Comments on: What obstacles in online colloboration?

By: taekk

taekk — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:53:24 +0000

Nope, I’m still working full time as a programmer so it didn’t take much for my free time schedule to be filled with tutoring!

By: jstele

jstele — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:35:22 +0000

I was just wondering. You said that you have your hands full with students. So does that mean you teach full-time? Have you been able to turn your passion for Japanese into a career?

By: toadhjo

toadhjo — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:59:38 +0000

This is (somewhat) off topic, although still relevant to technology I suppose…

Anyway, does anybody know any way to get registered on mixi if you don’t have a keitai e-mail address? It appears they’ve required one for awhile now, and I wasn’t fortunate enough to join before this practice started…

Otherwise, I’ll either wait until I end up back in Japan at some point, or find some other option…

By: taekk

taekk — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 06:42:52 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Carlie. In my opinion, 1:many beyond maybe a maximum of 5 is pointless for language lessons. I think even 2 or 3 is pushing it. In language, the most valuable lesson is in the interaction and every person you add, you divide the amount of interaction they get with the rest of the students. Lecture style classes are fine for conveying information but you can do that just as easily with video, audio, and text. No need for real-time classes. What helped me the most as a student was a partner who knew where I was at and guided me to where I need to be.

That’s why I prefer 1-on-1 and helping others explore and expand to what they want to learn with the necessary guidance.

By: Jay

Jay — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 06:09:25 +0000

yeah, you are right, simply stating Character is very ambigous… I hoped to convey honesty and good morals… I think 道徳心 would be a appropriate fit. どうも　ありがとう　ございました！

By: Carlie

Carlie — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 04:52:40 +0000

I am also very interested in teaching online. I have done classes (1:Many classes) at edufire and was overall quite impressed with the software, it has a lot of potential with it. I am interested in learning methods and creating the “optimal” learning environment/resources. Thanks for this post, it was an interesting read.

By: taekk

taekk — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:48:49 +0000

What do you mean by “character”? Do you mean morals, tenacity, charisma, or what? Ambiguous words like that have to be defined in order to be translated.

道徳心 might be a good word for moral sense.

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:17:15 +0000

Hi Kim,

I need some help in translating this.. I think I am almost done but, I am lost trying to translate the last part.

If wealth is lost, nothing is lost. If health is lost, something is lost. But, if character is lost, everything is lost.

富がなくなたったら、何もなくならない。健康がなくなったら、何かはなくなれる。　でも、篤行がなくなったら、すべてなくなれる。

I don’t know what exact word the Japanese use for ‘character’…
I don’t think 性格　exactly conveys the meaning of character.
My japanese teacher says some of these words　（篤行、性行、品性） are rarely used, so the person reading this would find it hard to understand　…

Can you please help?

ありがとう！