Tried & Tested - Tandem language app review

Today I will talk to you about a new language app I found. Unfortunately this app is only available in the Apple store, if you're an Adroid user I would suggest you to have a look at one of my older posts which will give you some good recommendations for Japanese learning Apps for Android. With that being said, let's get straight into business!
Alright, so Tandem describes itself as a ''community of language learners'' with over 3 million users. It allows you one on one conversations with people who share your interests. I tested Tandem for one week to see if it is any different than the other language exchange apps out there.


Signing up
So this was a bit fussy.. First of all, you can only sign up if you have a Facebook account. No, I'm not kidding. You can't sign up with just your email address or without making an account at all. So if you don't have Facebook, no Tandem for you my friend. The explanation for this according to them is ''to make sure everyone on Tandem is a real and friendly person''. If you are like me and you're a real and friendly person and have a Facebook account you can continue to sign up. The process for this is rather simple and they will ask you a couple quick questions about your interests, which languages you speak, which language you want to learn and they will ask you to write about a topic you're interested in. After you signed up, you will get a screen like pictured right and then you just have to wait...


Using Tandem
After 30 minutes or so I got an email that I got accepted and I was ready to use my account. The profile will look something like my profile here, but with your own interests an your own topic of course. When people are looking for someone new to chat with, they will see your topic at first so make sure it something interesting or catchy. You can search for new people by the language your interested in, by topic or by place. Only after a few minutes I signed up, I received a request from a nice lady from Vietnam to help me with my Vietnamese. If you studied a foreign language before you know how important it is to connect with natives and how easy it is to ask all your questions. If the little awkwardness is out of the way, you can chat like friends and study at the same time. Tandem also has a call / video call function which allows you to call your new friends for free.

Verdict
I will score the Tandem app in the same way as a did with my previous app reviews. Overall I would give Tandem a 3/5. The layout is very simple, although this can come over as boring, it does makes it easy to use. I would suggest this app to people who want to meet natives to chat with. If you are going to use Tandem, write down what you want to learn and also write down what you've learned from your buddy. This will keep you from only having fun while chatting and helps you remember that you have a goal.


Overall rating; Tandem Language Exchange
Visual / layout; 3/5
Information; 3/5

Pro's
- Easy to use
- Free calling option
- Great way for connecting with new people

Con's
- Only accessible with Facebook account
- No group chats


Did you already use Tandem before? Or are you going to use it now? Let me know what you think!

Thank you for reading.

~ mei mei

The differences between a Japanese and an American business environment

After working for a Japanese company for a year I went back to school for a while. After I finished school I started working for a huge American hotel chain. Some of you asked for my thoughts on both Japanese and American companies so I am sharing my experiences with you in this post today. I hope you will understand that I am not trying to compare whether it is better to work  for a Japanese or a American company. I am just reviewing the pro's and con's of both of them so you can somehow get the feel what it is like to work for one of them. For those of you in America who are thinking about working for a Japanese company, or those who are residing in Europe I hope this will be helpful for you.

Unique Japanese business culture
The one thing I want to mention first is that even though I myself am residing in Europe, working for a American company in my opinion is not that different than working for an European company. But working for a Japanese company was a total change and it really took me some time to adapt to the Japanese work environment. The Japanese business environment is a whole sub-culture by itself with it's own customs. I will write a separate post with typical Japanese work related customs because it's to much to cover into this post. In the part below I will state some pro's and con's from my own experiences working for a Japanese company.

Pro's;

1. The Japanese are highly valued in the business market. They never fail to deliver and even go beyond the expectations. This is really true. Even though many others claim to get jobs done when it obviously exceeds their capabilities, if the Japanese say they get it done they will get the job done.

2. They Japanese value and respect the elders for their wisdom. Many westerners get informal towards their colleagues and guests / customers easily. In my opinion (but I know not everyone shares this one with me) I love how the Japanese talk to their elders. In the way they speak they acknowledge the position, wisdom and status of the person, which shows great respect. I wish more companies were like this.

3. Japanese colleagues are very pleasant to work with. All the time I worked for this company, there was never anyone who has ever been rude to me or who I couldn't get along with. At the time, I was the youngest of our team and my Japanese colleagues always took the time to help me or explain things. They are also never the person who leaves first and even outside of work, they are always ready to help you.

Con's

1. You will never-ever disagree with your manager or those above you in the corporate ladder. This was actually quite new for me. Normally if I have different ideas on how something I do should be done I will just discuss it with my supervisor, manager or whoever is above me. But in Japanese business culture this is a complete no-go. In time even if you did not experience this before you will get used to it. You will acknowledge that those people are promoted to a higher level because of their skills and experience. Don't be one arrogant thinking your own decisions are always better and neglect those people and their decisions, just go with the flow and you will experience yourself that this is the right thing to do.

2. You will never be finished on time. I work in the hospitality industry so I know I never finish exactly on time. But the Japanese will never close the shop at exactly six for example. As I mentioned before they are never the first to leave, and when they leave it is only after permission of the person in charge. Although it is not really a big con, when I know my finishing time is six I'd like to know at what time I can catch the train, or tell my partner I'm home. But seriously you will never know.

The oh so typical Americans
The funny thing is, when I applied for this job I was actually quite nervous when I got it. I felt so comfortable in the Japanese business environment and now I was about to start something totally different. I had a one year contract so what if I didn't like it? I moved especially for this job to this city. So I already started off insecure which is nothing like me at all. In my very short two-day training I really felt the American atmosphere. The over-acting tacky training videos, the emphasis on how amazing the company is and so on. It was all really new for me first. But now I am already used to it. So after working there for two months I will share with you my pro's and con's.

Pro's

1. You always know what to expect. The rules are set a long long time ago and everyone is used to them. All colleagues know them by hart and in only a short while you will be able to drill them out with that oh so American pride as well.

2. They don't take them selves so serious. In my opinion, Americans are very easy to work with. They are very casual in contact with guests / customers and also with colleagues, which makes me feel very comfortable.

3. Because they are so easy-going, in my first week I was already invited by my colleagues to go for drinks outside of work. This really makes it easy to get to know your colleagues and bond with them also outside of work. For me, a good bonding with my colleague outside work brings out great communication between one another at work itself.

Con's

1.  There is always a bad apple in the team. That one negative person that is not so easy to work with but you have to work with because it is your colleague can be quite annoying. I never see this happen in a Japanese work environment, I am used having the person in charge of the team take care of that.

2. Sometimes they are really difficult to understand. It's is only a small issue I have sometimes with guests and with colleagues as well. I had a couple of moments where they act really polite when they are mad, which makes it difficult for me to guess what they actually need. Like this gentleman who asked for my manager, because he said he had the worst experience in a hotel ever. And all of this with a smile, a thank you and a please. He said it in the way you just had to turn around right away and run for your manager. I don't know if I explained this well but it was kind of creepy.


In the end every company is different, as well as the people we work with. For the people who do not like their jobs, or the environment they are working in, please do something about it. Talk with your manager, a colleague you trust or someone in human resources. Whatever it is, it is easier to try and solve it with someone else than coping with it on your own. If there is nothing to do about it, maybe it's a sign it is time for a change. You are the only one who chooses your job.



Thank you for reading.

~ mei mei

Book Review: Chineasy the new way to read Chinese

My apologies for not writing in a long long time, but I was really busy with many things. One of them was getting a copy of Shaolan Hsueh's Chineasy. Because I was convinced that after the release they wouldn't sell out that fast I didn't pre-order a copy. Big mistake because the book was sold out online! I tried to find a copy everywhere but I could only order one from Amazon. I was really lucky I stumbled on a copy yesterday when I was in our capital city. Long story made short, I am going to introduce Chineasy today.

Chineasy is a book which states to read Chinese in a whole other way. An very easy and fun way. I was very interested because it covers basic Chinese characters which can also be quite convenient for Japanese learners to know, since most of the basic characters are the same.

The author, a Taiwanese woman residing in the UK, had difficulties with teaching her own children Chinese with current existing books and methods so she created her own. As a result came Chineasy. The books is based on building blocks to quickly learn several hundreds of characters. If you have studied Chinese characters or Japanese Kanji it is likely that you are already familiar with this technique. But born as the daughter of a calligrapher and a ceramic artist, Shaolan Hsueh grew up immersed with art which has a great influence in the making of Chineasy. She worked together with an graphic artist Noma Bar who made the characters come to live visually. Honestly, I have to say that the bright illustrations and the interesting descriptions really caught my attention and made me smile while reading.

Although the technique is good, the illustrations are great, and the descriptions are interesting some of the links between the illustrations and words were pretty far-fetched.

As I continued reading, the end of the book contains some sentences which are build upon the words we have learned so far. Although some of the sentences are useful for daily life, others are really odd for such a book; 'The rich girls stinks', 'The mermaid Princess burst into tears'. I think I wouldn't use both ever.

At the very end there even is a short story which is kind of hard to grasp, even with the great visuals.

Overall I think it's a great book. If I got children I would enjoy to teach them Chinese words from this book. And even if your a businessman or student, this book will give you an insight into Chinese language. As I explained, there are some negative points about the book, but overall it is fascinating to read. I would recommend beginners who have not studied Asian characters before to give it a try.

I hope you enjoyed reading, have you bought Chineasy already?

~ Mei mei

The two best apps for learning Japanese on Iphone and Android (so far)

Since it's in my reach to use both Android and Apple devices I'm going to review a few apps which claim to help you with your Japanese. In daily life I use a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and I also own a tablet from Samsung. My boyfriend is a huge fan of Apple so he has an Iphone 5S and an Ipad Mini. With so many devices lying around it wasn't really that difficult to test a couple of apps on these popular devices. Today I will give an introduction to the two best apps I have found so far.

Human Japanese;web page
Supported on; PC, Mac, Iphone, Android, Windows Phone

Highly praised by the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal this is indeed quite an amazing app.
You can download two versions; Human Japanese and Human Japanese Intermediate. I have downloaded the first version which is free. It takes some time to download though. When I opened the app it gives an easy introduction on how to navigate trough the app. When you have finished the introduction you can start with the first chapter. The first chapter is another introduction, this time they will introduce the Japanese language to you. The explanation is easy to read and very detailed. If you don't like a lot of reading this might not be the right app for you though, after six pages of reading we arrive at the next chapter. The next chapter covers pronunciation. After ten pages of detailed information there is a quiz to put your fresh skills to the test. After that there is a short summary on chapter two and then we arrive at the next chapter. This is basically how the whole app works. There are seven chapters which you can study for free. For the other 33 chapters you need to upgrade to the full version. The main menu allows you to fast forward to the quizzes and have a look at the dictionary. Although it is a lot of reading, the subjects are very interesting and easy explained.
The full version is available for +/- $9,99.
If you think you've got the basics down you can download Human Japanese Intermediate. In this version they will explain more advanced topics and you can practice your Kanji. I suggest you to go trough the free seven lessons first and have a look. It is really worth it!

Overall rating; Human Japanese
Visual / layout; 4/5
Information; 5/5

Pro's;
- Clean layout
- Detailed information

Con's;
- The amount of reading can get a little boring for some people.
- The layout looks really large and a little ugly on my tablet.
- Only seven lessons in the free version.


Mirai iStart Japanese;web page
Supported on; Apple devices only

I don't want to be mean but the app I thought of most useful was this one, which is only available for Apple devices. (Don't be sad though, I'm still on my journey finding even more useful apps which are compatible with other devices too!) Mirai is a Japanese study app which let's you listen to a series of Japanese pod casts all under the supervision of a penguin with glasses. In every lesson you will follow a basic conversation visualized with speech bubbles that have English grammar explanations.  For the Japanese bubbles you can toggle between romanized words and Japanese script. For every lesson there is a vocab section an a quiz at the end. You will even learn how to write some Kanji in the writing section where they show you the correct stroke order. The free version has 20 lessons for the full version you have to purchase a subscription which costs +/- $3,60 a month. Although you get some good things for your money, I still don't like the idea of a monthly subscription. I really hope you give this a try because the free lessons can teach you a lot of new information. If you have conquered all the 20 lessons you can just delete the app and search for a new one right? If you're really interested in this app but don't have an Apple device you can check out their blog here, where you can learn the Kanji of the day (with stroke order!) and listen to 10 Japanese pod cast lessons!

Overall rating; Mirai iStart Japanese
Visual / layout; 5/5
Information; 4/5

Pro's;
- Beautiful layout
- Informative lessons which don't take a lot of time
- Writing section
- 20 (!) free lessons

Con's;
-  Not completely free either
-  Only compatible with Apple devices


Conclusion;
Actually these aren't the best apps out there I think, I will have to continue searching for even better ones. If you want me to test out a particular app please let me know. You can comment below or send me a message and I will be happy to try out some new apps for you.

Thank you for reading.

~ Mei mei

Studying different languages at the same time

Learning two languages at the same time can be amazing but also confusing. At college I study English, German and Spanish while in my spare time I study Japanese and Mandarin. People often ask me if I get confused between these languages. While the answer is yes, I still can differentiate between all of them and I will give some pointers on how to learn different languages at the same time.

While you're studying at college you often study different languages at the same time. Why aren't we getting confused in college then? It is because they separate the classes. You spend one hour completely focused on one language, do something else and then they give you one hour again to focus on something different again. You can apply this method out of the classroom too. You can listen to Chinese music while driving to work, make your grocery lists in German and read a book in French.
The key to this is to keep everything separated and make a routine out of it. But, if you are listening to Chinese music while driving to work you must only listen to Chinese music. That way your brain is able to get used to different languages and you have less chance to mix words up.
In my daily life I speak Dutch with my classmates, English at work, German with my father, Japanese with friends and Spanish in the classroom.
As for the amount of languages, I think you should stick with a maximum of two languages at the time. Also choose two languages that are not similar to each other so they don't overlap in the process of studying.
Remember that time is a luxury and haste is the worst enemy of quality.

I hope this will help you.

~Mei mei

How to find native speakers to help you improve your skills

If you want to take your new language to a whole new level you should surround  yourself with your new language as much as possible. The best way to do this is to have a native speaker by your side. A native speaker can correct you, help you with pronunciation etc. The possibilities are endless. But if you live a 100 miles apart how do you find one? Since we live in the 21st century there are a lot of options. On the internet you have a lot of nice websites where you can start connecting with people from the other side of the world. I will introduce two of them in this post.

Interpals
Link; http://www.interpals.net/index.php
My profile; http://www.interpals.net/Meimeisensei

Interpals was actually one of the first language exchanging sites that I found when I started studying Japanese. (So I also had to remove the dust from my profile before writing about it). Interpals is a website that lets you make your own profile. You can fill in which languages you speak (and what kind of level you are) and you can fill in which languages you want to learn. You can also update your profile with all kinds of personal information like your favorite books, movies, quotes etc.

Then you have the option to search for friends. You can select the boxes for your preferences. You can search by continent, country and language. After that you can also select what kind of contact you want; language exchange, email penpals and several other options. You can send people messages to get in contact with them. Then you can choose yourself how you would like to exchange information.

Personally I really like Interpals because of the many options. You can just look for a casual friendship with a person from a foreign country or find someone which you spend your time with studying together. I think that is something that makes Interpals very versatile.

Lang-8
Link; http://lang-8.com/
My profile; http://lang-8.com/713828

Lang-8 is a new site which I recently discovered. I was searching a topic in Japanese on Google and accidentally stumbled upon Lang-8. I'm very excited to share this site because I have very high expectations of it. I just started with Lang-8 but so far I'm very pleased with what I see. Lang-8 is a website where you can make a profile just like Interpals. The major the difference is, you can post a journal in the language you are learning and it will appear directly to native speakers. The native speakers can correct it and give you tips so you can improve your skills. Also you can correct the journals of others to help them and earn points. The more points you earn more people will view your journals. I really like Lang-8. You can perfect your own language, improve the language you are learning and make new friends worldwide. Also the layout of Lang-8 is really convenient en clear.

It would be very nice if you would add me on one of these pages so we can study together. I would love to hear your thoughts one either of them.

~Mei Mei