Post-JLPT Study Begins
So this year’s JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test / 日本語能力試験 / nihongo nouryoku shiken) suddenly came up over the horizon, rushed forth, mauled me like an angry bear being chased by bees, and tore off down the road into the sunset. Naturally, I feel a bit like licking my wounds. But instead, I’ve decided to do something a little proactive. I made the regular rounds on the English speaking Japanese blog networks and I keep seeing people hawking for this site called iKnow.
Let’s be honest. The first thing I think of when I read the title “iKnow” is Monica, from Friends, shouting her catchphrase “I know!” with her classic intonation. The second thing I think? Apple product accessory. The naming cliché has crept just about everywhere, it seems. The third thing I thought was that I might as well give it a shot. I’m glad I did. It turned out to be pretty cool (so far).
It has also been humbling. I realized just how poor my vocabulary is when I arrogantly clicked into a course more advanced than I should have. I dropped it (like it was hot) and backed down into a more appropriate intermediate course. “Course” is really just a way to say “deck” for those of you familiar with Anki and spaced repetition learning systems. And now I’m plodding along. What’s great is that it put the feeling of accomplishment back into Japanese for me. Something I’d lost a long time ago, and with it some of my motivation to continue. I like the site. Two thumbs up. My only gripe is that I have difficulty fitting the application window on a single desktop on my Eee PC 1000 HA. Why did they put the start button at the very bottom!? Ha ha. 
It’s doable, but requires a little too much monkeying around for my taste.
In a related issue, I recently flipped out after discovering that Lang-8 had been blocked at school. If I tried to access it, a large orange banner reading 「このページはアクセス制限されています。」 or “Access to this page is restricted.” The reason listed? 「Category: 個人広告／出会い系 」 or “Personals / Dating.” I was puzzled by that, and decided to push my luck – not something I frequently do. I contacted the systems administrators and asked them who runs the blocking software. A teacher friend of mine called for me and explained that the site is blocked for an incorrect reason. We asked them to review the reason. I figured if they still wanted to block it that there wasn’t much else I could do – but I could at least bring to their attention that it’s not a dating / personals site. It’s a study site for writing practice in your second language. Social in its nature, sure, but pretty dadgum academic. After a series of phone calls, we found the guy in charge, and he took it off the blocked setting no problem. How awesome is that? So if you have trouble accessing STUDY sites (and yes, I really mean that legitimately), don’t be afraid to ask – the worst they can say is “Sorry, no.” And hey – they might not. 
