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Vocagetty: Helping you remember words with pictures

Rick Martin Rick Martin
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I’ve already mentioned a few of the top ideas that came out of Aviary’s recent Photo Hack Day Japan, including ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘Before the Filter’. But one of the other projects really resonated with me, as I’m a big user of flash card apps for language learning. Vocagetty was a clever sort of dictionary app proposed by the team of Atsushi Onoda, Hiroshi Kanamura, Shinichi Segawa, Yasushi Takemoto. It makes use of the Getty Images API to pull in pictures associated with the vocabulary you’re studying, and the Imagga API to generate smart crops of those pictures. The idea here is that the pictures will reinforce the word or idea, making for more a effective learning process. Overall Vocagetty impressed at the hackathon [1], taking third place and walking away with 100,000 yen (about $1000). I’m told by Atsushi Onoda that the group will continue to develop Vocagetty, with plans for an upcoming release in April. There are lots of similar learning services and apps already on the market. But it’s an interesting space because companies can choose to be either an all purpose study solution that can be used for any subject (see Anki or Memrise…

vocagetty

I’ve already mentioned a few of the top ideas that came out of Aviary’s recent Photo Hack Day Japan, including ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘Before the Filter’. But one of the other projects really resonated with me, as I’m a big user of flash card apps for language learning. Vocagetty was a clever sort of dictionary app proposed by the team of Atsushi Onoda, Hiroshi Kanamura, Shinichi Segawa, Yasushi Takemoto. It makes use of the Getty Images API to pull in pictures associated with the vocabulary you’re studying, and the Imagga API to generate smart crops of those pictures.

The idea here is that the pictures will reinforce the word or idea, making for more a effective learning process. Overall Vocagetty impressed at the hackathon [1], taking third place and walking away with 100,000 yen (about $1000). I’m told by Atsushi Onoda that the group will continue to develop Vocagetty, with plans for an upcoming release in April.

There are lots of similar learning services and apps already on the market. But it’s an interesting space because companies can choose to be either an all purpose study solution that can be used for any subject (see Anki or Memrise for example), or they can target a niche like Japanese language, medical terms, or the periodic table.

I was glad to see Vocagetty incorporate an image solution, because it was a good example of how a flash card or word study service can supplement text-based information.

On a related note, I’ve recently revisited the aforementioned Anki (after a long time away from it) because I wanted to test out its support for automated audio, which can accompany vocabulary by installing one of many add-ons [2]. While many services have a audio for pre-made flash card decks, this capability to bring audio to cards you add yourself is incredibly helpful.

But I think that the one process that many companies in this space overlook is the process of creating cards from vocabulary you find in your travels on the web. This kind of word or sentence mining is a process that I have get to see really well implemented in any flash card system [3]. Ideally it would take the form of a JavaScript bookmarklet (or bookmarklets) for mobile and PC browsers, which you could then use to add new words on the fly as you learn.

It will be interesting to see in what direction Vocagetty takes its service, so stay tuned for more about them later this spring. We’d like to feature comparable services soon as well, so stay tuned.

vocagetty

  1. I should disclose here that I volunteered to act as one of the judges for this competition, as a way to lend some support for a fun community event.  ↩

  2. The one that I added was AwesomeTTS.  ↩

  3. Except maybe the rather crude but cool Surusu, a SRS project from the guy over at AJATT.  ↩

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Cooori: A web-based spaced repetition system for learning Japanese

Rick Martin Rick Martin
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There have been many Japanese language learning software systems that have emerged over the years, but I think the most effective ones are the ones that take the SRS (spaced repetition system) approach. Systems like iKnow [1], and the iOS software Anki – these systems team to take the planning out of your study, and let you focus on learning the language. One of the more interesting of these is Cooori, which we saw takes third place in the recent SF Japan night startup competition here in Tokyo. Cooori is a web-based flash card system that caters to all levels of Japanese study, finding material that corresponds to JLPT testing, as well as popular curriculum like Minna no Nihongo. It also gives you the ability to create your own word lists if you choose. I gave Cooori a quick test using his trial, which is restricted to 25 words only, and I was encouraged to see that the system works well across all platforms including mobile. If you want to use Cooori, it doesn’t come super cheap at $17 per month, although if you are a student there is a discounted $11 per month rate [2]. Of course figuring out…

cooori

There have been many Japanese language learning software systems that have emerged over the years, but I think the most effective ones are the ones that take the SRS (spaced repetition system) approach. Systems like iKnow [1], and the iOS software Anki – these systems team to take the planning out of your study, and let you focus on learning the language. One of the more interesting of these is Cooori, which we saw takes third place in the recent SF Japan night startup competition here in Tokyo.

Cooori is a web-based flash card system that caters to all levels of Japanese study, finding material that corresponds to JLPT testing, as well as popular curriculum like Minna no Nihongo. It also gives you the ability to create your own word lists if you choose. I gave Cooori a quick test using his trial, which is restricted to 25 words only, and I was encouraged to see that the system works well across all platforms including mobile.

Cooori, pitched at SF Japan Night this month
Cooori, pitched at SF Japan Night this month

If you want to use Cooori, it doesn’t come super cheap at $17 per month, although if you are a student there is a discounted $11 per month rate [2]. Of course figuring out an effective way to study language is quite difficult, so I think this will be money well spent for anyone looking to study Japanese seriously.

The flash card system looks very good, with audio available to listen to if you want to check to see how words and sentences are pronounced. One clever feature is the daily reminders function, which is something that I know I would really use, because it’s important to keep study consistent, rather than just checking in whenever you have time. (I always struggle with that!)

None of what Cooori does is completely new, I think. But as far as I can see so far, it’s appears to have nailed all the important things that an SRS should do [3]

If you’d like to give Cooori a try, you can test it out for free over on their website, Cooori.com. The company also has a handy Japanese-English dictionary for iOS and Android that you can download for free. Overall I think the service looks very promising, and I’m looking forward to spending more time with it.

cooori-1 cooori-1

  1. I used to be a huge fan of iKnow, but their transition from a free service to a paid one was – shall we say – less than graceful, and not entirely respectful of their users’ past contributions. I won’t be going back.  ↩

  2. You’ll need to send in a picture of your student card to prove that you really are a student. There were also referral discounts, so that if you get your friends to sign up you get a cheaper rate (I’m shamelessly going to put my referral link here, although I haven’t quite decided if I’m going to subscribe yet).  ↩

  3. Although I’m still waiting on an SRS that lets me do word/sentence mining with a javascript bookmarklet or browser extension as I find new phrases on the web. It would be nice to be able to quickly add those to own my study list.  ↩

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Japan-based language learning startup Rarejob raises $3.3M from three VC firms

Masaru Ikeda Masaru Ikeda
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Japan’s language learning service Rarejob announced today it has fundraised 330 million yen (approximately $3.3 million) from KDDI Open Innovation Fund, YJ Capital, and CyberAgent [1]. This follows its previous funding of about 20 million yen, which came from Tokyo-based VC firm Global Brain back in April of 2008. Rarejob was launched in 2007, and has been providing conversational English-language learning at affordable rates, doing remote conversation lessons with people in the Philippines over Skype. According to the startup, they have acquired more than 170,000 Japanese users in total. Most of their teachers are attending or have graduated from the University of the Philippines, the highest profile university in the country. With this funding, the startup plans to improve the quality of the service and developing some other new businesses. The startup aspires to develop a platform and more optimized lesson programs, which may motivate its users to learn more foreign languages. KDDI Open Innovation Fund is jointly managed by KDDI and Global Brain. YJ Capital is, of course, the investment arm of Yahoo Japan.  ↩

rarejob_screenshot

Japan’s language learning service Rarejob announced today it has fundraised 330 million yen (approximately $3.3 million) from KDDI Open Innovation Fund, YJ Capital, and CyberAgent [1]. This follows its previous funding of about 20 million yen, which came from Tokyo-based VC firm Global Brain back in April of 2008.

Rarejob was launched in 2007, and has been providing conversational English-language learning at affordable rates, doing remote conversation lessons with people in the Philippines over Skype. According to the startup, they have acquired more than 170,000 Japanese users in total. Most of their teachers are attending or have graduated from the University of the Philippines, the highest profile university in the country.

With this funding, the startup plans to improve the quality of the service and developing some other new businesses. The startup aspires to develop a platform and more optimized lesson programs, which may motivate its users to learn more foreign languages.

  1. KDDI Open Innovation Fund is jointly managed by KDDI and Global Brain. YJ Capital is, of course, the investment arm of Yahoo Japan.  ↩

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Japanese iPhone spy game turns English study into exciting covert mission

Yukari Mitsuhashi Yukari Mitsuhashi
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When it comes to English language skills, Japanese people tend to be more book-smart. We learn English as a second language starting in elementary school, but it was only in April of 2011 that English became mandatory for elementary school students. Before that, English study began in middle school. As an island nation, there are a limited number of foreigners in Japan [1], and for the most part, you can pretty much live here without needing any other language except Japanese. Of course a lack of practice invariably results in a corresponding lack of skills. And to help address Japan’s English problems, a company called Roll & Move is trying to make English learning more fun. How? Its app Choho-Listening E.I.A. (E.I.A. stands for English Intelligence Spying Agency) is encouraging users to become spies on a secret mission! After starting the app, you’re welcomed by your secret agent boss who helps you jump into the plot. After some preliminary questions about your current English skills, you’re given a passport corresponding to your proficiency level. From there, you’re off on a secret mission to spy on people’s conversations and report back (answering questions about the conversation) to your boss about your…

When it comes to English language skills, Japanese people tend to be more book-smart. We learn English as a second language starting in elementary school, but it was only in April of 2011 that English became mandatory for elementary school students. Before that, English study began in middle school. As an island nation, there are a limited number of foreigners in Japan [1], and for the most part, you can pretty much live here without needing any other language except Japanese.

Of course a lack of practice invariably results in a corresponding lack of skills. And to help address Japan’s English problems, a company called Roll & Move is trying to make English learning more fun. How? Its app Choho-Listening E.I.A. (E.I.A. stands for English Intelligence Spying Agency) is encouraging users to become spies on a secret mission!

EIAapp

EIAapp_correction

After starting the app, you’re welcomed by your secret agent boss who helps you jump into the plot. After some preliminary questions about your current English skills, you’re given a passport corresponding to your proficiency level. From there, you’re off on a secret mission to spy on people’s conversations and report back (answering questions about the conversation) to your boss about your findings.

With background noise and buzzing sounds, the audio environment seems very real. The illustrations and design of the app suits the exciting secret mission plot line, and the story settings motivate users to complete and study more. The app is not only fun but the content is very practical, created based on actual TOEIC problems.

Almost half the people I meet lament their lack of English skills. And admittedly, most study methods are pretty boring. But I definitely recommend this neat little app so aspiring students can say ‘Sayonara’ to English study of the coma-inducing variety.

  1. The total number of immigrants was 7.1 million in 2011, minus 2.3 million from previous year.  ↩

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Lang-8: The language learning startup that’s playing the long game

Takeshi Hirano Takeshi Hirano
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Lang–8, launched in 2007, is a language-learning platform in which users from different language backgrounds can socially correct each other’s writings. The CEO YangYang Xi started the service when he was 23 years old while studying at Kyoto University. Xi, born in China and raised in Japan, got the idea of the language-learning platform from keeping a diary, in which he asked friends to correct his own writings (in Chinese) when he was studying in Shanghai. Six years, half a million users later ¶ Skip to the present day in 2013, and Lang–8’s user base is about to reach 510,000, with the current active user rate at about 10%. The service is used by people in 190 countries, 70% of them from outside Japan. The primary users are business professionals. While the 500,000 user milestone is an impressive one, the company took more than a little while to get there. When asked about this six-year journey, Xi says he didn’t experience real growth until about a year ago, and that it took a lot of preparation to reach this point. Having started his career as a student entrepreneur, the first order of business was research and development. The service needed…

lang-8-logo

Lang–8, launched in 2007, is a language-learning platform in which users from different language backgrounds can socially correct each other’s writings.

The CEO YangYang Xi started the service when he was 23 years old while studying at Kyoto University. Xi, born in China and raised in Japan, got the idea of the language-learning platform from keeping a diary, in which he asked friends to correct his own writings (in Chinese) when he was studying in Shanghai.

Six years, half a million users later

lang8-yangyang

Skip to the present day in 2013, and Lang–8’s user base is about to reach 510,000, with the current active user rate at about 10%. The service is used by people in 190 countries, 70% of them from outside Japan. The primary users are business professionals.

While the 500,000 user milestone is an impressive one, the company took more than a little while to get there. When asked about this six-year journey, Xi says he didn’t experience real growth until about a year ago, and that it took a lot of preparation to reach this point.

Having started his career as a student entrepreneur, the first order of business was research and development. The service needed to expand enough to be profitable. Initially Lang–8’s staff spent the majority of their time on site development and other technical elements. But two years after launch, Xi had a bit of a falling out with his engineer. Abandoned and left alone to nervously face 15 servers on his own, he decided that he couldn’t entrust his work to other people. That moment prompted him to make an effort to learn programming, and in the following two years, he learned development skills by interning at a friend’s company.

Interestingly, this period of personal growth for Xi coincided with strong user growth on the site as well – likely not a coincidence.

In 2009, Lang–8 received an angel investment of about 10 million yen from four private investors, including Nishikawa Kiyoshi of NetAge. In order to raise more funds, he will have to prove that Lang–8 has real growth potential. And that means addressing one key problem: smartphone support. Lang–8′s competitor busuuu experienced sudden growth as an iPhone application, reaching 1,9000,000 users. And while Lang–8′s userbase is not as large, its position as a social network is unique. If solid smartphone support is added, Xi believes it could become a serious competitor.

The other crucial point is monetization. Xi explained several of his ideas for controlling the corrections which play a central role in the service. For example, whether an entry receives corrections can be an issue. About 60% of English entries get corrected, as compared to 80% of entries in other languages. But a paid service could ensure that all entries are corrected. The jump from free to paid is never easy, but if that’s what users are looking for, it may possible.

Belief in an idea

Xi’s six-year journey from a struggling student startup to a community of 500,000 has certainly not been a glamorous one – although his persistence is certainly admirable. But compared to the explosive growth of social gaming and chat services in recent years, Lang–8′s growth rate might not grab the attention of investors.

Even with the recent improvement in user growth, there must have moments when Xi considered throwing in the towel. But he asserts, “I feel it has potential, and that’s why I can continue.” There are several entrepreneuers who are currently supporting him as mentors, and hopefully this can help with his plans to grow and expand his staff in the future.

That kind of unshakable belief in an idea is what has carried him this far. And with any luck, it’ll continue to drive him as he takes Lang8 to the next level.

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