[Course Forum] JTalkOnline Courses Corrections

Community-Created Courses Japanese
21

In your settings there should be a way to turn off tapping tests with jumbled words “Tapping tests (jumbled words)”

If you don’t mind that appearing on other courses that is.

EDIT: Ahhhh! I found it! I found where I was going wrong with the database. It should work ok now. Is that better?

22

Thank you! It seems to be working now! Thanks for your help, and for creating the course!

23

Hey man, your courses are fantastic! Just wondering if it would be possible for all of the vocab included in JLPT N4 Vocabulary, to have their kanji equivalents in JLPT N4 Kanji? For example, in the JLPT N4 Kanji the course starts off with some ii adjectives, rather than economics and politics kanji. I feel like it would be great if we could have the Kanji course for N4 in the same order as the N4 vocab one, because I particularly liked the fact that the N4 (and also N5 vocab) were done in such a way that they were broken up into categories. Thanks :slight_smile:

2 Likes
24

Hey Kevin!

I know exactly what you mean! The problem is I’ve designed these courses to help with passing the JLPT N4 exam. The kanji for economics and politics (and other subjects in this course) are N2/N1 level kanji which can be a little too much for some people who haven’t learnt those kanji yet.

However, I still have the excel sheet with all the N4 vocabulary so I can make a second course which focuses on just the kanji for N4 vocabulary (even if the kanji is advanced).

If I were to make another would you prefer kanji with English prompt OR kanji with kana prompt?

25

Course Name: Intermediate Japanese Grammar 1 (JLPT N3)

Level: 10
Issue: The grammar and definition is missing from the first entry.

memrise1.PNG652×601 65.2 KB

Level: 46
Issue: Spelling error in the grammar.

Should be ということだ

Level: 47
Issue: Missing notes on the definitions

Should have ‘(casual)’ in the definitions

On a different note, thanks for uploading the N3 grammar course! I hope that the course will soon be finished. :smiley:

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26

Hi. Thank you so much for responding (and for all of your time and effort). I think I would actually prefer to have a kanji prompt (e.g. 勉強 pops up on the screen) and then a kana test (e.g. Me having to type in べんきょう). If this doesn’t sound like a good idea though, that’s fair enough tbh. Most courses tend to usually have english prompts, but I feel like when I am prompted with a kanji, if I know the kana, then I must almost certainly know the english meaning, but I can see why one may argue against that. As such, I suppose that it would be best to do whatever you think would be best for this more extensive kanji course (as I imagine that I will not be the only intended user of it). Once again, thanks so much for all of your time and effort.

NOTE - It’s a shame that MEMrise have now removed the mems lol

27

there’s also ann app HiNative from Lang-8

28

Newspaper Japanese
Level 37 Generic Articles ③ (Kanji)

Please fix learning direction, level 36 and 37 are identical at the moment.

Thanks.

1 Like
29

Hey Kevin! Sorry for the late reply. It didn’t get an email saying you’d replied >_<

Anyway, I’ll make it with Kanji to Kana! I personally prefer that method too (which is why a lot of my courses are made that way.)

I’ll let you know when it’s done!

30

Thank you Piggy! I’ve corrected all those! Keep them coming if you find any more :slight_smile:

I hope to get back to working on this and finishing the first half soon(ish) >_< Feel free to prod me if I’m taking too long!

31

Thanks for pointing that out Tonbo! I’ve fixed it.

1 Like
32

Course Name: Intermediate Japanese Grammar 1 (JLPT N3)

Level: 52
Issue: Grammar points should have hints to distinguish between the different types (言うと・言って・言えば). Also the fourth item does not use the kanji for 言うと.

Level: 56
Issue: It is hard to distinguish between the highlighted items with the grammar points from level 31 (Even - N さえ ).

Thanks! :smile:

1 Like
33

Thanks a bunch :slight_smile:

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JLPT N5 Vocabulary & Kanji

  • There isn’t enough disambiguation between some words, and there are some words that should be accepting multiple answers.
  • For instance, when it asks for “yes”, I can never remember if this is the course that wants ええ instead of はい. Either one is correct if all you want is “yes”. So either it should accept both, or there should be more detail in the prompt. Another word is “few”. Both すこし and すくない can mean “few”, but one is prompted as “small quantity” while the other is prompted as simply “few”. If I see “small quantity”, I know it wants すこし; but if I see “few”, I don’t know what I’m being asked for.
  • Another word that should accept more than one answer is “height”. Currently the correct answer is せい, even though every context I’ve seen uses せ (e.g. 背広, 背が高い, 背の低い; all use せ). Both are right for that meaning, so it should accept both.
  • “talk” gives three answers as correct: はなす, はなし, and わ. But when I submit はなし, it doesn’t accept that. It only accepts はなす and わ.

JLPT N4 Vocabulary

  • I’ve only just started, but I can say that a word that needs to be disambiguated is うすい. It is given as “thin (objects, not people)”. That’s too ambiguous; that could be ほそい. It would make sense for it to have the same definition as it does in N5: “thin (surface, density)”.

Also, in both courses, there are a lot of words whose definition is “[definition] (not [other word with similar definition])”. I find this unhelpful and confusing, as it makes me think of the word only in terms of “not being the other word”. It also doesn’t teach the subtle differences in meaning between these similar words. Instead of doing this, simply make the definitions less ambiguous so that they won’t be confused with each other in the first place. Or, even better, do what JLPT Bootcamp does, and add the part of speech tags (including verb classes) to every word. That alone would clear up confusion between a lot of the more ambiguous words in these courses. It’s impossible to confuse おぼえる with おもいだす if one is marked as v1 and the other is marked as v5s; and it’s impossible to confuse すこし and すくない if one is marked as adv and the other is marked as adj-i.

Beginners Japanese Grammar 1 (JLPT N5 Grammar)

  • The accuracy of some of these items is suspect. For instance, “X is more Y than Z” is given as XのほうがZよりY; but this is, at the very least, overly wordy (I don’t know enough to say whether it’s actually correct or not). “X is more Y than Z” requires nothing more than XはZよりY. For instance, きょうはきのうよりすずしいです (“Today is cooler than yesterday”). Not きょうのほうがきのうよりすずしいです. Another example: ことしのはるはきょねんのはるよりあたたかいです (“This spring is warmer than last spring”); not ことしのはるのほうがきょねんのはるよりあたたかいです.
  • By contrast, aside from the のほうがいい construction, I’ve only ever seen のほうが used in a sentence like ふじさんのほうがたかいです (“Mt. Fuji is taller (out of two or more previously mentioned options).” I assume that if the sentence were “Mt. Fuji is taller than Mt. Aso”, the sentence would become ふじさんはあそさんよりたかいです. I don’t know why (perhaps because one includes the other thing being compared to and one doesn’t), but that’s what I’ve learned (and no offense, but I trust Mango Languages more than you :stuck_out_tongue:).
  • And on that note, in Beginners Japanese Grammar 2 (JLPT N4 Grammar), level 7, you admit that the “I heard / It seems” construction had caused a lot of confusion for you, and that you were getting your information about it from the internet. I have to ask why you’re presuming to help others learn Japanese grammar points without yourself possessing the necessary expertise? It honestly makes me question the accuracy of almost everything in your courses; especially the grammar courses.
  • Many levels, such as たり、たりする could do with their own introductions into how the construction is used and what exactly it means. And again, a lot of sentences are too ambiguous or confusing. “was good, ok (past) (polite)” sounds like you want よかった, and “not dangerous (neg)” sounds like you want あぶなくない; this is fine when learning, since you know at the time that you’re learning na-adjectives; but it’s not good for review.
  • Sentences should only be using multiple definitions of a word when necessary; otherwise they should only be using one, e.g. “was unskilled” (rather than “was bad, unskilled”). This is especially true when the sentence has a conjunction: “easy, comfortable and slow” sounds like you want three different adjectives, not one adjective that means “easy, comfortable” and one that means “slow”.
1 Like
35

Wow! Ok.

In regards to your overall critique, I’m just a human and I’ve spent a lot of my free time over the last 3 years working on these memrise courses. So yes, mistakes happen, and even I have struggled with parts of Japanese, but I now know this stuff and wanted to share my knowledge with others. But as I don’t use the courses myself I don’t know what works for people and what doesn’t. This is why I encourage other people’s feed back.

I will do my best to make the corrections you brought up and answer any questions you have when I’m not at work (like I said, I do think in my free time).

Thanks again Savannah!

1 Like
36

Hi Savannah,

Sorry for the late reply. Thanks for your comments. I understand it must have been frustrating to put what you thought was the right answer in only to have it flash wrong.

I’ve put in alternate answers for words that may have 2 answers in JLPT N5 and N4 courses. Please let me know if you find any more.

As for the grammar. This is a little trickier…

Beginners Japanese Grammar 1 (JLPT N5 Grammar)

XのほうがZよりY = more than __ less than __
XはZよりY = less than ___
Xのほうが = more than ___

I understand this may be confusing and seem wordy. When this grammar is taught in schools XのほうがZよりY is how it’s structured.
より doesn’t mean “more than” it means “less than”.

So のほうが～より is actually saying “more than ___ less than ___”.

I.E 前のほうが今より簡単 = before was more easy than now (I know the correct English is “easier” but it’s to help you remember the “more” imagery.)

This can be said exactly the same way by just using ほうが or より.
I.E 前のほうが簡単 = before was more easy (than now)
I.E 今より簡単 OR 前が今より簡単 = now is less easy (than before)

I have added this as an explanation into the grammar course and given each item in that level alternative answers.

“I have to ask why you’re presuming to help others learn Japanese grammar points without yourself possessing the necessary expertise?”

Savannah. Do you know how one becomes an expert at something? They study, they learn, they make mistake, they practice. It’s a cycle that goes on for many years and you’re always learning something knew.
I’ve been studying Japanese for over 11 years. I went to University in Japan and am a translator.

I know this stuff now because I know it. It’s second nature. So when someone asks me “what does __ mean?” I often double check that I have information correct before telling them. Something I learnt translating is NEVER assume you have the right answer. Always double check.

(It’s the same if someone were to ask my what a piece of English grammar is. I may be a native but I can’t give someone the fine details without looking it up.)

Everything I do I double check. If a mistake or confusion is brought to my attention I fix it.

You are more than welcome to use or not use these courses. It is entirely up to you. But I do say in the description that “This course is for practicing grammar.” It may help to teach people grammar, but it’s mostly to practice grammar points people have learnt for the JLPT. Which is why not all the grammar points have explanations before them.

But if there are some grammar points you’re really stuck on and would like a refresher explanation beforehand please let me know and I’ll add them.

I can’t find the exact sentences you were having issues with (with multiple definitions). If you’re still finding them difficult could you please let me know which levels they’re in so I can find them?

Thanks Savannah!

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KEVIN!!!

Sorry it took so long but I’d actually forgotten about your request >__< もうしわけありません！！！

Anyway. It’s done! JLPT N4 Vocabulary+ is up with lots of kanji for you to learn! Enjoy!

38

Course Name: Intermediate Japanese Grammar 1 (JLPT N3)

Level: 58 (Without Doing - (ない form) ずに)
Issue: Missing に at the end

:smiley: Thanks for continually updating this course :smiley:

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39

Thanks! It’s been fixed!

1 Like
40

おかしがきらい is mistranslated on level six of the particles course.

1 Like