エリンが挑戦! にほんごできます

  If you've been studying Japanese for a good amount of time, chances are that you've seen at least one video from the にほんごできます series, but for those of you who aren't aware of it; にほんごできます is essentially a Japanese video series made to teach you Japanese phrases and words. It's mainly targeted at beginners, so if you're in the first few months of learning, consider watching this series.

  

  You can find all of the episodes on YouTube, but there is a much better way to watch にほんごできます. Go to https://www.erin.ne.jp/jp/. This is their official site which has all the episodes for free and it also has some other features. 

   The great thing about using their official site is that all of their videos have a separate text box beneath them which allow you to enable 4 kinds of subtitles: Japanese (with kanji), Japanese (no kanji, only hiragana/katakana), Romaji, and English. That's not all though, you can mix and match subtitles or run them all at the same time! Just don't use the English subtitles! If you stumble upon a word you are unfamiliar with, pause the video and look up the word using an online dictionary. This is a good way to expand your vocabulary.

   *My lang-8 friend Yumi kindly directed me to https://www.erin.ne.jp/jp/ so thank you Yumi!

   *Check out my post on Lang-8 HERE

How to Register on NicoNicoDouga

  Okay, I promised I would explain how to sign up with NicoNicoDouga videos if you can't read Japanese just yet, so here it is:

  First things first, go to their main page at nicovideo.jp. On the home page, you will notice a gold colored button on the left hand side of the page. It should have the word アカウント. Click on this to start the registration.

   On this new page, you will see two buttons; one silver, the other gold. Click on the silver one. This is for a free account.

   

   Now for step 1: メールアドレス this is where you enter your email address. After you have done that, click on the black button at the bottom of the page.

   Step 2: Profile Set Up. The first item is ニックネーム ; enter your desired nickname here. 

• The second item is where you select your gender. You will of course see two options here. The first is for male, the second for female.

• Third item is where you enter your date of birth. This part is very simple to figure out, so I don't really need to explain it. 

• The fourth item is where you choose your location. Again, this is pretty self explanatory. 

• The fifth item is パスワード which is where you enter your password. The box immediately underneath this is where you re-enter your password. 

• The sixth and last item will be your security question. The default question is asking what your favorite food is. I suggest that you go ahead and keep it. The box below this is where you enter your answer. At the bottom of the page will be two black buttons. The largest one will take you to step 3. The smaller one will take you back to step 1. Click on the largest black button.

•   This next step is simple. You will be shown all of the information that you have entered so take the time to look over and make sure it's correct then enter the captcha code that's at the bottom then click on the largest black button on the bottom. Now check your email inbox for an email from NicoNicoDouga. Their email will have a link which will confirm your registration and take you to a new page. On this page, there will be a link, click this link and you will be taken to NicoNicoDouga's home page, logged in, and ready to watch videos. Congratulations!

Japanese Videos: Beyond YouTube

  YouTube is an obvious place to look for Japanese videos and lessons, but I want to introduce you to two other sites that I find useful for learning Japanese. The first I'd like to mention is www.wonderhowto.com. Wonderhowto is a video sharing website that focuses on videos that will teach you how to do.. just about anything! Just type in "Japanese" in Wonderhowto's search bar, and all of your results will be relevant to learning Japanese. 

  The second site I recommend, you might be familiar with already; ニコニコ動画 (NicoNicoDouga). Nico is based in Japan and you can think of it as being Japan's version of YouTube. NicoNicoDouga is free to use for the most part, but there are a few videos that require you to purchase a premium membership in order to view them. I try to watch at least one video a day on Nico as part of my listening practice and I suggest that you do the same. In fact, stop using YouTube and replace it with NicoNicoDouga altogether if you want to take your Japanese studies to a new level. The total immersion of Japanese goodness will help you to learn faster! 

  *If you're not aware of it already, NicoNicoDouga requires that you sign up to their website before you can watch any of their videos. Since the sign up process is in full on Japanese, some of you may have trouble with it, but all is not lost, I plan on making a separate post about how to sign up with NicoNicoDouga soon, so check back often!*

*ニコニコ動画: http://www.nicovideo.jp/

*wonderhowto: http://www.wonderhowto.com/