Chocolate Beer and Fast Food Rodents in Japan

Friday, January 22nd Link Post

I've put this together for no other reason than it's good to look back and see what got clicked over the week. Even if I don't get enough time as I'd like to comment on blogs, I do make a habit of scrolling through my feeds for Japan related content. Stuff I find interesting then gets thrown out to Twitter, where you guys vote with your mice. No not those mice.

image: PinkTentacle: ‘Ririkan’ fast-food mystery meat

I only learnt about @lloydvincent and his blog Nihon Shock in the last couple of weeks but he has some good posts. There are many ways to say 'I' in Japanese, and each one paints you in a slightly different light. Not satisfied with watashi (わたし) or boku (ぼく) when referring to yourself? Why not try uchi (うち) or ore (おれ) for a slightly harder edge?

Michael Werneburg discusses the troubles he has living with a foreign name in Japan. on @reesan's loneleeplanet blog. An interesting discussion of bureaucratic blindness and a rigid syllabary ensue. There are also some helpful tips for making sure you don't get trapped with something that is unworkable.

When we got married my wife took her name (はせがわ) and mine (ファイフィールド) to ensure the kids could use either. We haven't had too much trouble. After reading this post about Google's "auto-suggest" feature and Japanese marriage I'm glad I don't have search history turned on.

You've just got to love urban myths, the best ones gain traction because they have an element of truth, they are slightly believable and are easily transmitted. They also rely on irrational fears and suspicions. Exploring this quirky side of human nature as they do so well, Edo @PinkTentacle is blogging weekly on Japanese urban legends. The ‘Ririkan’ may be fast-food mystery meat, but there is no mystery about the hard labour at McDonald's in Japan. I suppose it's not too much too ask for a dignified discussion of the issues on LetsJapan?

On a slightly lighter note, we've come back full circle to Nihon Shock, where Llyod has some flavor success with chocolate soda. At last! It was difficult to watch him pour Sapporo's chocolate beer down the sink. Probably not more difficult than drinking it however.

That's me closing out this post! If you want all this linky goodness feed to you intermittently through the day follow me on twitter, it's fun!

A Rainbowhill Retrospective for 2009

Almost to the end of another year, and what a big year it has been. I have a lot to be thankful for, good health, family and friends, and the support of you my readers and students. Thanks for following. If you've read more than a few posts then you hopefully you'll have noticed that blogging for you is also a learning process for me.

If you have been here for a while and haven't commented, the invitation is always open. There are also many other ways to connect, become a fan on Facebook, follow me on Twitter. If this is your first time here this post will thread a path for you through the archive, and is probably a good way to get to know me better. If you like what you read, please pick up the feed.


Teacher/Pupil: Twitter 19/365

Got to know where you've come from to know where you're going.

I started January with Japan Blog Matsuri post about keeping yourself open to possibilities when travelling to Japan or preparing to live there. The inspiration for getting back into blogging was provided by Chris from Nihongo Notes who blogged about getting over your perfectionist streak. Thanks Chris, your insights helped unblock my inner blogger and helped get this blog back on track.

The message I have is still pretty much the same, maintaining an open mind and understanding your motivation is most important if you want to make the most of the Japanese experience. Any experience you have is yours alone to have, so I asked you what's your flavour of Japanese? A post by Jon on the Kurosawa classic Rashomon had me thinking how inseparable culture and language are. Your perception invariably influences your version of reality.

Get your blog on.

One of the most commented on posts of the year asked if learning Japanese loanwords make you lazy. The post actually lay dormant for quite sometime until I submitted it to JapanSoc and it got picked up on Twitter. I was responding to a mothballed review written in 2001 of Giles Murray's entertaining book of techniques for learning Japanese reviewed elsewhere on this blog. It showed me how a little controversy can go a long way to getting some posts noticed.

In February I posted three ways to enjoy Japanese curry rice, another Japan Blog Matsuri organised by Deas from Rocking in Hakata. Mid month I spent two weeks in Japan before coming back for more eduFire where I learnt that teaching in more than one time zone can be tough. With the exception of Field Mice and Japanese Mnemonics most of my lessons since have been at times that make it hard for those in Australia and Japan to take part. So hello North America and Europe, the Middle East and South Asia!

In March I investigated how reading Manga can be good for your Japanese and how there is always room for humour with some bad Japanese puns. I followed up in April with a guide to learning Japanese through manga with the help of my Twitter friend @natuskigirl.

One thing that I must learn how to do well is some kind of weekly link post. I toyed with the idea of sharing links that my students share in the eduFire classroom and did a photographic retrospective of Spring Sumo tournament. These kinds of posts probably should happen more often, but they also need to contribute a more to the blog than just an automated dump of delicious links or a Flickr feed. April was also the where I tapped into 6 ex-pat perspectives on Japan, a theme I continued with 7 J-bloggers far from Japan in June.

The rise and demise of Superpass.

Superpass was launched in June, and discontinued in December. In that short time it provided me with enough momentum to attract over 300 students to my classes on eduFire, so I'm grateful for it. I'll be exploring new ways to maintain that momentum in the new year, and will continue to produce top content and articles relevant to studying the Japanese language. I'll be looking for ways to offer exclusive discounts to existing students and readers of my blog. Get in early for a subscription to my email newsletter, launching in the new year where you can learn about these discounts first.

Moving forward.

Part of the formula for attracting and supporting new students has been the goals I create on smart.fm. I blogged about the introduction of colloborative smart.fm goals in July, and not much else. I got back in to the swing of things with a guest post on Caught*Red-handed about the history of written Japanese and organised a forum for students of Japanese students on eduFire. There was also a bit of fun with bottom grabbing on Twitter.

In September it was all about the JLPT and test preparation with a five step series to ace the JLPT. The five posts outlining the five steps were also completed in 5 days, which was a bit of an experiment in speed blogging. I was also lucky enough to be able to give away a free month of SuperPass to @aggettzz who was overjoyed. I found posting a series of blogs to complement my classes on eduFire helped maintain my motivation. In October I began a book review of 13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese, a text I've been using in my Fast Track to Fluency classes.

My network on Twitter has been a fabulous source of inspiration for blogging, and even a source of answers where I am unable to provide them to my students. I find every time I'm asked a question that people really want to know, like "what are the best apps for learning Japanese on iPhone?" I get the best answers from my Twitter friends.

Again in November I asked if my friends were using a monolingual Japanese dictionary and came up with 3 good reasons to use a Japanese only dictionary. I had previously written an article for eduFire How to Choose the Best Japanese Dictionary, but I wanted to go into more detail about discovering new vocabulary using a Japanese monolingual dictionary.

By the end of November most people studying Japanese were preparing for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. I could probably do a lot better at rounding up resources for the JLPT, but it's a long way off now and there is plenty of time. At least I have a game plan for how I'd like to approach the JLPT in 2010.

Thank you for reading.

It has been a big year, and I have lots of people to thank. I'm planning to have an even bigger year in 2010 and I want to get things of to a good start. Why don't you become a fan of the Rainbowhill Language Lab on Facebook or follow @rainbowhill on Twitter. If you have done a lesson with me on eduFire, please tell me what you think, I want to get to know you better. If you haven't already, Get in early for a subscription to my email newsletter. In it you'll find discounts on lessons with me, specific tips for preparing for the JLPT and of course all the best content on Japanese language and culture.

あけましておめでとう

All the best for 2010!

Get Your LangFreq On Twitter

New Tool LangFreq Helps to Uncover the Most Common Words on Twitter

Everybody loves Twitter for the people, but not many people know how useful the bots can be. When Evan Williams talked about the impact of persistant communication on being social at LeWeb03 in December 2007, it was in the context of Twitter as a command line interface.

The idea had been around for quite some time and came about as Twitter began to open up the API, heralding the rise of Twitter as a mobile applications platform. A whole ecosystem of apps and bots sprung up around the api, now inhabiting the Twitter fan wiki in various states of (dis)repair.

One of the points Ev liked to make was that too often we ask "What can we add to a product to make it better?" He thought rather we should be asking "What can we take away to create something new?"

The new austerity.

Many of the bots that have sprung relate to productivity or novelty, but there is also a small handful devoted to languages. One of the most recent additions to this burgeoning hive of activity is LangFreq by Zyaga. LangFreq is set of language tools including word frequency, phrase rank and comparison, language translation and identification.

Zyaga and I first talked about his ideas in my Japanese classes on eduFire as he was developing these web tools to compare word frequency across a few languages. During an exchange of emails I suggested that Twitter would not only be a good source of data, but a good platform for a command line interface to his web work.

A Twitter bot is born.

The LangFreq suite of language learning tools is in beta so there is still plenty of work to be done, already it's showing lots of promise. LangFreq is built on the simple premise that someone studying the 100 most frequent words in any language would be much further ahead than someone studying 100 words at random.

Linguists have long been aware that there might be some advantage to learners in identifying a core vocabulary^[1]. There are a certain number of high frequency words in each language that cover a large proportion of words in common use^[2]. The notion of a core vocabulary has also become a central principle of some language learning systems, notably Pimsleur.

LangFreq addresses the need to know these most frequent words simply and cleanly on the website for English and Spanish. For Japanese however, the situation is a little more difficult. The trouble with Japanese is that it is difficult to define where one word ends and another begins^[3]. Although it is possible that breaking words down into smaller units makes it easier to work with, doing so limts the applicability of the tool.

Japanese is a language largely built on compunds of two or more kanji and the okurigana that helps identify the nature of the verb conjugation or adjectival inflection. It will be interesting to see how Zyaga solves this computational problem. It might be worthwhile taking another look at Jim Breen's classic Japanese dictionary WWWJDIC, or looking at the work of Rick Noelle and his Japanese Sentence Parser which uses the MeCab morphological analyzer.

Taking a closer look at the bot.

Please go and take a closer look at the bot @langfreq, I'll be doing an indepth comparison with some other similar bots in the next week or so.



It's pretty easy to get started. There are only four commands including help, rank, translate and identify. The bot is an elegant way to get this kind of information about core words when you are out and about.

Have a play around with it and tell me what you think. Do you use bots like these?



1. Carter, Ronald. “Is there a Core Vocabulary? Some Implications for Language Teaching*.” Applied Linguistics 8, no. 2 (February 1, 1987): 178-193.



2. Nation, I. S. P. Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge Univ Pr, 2001. [pdf]

3. Douglas, M. O. “Japanese Cloze Tests: Toward Their: Construction.” [pdf]

How to put the fun back in to Japanese now the JLPT is over

5 ways to enjoy learning Japanese beyond JLPT

Congratulations! You've just come through the grinder that is the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. It probably doesn't feel so bad now, but in the next few days you're probably going to have some withdrawal symptoms. Cramming for tests takes up a lot of your time and energy, and no matter how you look at it, it's not much fun. In this post we'll look at some ways to fill the time between now and test results, and hopefully put some joy back into learning Japanese.

Some of you may feel quietly confident at first but then the nagging doubt will creep in. Some of you will know that you botched parts of it, and now you're only waiting to find out by how much. I put the following question out there on Twitter yesterday because I know what some of you must be going through right now.



Thank you to everyone that responded on Twitter, I'm glad to have found a such an interesting bunch of people to follow!

1. Remember the reason you started studying.

When you started studying Japanese did you have a clear idea why? For some people its because they want to learn enough Japanese to read manga or understand anime, for others because they have work or travel plans that involve extended periods of time in Japan. For some, its just for fun and to keep their minds nimble.



Studying for a test usually has the unwanted side effect of destroying your internal motivation. The constant repetition may be good for boosting your vocabulary, or aiding your kanji recall, but how well does it prepare you for interactions with people? My guess is not very well.

If you rely on an external motivator to achieve your goals, when that external motivator changes or disappears, you  risk losing focus on why it is you started studying in the first place. Kevin's advice is simple, rediscover your motivation for learning Japanese. What is your version of Japanese?

2. Read stuff.

Preparing for a test is different to using Japanese naturally to engage in culture. Reading is one of the most direct ways to experience culture, and even more important if you can't immerse yourself in it physically.



In the lead up to the test you may have wanted to read manga, but you probably focussed on reading lots of very boring textbooks with short disconnected passages and obscure grammar. This is good in the short term, but practice tests fall well short of what I call exciting reading.

Get back to basics, find something you really enjoy reading. You'll probably find that reading something for the second time you're able to get through it much more smoothly. There are lots of good reasons why reading can be good for your Japanese. Harvey came up with a fabulous link to an almost limitless supply of reading in Japanese with the 青空文庫 (Aozora Bunko). I'm a big fan of blue sky learning too!

3. Find something fun to study.

Chill out, relax, spend the evening on YouTube Japan or ニコニコ動画 (nico nico douga). Have a good laugh, so it brings you back to earth. Play games, learn like a child, do a bit of bottom grabbing on twitter.



Do something a little different, it will help you find new ways to explore your new found confidence with Japanese. Be creative with your time and remember, learning is meant to be fun. Thanks Katie!

4. Concentrate on a weakness.

Having now done the test you will have an acute sense of where your weaknesses are. Use this to refocus your attention on improving these weak areas when you turn back to the books. Doing so will not only provide you with fertile ground for improvement it will help you weed out bad habits in your study technique.



Outline a plan to improve in this area, remember that hard won gains in an area of weakness unlock large gains in other areas. Tone has identified clearly her weakness, and isn't afraid to share it. Where do your weaknesses lie? What are you going to do to correct them?

5. Start studying for the next level.

Have you heard the best way never to fear falling off a horse is to get right back on after you fall off? It might be painful initially, but now that you have the momentum why waste it?



Make sure you have some measurable goals, but never lose sight of why you started studying in the first place. Matigo may seem the masochist here, but I bet he makes good ground on the next JLPT level while the rest of the world is sleeping.

Update: Go on! Get away from that computer and get out of the house already!

I noticed this response from Philip a day after the original post went up. It is worth mentioning because of its sense of urgency. My sentiments precisely, get out there and use it! Its not Latin you know!



How will you spend the next few months before results are released?

Twitter Round-up of iPhone Apps for Japanese

A List of Japanese Study Apps for the iPhone from my Twitter Friends

One of the things I really love about Twitter is that the reward of cultivating positive working relationships with people on the network means that I can gather information that would otherwise have taken weeks. All I needed to do is ask.

I'm not an iPhone user, but when a student of mine on eduFire asked for a recommendation for an iPhone app to help them learn Japanese I remembered that some of my friends on Twitter were iPhone users and developers. Being eager to please, I sourced recommendations from my Personal Learning Network.



Harvey is an iPhone user and developer of an app for learning Hiragana (his self-endorsement below is strictly toungue-in-cheek). He recently featured a selection of iPhone apps for learning Japanese on his site JapanNewbie.com. I'm particularly interested in the Giongo-Gitaigo and Kotowaza apps. Both Harvey and I share a love for Kansai-ben, the dialect spoken in Osaka, and his site has plenty of lessons on arguably the most colourful dialect of Japanese.



Sami, another student on eduFire, suggested Kotoba, a free Japanese dictionary based on the work of Jim Breen on the EDICT project. Kana Flip is available for $1.99 and is currently featured in the app store. It's big brother Kanji Flip is $5.99, also featured, and both remember the characters you have trouble with, learning with you as you go.



Joseph is a pioneer in extreme iPhone sports, live streaming the Tokyo Marathon with one strapped to his hat. When he speaks iPhone people listen. The Japanese app (denshi jisho) he mentions is by a bunch of people called Code From Tokyo.



Andrew is a guy I respect for his uwavering commitment to teaching Japanese and his ability to bring technology into the classroom. Kotoba gets another mention here, and one I hadn't heard of before, ShinKanji, a kanji dictionary with stroke order.



Jyuichi recommended KanjiBox and Kotoba, thanks for the recent follow!



Will is so crazy about Japan he is TurningOtaku! He recently posted a review of the iKnow app on his blog. He also shelled out for the Japanese dictionary that Joseph mentioned earlier.



As I was putting this post together I noticed this update from NihongoUp surface in my Twitter stream. It was a good thing I didn't miss it, because I really like what Philip has done with NihongoUp, now an educational tool for learning Japanese on the iPhone. I reviewed the Adobe Air Version of this game for learning Japanese in May, and was fortunate enough to be able to give a copy of it away. Thanks Philip!



So there you have it, the power of a well developed Personal Learning Network. Thank you to everyone that contributed. If you have any other apps that you think people should check out please drop them into the comments below. Follow me on Twitter now to join in the conversation.

SuperPass Winner: One Month of Unlimited Lessons on eduFire!

Congratulations go out to @aggettzz, who was elated when he found out he was the winner of the "Tweet your way to a month of SuperPass on eduFire" competition.



Thanks to @eduFire for the great platform and Koichi (@tofugu) for hyping it on his site tofugu.com. Head on over there now to see other ways you can win a month of SuperPass.

You can find out more about SuperPass here, but put simply - learn anything you want from the comfort of your own home, from expert teachers, at a time that is convenient for you.

Tweet your way to a month of SuperPass on eduFire

A Smorgasbord for your brain with SuperPass

When I first blogged about SuperPass in June this year, I just knew it was going to be a good thing. Now there are hundreds of classes, thousands of teachers and ten of thousands of people using this unlimited learning engine. It has really taken off.

I think I've written enough on this blog about how good I think eduFire is, for so many different reasons. Why don't you see for yourself? You really can't go wrong with a weeks trial of SuperPass for just $1.

I've been able to give away free sessions on eduFire before, but this is the first time I've been able to give away a whole month of SuperPass for my readers here and my followers on twitter.

Before I let you know how you can enter I should really tell you little more about SuperPass.



With a SuperPass subscription you can get access to unlimited live online teachers, at times that are convenient for you. It's like a smorgasbord for your brain. In class you can interact with your classmates and teachers through chat, voice and video. There are powerpoint presentations, whiteboards, note-sharing polling and lots more to keep things interesting. You don't really even have to have a webcam or microphone, a lot of people just turn up to class to watch.

If you sign up now for Superpass you get unlimited lessons on eduFire for the one low price of $29 per month. That’s not just for my classes but for all classes on eduFire, you can learn whatever you want! That's just $1 a day! You can even take a $1 trial for your first 7 days, which you can cancel any time so there’s no risk.

Is there anything that you've really wanted to learn but never been able to find a class in your area? Maybe the times haven't suited you? Here is you chance now to win a month long subscription to SuperPass on eduFire, simply by telling me and your friends what you'd like to learn.

To win a month subscription to SuperPass on eduFire this is all you have to do.

1. Browse some SuperPass classes, in any subject, or any language, whatever you'd like to learn.
2. Find one that you'd really like to do. It shouldn't be too hard, there are heaps to choose from.
3. Then, tweet to your followers with a link back to this competition and with the hashtag #rllsp

I want to learn about Maslow's Self-Actualizer on edufire #rllsp you can win a pass too... http://bit.ly/sLTUh

or

1. If you have a blog, but aren't on Twitter you can write about the contest following the guidelines above.
2. Make sure you leave a trackback to this post.

Terms and conditions.

1. The contest will run from Tuesday September the 8th, 8.00 am Pacific Standard Time until 8.00 am PST on Tuesday September the 15th.
2. Contestants must be over the age of 18. If you are under 18 (and over the age of 13) you must have the legal consent of your parent or guardian to participate in this competition.
3. Only one (1) prize of a month's subscription to SuperPass will be awarded.
4. One entry per day per person for the term of the contest.
5. The contest winner will be drawn randomly via random.org
6. If the winner is on Twitter they will be notified by direct message on Wednesday September the 16th. Be sure to follow @rainbowhill so you can claim your prize.
7. If the winner results from a blog post then that person will be contacted via that blog's published contact details.
8. Either way, if no reply is received within 2 hours of notification a new winner will be chosen

eduFire is an open platform for teaching and learning. SuperPass is a way to get access to the best teachers and classes at the one low monthly price.

Bottom Grabbing on Twitter: How to play the Japanese word game Shiritori

When I starting dating in Japan I used to play this game quite a bit. It was a fabulous vocabulary builder and just perfect for long drives to the beach. You can play it with any number of people, and often it can stretch in to hours, days even. This game of shiritori on eduFire has been running over 10 months now, and this game on tofugu.com has generated over 150 comments!

We played in my Fast Track to Fluency in Japanese on eduFire and got a great kick out of it, so I decided to see if anyone on twitter would take up the challenge with the hashtag #shiritori.



Pretty soon we had a small game going that was easy enough to follow with the hashtag #shiritori.



Jeff (@Beta_guy) starts with the word くるま (kuruma | car) and we're off and running!



ShiiraShiira (@ShiiraShiira) jumps in with a pine tree! Look out!



monchalee (@monchalee) takes the stage with a tsunami!



ShiiraShiira is all ears, you can play this game with romaji just as well.



I have a small worm farm at the moment so they are never far from my heart, or my leftovers. The link is to Ajax IME, a web-based Japanese input method, very handy if your machine isn't set up for Japanese input.



ShiiraShiira puts AjaxIME to good use and comes up pantsu...



We have to finish the game there, because ズボン(ずぼん | zubon | pants) ends in an ん (n). There are some basic rules for shiritori on wikipedia, which I have adapted for use on twitter. Almost anyone can play this game, no matter what their level of Japanese is so let's play!

Basic Rules for Shiritori on Twitter

• Play in turns, easy to do if you follow the hashtag #shiritori.
• Use an @ reply, only to indicate who you are responding to, let the hashtag take care of the rest.
  
• Use nouns only; verbs and adjectives are out.
  
• Don't use ん (n) as the last character in a word or the game finishes, there are no words starting with ん (n).
• Don't repeat words.
• Use phrases connected with の only if they are worthy of being called words, like 男の子(おとこのこ | otokonoko | boy) but not 今週の土曜日(こんしゅうのどようび | konshuunodoyoubi | this Saturday)

Optional Rules

• Ignore dakuten and handakuten, the tenten or circle you see to the right of some words.
  
• Ignore long vowels or use as a vowel.
• Don't use pronouns or place names. Anything that would be capitalised is out.
• Permit words spelled with the same kana but different kanji. For example using both 雲(くも| kumo | cloud) and クモ(くも | kumo | spider) is acceptable.

Advanced Rules

• Limit words to a certain genre.
• Use the last two kana in every word, neither kana may be ん (n).
• The length of a word must be three or more mora.
• Only words beginning and ending in dakuten or handakuten may be used.

Come and join the fun on twitter by following the hashtag #shiritori. If you think you'd like more fun learning Japanese, why don't you try my Fast Track to Fluency in Japanese on eduFire?

Weekly Links 21 June 2009

This weeks links are a little out of left field. It has been a big week.

• Why Japanese are negative regarding love | 世論 What Japan Thinks
  It makes me a little sad to hear that Japanese people report they have no self confidence. Maybe it's because they're never taught what it means. There are benefits to this attitude that are less apparent when seen through the lens of a Western mindset.
  
  
• ‘1Q84′, the new bestseller by Haruki Murakami
  I'm really looking forward to getting a copy of this book. I'm currently reading ‘Kafka on the Shore′, about a boy who runs away from home but is haunted by dreams and the death of his father in peculiar circumstances.
  
  
• Learning a language is like having a pet
  A fun analogy to run with (or to pun with) from Thomas at babelhut. You can also follow Thomas and Peter on Twitter.
  
  
• Tadpoles falling on Miyagi: witness
  Is some strange coincidence that I just so happen to be reading a book where fish fall out of the sky? What does it all mean?
  

Unlimited Learning with eduFire Superpass

Blue Sky Learning

When I was growing up I used to ask myself what I could learn if I had all the time in the world. If I was going to live for ever I would need something to do, and I knew that learning was something inexhaustible that didn't cost a lot of money. Those two factors were really important, because as a kid our family didn't have a lot of money, but growing up in Australia we had plenty of time.


[photo by the undergraduate]

I'd lie on my back in the sand and stare up into the deep blue sky above and go through a long list of things that I could possibly learn; judo, flying, Swahili, cake making, oil painting, motor car racing... The list went on and on and on, until the sand got too hot and I had to run down to the water and cool off.

Somewhere along the line most people lose this sense of wonder, and their sense of ownership, in learning. They tell themselves, "oh, I'll never be good at maths" or "I'm too slow for basketball", and they give up trying. Sometimes, even worse still, they let other people tell them what is possible. When that happens it's all too easy to blame your circumstances, the school you went to, the neighbourhood you grew up in or the chances you were given in life. So you do, and you just give up trying, because classes are too hard, the gym's too far from home, work finishes too late, and the teachers a jerk.

Well it's time to take back control. Education is coming to the same crossroads as tourism, the same page as publishing, and dare I say it, but the same red letter as finance. The invisible hand of capitalism has come smack up against the institutions that have lasted since the industrial revolution. The effects of globalisation and dis-intermediation are far-reaching and game-changing. They are also irreversible.

Smart people are not accepting the roles that have been carved for them and are learning to collaborate and cooperate in ways that simply weren't possible even 5 years ago. They are getting together to share knowledge in ever more democratic ways, as the cost of doing so disappears towards zero.

That's why, when I joined eduFire as a tutor last year I knew I was part of something much bigger, part of the education revolution. Part of a team that is committed to the principles of #hackedu. So today I am proud to present you with a chance to be a part of this revolution in learning.

SuperPass is here!

Unlimited Lessons one low price!

If you sign up now for SuperPass you get unlimited lessons on eduFire for the one low price of $29 per month. That's not just for my classes but for all classes on eduFire, you can learn whatever you want! That means even if you only choose to do 2 of my classes, Japanese for Absolute Beginners and the Language Lab, you'd get both classes for less than $8 a week!

Rainbowhill's Classes on eduFire

Rainbowhill's Japanese for Absolute Beginners $5/class (free with SuperPass)
Rainbowhill's Japanese Language Lab for Absolute Beginners $5/class (free with SuperPass)
Rainbowhill's Fast Track to Fluency in Japanese $5/class (free with SuperPass)
Rainbowhill's Fast Track to Japanese Fluency Lab $5/class (free with SuperPass)
Rainbowhill's Japanese for Beginners $5/class (free with SuperPass)
Rainbowhill's Japanese Language Lab for Beginners $5/class (free with SuperPass)


SuperPass only launched on Friday and already there are well over a hundred SuperPass classes, with more being created everyday.

You could have all these classes for $29

Japanese Classes

• Veteran Japanese Beginners Class – $5/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• Nihongo Power Up Class: Quick Question Pattern – $10/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• Gakuranman’s Japanese Masterclass 4 – $7/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• Beginning Japanese Grammar: Lab – $5/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• Everyday Basic Japanese (有料) – $5/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• Everyday JLPT4 (有料) – $5/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• Kanji, Kanji, Kanji!! – $5/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• Japanese – Level 10 Kanji (Easiest) – $5/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• Japanese – Level 9 Kanji – $5/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• One Step Closer to Speaking Fluent Japanese – $5/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• Tofugu’s Japanese for Beginner’s 1 – $10/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• Simplifying Japanese Particles – Tofugu x Gakuranman – $10/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• Sound fluent in Japanese with Katakana – Tofugu x Gakuranman – $10/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• JLPT level 4 (有料) – $5/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• 日本語道場　Intermediate Japanese with Wren – $12/class (free with SuperPass)
  
• Japanese Literature - Haruki Murakami – $7/class (free with SuperPass)

Join now win an iPhone 3GS

Don't wait a moment longer, join now and you will go in the draw to win an iPhone 3GS on the 19th of June. That's only 3 days a way, so be quick.

Your 7day trial starts with just one dollar!

Sign up now and you'll go into the draw to win a $200 gift voucher at the apple store, which you can use to buy anything you want. Funnily enough it's just the right amount for a brand-new iPhone 3GS. The winner will be announced on the 19th of June, so you only have 3 days to subcribe for your chance to win.

It's no secret I think eduFire is a great way to learn, but don't take my word for it! Listen to what other people are saying about eduFire on Twitter and then come back and sign up for your SuperPass!

Weekly Links 14 June 2009

I've been flat out this week, creating lists on smartfm and getting content ready for the launch of my next season of classes on eduFire at the end of the month, including a new workbook. I haven't had time for a full post, but that's the way things fall sometimes.

• Inside the Google Translator Toolkit
  This post from Tony Ruscoe of Google Blogoscoped gives a bit of a run down of what to expect from Google's new push in the area of machine translation. Again Google leverages the power of user generated content to refine translation. But most of us agree, it's not going to take the place of human translators any time soon.
  
  
• WaKan Project Website
  WaKan is not only a translation tool, but it provides text editing functions and printing options so you can develop your own flashcards (hint hint). I wish I'd know about this much earlier, thanks for bringing me the link LostInInaka!
  
  
• Examples of the Wisdom of Crowds in Daily Life
  Derek Powazek is a highly observant guy, and this is eye opener for you if you wonder about the wisdom of crowds. See also his article for A List Apart, The Wisdom of Community.
  
  
• eduFire SuperPass: Unlimited Education for Less Than a $1/Day
  Jon Bischke has a plan to change the world, one day at a time. If you don't think this is ground breaking, then listen to...
  
  
• journik's posterous - a grade A shouldery
  I first came across WangQi Kim surfing the #hackedu conversation on Twitter. He's an edurevolutionary, 'nuff said!

I've got more on the revolution in education in the next couple of days, including how to win yourself a free iPhone.

7 J-bloggers far from Japan

Last month I blogged about six expats blogging from Japan, because I wanted to give you an impression of what it's like to live there. The vast majority of visitors to this blog are however are from the United States, some from Australia and Europe, so I started to wonder why people have such an interest in Japan. Sometimes it can be a passing interest in manga or anime, but other times it develops in to an full blown geek obsession with all things Japanese.

I'd like to explore where that obsession comes from, and how it drives people to create beautiful blogs and engaging content about Japan. These are people that have felt the call so hard that they've poured hundreds of hours into blogging about their passion for a place that only a few have been to, and all for you, the blog reader.

I've met most of the bloggers mentioned through Twitter, YouTube or Flickr, or just by reading and commenting on other peoples blogs. If you have a passion for Japan but don't know where to start or even why you have one, don't be afraid to speak out. We've all had that feeling! I want to hear your story in the comments, or even better, on your own blog.

Liv O.

Liv O. (ieatmypigeon) on Twitter
Name: Liv O.
Location: New York City
Web: http://www.ieatmy...
Bio: Please enjoy the daily humiliations of an American writer trying to get used to New York again after 2 years in Japan

A self deprecating humour is absolutely essential for enduring the trials and tribulations of an "adored international celebrity" in Japan, read "English Instructor". Honestly though, I thought colonials, along with the parochial use of "zed", had a monopoly on this kind of thing. Not so, it would seem. These days Liv is offering Japan-inspired tips for laundry in New York whilst getting her travel writing career off the ground. Liv was recently accepted to a Creative Writing Master’s program in Dublin, Ireland. I'm really happy for her, because her enthusiasm for writing is obvious, and she is sure to tell a good story.

Jonas

yonasu (yonasu) on Twitter
Name: yonasu
Location: Sweden
Web: http://www.yonasu...
Bio: A blogger who loves social networking and everything Japanese!

Jonas is a university student that first got in to Japan through listening to trance remixes of Hamasaki Ayumi when he was just 12 years old. He launched into blogging in lae 2007 to share his passion for Japanese entertainment. His interest in J-pop developed alongside his interest in manga and anime, and now his site yonasu.com contains a stunning array of content that has to be seen. He may have an unhealthy obsession in Kamei Eri of Hello! Project, but he isn't what you'd call "hikikomori" or socially withdrawn, he's a very social guy. Long Live Kameism!

Joe Kester

Joe Kester (JoeInJapan) on Twitter
Name: Joe Kester
Location: Maine, USA
Web: http://joeinjapan...
Bio: Former exchange student in Japan. I love studying Japanese. 日本語もOK!

Joe recently came back from Japan where he was studying at Hirosaki University as a foreign exchange student. Joe chronicled the year in video, everything from journey to Japan to the endless college parties. Now that he has settled back into things in his home town of Auburn Maine, he's focussing his attention back on study of the Japanese language. He might even be able to give you some encouragement with your study as he prepares to take the Japan Language Proficiency Test.

Sheila G.

ShiiraShiira (ShiiraShiira) on Twitter
Name: ShiiraShiira
Location: Florida
Web: http://japanesedr...
Bio: I'm just me and nobody else...

Shiira is travelling to Japan and back the easy way, with her 15 year old son in August 2009. Her blog "Gisuru" is packed with practical advice to help you prepare for a trip to Japan on a budget. Shiira fell in love with Japan in November of 2008 when she went to visit a friend who teaches English to elemenary school children. She tells the heartwarming story of how the children there gave her her name. I'm sure she'll be coming back from in a couple of months time with plenty of adventurous tales riding the rail.

Kirk Brown

Jamaipanese (Jamaipanese) on Twitter
Name: Jamaipanese
Location: Jamaica
Web: http://www.jamaip...
Bio: Jamaica + Japan

Kirk blogs about Japan with such a passion you'd think that he'd lived there for ages, but to my surprise, he plans his first trip in early 2011. Kirk is a proud Jamaican blogger who also covers positive news about Jamaica and Jamaicans. His Flickr photostream shows the kind of carefree island life most of us can only dream about. He is bringing the best of Jamaica and Japan to his readers, hence the portmanteau for his personal blog, Jamaipanese. He's an infidel gamer and an avid photographer, whose obvious enjoyment of blogging is kind of infectious.

Ryan Taylor

Ryan Taylor (c_rh) on Twitter
Name: Ryan Taylor
Web: http://www.caught...
Bio: Yorkshire lad looking to get to Japan by hook, or by crook..

Caught*Red-handed is the "wacky ramblings" of a self confessed obsessive compulsive Yorkshire lad. Ryan sure fits the bill of a passionate J-blogger. He may be wabisabi potty at the moment but he certainly isn't glossing over some of the finer points of Japanese language and culture. Just check out his series on Japanese aesthetics, he presents prose as poignantly as photography. I was really impressed by his intimate knowledge of the history and structure of the Japanese written language.

Koichi

Tofugu (tofugu) on Twitter
Name: Koichi
Location: Portland, OR
Web: http://www.tofugu...
Bio: A Wonky Japanese Culture/Language Blog

No post on J-bloggers would be complete with out a mention of Koichi, whose wonky Japanese culture blog, Tofugu, must be one most well known blogs in this little pond. I first met Koichi on YouTube when he was doing both Japanese and English posts on his Japanese channel koichiben. In the middle of 2007 he decided to separate the English blog about Japan, from the Japanese blog about America, and invite contributors Erin and Viet to form Tofugu. Koichi is one of the most sincerely generous guys in the blogosphere (if that's really a place), who always goes out of his way to help the little guy. These days he's doing the marketing for the live video learning platform where I teach Japanese.

The round up

As is always the case for a post like this, there are always people I could have mentioned, and plenty that I wanted to. Please don't feel left out if that's the case, let me know, maybe we can build our blogging relationship.

If you have an interest in Japan and you want it to develop, get involved! Join the conversation at a social bookmarking site like JapanSoc, follow us on Twitter, start commenting on some of these blogs, we'd be happy to hear from you.