The Best & Worst iPhone Apps for Studying Japanese
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Apps I Like
Japanese LS Touch
by Jan Bogner
This app is on a short list of those that enable you to study by writing kanji with a finger or iPhone stylus. I'm attracted to this study method because one of the best Japanese study apps I've ever owned utilized this approach--King Kanji for the old-school Windows mobile pocket PC platform (e.g. iPaq). Japanese LS unfortunately suffers from a fatal flaw. Although it's teaching you words (not single kanji characters), it only tests 1 character on the screen at once, which really interrupts my study groove. I find studying full words far more effective than single characters, and this app defeats that benefit by forcing you to pause after each character and go to the next screen.
Japanese My Way
by Rakudasoft
Another app on a short list that tests kanji handwriting is JMW. Like Japanese LS, this one only allows you to write one character of a word at a time on the screen. I suppose what King Kanji achieved on stylus-based Windows mobile isn't easily implemented on finger-based iPhone. A cool feature is how it can give you hints (like what radicals are in the kanji); but I find navigating the app's convoluted menus rather confusing. Not bad, but not one of my favs. It might be cool if there was a handwriting app like this that required you to use a stylus. That way you might be able to study whole words at once.
KanjiBox
by Unknown Genius Software
KanjiBox is a well-built flashcard-type app with optional add-on kanji writing features, but I just find Japanese Sensei Deluxe better. Lacking features like engaging sample sentences, studying with this app gets a bit dull after a while. Plus, how many flashcard apps do you really need? This app does get better and better after each update, so while it may not yet be my top fav, it certainly deserves an honorable mention.
Apps I Don't Like
iKanji Touch
by ThinkMac Software
This app is so frustrating to use it makes me want to throw my iPhone out the window. Maybe I'm not a typical student of Japanese, but I'm not the type of person to sit down and study single kanji characters along with all their pronunciations. That approach is so dry and monotonous, it leeches any and all fun out of Japanese for me. If you like studying in the most unimaginative possible way, then this app is for you.
MyWords - Learn Japanese Vocabulary
by Innovative Learning, LLC
Here are some words, now let's test you! Yeah, good luck with that. This app taught me 1 thing--I wasted my money.
Further Reading Here: Japanese Study
My Adventures in Spam Blocking
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I hate spam. I detest it. And I'm not talking about the scrumptious processed meat product. I think you all know the spam I'm referring to—the kind peddling cheap viagra, phony rolexes, and desperate but gorgeous Russian girls pining for your love.
Most people I know pack up and leave an email address after it starts getting loads of spam, but being a dedicated IT nerd I didn't want to throw in the towel that easily. I made it my life's mission to stop all spam from getting into my inbox. Well, maybe not my life's mission, but my primary home IT project for the next few months or so. This was my mission, and this is my story. Maybe you'll see this in theaters next summer.
Life in Japan - How to Get Permanent Residence
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A permanent resident visa (aka "PR") is the Mr. Miagi black belt of visas in Japan. Why? Well, I'll tell you why:
* Almost all work visas in Japan require some kind of sponsor, usually a company or a spouse. The problem here is that if something happens to your sponsor--e.g. your company suffers a financial crisis, or sweet love turns sour--then your visa could go bye-bye. PR does not have this problem. You're your own sponsor.
* You don't have to renew it every 1~3 years.
* You can get stuff like credit cards and home loans. While it's not impossible to get these without PR, you can enjoy more options and higher credit limits closer to what Japanese citizens enjoy.
* You can work in any industry. Company-sponsored visas usually lock you to a particular industry, but with PR you're free to do whatever you want.
* It's about as close to becoming a Japanese citizen without actually becoming a citizen.
* PR makes you instantly awesome.
As you'd expect, getting something as all-powerful as a permanent residence visa in Japan isn't easy. Unfortunately, it's made even more difficult since the Immigration Bureau's website (esp. the English one) provides very little information as to what's required. Having gone through the process myself, I thought I'd outline it--potentially saving you a headache or two.
稲川素子事務所での経験談
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２００９年の夏にITの仕事から解雇された後、次の仕事を探すまでの期間、少しでも収入を得ようと稲川素子事務所と契約することにした。リーマン ショックの影響で正社員の仕事を見つけるのは非常に困難な渦中、日本に住む外国人にとってエンターテインメントの仕事は安定していると聞いたから である。困難で、かつ莫大な時間を要する就職活動中、長期の安定した仕事を得られるまではエンターテインメントの仕事をして低迷していた収入の埋 め合わせをできれば、と思ったのだ。ちょうど自由の身だった私は、与えられたどんな仕事でも引き受けることができた。
初めてもらった仕事は、外国人がよく出る歴史劇のテレビでの仕事だった。撮影中、この業界で仕事をしている他の外国人に会った。彼らに、これは私 の最初の仕事で自分は稲川素子事務所に入ったばかりだ、と言ったところ、１人の友好的なアメリカ人の男性が、気を付けるようにとアドバイスをくれ た。彼は私よりも日本のエンターテインメント業界での経験があったので、詳しいことを聞いてみた。すると彼は、“給料をもらうのはいつだと言われ た？”と私に聞いた。“２か月後と言われた”と私は答えた。彼は“６か月くらい見たほうがいい。給料をもらうために、何度も電話をかけて催促し た”と言った。それを言われて心配になり、英語の教師の仕事を探そうかとも考えた。
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