JapanesePod101.com

Blog / June 2018

  • 30 June 2018F.A.Q. : How do I review "kanji to keyword"?

    In general it is not a good idea to do isolated kanji > keyword tests. Particularly so if you use the Spaced Repetition System, as you would end up with twice the amount of reviews at the cost of really focusing on completing RTK which is a challenging goal in and of itself!

    As Heisig suggested , the kanji > keyword recall will take care of itself. Once you learn words and start reading textbooks etc. this "backward" recall will sort itself out. Sure you may have to look up the characters now and then, but once you do that this "kanji > keyword" link will come easily.

    Here is a related discussion on the forum, including quotes from Heisig.

    Now, if you REALLY want to test yourself "kanji to keyword"...

    Solution 1 : Vocab Shuffle

    The Vocab Shuffle modes are a better way to do this because at least you see the characters in context of actual Japanese words. And, you can learn new words.

    If you do not use the SRS, and hence you have not added flashcards, use the "RTK Index" option.

    If you use the SRS, then it's even better, you'll get a selection of words made of kanji you've successfully reviewed before.

    While using Vocab Shuffle simply mouse over the kanji to see a tooltip with the keyword. You can test yourself like that before flipping the card. The kanji are also links to the study page!

    Solution 2 : Kanji Review

    You can always use the non-SRS reviews which used to be called "free reviews". In this mode you don't need to add flashcards. Enter a RTK range (eg. 20 to 50), or enter a RTK lesson.

    Then simply check the "Kanji to Keyword (reverse mode)" checkbox!

  • 22 June 2018Small downtimes sunday?

    Since I received a few emails about "Error 500" the last two Sundays, it may be useful to see if there is a pattern to it. There's not much I can do right now but if I see a pattern then I can inquire with the web hosting support. It could be other sites hosted on the same server.

    So if you see some of these error 500 again this Sunday let me know.

  • 13 June 2018Fixed a minor issue with Japanese font selection in Story

    On Windows OS + Google Chrome, a Chinese font was used to display kanji in the "Edit Story" and Shared Stories areas. So for example the kanji 誤 ("mistake") would show up in a different form.

    This issue does not appear in Firefox, or even Ubuntu + Chrome, so only users on Windows + Google Chrome browser will notice a change. And of course this is only where there are differences between the Chinese and Japanese writing of the same character. Also please note Shared Stories are cached for a long time so unless you vote / unvote or share / unshare a story the fix won't show there for a while.

    This issue is fixed. Thanks to Frank for letting me know. Github Issue #137

  • 5 June 2018Possible small down times this week

    I've got a couple emails last night regarding "HTTP 500 Error". I am not aware of any issues with the server. However I did receive an email today from HostGator (the web host).

    The servers are being updated with a new version of "CPanel" (the administrator dashboard). This may cause a few intermittent down times, typically no more than a minute.

    Update: The server had some updates; Let me know if you're still seeing some hiccups (error 500) during this weekend.

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