EduLift launches major update to its award-winning Japanese e-textbook and web applications

Oxford-based educational start-up EduLift has launched a major update to their online solution for Japanese language learners.

LinguaLift started in 2009 as a simple educational game called NihongoUp, when Philip Seyfi got the idea that learning hiragana, katakana and kanji should be less of a chore, and more like a video game. A year later, tens of thousands Japanese language students were using the game. It was reported in The Japan Times, and won a Serious Games Showcase & Challenge at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference in Orlando, Florida.

"Certainly my most pleasant experience with kanji to date, and the gamification angle really makes for an engaging learning environment,” comments Michael Pick, a long-time LinguaLift user, on the kanji section of the website.

In response to positive feedback both from the users and the media, he then teamed up with Ollie Capehorn, who had just won a national Japanese speech competition, and Japanese reggae singer Masako ‘machaco’ Okazaki, to create the ultimate online product for Japanese language learners.

“We went through countless textbooks and learning methods during our studies and felt that there must be a better way to learn languages than what was currently available,” says Russian-born Seyfi, who speaks seven languages and aspires to learn more.

LinguaLift is a web application for students and self-learners that aims to help them learn more efficiently, while having fun at the same time. Subscribers have unlimited access to a wide array of custom-built applications — such as the e-textbook, Kanji and Verb Academy, Vocab Lab, and educational games in the Arcade section of the site — each focusing on a different aspect of language acquisition and retention, ensuring a holistic approach to language learning.

The goal of LinguaLift, says Capehorn, also avid language learner who is en route to mastering his fourth language is “to teach languages in a way that makes giving up really difficult”. Knowing that a lack of motivation is the number one reason why self-learners fail at sticking with a language, the creators have done all they can to keep students on track, with personalised curricula, detailed statistics and progress charts, and difficult parts of the language broken down into manageable bite-sized chunks.

Fun, interactivity and self-discovery is at the heart of what makes LinguaLift such a joy to use. Tried-and-tested pedagogical methods are combined with the latest in in-browser technology, meaning that audio, on-click dictionary definitions, kanji insights, interactive vocabulary widgets and videos make the learning experience more immersive than ever before possible.

EduLift has formed relations with high schools and universities worldwide helping them introduce technology into their classrooms. Last year, it ran a highly-successful scholarship program, giving free access to the to their technology to students from underprivileged countries. It has also financially supported the Japan Foundation-run Nihongo Cup, a Speech Contest for students of Japanese in the UK, furthering their close ties to grassroots learners.

EduLift, the company behind LinguaLift, also runs a highly-successful travel and culture blog network, and is behind a host of other mini-sites and applications, including Kana101, a free 14-dayHiragana and Katakana course; and No Romaji!, a discussion group and campaign to rid romaji from didactic Japanese material.

© Japan Today