The Language Mastery Blog
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5 Last-Minute Gift Ideas for Japanese Language Learners
Have you been so busy working, studying, or downing eggnog lattes that you forgot to get a gift for that special someone in your life? Read on for some great last-minute gift ideas for those you know (including yourself!) learning Japanese. All of them are digital products that can be emailed to the recipient, so there’s no need to worry about shipping times. I’ve also made sure to select gifts that focus on action and application, not theory and academic study. Have a wonderful holiday season and a fruitful New Year!
Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett on How To Master Mandarin Chinese Through Play
Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett (a.k.a. “Miss Panda”) is an intercultural language consultant and trainer, the author of Let’s Learn Mandarin Chinese with Miss Panda! and First Mandarin Sounds: an Awesome Chinese Word Book, and the host of the Playful Chinese podcast. I love her approach to language learning, especially her emphasis on play and having fun. As she puts it eloquently, “Playing is learning. Learning is playing.”
Skritter CEO Jake Gill on How to Level Up Your Mandarin & Learn to Write Chinese Characters the “Write” Way
Jake Gill (高健) is a Chinese educator, former “Teaching Chinese as a Second Language” graduate student, and the CEO of Skritter, an innovative language learning app that helps Japanese and Chinese learners master characters through active production (i.e. writing on the screen) instead of passive recognition. In the interview, we talk about how and why he learned Mandarin Chinese, why traditional language classes won’t get you fluent in a language, what he would do differently if he were to start learning Mandarin over again, the limitations of app-based learning and following “the golden path,” the importance of following your passion and curiosity in languages, how to learn to write Chinese characters the “write” way, Jake’s current language learning routines and favorite resources, and the importance of daily habits and focusing on process over outcome.