If you are a Japanese learner like me, you may find the following two rikai tools useful for your net reading.
1) Rikai.com
There are several tools from rikai.com, but the one I use most is Japanese to English. Simply copy and paste the link of the Japanese page you want to read there, and it will come out with a page that show up the hiragana under the kanji wherever you move your mouse on. It’s simpler than it sounds like, just have a try.
Also for Japanese English-learner, a page translate English to Japanese might be useful too.
2) rikaichan firefox plugin
If you found the “copy and paste” is a hassle, try to install this rikaichan into your firefox. It will add an option to your right-click menu. Once it’s activated, it does the same job as rikai.com.
I know I should really focus on my revision now, but I just can’t concentrate and feel like doing something else that may waste more time and make myself feel worse so I can push myself to work harder later. So here comes this post.
I found an interesting Japanese SNS-like site called KoToNoHa. If you are a Japanese learners, I’m sure you will like it too! It’s like a forum basically, but the difference is that you can only post a short question with a “Yes or No” (or “agree or not”) answers. Followers can choose either a circle (agree) or a cross (disagree) and leave a short comment. It’s not complicated at all, but what makes it so interesting is some topic that people posted, like “Have you worked more than 20 hours a day?” or “Are the students sit at the back of classroom are generally bad students?“. I posted one “Are you Japanese learner?“, and got one reply saying “yes, since I was born”, and “No, I’m a Japanese user”. LoL!
It might not be a very appropriate time to post about any SNS related sites during revision periods, but for Japanese learners, you may want it as an excuse to escape from revisions. You can learn quite a lot Japanese slangs that can’t found not in textbook. But don’t blame me if you fail your exam though.
OK, back to reading!!
(C) RichardHong.com // in a food store, Chinatown, Newcastle, UK
Got this photo when I went to Newcastle with Jenn and her sister. Japanese products can just make you smile (or laugh) without any warning. Guess by the time I have my 101 birthday, this mayonnaise won’t be suitable anymore! I won’t let my wife have it neither when she is pregnant in future, because technically it is not suitable for the baby under age 0.
Investment:
1. Two months preparation
2. £50 application fee
3. about £70 travel to London
4. nervousness in the exam room
Return:
1. A piece of stunning ikkyu (level 1) certificate
2. The moment enjoyment when opened the envelop
3. One more sparkling line in CV
4. Confidence and motivation on further studies
Hmmm…I think I made a good ROI (Return on Investment) :) Here I need to thank my friends who gave me advices and also bought me some textbooks from Japan.
