I decided to begin writing (typing?) in japanese to practice, since it seems more logical to begin forming sentences on my own pace by writing than throw myself at talking and getting too frustrated. This way I could wait for other people to correct me and absorb all that knowledge to get faster at writing, while little by little transfer this knowledge to talking. After all, if I can’t even write properly while having all the time in the world and help from google, how can I expect to talk properly?
To achieve that, I would finally begin using Lang-8. Unfortunately, it seems that it isn’t accepting new sing ups anymore. It tells me to try its other service, HiNative, but its focus seems to be different from Lang-8.
So… are there any alternatives to Lang-8, where we can post a text in japanese for other people to correct it?
HelloTalk is very active, but it’s an app so you wouldn’t be able to utilize it in a browser (if that’s what you’re looking for)
But I see people post daily journal type posts or whatever else they want, random tidbits, their translations of things, photos, questions, etc, the platform is yours ^^ I help correct their mistakes all the time, and they’re quick to correct yours too
There’s also a messaging option, but if you’re not comfortable speaking yet you don’t have to utilize it, you can just stick to posts for the time being
It’s a pretty awesome app, especially once you become more comfortable and message with people, I found some really great friends on there
I would add that you should make sure to make posts around dinner time in Japan. That way your posts get more interaction and the probability of people correcting big texts is higher.
I post thing on HiNative sometimes, but I don’t think that’s a great Lang-8 alternative, but perhaps a decent addition.
If you find someone to chat with, it would be useful, but posting ‘moments’ doesn’t really lead to tons of corrections. Mostly just likes or comments, not so much corrections. At least in my experience. That and things go quick on there, so make your post as late as possible, when people are awake in Japan.
I recall there was some site. Live Mocha, years ago… Is that still a thing? Used it on my first go around of learning Japanese, before I quit for some years. (Edit: Apparently it became HelloLingo…)
Thanks for the suggestion. I downloaded it, and although the social network aspect of it (people posting photos of food, or just saying things like “good morning”…) gave me a bad impression, I’ll try posting some texts to see if people correct them and decide if it’s useful as a support for my studying.
italki.com has a “notebook” feature which is exactly this:
I’ve been using it for several months now and have had good experiences with it.
Using the notebook is a free service on their website (unlike the lessons and tutoring, which are their main focus).
