Perfect reading for this time of year, Seth Godin has collated the ideas of seventy big thinkers into an ebook that should help us reflect on this year and look forward to next year. He writes:
Now, more than ever, we need to shake things up. Now, more than ever, we need a different way of thinking, a useful way to focus and the energy to turn the game around.
Available as a free download, it is certainly something to keep you thinking over the holidays.
A tweet from @2nihon the other day alerted me to tangorin, another online Japanese dictionary that I was not aware of. There are quite a few online dictionaries out here, for a variety of languages. Some of them are not so good but there are some excellent dictionaries for Japanese that not only provide meanings, but also example sentences, kanji and kanji stroke order.
If you're looking for good Japanese online dictionaries, these ones work for me...
Denshi Jisho - Good simple to use dictionary. Will accept words in roomaji or kana script. Usually provides useful example sentences to help get the meaning you are looking for. Whatsmore, it automatically optimizes for the iPhone or iPod touch, making it easy to use on these devices.
Tangorin - Although I haven't used this one much as yet, it seems quite comprehensive and simple to use. It allows you to search for words, kanji, examples and even names or classical Japanese. It also gives you the option to sign up, create a profile and build vocabulary lists. One of the best things I have found for this site is the ability to search for different verb forms. If you enter a verb form it will put it into example sentences for you, thereby allowing you to better understand the structure and how it is used.
Jim Breen's WWWJDIC - A fairly comprehensive dictionary that provides meanings, examples and even links to google, google image or wikipedia results for the Japanese word. It is not really visually appealing in its layout but can provide some very useful information on words or phrases.
I haven't used EnglishJapaneseOnlineDictionary for a while but did use it with classes a while back. It could be better than it was before.
For something different, try one of these:
Although it is a little hard to navigate around, Wapedia has a variety of lists. Lists of abbreviated words like ファミコン (famikon), English words of Japanese origin and gairaigo or words that have originated in languages other than Japanese, like Dutch and Portugese. For example, did you know the Japanese word for 'swing' (ブランコ) comes from the Portugese word? Or, the word ランドセル (randoseru), meaning backpack / knapsack, comes from the Dutch word.
Another interesting site is Rikai. It has a cool little tool that allows you to hover over a kanji or word in the page, revealing the reading and meaning for the kanji or word. If you type the address of a Japanese site into the 'box' on the front page it will redirect you to that site and again allows you to place the cursor over a word to reaveal its meaning. Although not 100% effective, it is pretty good.
If your still thinking about Japanese Dictionaries in general, you really should read @rainbohill's post on eduFire, How to Choose the Best Japanese Dictionary.
Posted via web from Js Nihongo
A tweet from @2nihon the other day alerted me to tangorin, another online Japanese dictionary that I was not aware of. There are quite a few online dictionaries out here, for a variety of languages. Some of them are not so good but there are some excellent dictionaries for Japanese that not only provide meanings, but also example sentences, kanji and kanji stroke order.
If you're looking for good Japanese online dictionaries, these ones work for me...
Denshi Jisho - Good simple to use dictionary. Will accept words in roomaji or kana script. Usually provides useful example sentences to help get the meaning you are looking for. Whatsmore, it automatically optimizes for the iPhone or iPod touch, making it easy to use on these devices.
Tangorin - Although I haven't used this one much as yet, it seems quite comprehensive and simple to use. It allows you to search for words, kanji, examples and even names or classical Japanese. It also gives you the option to sign up, create a profile and build vocabulary lists. One of the best things I have found for this site is the ability to search for different verb forms. If you enter a verb form it will put it into example sentences for you, thereby allowing you to better understand the structure and how it is used.
Jim Breen's WWWJDIC - A fairly comprehensive dictionary that provides meanings, examples and even links to google, google image or wikipedia results for the Japanese word. It is not really visually appealing in its layout but can provide some very useful information on words or phrases.
I haven't used EnglishJapaneseOnlineDictionary for a while but did use it with classes a while back. It could be better than it was before.
For something different, try one of these:
Although it is a little hard to navigate around, Wapedia has a variety of lists. Lists of abbreviated words like ファミコン (famikon), English words of Japanese origin and gairaigo or words that have originated in languages other than Japanese, like Dutch and Portugese. For example, did you know the Japanese word for 'swing' (ブランコ) comes from the Portugese word? Or, the word ランドセル (randoseru), meaning backpack / knapsack, comes from the Dutch word.
Another interesting site is Rikai. It has a cool little tool that allows you to hover over a kanji or word in the page, revealing the reading and meaning for the kanji or word. If you type the address of a Japanese site into the 'box' on the front page it will redirect you to that site and again allows you to place the cursor over a word to reaveal its meaning. Although not 100% effective, it is pretty good.
If your still thinking about Japanese Dictionaries in general, you really should read @rainbohill's post on eduFire, How to Choose the Best Japanese Dictionary.
Posted via web from Js Nihongo
Inspired by the Cogdogblog to use cooliris as a presentation tool and by Muza-chan to explain the story of 'Manekineko", I searched Flickr for "Maneki neko" and created the wall below, with help from Cooliris for developers (not that I've ever imagined myself as a developer).
"Maneki neko" are often seen as you enter shops, businesses or even homes. The Japanese verb 'maneku' (招く・まねく) means to invite and that is what the cat is doing; inviting good luck or customers into the business or home. If the right paw is raised, the cat is inviting in luck, if the left paw is raised, then the cat is trying to draw money (customers) into the business. Each of the two types of cat has a different kanji character on its chest. One is the character for luck and the other for money. Have a look at the photos in the cooliris wall below and look for the difference (click on a picture and then the icon at the bottom of the wall, in the middle, to start the slideshow).
For the story behind the "maneki neko", read Old Japanese Stories - the real Maneki Neko.
Posted via web from Js Nihongo
Whilst trying to work out a way to embed some listening and speaking practice (Japanese) into our Yr9 class wiki, as their Yearly Examinations are fast approaching, I came across a link to Yodio in my delicious bookmarks. I had toyed with the idea of trying to add audio to google maps (I still have no idea if you can do it or not) and also creating another video like this one (with Windows movie maker) for listening comprehension but Yodio seemed to be what I was looking for.
Yodio is very simple to use. Once you've registered, it allows you to:
I love it when students take an idea (or piece of work) and run with it.
On the class wiki page the "Task" came under the banner "Time to CREATE!!!", and they did. The task was given during a unit of work on descriptions and body parts and is as follows:
Scenario: You are a Japanese newsreader presenting the evening news. The item you are reading is in relation to a new species of animal that has been recently discovered in the mountainous forests of central Japan.
Task
Part A: Write the description of your ‘new species’ for the news report, before getting it checked by the teacher.
Part B: Practice reading the report before either (i) recording yourself saying it OR (ii) make a video of the news report.
Students were given the option to work in 2s or 3s. Below is one finished product. Admittedly, the students who created the embedded video chose to bypass the "before getting it checked by your teacher" instruction, but they were immediately forgiven. The video is in Japanese.
This week was a week for exploring effective ways to use the simple introductions we have been doing in our Year 7 Japanese lessons (Year 7 only have 1 lesson per week of Japanese so we don't get through a lot of content). The ability to indicate your name, age, phone number and where you live is useful but there's not a lot you can do with it (I thought). In the first class of the week I went back to the trusted "business card" creation exercise on the laptop. In other words, use Microsoft publisher to create a business card that displays information about yourself in the target language. However, not satisfied that this was the best way to engage the students in an activity designed to create something with the target language, I had a look around...
For reasons since forgotten I came up with Yu-Gi-Oh (a Japanese manga that has spawned, amongst other things, a trading card game) and stumbled across what I was looking for: Yugioh Card Maker. This site allows you to very easily create your own Yu-Gi-Oh trading cards. The 'description' box was used by the students to indicate the name, age, phone number (even monsters have a phone number these days) and city in which the character lived - all in Japanese (roomaji).
In order to 'save' creations to the Yugioh card maker site you do need to register; however, we simply used the "PRTSC" (print screen) button on the laptops, pasted the image into paint and then trimmed the edges to what we wanted. My own 'masterpiece' is above. The act of creating the cards only took about 5 minutes as we had previously revised, and written down, how to indicate all the things they were required to include.
I knew this activity was going to work the moment I asked the students to explain to me what Yu-Gi-Oh was. Several were obviously right into it and ready to share what they knew. This proved infectious as before long some students had created 2 or 3 cards. My next task is to work out the easiest way to display the cards on the class wiki site.
The next step is to create dialogues and, having just discovered another comic creation website (Bitstrips), I have a couple of ideas...
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