I’ve decided to share my favourite online resources for studying the Japanese language. There are probably not as many as some I’ve seen, but I find them extremely useful whenever I’m on the computer. Here you go:

1. Youtube.com
   As you might already know, YouTube is probably the world’s largest video sharing site. Here you can find tons of videos in Japanese and Japanese lessons. Youtube covers pretty much your Japanese music video/vlog/news needs.
2. Surfmusic.de
   This is a site with a lot of radio stations from all over the world. I try to listen to Japanese radio as often as possible, and I find this site very helpful for that. It’s a good thing to have if you want to practise Japanese using the input method.
3. Japanska.se
   A Swedish-Japanese bilingual online dictionary. This is the only online dictionary I use. I have a Japanese-English paperback dictionary as well, but japanska.se is my favourite online dictionary. Compared to a lot of English-Japanese online dictionaries, this one is easier to use as you don’t have to look through the 10000 options that some of the Japanese-English ones might give you. However, there are two requirements for using this dictionary: You have to know your Kana, and you have to be able to at least read Swedish.
4. Virtual Keyboard
   This is good to have if you’re writing on a Western computer (mine is Norwegian, obviously). Yes, you can change your keyboard on the actual computer, but that’s like writing with your eyes closed. The virtual keyboard is way easier to use, but you have to know what kanji you’re planning to use as it shows many different kanji when you start writing.
5. ToFugu
   This site doesn’t directly have much to do with learning Japanese, but it’s still good. It’s more about the culture of Japan, and tips on how to learn the language rather than “direct teaching”. The articles are about the crazy “insides” of Japan, and are well-written, easy to understand and of course; always super fun to read!!!
6. Wikipedia
   This site is full of helpful articles about grammar, kanji, kana, vocab and language history. Not only have I seen good articles on the English version of the site, but the French and Swedish versions are also good.
7. Livemocha
    A site full of lessons for learning tons and tons of languages; and it’s all free! It uses a method where you associate the phrase with a picture as well as listening to a native pronouncing the phrase. To be honest, that’s not the part of Livemocha I find helpful. I find the flashcards more helpful than the main lessons, and I used them as a main resource when I learned Hiragana.
8. Japanese Wikipedia
   I have to list the Japanese Wikipedia by itself because the way we, as learners, will be using this site is different compared to the Wikipedia in other languages. The purpose of this is mainly reading practise, which is of course quite fun. However, don’t expect to read the whole article, but try to pick out words, kanji and kana you might know. It’s a good way to test your skills.

I just want to say that I’ve re-published 4 posts from Flowershock.com at twistedstars.org, one of my new sites.

So, today I decided to try Flickr. The main reason is quite obvious and simple, I guess; I have basically seen so many people using the site, so I thought it would be interesting to try.

Well, my account on Flickr is called BubblePopRainbow. Anyway, I haven’t uploaded that many pictures yet, but I think the fact that my account is only a few hours old explains everything.

This is a picture of the pascha (Russian cheese-dessert-meal-thing) that I helped my grandma with. It tasted lovely (I got to try tasting it before everyone else), but I’m so excited and curious about the final result. I will get the answer tomorrow, when we are going to eat it.

Nevertheless, I also want to say that I have a YouTube account that is also called BubblePopRainbow. However, I haven’t uploaded any videos yet, but I have added some to my favourites.

Hi, everyone!!!

I just want to tell you about my portfolio that  I created.  I thought it would be cool to have a portfolio if someone might be interested. I don’t know, but here is the link:

Who said that it’s hard to make a good website layout, and does really need to be that advanced? The answer is NO. It isn’t really that hard, and almost anyone can do it.

1. Colours
The first thing you need to do is to think about what colours you want to use. You are allowed to use neon colours, but try to avoid using them on larger areas. You don’t want to send your visitors to the eye doctor just because they visited your site. Pastel colours are great to use on larger areas such as the background, neon is better for brighten up your site.

2. The header
The header image is one of the most important items on your site. This is probably the first thing your visitors will see. You don’t need to use an image of yourself if you don’t want to. How amazing your pose is, is not the factor that counts when to tell if your header image is good or not.
The header image needs to be of a certain quailty, so try to avoid noisy images such as web camera images. They are not only noisy, but the lighting often looks worse than it is.
Be lazy if you want to! Your header doesn’t need to be a super amazing graphic. Instead, do what I did; use an image that you like, add some effects and a fancy font to it, and you are done!

3. Backgrounds
This step is really important if you want  your visitors to be your readers (If you have a blog). On areas with text, never use a background with colour variation. It makes it hard to read the text. Try to keep the text backgrounds as light as possible. Let your body background be light if you don’t use divs or tables.
If you use divs or tables, then you are allowed to have fun with your body background (the background on the body tag). You can make a nice pattern if you want to, but do not go totally crazy with neon colours if not necessary. Again: the eye doctor-thing.

4. Fonts
Fonts used for longer texts should be basic serif or sans-serif fonts. Crazy fonts are cool, but they might be hard to read if your text is long.
Your headlines can be whatever font you would like, but please try to keep it readable.

5. Learn CSS
This is the most important step. Learn some basic CSS, and make it look like you have some control over your layout. No one likes “missing” sidebars and chaotic items. Your CSS knowledge is the key to everything.

6. Check in multiple browsers
Do you have a number of browsers on your computer? Check your site in all of them, because your site does not always look the same in every browser. You can also use browsershots.org.

Was these tips helpful?

Det finnes mange ulike redigeringsprogrammer ute på markedet i dag. De kommer i alle prisklasser fra gratis til ganske dyrt.

Å velge et redigeringsprogram
Når du skal velge et redigeringsprogram er det lurt å tenke på hva du skal bruke det til. Du bør også tenke på om du er villig til å betale eller ikke, og isåfall hvor mye.

Ikke velg Photoshop om du er uerfaren og/eller skal  bruke det til enkle ting som å endre bildene noen toner lysere eller mørkere. Jeg vet det er mange som laster ned Photoshop gratis, men det er faktisk ikke lov.

Her er en liten oversikt over programmer og hva du kan bruke dem til:

• Photofiltre: Tegning, enkle websidelayouts, redigere fargetoner i et bilde.
• Picnik: Enkel bildredigering (toning)
• Gimp: Tegning, bilderedigering, layouts, bildemanipulasjon.
• Aviary: Bilderedigering, tegning.
• Photoshop Elements: Redigering, tegning og digital kunst generelt.
• Paint Shop Pro: Bilderedigering, bildemanipulasjon, webdesign og annen digital kunst.
• Photoshop: Bilderedigering, bildemanipulasjon, webdesign og annen digital kunst.

Det er selvfølgelig bare din fantasi som setter grenser for hva du velger å bruke programmet til, og tingene over er bare eksempler.

Photoshop behøver ikke å være det ultimate
Det virker som alt for mange mener Photoshop er det ultimate, altså “den eneste løsningen” når resultatet skal bli bra. Men faktum er at det ikke er sånn. Photoshop er vanskelig å bruke for de aller fleste nybegynnere, noe som gjør det å bruke mange tusenlapper på programmet når en selv er uerfaren ganske bortkasta. Men det betyr naturligvis heller ikke at du skal laste det ned gratis (som er ulovlig).

Det du skal gjøre er å finne et redigeringsprogram som passer dine behov med utgangspunkt i der du er nå. Photoshop Elements (hjemmeversjonen av Photoshop), har for eksempel de fleste funksjonene en “vanlig” person trenger. Paint Shop Pro har nesten like mange funksjoner som Photoshop og er derfor også et godt billigere alternativ.

Noen siste ord
Om du er enig i dette eller ikke, spiller ingen rolle. Det er du som bestemmer hva du vil gjøre, ikke jeg. Meningen med dette innlegget var bare å forklare at du faktisk kan få gjort mye i gratisprogrammene og de billigere programmene også. Bare fantasien setter grenser!

(Bilde tatt av meg og redigert i Paint Shop Pro)

Q: Hva tenker du?