(didn't) drop outta school now we (not) dumb rich

“The first case I argued [in front of the Supreme Court] was Frontiero v. Richardson…When I got to the podium I was at first terribly nervous and then looked up at the justices and thought to myself ‘These are the most important judges in the United States. And they have to listen to me.’”—Ruth Bader Ginsburg

This week is all about the TroubleMAKERS—women who have bucked against harmful stereotypes, ridiculous laws, and boring, traditional gender roles.

Who better to start us off than The Notorious RBG? Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ruth Bader Ginsburg founded the Women’s Rights Project in 1972 to take on cases of gender discrimination. In 1973, she made history when she argued her very first case in the Supreme Court, Frontiero v. Richardson. Frontiero was a female lieutenant in the Air Force. Unlike her male peers, she received no housing allowance for being a married officer, and her spouse had no access to the dental and medical services on base. Because of RBG’s arguments, and the overwhelming evidence she presented, the Supreme Court concluded, in an 8-1 decision, that this was a violation of her rights. 

**EDIT** The LingoDeer team read my review and fixed some of the things I pointed out :>

Learning Japanese?? I was originally going to review LingoDeer’s Chinese lessons next, but I was contacted by the team who developed the app and the lessons after the read my review on the Korean course. They asked if I was learning Japanese and, if so, if I could do a similar review for the Japanese course (please note that I have never done any sort of sponsored review or anything like that; I review what I want and I review them honestly). I said I would, so here we are! Maybe this will get me back on track with studying Japanese, anyway. Those of you who were around during this blog’s early stages will remember I was studying Japanese for a while, but I had to abandon it because I just didn’t have enough time ㅠㅠ Welp, it’s time to start again!

I do want to note that, other than the obvious language difference between this review and my review of LingoDeer’s Korean course, there is also a huge difference in my perspective between both of these reviews. Having studied Korean for over seven years now, my LingoDeer Korean review was done more from a been-there-done-that perspective. A lot of my intuition as not only a long-term Korean learner but also a Korean grammar blogger and a language teacher went into it. However, I am nowhere near the same level in Japanese, so this review is written from much more of a beginning learner perspective, with a bit of my teacher brain as far as what is and isn’t effective for language learning thrown in.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s jump on in!

What is LingoDeer?

LingoDeer is a language-learning app for the three major east Asian languages, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese. It is developed by teachers of those three languages, so that’s pretty cool!

Very first impressions

As I said in my review of LingoDeer (Korean), the LingoDeer app’s design and interface is very clean and visually appealing. I do get some loading screens still, but none of them are super long unless I’m on my home Wifi. I’d been thinking about maybe getting a new, stronger router anyway… 

Learning Hiragana and Katakana

You can start with learning Hiragana and Katakana, or you can just skip it and go straight to learning the actual grammar and other material. For the sake of this review (and since my Katakana memory has always been pretty bad), I did the Hiragana and Katakana courses. Before you start a level in the Alphabet section, you can flip a toggle for whether you want to learn Hiragana or Katakana. Ultimately, though, it doesn’t really matter since they are presented together and you will be asked to match the corresponding Hiragana and Katakana. I have actually never used a source that teaches them together in this way, and I really like it because it made it easier for me to remember the Katakana. The main differences between doing one writing system vs. the other (for example, choosing to do them in Katakana mode instead of Hiragana) is that you will only be presented with stroke order diagrams for the set you chose, and they will occur more frequently. At the end of the day, the choice is yours.

 Again, the sound files in this app are really great, so you can hear the sounds very clearly. My only real issue with the Hiragana/Katakana-learning exercises is when you have to match multiple pairs at once. There are a few screens like that at the end of each level, and if you want to hear the readout of the sounds as you do them, you have to flip a toggle on the screen because the sound is off by default. Since this is a language learning app, I really think it would make more sense to have the sound on by default. Also, you have to flip the toggle every new screen rather than flipping it once and that being your setting for the level. Having to flip it every single time just to get the automatic audio got annoying pretty quickly.

Just as the Korean course had extensive Hangul charts, there are interactive Hiragana and Katakana charts in the Japanese course. You can click on the individual spaces to have the sounds read out, which I liked. However, there seems to be a little bug such that sometimes when I go to the charts they don’t read out when I press the spaces. In those cases, I have to restart the app for the charts to work properly.

Finally, there are notes explaining the Japanese writing system, and they’re quite extensive! This app certainly does give a lot of information.

Getting in to learning

This app is currently structured 100% for beginners in the sense that you must start with the first level. There is no way to test up into a higher level. This test up feature is there in other comparable apps, so its absence here is very noticeable. Until such a function is (hopefully) added in, anyone who wants to use this app will have to obligatorily do the lower levels first regardless of their skill level.

All of the actual learning levels have grammar notes at the beginning, which you can access if you swipe to the tile left of the first lesson tile. I think it would make more sense to have the notes tile be the first one you see, as it is easy to miss and the notes give a ton of important information that beginning learners really should read. The notes are detailed and very helpful, but there are some typos here and there, and I noticed some unusual Romaji (though I’m not sure if it’s just that they were using a different Romaji system… are there multiple Romaji systems??). The word for “China,” which I had always seen before in Romaji as “ch(y)uugoku,” was written as “tyuugoku,” which threw me off.

When you get into the learning levels, you can choose how you want writing to be displayed, and there are a TON of options! You can go for full on normal Japanese writing with the Kanji and all, Kanji with Hiragana (my setting), Hiragana only, Romaji only, Hiragana and Romaji… you can choose what would suit your needs best and adjust as you become more comfortable reading Japanese.

As for actually learning, there is a variety of activities including word-picture matching, listening and choosing the right answer, inserting grammatical elements into the right places, and unscrambling sentences, and more. The only thing that I really wish the learning levels has is some speaking practice! I’ve said it many, many times before, but HelloChinese is a similarly structured app that has speaking practice built into all of its levels. If LingoDeer also had it, I would be so happy~ Also, as I mentioned in my LingoDeer (Korean) review, this app is fairly quiet in the sense that it does not automatically read out sentences for you on some screens, and there is no indication given that you can access audio for those screens. It would be nice if there was maybe a little play button to make it clear that you can hear audio on those screens with no auto play, or maybe an overall option (that could be toggled on or off as you please, of course) for automatic audio playback.

One other little bone I have to pick is that, when doing syllable-by-syllable unscrambling of sentences, the app starts indicating what the first syllable you pick should be within about three seconds. Maybe some people like the hints, but I could do without them for sure. I would be happy if the time to hinting was increased, or if there was a toggle to turn it off completely.

Upon completion of a level, you can get up to five stars. When you first start studying, you set a goal for how many stars you want to get each day, and if you choose the lowest possible number (five) and do a single level perfectly, your study for the day is complete.

The biggest error I have seen in this course so far is that the notes in the “Household” section (as far as I got so far) are missing ㅠㅠ I sent a report in, so hopefully that’s fixed soon. Considering how responsive the LingoDeer team has been to me so far, I’m fairly confident it will be fixed soon.

Overall, I like the structure of the lessons and the pacing. I could definitely see myself using this app long term!

Review and stats

(This section is more or less copypasta from my previous review, so feel free to skip it if you read that one!)

If you want to go back and review vocab or grammar flashcards, there is a section where you can do that. The review questions are the same as the regular level questions. You can choose to do a single lesson, or you can combine lessons for a comprehensive review. Also, there is spaced repetition listening practice, which is pretty cool. You can choose how you want the words and sentences presented, with Japanese, the English translation, or just the audio and no writing. After listening, you can reveal the correct answer and rate your recall/performance “weak,” “good,” or “perfect.” You can also choose if you want a word or sentence-focused review. Seems like a good feature.

As for stats, you can check how long your learning streak has been ongoing, and it even tells you how long you have studied for. There are some little achievement badges for things like learning time and streaks also. You can also set a time for reminders to study if you would like. However, I notice that the app is not synced to your phone’s clock but some other clock, perhaps that of the server it’s hosted on. So, for example, if I use the app in the morning here in Korea, it will still count any stars I get to the previous day since the app’s date hasn’t rolled over yet. There is not an option to change the app’s clock to sync to your time zone as far as I can tell.

Oh, and there is offline learning! You can download the course take it with you if you are, say, going on a flight or off to some remote area where there is no internet or cell service!

Conclusion

LingoDeer’s Japanese course is really fun and easy to use! The grammar notes are very informative, and the lessons are not too heavy so they don’t feel burdensome or intimidating to a new learner. The pros and cons:

PROS:

GREAT audio files

Lots of good notes and information on grammar

Spaced repetition practice and flashcards

Study reminders

Lessons that are informative and useful without being overwhelming

Offline learning

CONS:

No function to test out of lower levels

Typos in notes and other places

App clock not synced to phone clock

TIME EXPRESSIONS CHEAT SHEET

I figured this was about time I actually learned how to say days of the month properly haha. I kinda skipped over this part when I was first learning japanese. Don’t be like me.

Irregular readings are highlighted in purple.

List of 188 Japanese particles with meaning / usage

は (wa)Indicantes the topic of a sentence

か (ka)At the end of a sentence indicating a question

が (ga)Indicates the subject of a sentence

に (ni)Indicates a location

の (no)Indicates possession

は (wa)Indicates a contrast between 2 items

に (ni)Indicates time or frequency

へ (e)Indicates direction

を (wo/o)Indicates the direct object of a verb

と (to)Used to connect and list up multiple items

や (ya)Used to connect and partially list up multiple items

など (nado)Used with や (ya) to partially list up multiple items

も (mo)means “too”, “either”, “also”

も (mo)both…and…, neither…nor…

に (ni)Indicates the indirect object of a verb

に (ni)Indicates the surface of a object where some action takes place

で (de)Indicates the location of an action

と (to)Together with

の (no)Indicates an apposition

から (kara)Indicates a starting point in time or place

より (yori)Indicates a starting point in time or place but more formal than kara (20)

まで (made)Indicates a limit on time, space or quantity

くらい (kurai)Indicates an approximate amount

ほど (hodo)Indicates an approximate amount

ばかり(bakari)Indicates an approximate amount

で (de)Indicates a means or material

か (ka)Indicates a choice or alternative

を (wo/o)Indicates a point of departure

を (wo/o)Indicates a route of a movement/motion

に (ni)Indicates a point of arrival

に (ni)Indicates an entering motion

に (ni)Used together with a verb to express a purpose

と (to)Used when quoting someone

と いう (to iu)Indicates the name of something

とか (toka)“something like”

で (de)Indicates a limit or scope

と (to)Indicates a comparison

より (yori)Indicates a comparison

より (yori)Indicates superlative

くらい (kurai)Indicates a comparison

ほど (hodo)Indicates a comparison in a negative sentence

か (ka)someone, something

も (mo)“nothing”, nobody”, nowhere” if used with an interrogative word

に (ni)Used with a verb to indicate a change or choice

をする (wo/o suru)Expresses an occupation or position

でも (demo)Indicates emphasis

でも (demo)Together with an interrogative word it means “anything”, “anyone”, any time”

で (de)Indicates a cause or a reason

から (kara)Indicates a source such as a giver, a cause or material

に (ni)Indicates a person who gives something or who provides a service

は (wa) + が (ga)Indicates the relation between an object / subjects and a verb or adjective

が (ga)Connects two sentences with the meaning “but…”

を (wo/o)Used with an verb expressing emotions, it indicates the cause of this emotion

で (de)Indicates a state / condition of something

で (de)Limits numbers

だけ (dake)Indicates a limit on things or amounts

だけ (dake)Indicates a limit on an action or state

で (de)Indicates the time of completion or expiration of something

でも (demo)Following a noun, means “or something like this”

も (mo)Emphasizes in a positive or negative way

でも (demo)Indicates two or more items as an example of a larger list

ばかり (bakari)Indicates that an item, state or action is a single one

ばかり (bakari)Indicates an action was just completed

ところ (tokoro)Indicates that an action takes place, just took place or is about to take place

が (ga)Indicates the subject of subordinate clause when it is different from the subject of the main clause

から (kara)conjunction meaning “after” or “since”

ながら (nagara)Indicates that an action is happening simultaneously

が (ga)Indicates the subject of a relative clause

の (no)Indicates the subject of a relative clause

から (kara)Used as a conjunction and indicates a cause or reason

ので (node)Indicates a strong reason

の (no)Indicates a modified pronoun

の (no)Used to nominalize verbs & sentences

なら (nara)Used as a conjunction and indicates a supposition or condition

なら (nara)Indicates a topics and is used as an alternative to wa (No.1)

と (to)Indicates a condition that results in an inevitable outcome

ば (ba)Used as a conjunction to express a probable results

ばいい (ba)“all you have to do…”

ば (ba)Used to enumerate two or more actions or states

たら (tara)Used as a conjunction, indicates a supposition or condition

たら (tara)Used as a conjunction to indicate that one action takes place before the action described in the main sentence

ところ (tokoro)Used as a conjunction to indicate a condition that brings about a discovery

ても (temo)a conjunction meaning “even if”

ても (temo)Used with a set of contrasting verbs and adjectives

ても (temo)Together with an interrogative word it means “no matter what/where/who”

ては (tewa)Indicates a condition which will bring a negative conclusion

のみ (nomi)Indicates a limit (similar to だけ　dake)

まで (made)“even”, used to emphasize

さえ (sae)“even”, used to emphasize

さえ (sae)“if only” or “as long as”

のに (noni)“although”, “in spite of the fact that”

ながら (nagara)“although”, “though”, “but”

とか (toka)Indicates that a list of two ore more things or actions is not exhaustive

たり (tari)List of two or more actions in no particular sequence

たり (tari)Indicates actions or states that alternate

のに (noni)Indicates a purpose or function

のです (no desu)Asks for an explanation or reason

きり (kiri)Indicates a limit to an amount

きり (kiri)Indicates the last time a certain incident occured

とも (tomo)Used with numbers and counters to mean “both” or “all”

ながら (nagara)Used with numbers and counters to mean “both” or “all”

しか (shika)Used with a negative verb to indicate limits on conditions or quantities meaning “only”

しかない (shika nai)used with a verb meaning “to have no choice but to”

し (shi)Used as a conjunction, indicating two or more actions or states

し (shi)Used as a conjunction indicating a reason

とも (tomo)Indicates inclusion

に (ni)Indicates the one acting or the one acted upon

か (ka)Indicates uncertainty about something

か (ka)Indicates uncertainty about a state or reason

だの (dano) Indicates two or more items or actions of a longer list (similar to toka とか)

だの (dano)Indicates a pair of opposite actions or states

など (nado)“something to the effect”

やら (yara)Indicates two or more items of a longer list

やら (yara)Indicates uncertainty

ても (temo)Indicates an approximate limit with the meaning of “at the most”

とも (tomo)Indicates an approximate maximum or minimum

は (wa)Indicates that a number is the higher or lowest limit

と (to)Emphasizes a number in a negative sentence

など (nado)Indicates examples

くらい (kurai)Expresses an extent of an action or condition similar to ぐらい gurai

ほど (hodo)Indicates the extend of an action or condition

ほど (hodo)“the more… the more…”

だけ (dake)“as… as…”

だけ (dake)“the more… the more…”

と (to)“about to do something”, “trying to do something”

と (to)“even if…”, “whether… or not”

なり (nari)“either…”, “whether…or”

なり (nari)“anything”, “anyone”, “any time”

こそ (koso)Emphasizes the word preceding it

こそ (koso)Emphasizes a reason or a cause

ては (tewa)Expresses repetition of an action

に (ni)Joins two or more nouns to indicate a list of items

に (ni)Connects two or more items to indicate a matching or a contrast

にしては (ni shite wa)Indicates a generally agreed upon standard

にとって (ni totte)Indicates an effect or value of a person or thing

について (ni tsuite)“about”, “concerning” something or someone

とも…とも (tomo… tomo)“can’t say whether… or…”

が (ga)“even if”, “whether… or not”

は (wa)Emphasizes contrasting elements

として (toshite)Indicates status, capacity or function

として (toshite)Provides emphasis in a negative sentence

ばかりでなく(bakari de naku)“not only… but also”

だけ (dake) used to express “not only…but also”

のみ (nomi)used to express “not only…but also”

なり (nari)“as soon as”

146がはやいか (ga hayai ka)“as soon as”

やいなや (ya ina ya)“as soon as”

かないうちに (ka nai uchi ni)“no sooner had”, “hardly had”

ばかり (bakari)Indicates the only action left to do

ばかりに (bakari ni)Emphasizes a reason or cause

すら (sura)Emphasizes in the meaning of “even”

など (nado)Expresses a humble attitude towards an item

とも (tomo)“no matter what”, “even if”

ともあろうひと (tomo aroo hito)To express that someone did something not to be expected

どころか (dokoro ka)“far from”, “not to mention”

だけに (dake ni)Indicates a cause or reason

までもない (made mo nai)“there is no need to…”

ものの (mono no)“but” or “although”

ところで (tokoro de)“even if”

けれども (keredomo)Connects 2 sentences meaning “but” or “although”

けれども (keredomo)Indicates a preliminary remark

が (ga)Used to soften a statement or refusal

けれども (keredomo)Indicates a desire

ね (ne)At the end of a sentence to confirm a statement

ね (ne)At the end of a sentence to soften a request or suggestion

ね (ne)At the end of a sentence to indicate a reason or cause

ねえ (nee)At the end of a sentence to indicate emotion

よ (yo)At the end of a sentence to state a strong conviction

よ (yo)At the end of a sentence to articulate a request or suggestion

かしら (kashira)At the end of a sentence to express uncertainty, a request or a question and mainly used by women

かな (kana)At the end of a sentence to express uncertainty, a request or a question and mainly used by men

な (na)At the end of a sentence and used by men to confirm a statement

な (na)At the end of a sentence to express a prohibition, used by men

なあ (naa)At the end of a sentence to express emotion, used by men

なあ (naa)At the end of a sentence to express a desire

の (no)At the end of a sentence to express a question or soften a command, used by women

わ (wa)At the end of a sentence to soften a statement, used by women

さ (sa)At the end of a sentence to indicate slight emphasis, used by men

こと (koto)At the end of a sentence to indicate emotion, used by women

こと (koto)At the end of a sentence to express a suggestion or invitation, used by women

もの (mono)At the end of a sentence to express a reason or excuse

とも (tomo)At the end of a sentence to express an assertion

ものか (monoka)At the end of a sentence to express a negative determination, used by men

や (ya)At the end of a sentence to soften a statement, request or suggestion, used by men

たら (tara)At the end of a sentence to indicate a suggestion or proposal

やら (yara)At the end of a sentence to indicate a rhetorical question with a negative implication

ぜ (ze)At the end of a sentence to add for to sentence, used by men

Memorizing Japanese vocabulary takes a lot of time and energy, and there’s so much to memorize! This alone makes people give up before they even get started.

But what if there was a way to alleviate this burden by making memories of Japanese words stick in your head almost instantly? You might not have to quit learning Japanese. In fact, you might just become fluent.

In this episode, Koichi, Kristen, and Michael teach you how to use the keyword mnemonics method to memorize Japanese faster and keep it in your head longer. After they walk you through the steps, you’ll be able to create mnemonics and memorize Japanese vocabulary like a pro.

Happy learning °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°  

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