each lesson might include.

-A (Subs2SRS) deck containing key lines from the study material: I would recommend against trying to learn every line in each episode and also use Morphman to choose sentences that are as easy as possible.
-A vocab deck.
-A complete deck that contains all the lines for the study material. (For hardcore students.)
-English summary
-English translation (possibly provide less and less translations as you move in to later lessons)
-A lesson that provides structured learning, using examples from the chosen media, and takes the learner through the target media.
-Possibly think about splitting episodes in to parts and doing a lesson for each one.

It would be very difficult to get the balance right between explaining too much and not enough, but I can imagine that it would be very satisfying for the learners to be able to watch their understanding of the native material improving as they advance through the lessons.

Just an idea, since I've no idea what you want to do with your site, but it's how I wish I'd started learning the language.

Transcription/lessons and useful info like vocabulary/sentences and learning from various sources. So it comes down to those.

Sunspot Wrote:A site with exact subtitles for Japanese dubs of foreign DVDs. Perhaps an online interface similar to AegiSub, but where users could create subtitles collaboratively. The Japanese audio, an OCR scan of the non-exact Japanese subtitle from the DVD and the English translation would be available to aid the transcription process. Users would be able to listen to a portion of the audio and be asked to transcribe it exactly. Users could also upload their own audio and non-exact subtitles and download the subtitles that have been created collaboratively by the users of the site.

That is actually a really useful idea and I had a looked at the site, which is pretty much exactly what I wanted to do. So having a user base to help create Japanese subtitles/translation is key here and implementing a system that would be able to do this as well.

overture2112 Wrote:

Sunspot Wrote:A site with exact subtitles for Japanese dubs of foreign DVDs. Perhaps an online interface similar to AegiSub, but where users could create subtitles collaboratively...

If ta12121 is creating a web app, having a central repo of timing matched Eng+Jpn subs (perhaps also tagged with video release info like release group, length, checksums, whether OP/ED are split out, etc) seems like it would be pretty handy.

That said, I was assuming he was thinking of something more like lesson plans and studying tips.

Solid ideas, definitely should be related to Japanese transcription since that's what I know. Transcription/translation but created by a userbase.

you know i was thinking of something like recaptcha...
http://www.google.com/recaptcha/learnmore



maybe that you can make a study program that actually accomplishes something useful for other unrelated parties at the same time?

kainzero Wrote:you know i was thinking of something like recaptcha...
http://www.google.com/recaptcha/learnmore



maybe that you can make a study program that actually accomplishes something useful for other unrelated parties at the same time?

Bookmarked and that's super useful

if you get rich off of my idea, i demand a pizza at the very least =)

kainzero Wrote:if you get rich off of my idea, i demand a pizza at the very least =)

I promised myself I wouldn't be greedy if this does get big. Then again, we will just have to see if this gets anywhere first. At least now I have a base idea of where to go from and now the planning starts!

1. don't junk it up with advertising

2. sort it from the beginning between the different levels (advanced stuff scares off beginners, and vice-versa)

3. make it user-friendly, easy to navigate

4. You could also organize it in sections (i.e. the four skills of language learning)

Norman Wrote:1. don't junk it up with advertising

2. sort it from the beginning between the different levels (advanced stuff scares off beginners, and vice-versa)

3. make it user-friendly, easy to navigate

4. You could also organize it in sections (i.e. the four skills of language learning)

1. Makes sense, cut back on advertising and don't spam with it
2. So going from novice,beginner,interdmiate,advanced,fluent,native-level and so forth(well this pretty much what most people want but anything beyond is specialization into a specific field)

3. User-Friendly is a given but I know it has to be easy for everyone to use.

4. Someone said it should be done so it can help build off of other skills but when I think about it, dividing it makes much more sense. Most people want to be able to understand what's being said(listening) and be able to reply back (speaking). While some people are driven by text-based learning (reading) and production (writing). So I would divide it between that but also try connecting them together (since they all will help one another in the long-term)

ta12121 Wrote:3. User-Friendly is a given but I know it has to be easy for everyone to use.

You can use apple's website as inspiration for how to make a user-friendly webpage. Watch it closely

Btw you could also consider making:

a) A website for Japanese people to learn English
b) A Website that connects Japanese and English speakers.

Don't care about what 'we' would like to see though, care about what interests yourself or you will burn out or give up quickly.

edit: And make sure that the thing is good for smartphones and tablets. Portability is important. Tablets and smartphones are the future, no doubt.
And no way around that.

I would probably want to see something as good as evernote: Syncs between all devices and the evernote software for every device is very good and suited for every device. A website that is not only user-friendly but device-friendly too.

just make it a) useful to someone or b) interesting/cool to someone.

Otherwise you're just wasting your time.
always ask yourself is this useful? interesting? cool?

someone could mean you btw

jettyke Wrote:Btw you could also consider making:

a) A website for Japanese people to learn English
b) A Website that connects Japanese and English speakers.

Don't care about what 'we' would like to see though, care about what interests yourself or you will burn out or give up quickly.

edit: And make sure that the thing is good for smartphones and tablets. Portability is important. Tablets and smartphones are the future, no doubt.
And no way around that.

I would probably want to see something as good as evernote: Syncs between all devices and the evernote software for every device is very good and suited for every device. A website that is not only user-friendly but device-friendly too.

Good points and I'll definitely look at all possibilities and research them. From what I can tell, it has to be useful service and it definitely has to be something I'm interesting in doing. Otherwise, the motivation won't be there when I need it the most.

nadiatims Wrote:just make it a) useful to someone or b) interesting/cool to someone.

Otherwise you're just wasting your time.
always ask yourself is this useful? interesting? cool?

someone could mean you btw

can't agree anymore!

make a version of duolingo.com, but for Japanese.

brianobush Wrote:make a version of duolingo.com

Or make duelingo, where you challenge people to language duels.

brianobush Wrote:make a version of duolingo.com, but for Japanese.

Noted!