We’ve gone and done it. 2013 became 2014 and everything is new and different. I thought this would be a good time to write the first ever “State Of The Fugu” post. Maybe it will become a “thing” if I post another one up in 2015 but we’ll see. A lot of people have been emailing in asking for updates on things, asking what our super-secret plans for the future are, etc., etc., so I hope that this post will address a few of the big questions that a lot of you seem to have. Here we go!
TextFugu In 2014
The million dollar question! I have a little bit of an answer for you, though little-to-no estimate on timelines. Remember when I used to give those? I’ve learned too much since then.
As you know, TextFugu’s getting a big rewrite. A ton is going to change, and it will feel like a very different textbook (don’t worry, those of you who don’t want it to feel like a very different textbook will still have access to the old version for a while). Not only that, but we’re doing our own back-end, front-end, and every other end. That’s the only way I’m able to make the textbook I want to make. Working off somebody else’s back-end just creates limitations. Now we’re doing exactly what we want from the (new) start.
That’s all well and good, but here’s some new information for you. If you were paying really really close attention, I prototyped something up called “EtoEto.” It’s a place where advanced learners can go to listen to and read original materials in Japanese. And, said materials are actually pretty interesting. There are also English translations and some other neat features. Well, the prototype was fun, but we’ll be building this together with TextFugu and creating a “trilogy” of sorts. The idea is that this “trilogy” will get you from zero Japanese to the point where you’re listening and reading Japanese stories / articles, then working your way towards fluency.
And, best part is if you’re a TextFugu Forever member (currently 50% off) you’ll be getting access to all of it. This all isn’t going to be ready anytime too soon, but when it is you’ll be receiving an email to help us test the early version out, or at the very least the ability to sign up for free when it’s done.
That’s about all I have to say about that for now, but it’s progressing forward on both the content and code side of things. I have no idea when it will be fit for human consumption, but I imagine this will be our big thing in 2014, so for all of you who have been sad about lack of TextFugu updates, I hope you’re at least suspiciously interested now.
WaniKani
WaniKani and its 50 levels were finished in 2013. Most likely 2014 will be a slower year for WaniKani (with more time spent on the TextFugu side of things), but I do have some plans for progress here.
We’ll probably move out of the closed beta and into an open one after doing another redesign on the site. With this we’ll be adding some new planned features as well.
On the content side of things, we’ll be moving past level 50 with a focus on (of course) new kanji but also “names vocabulary” that use kanji you’ve learned previously but have really weird pronunciations because they are names and names seem to follow no rules. Basically, level 50+ content should be arriving this year, though at a slower pace since we finished the initially planned 50 levels.
Nothing too mind shattering on the WaniKani side, but certainly there will be a few rustles in the bushes here.
Videos and TofuguTV
After basically taking a year off, we’re planning (for the umpteenth time) to get back into video making. We did a little bit of playing around here at the end of the year, but will be really getting into it probably here in mid-January. We’ll be working on regular videos shot here in the office as well as videos from our trip we took almost a year ago to a ton of weird Japanese places you’ve probably never heard of. I’m looking forward to this a lot, and our recent new hires will help.
New Hires
We’ve also made a few hires for 2014!
- Mami – she was basically full time, but now it’s official. She’ll be doing much the same as what she was doing before (writing, posting, recording, helping, eating Canadian bacon, etc), but I’m looking forward to some exclusive and new Mami things in 2014.
- James – this is our first video hire. His background is in special effects and After Effects, though he has done editing too. He’ll be working on our trip video for our TofuguTV series in 2014. I’m sure his special effects touches will be seen in regular videos as well.
- Cristina – our other first video hire! Cristina will be helping with regular videos and day to day social media stuff. I’m sure you’ll see her around a lot, because when she’s not making videos she’ll be in them.
- A Buncha Writers – you may have noticed this. We hired a lot of new writers. Right now they’re getting used to things and some people are being tested out, but it’s been really nice to have more perspectives and people who can write things I have no business writing. I expect a lot of great reads from them this year!
We’re growing the pirate crew slowly but surely. I’m excited to see what the new people can do and I hope it means a lot of new things. Speaking of new things…
New Things?
I can’t tell you my secrets, and I can’t tell you what we’ll actually end up doing, but here are some fun things we may end up doing in 2014. Note, who knows if we will actually be doing any of these things, and who knows what other things not on this list will happen. I don’t!
- Tshirts (could it be??)
- Ebooks (I have a couple of ideas, but I’m hoping someone else will write them because I don’t have time!!)
- Documentaries (we have some ideas… but should finish some of the footage from the last trip first)
- Katakana42 (the companion to Hiragana42)
- Office doge (wow. so dog.)
That’s just off the top of my head. Deeper inside are more secret ideas that I can’t tell you right now. So, too bad for you!
If you have any questions about new things or old things or in-between things be sure to ask about them in the comments below. Maybe I’ll answer some of them if you ask nicely ;)
Oh, and tomorrow’s post is going to be so cool. Going to give you the coolest thing we’ve ever done since DatingMakura.