みなさん、こんばんは！
Today I'm going to share with you one of the tools I've been using to study Japanese outside of class. In later posts, I'll be talking about other programs, as well as apps for Android and iOS. Most of these are meant to help you memorize vocabulary/kanji, which is a nice supplement to all the grammar we've been learning in class. じゃあ、はじめましょう！Let's get started!
Memrise
 |
| ...should study Japanese with Memrise! |
The learning tool we're going to be looking at is Memrise, a website that uses spaced repetition to help you retain vocabulary in long term memory. You have probably heard of the spaced repetition technique, but in case you haven't, the basic premise is that the software asks you vocabulary questions and records metrics such as correctness and response time to determine how long to wait before showing you the same question again. This is nice because the program can automatically tailor each review session to the words that you find difficult. For example, if you can consistently answer questions about the word うち (home) but sometimes forget the word まど (window), Memrise and other programs like it will adjust its algorithm to show you the easier word less often and the harder word more.
 |
| From the JLPT N5 course |
As you can see, the website is quite feature-complete. It includes the hiragana, English meaning, and kanji for each word, as well as pronunciations by a native Japanese speaker. いいですね。Quizzes go both ways: first, you will see English meanings and will have to answer multiple choice questions by choosing the corresponding Japanese word. Then, you will have to type the correct Japanese word for a given English meaning. After that the questions and answers will flip-flop, and you will have to figure out the correct English meaning given a Japanese word.
To start using Memrise, I recommend the
JLPT N5 course. This introductory vocabulary course will take you through the 675 most commonly used words in Japanese, including kanji and pronunciations for each one. I am currently following this course as well as another one for the Genki textbook that I used over the summer. I would recommend a course based on Nakama, but unfortunately there are none. Happy mem(o)rising!
じゃあ、
ケニー
