New name, same mission

I decided to change the name of the site. It was a case of now or never really, and an encounter with a Reddit post about the other ‘Yomu Yomu’ app made up my mind. The name was neat and cool for Japanese, but it didn’t really capture the essence of the site, nor did it have the capacity to scale with my vision to expand beyond Japanese as the site grows. I considered a number of options before landing on my preferred choice. The site is now called Context. Here's why:

Early contenders (Silk Road Detour)

I was thinking about the intermediate plateau and how that is one of the guiding principles of the site - to help learners traverse this plateau. That got me thinking about one of my favourite concepts in Asian history: the Silk Road and the caravans that crossed the mountains and deserts transporting goods and culture between east and west. This gave me a few interesting names and I was playing around with the idea of the Taklamakan desert. Probably mainly because I think Taklamakan is a great word - if you know how to pronounce it - but also because it affords plenty of opportunity for creating word play. I tried taklaman, taklacan, taklavan. Then I was thinking about Roman tableaus being good symbols of reading and merging that in and came up with tablavan - Taklamakan, tableaus, caravan! It all seemed to fit together nicely, and I was leaning towards this as the site name.

Key issue

However, there was a problem with this line of thought and naming… The problem was the name didn’t really explain what the product did/does. Starting out with a new product and trying to gain traction and not having a marketing team behind me, I sensed that having a name that helped explain the product was possibly more important than a fancy, cool name that I liked, so I went back to the drawing board. After some brainstorming, with the help of a couple of AI sites, I settled on a couple of names that better represented the product. First I was considering Column. This resonated with the idea of a newspaper and articles, and also sounded serious which is one of the site's brand elements. I even began thinking of branded columns representing progress bars in the app (a bit gimmicky thinking back now). 

The new name

Then the AI was pushing the idea of Context a lot. At first I wasn’t so keen on this as it seemed a bit removed from the idea of graded reading news site. However, it occurred to me that I wanted to add in a vocabulary tool - indeed I have already built the tool and just need to plug it in to the site. This added to the sense of learning in context which is core to graded reading. My vocabulary tool will use example sentences and real world media to reinforce this. Therefore the name seemed to be the right choice.

I checked availability of suitable domains and was able to purchase context-japanese.com for the site. This will be the first site with other languages to follow. Yomuyomu.io had been rebranded and moved to context-japanese.com. From now on, it's Context.  

Everything else is the same. Same site, same mission, same commitment to helping you read authentic Japanese. 

How to actually break out of the intermediate plateau (graded reading news)

Graded reading works. The premise is simple: read as much as you can at a level that's comfortable, and your language skills will increase.

But most graded readers fail at one thing: content.

I built yomu yomu to offer learners fresh, real news — not anime, not manga, not tea ceremony. Articles on business, science, sports, politics. Short enough for daily use. Leveled N5–N1.

Here's how to get the most out of it.

Interesting content

I built yomu yomu to offer learners graded content that is of interest to the general learner. It doesn't specialise in anime or manga content, or offer cultural texts on the mysteries of tea ceremony or tanabata. The content is fresh, real news content that has content of interest to all across categories such as business and economics, science and technology, sports, politics, arts and culture and more. 

Bite-sized content

The articles are not long, which some might say goes against the premise of graded reading, but I would argue that shorter bite-size content is better for today's attention starved lifestyle where endless websites and applications competing for our time. So with that in mind, let's look in a little detail about what to keep in mind when using yomu yomu.

Pick your level

First off, pick your level. There are 5 to choose from. These are tied to the 5 jlpt levels. I wouldn't recommend taking too much time deciding. You can switch anytime, and even during reading - which is highly recommended, by the way (see below)! Just go for the level you think is where you are at, or the jlpt level you studying for, and start reading.

Sense check the level as you go

Once you choose your level, start reading. Pick articles that look interesting and begin reading. There is a dictionary glossing feature which pops up when you click on a word. As you read, if there is a word you do not know the definition or reading of, just click on it, the click-to-gloss feature will let you the definition and reading, then carry on. I don't recommend making word lists or saving words at intermediate levels. If the word is important enough, it will come back again soon as you read other articles, and that second or third time you encounter the word in context will really help to recinforce the meaning without the need to go away from the reading and take time making and studying flashcards.

Challenge yourself if needed

As you read, you will begin to notice if the level you are at is suitable. Keep in mind that some articles will contain more unfamiliar vocabulary and grammar than others at the same level. If you come across an unusually difficult article at your selected level, just move down a level for that article. Do not reset your default level immediately. As a rule of thumb, I recommend that if you are finding around 3-5% of the article needs glossing, you are about right. If you only come across 1 or 2 unknown words every article, you might want to move up. If you are finding there are unknown words every one or two sentences, then you should consider moving down a level.

Dealing with conceptual difficulty

One tip I have is for articles that are conceptually difficult, start with the lowest level and move up one level at a time. For example, I am not very knowledgeable about finance topics, and whenever I read an article about the federal reserve, or interest rate rises, I find it not only hard because it is a foreign language, but also because I find the topic difficult conceptually. In this case, it can be really helpful to move down to the starter level, N5. This level will break down the topic into simple and easy to understand sentences. Once I have read that, the basic gist of what is being communicated is there in my mind and enables me to tackle to article again at a higher level more easily.

Bottom line

The bottom line is to keep reading. Read read, Yomu Yomu! Find your level. Pick interesting articles. Read daily. Tap words you don't know. Move up when it gets easy, down when it gets hard.

Before you know it, you'll be at the next level.

Ready to try? Try it out and create a free account at yomuyomu.io. No manga required.

I got stuck on the intermediate plateau for years, so I decided to build my own app

Yomu Yomu - Daily News is my solution to the intermediate plateau. I got stuck and couldn't find content I wanted to read so built my own app"

Setting out on a language learning journey

I guess we all remember our early rush of enthusiasm and motivation when we decide to learn our first language and commit to it. We go all-in with some lessons, buy the recommended textbooks, and set up our first vocabulary flashcards and start those reps!

It was the late 2000s when I took the plunge with Japanese. It actually wasn’t my first attempt - school had destroyed any interest in French I had, and some after-work Spanish classes hadn’t led anywhere. However, I had moved to Japan to teach English and also decided that this was my chance to fulfill my ambition to learn a language, immerse myself in the culture, and become bilingual.

This was also an exciting time for language learning. The internet was just coming out of its infancy and the app boom was on the horizon. I got hooked on sites that promised fast tracks to fluency, immersive technology that was going to revolutionise language learning, anki, lingq, italki and others all promised great things!

The intermediate plateau

But, as time went on, the magic didn’t seem to bear fruit. 2 years, then 3, 5… 10 years later! Why am I not fluent in Japanese yet!? What is going on!? My study routine had faded as the motivation ebbed. Now I was still clinging to my daily anki reps - proof to me that progress was being made. But somehow it wasn’t. I had reached the intermediate plateau.

Occassional surges in motivation would take me back to searching for materials. Surely, if there was something that could fire my motivation on a daily basis, then I would immerse myself! However, I consistently ended up finding the same content and become disillusioned again - How do Japanese people celebrate Tanabata? What is Japanese tea ceremony? Momo the peach story - in simplified Japanese. Gah! I hated it. I envied manga or anime lovers. Their internal drive to learn comes from their hobby, but I didn’t have something like that. What would work for me? Well, I am interested in reading the news. I like sports. Learning about science and technology. Surely there must be something for people like me.

My app

The idea is simple - daily news, fresh from the news feed, graded to different levels of Japanese so learners can read the latest news stories at their own level and at their own pace without being overwhelmed or bored. Short news stories are ideal for daily intake of content for people who like learning in bite-sized chunks.

The site is new. I recently got my first sign-upped users. New features including a dictionary gloss and more content is on the way based on user feedback. It is my hope that other people also find this site useful and can help guide my development of the site so it can become what it is meant to be - a true learning bridge from the intermediate plateau that learners can use to escape, and achieve their goals.

Find the link to the site below and in my portfolio site's project page. Use it, tell me what works, tell me what doesn’t, I’d love to hear your feedback.

Try out the app: yomuyomu.io

Old friend Emperor Yang

We watched another episode of the Hexi corridor series. This one had moved on the Sui dynasty, and the development of the Silk Road. I met an old acquaintance, Emperor Yang, who I had made a profile of in my blog here. The tyrant who did a lot of good! This episode talked about how he tried to develop the trade with the western regions through the Hexi corridor, by having events demonstrating the quality and luxuriousness of Chinese culture and goods. Ancient day expos if you like. The programme also suggested he was the first emperor to have a foreign summit on Chinese soil with leaders from the regions to the North and West of the Hexi corridor. With a little googling I couldn't find explicit confirmation of this but found this nice passage in an essay here:

"A similar record also appears in the “Shihuo Zhi 食貨志” of the Suishu: In the fifth year [of the Daye reign period] the Emperor progressed on his western tour of inspection to the Hexi region. Adorned in gold and jade, dressed in colorful woolen cloth, burning incense, and playing music, the various barbarians of the Western Regions formed a welcoming crowd at the roadside. The Emperor ordered the young men and women in Wuwei and Zhangye to wear splendid attire to watch the events. If the clothes, chariots and horses were not bright, then the provinces and counties would supervise and handle them in order to impress the barbarians. In short, Emperor Yang spared no expense in the ostentatious display of the peace he had brought."

Will have to see if there is more info on this when I visit Wuwei and Zhangye in June.

Silk Road Blog: Old Friend Emperor Yang