So for me, iKnow.jp had me covered for vocabulary, and to a surprising extent grammar as well. As I mentioned above, context for me is key and iKnow excelled at this: you would get at least one new sentence for every word you learnt. This may not sound like a lot, but after 1,000 words this really adds up. And hearing these sentences repeated every time you learn these words, things really start to sink in after a while. Japanese particles are a good example of this. Although I had flicked through an About.com article on particles and used a few Google searches to clear up any issues I had, nearly all my understanding of Japanese particles such as no (の), na (な), ga (が), wa (は), and ni (に), and most importantly, how to use them, all came from seeing how they were used in these example sentences and all the other Japanese media I was exposed to. iKnow ended up being the only tool I paid for – I know there are a lot of free flashcard apps out there, but I ended up paying for the coursebased on the structure, especially the order and way words were introduced, and the availability audio clips for every sentence. After trying the trial version I was convinced it would be worth it and a year on – I would still say it was definitely worth it.
For Japanese speaking and listening practice, there was no one tool I found that could really help me much, but with the abundance of Japanese media available online, it isn’t too hard to get started with this. Developing my listening skills was based most on a steady accumulation of Japanese media seeping into my head over the course of a year. I watched probably an absurd number Japanese TV shows, films, and YouTube videos, all with subtitles on – and it paid off. I would recognise words I learnt by rote using iKnow, and other words I picked up through the subtitles.
Speaking Japanese was (and is) quite hard. I don’t think I will ever lose the London twang no matter what language I speak, but in the end, practice makes perfect, and when you are trying learn a language, or in fact trying to do anything, practice is everything. I found to be a good site for meeting others trying to learn a language, but unfortunately, you either had be approached by a premium member or get premium membership yourself to even begin talking to others. Due to this drawback, I probably ended making more friends through to practice with by displaying my Skype name on my profile even though Lang-8 is primarily useful for reading and writing.
At this stage, I probably should post a disclaimer. I now work for Lang-8, so I may be a bit biased! But I found this site long before I started working there, and I do really believe it’s a very useful site. I only wish I had found them during my University or School days, as it would have made my homework assignments a lot easier. In essence, Lang-8.com is a site to improve your writing and reading abilities with and it does it quite simply, instead of relying on algorithms or automated translators Lang-8 connects native speakers with each other, making it a social network geared towards language education.
Lang-8 works through a system of reciprocal corrections. For example, Jim could be learning Japanese, so he posts an entry in Japanese that is corrected by Misaki, who in turn is learning French, so she then posts an entry in French that is corrected by Anne, and so on. Users are encouraged to correct others journal entries through a points based system, which awards points on the number of corrections provided and the helpfulness of the corrections. More points means that your own posts will be displayed more prominently for others to correct.
One drawback of Lang-8, however, is that the corrections will only be as good as the person making them. But for someone learning a language, in almost all cases a native speaker will be more than able to help you out. The system of points and thanks points also help to maintain quality. And of course, you can always pose questions, such as which word sounds more natural in a particular in context in your posts to clear up any issues you come across.
However, it has to be said that Lang-8’s focus on journal and diary entries means that it is suitable only for writing and reading practice. Such practice by itself will obviously not get you fluent in a language, but at least the free online tool will help you practice writing without having to pay for corrections.
In the end, no one tool will teach you a language by itself, at least not cheaply. Instead, you can mix and match tools and websites to get yourself fluent. After you have figured out what works best for you, it is surprising how much you can learn in a relatively short period of time. Provided, that is, you put in the hours and have the motivation to keeping going.
To finish up, I’ll share a piece of advice that helped get me started in Japanese:
Stop procrastinating!
Sign up right now for one of the above tools and see if it works for you. If none of them fit the bill, figure out what’s lacking and search for something that will fill the gap. There is a huge choice of online language learning tools out there today; at least one of them should come close to what you need. But remember tools are an aid in learning a language; you still need to put in the work, practice the language, and meet actual people!