Scenes first
You meet the language inside short animated scenes. Explanations come later, and only if you want them.
Language Lab
The Language Lab is for people who want to speak a language, not pass a test in it. It starts from one idea: there is more than one right answer.
THE CORE IDEA
There is more than one right answer.
School tests accept one answer and mark everything else wrong. After years of that, many learners believe they must speak perfectly before they are allowed to speak. So they stay silent.
Real language does not work that way. Here are two friends talking in Japanese:
「なあ今日の天気わかる？」 ("Hey, do you know today's weather?")
「昼から雨ちゃう？」 ("Rain from noon, maybe?")
Is that perfect Japanese? A test would say no. The "perfect" version sounds like this:
「本日の天気です。今日は南からの湿った空気の流れによる前線の影響で、昼からは雨、所により強く降るでしょう。」
That is a weather forecast. Say it to a friend and they will think: "What is this guy talking about?"
Native speakers get corrected too
I asked an AI to correct my English. It gave me a long list of corrections. Then I asked it to correct my Japanese, my native language. The list was just as long.
Nobody speaks a "perfect" language, not even at home. What matters is whether the other person understands you.
One meaning, many sentences
Suppose you want to say that your new business has to pay for your life. You could say:
- I need to earn money.
- I need to make a living.
- I need to cover my living costs.
- I need to turn a profit.
- I need to get the business off the ground.
- I need to make it work.
The feeling changes a little each time. The message arrives every time. A test would accept one of these, but a conversation accepts all of them.
What the Language Lab is building
More than one way
The same idea appears in different sentences, so you learn to choose instead of memorising one answer.
CHIKA speaks
Language tips are spoken by Chika, not written as long text.
Four languages
Japanese, English, Spanish and French. I use all four, at different levels, and I am still learning.
Who it is for
The Language Lab is for people who want to talk with other people. It is not exam preparation. If you need a certificate, a test-preparation course will serve you better.
LANGUAGE THROUGH STORIES
Language through CHIKA
In Chika's story, the words of a Story Weaver become real. She is still learning what to say. So are we.