phauna
Member
From: Tokyo
Registered: 2007-12-25
Posts: 500
Website
Most here are doing AJATT, with an SRS and are typing up cards. I hate typing up cards, it's slow, unsatisfying, and worst of all it is not much benefit to anyone except me. All of us are tapping away at the same things, movies, books, dramas, and because of copyright we're too wary about sharing. So we need to start creating material that can be freely advertised, will never have copywrite issues, and that is authentic. And when I said we need to start, I meant I already started and here it is:
http://itsajapanesesign.blogspot.com/
and I hope others follow suit. Blogging these days is very easy, and totally free. I hope a number of SRS-worthy content blogs get created, I mean if we are typing it up anyway, we might as well throw it on the web and let everyone at it. Of course, this call goes out mostly to the Japan-based AJATTers, every day we take for granted that our next sentences are out there, easily available and eternally renewable. However, for those not in Japan, there is a need for access to authentic Japanese.
Signs. I chose signs because they are easily translatable, they are everywhere, and they are useful to know and I wanted more pictures in my deck. When you walk around in Tokyo, it's just like a study session if you pay attention, but you can't just have your dictionary out tapping away. Here are some other ideas of things which you could make a blog about.
signs
ads
maps
ticket stubs, receipts
names on people's letter boxes
menus
pizza boxes
slogans on food
forms
pamphlets
tissue packs
things you hear people say on the train
games
clothing tags
etc.
Of course you could just mix anything you find, there is no need for a unifying theme. Your blog could be just any text you take a pic of and make a sentence for.
So here is a call for content. I intend the sign site for anyone, it will stay on the web forever, I will add to it until I leave Japan, and then I'll take other people's photos and continue. Please tell anyone you think may use it. And thanks in advance for all the sentences that will be created for the AJATT community.
johnzep
Member
From: moriya, ibaraki
Registered: 2006-05-14
Posts: 373
Whatever you feel about copyright, I think most people here are concerned about it mainly because fabrice can get in trouble or at least be hassled if content on his site infringes on copyright. At worst, it could conceivably cause him legal trouble, or more likely, he would have to respond to cease and desist letters from lawyers asking him to remove content.
That said, I do think copyright laws need an update for the internet age.
And if you do want to stretch your definition of "fair use", I don't think many people would hold it against you 
It just has to be done in emails, instant messages, your own website or some other medium that you are responsible for. That way you, and not fabrice, can get the stern letters from the publishing compnay lawyers if they do come ^_^
Also, I think it is a good idea to assemble public domain sources of Japanese.
wccrawford
Member
From: FL US
Registered: 2008-03-28
Posts: 1551
Actually, as long as Fabrice complies with any take-down notices, Fabrice won't get in any actual trouble. The stress from it is a different matter, of course. Not to mention that when you're in someone else's house, you need to abide by their rules. Anything done against the wishes of the site owner is beyond rude.
Personally, I don't break copyright law because I don't want to be sued. I don't care what anyone else does, but I just can't afford the time, expense, and stress of that.
Edit: Thanks for the site, btw... I expect to find it tremendously useful. Sadly, I won't be able to add any content for a long time, if ever.
Last edited by wccrawford (2008 August 05, 6:02 am)
albion
Member
From: England
Registered: 2008-05-25
Posts: 383
Website
I've had a similar idea I had before, and tried it a bit before being tempermental and stopping. But I wouldn't mind trying at it again.
I'm not in Japan, so I can't take photos of things. Excluding copyrighted things, the best I could do in terms of manuals and insert papers. I hoard all those little アンケート slips and notices you get out of CDs/DVDs/games/books/etc., and I did make a start on typing up some parts from a manual. Kind of useful, but a bit dry. I hoarded this stuff in the hope of using it to practice with, but it's about time I actually start doing so. I might try to set it up over the next few days.
phauna
Member
From: Tokyo
Registered: 2007-12-25
Posts: 500
Website
johnzep wrote:
neither the anki deck download or the excel file worked for me (though I was trying to use open office instead of excel, but it should work)
The anki deck has the text, but the pictures don't display right. When I extract the zip file, all the photos get renamed stuff like "_______.jpg"
do the originals have Japanese file names that are getting gimped either when zipping or unzipping maybe?
There's an open office file which I suppose will work better. I'm using Excel 2007, I think, maybe it's a compatibility issue. As for the anki deck not working, the pictures do have Japanese file names, the name is the Kanji on the sign. I'll check it out and see what I can do, it may be the unzipper you are using.
Okay, I've tried the Excel file and it works for me, but I'll upload an Excel 97-03 file too, try that here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?aaaagkaatqa
Okay, it's the zipping which seems to be a problem, so I can just upload unzipped and there shouldn't be a problem.
I'll get on it. Wait a bit.
phauna
Member
From: Tokyo
Registered: 2007-12-25
Posts: 500
Website
Well I've reuploaded the 'Anki' deck and the 'Pictures only' folder in 7z format which seems to have no problems whatsoever, without fiddling with the language options. I think for zip files the changes do need to be done on both sides of the process, however 7z seems to be working fine, so try that. 7zip can be found here: http://www.7-zip.org/ it's free and open source.
Anki deck 7z format: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mtdozfjck1h
Pictures only: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dfhzfq0yw8n
Hopefully the next pack will go smoothly with all this testing going on to iron out the problems. Of course you could just cut and paste the blog itself if you are really desperate.
Thanks everyone for the heads up.
Albion: yes please put anything you have on the web. Those sorts of things, no one is going to care about copyright for them, you don't even need to type it all up, although that would be a big help. It just needs a good picture or scan, others might help with the translation. If we had a whole webring of content blogs, that would be a major success.
Last edited by phauna (2008 August 05, 7:51 pm)
phauna
Member
From: Tokyo
Registered: 2007-12-25
Posts: 500
Website
albion: sorry that's a typo, thanks for catching it. 子供 （こども） is the normal everyday word, and お子様 （おこさま） is the fancy word. Yes, and I missed は also. I've fixed it:
http://itsajapanesesign.blogspot.com/20 … aen-6.html
Comments here are fine but I may not catch them, whereas on the blog I get an email sent with new comments so I'll always get them. Also it's important that others see mistakes quickly, so comments on the blog will help that.
Mentat: Thanks, nice of you to say so. It's somewhat mundane for me because I live here, but I remember when I first arrived in Tokyo and had no idea what was going on, and being totally illiterate. It's a strange feeling.
wccrawford: Your link didn't seem to work for me, but google street view sounds like a great resource for some road signs. I don't drive much here, and of course when I do I don't take pictures at the same time so I don't think I'll be able to get many road signs going. I'll try though.
Johnzep: kombini toilets might as well be public toilets and I suspect travellers waiting for a train go in and have a bit of a clean up, perhaps beard trimming or something? Then there is hair everywhere, Japanese people hate hair. That's why you have to wear those stupid swim caps in public pools.
