I was really happy to see that so many of you downloaded the free Bunsuke app. Your responses have been overwhelmingly positive and your feedback has been useful. We were able to incorporate several of the features that some of you asked for, such as text selection, a dark mode, and the comments are now hidden, so you can read the daily excerpts without distraction. We’ll add more features over time.
I’m overjoyed to see that so many people are benefitting from this resource. It’s always so much fun to interact with all of you. And, perhaps above all, I find it fulfilling to see that the newsletter provides a useful tool for many who are otherwise cut off from language learning resources.
Because of this, I think it’s important that the platform remains freely accessible to anyone with an internet connection. But in order to sustain this format, I’m dependent on your support.
As of today, the newsletter has an option for donations. I want to stress here that if you cannot afford to donate, then please keep using the resources for free. However, if you can afford it and you feel the newsletter is of value to you and the Japanese language learning community, please consider supporting the platform by converting your free signup into a paid subscription. This will help me to keep sending you daily content, and to develop more learning tools down the line.
You may have noticed that my last newsletter was a bit different. I used a longer text, added audio, and included an thorough breakdown of a challenging sentence. As a token of my gratitude, I plan on sending similar letters twice per month to those who donate.
This also means that the newsletter will undergo some changes. Here’s what will be different from now on:
Option #1: free newsletter
The free newsletter will continue in its current format, but will be sent out 5 instead of 7 times per week., from Monday to Friday. This will give me some space to create other forms of content and additional resources. Of course, the app will also remain a free resource as well, and I’ll never add advertisement.
Option #2: newsletter for people who donate
Substack currently only allows me to receive donations in the form of paid subscriptions. I’ve set the amount to €6 per month, or €60 per year. To show my appreciation, those who donate to the platform will receive an extra newsletter twice per month, in addition to the free newsletter. Here are some of the features:
Audio by a native speaker. For this addition to the newsletter, I’ve teamed up with my good friend Yuiko, who is a talented artist in her spare time (check out her Instagram page @yuikoyokota).
Longer texts. Because all the texts in this segment of the newsletter are free of copyright, we’ll not only be able to read longer excerpts, but also multiple excerpts from the same text. This will allow us to read more in depth and in context. (Over the coming weeks, we’ll continue reading this famous story by Miyazawa!) It does mean that texts in this segment are slightly older, and may therefore be a bit more challenging. But this also enables you to keep reading beyond the newsletter for free if you end up liking the text.
Sentence breakdown. Until now, I occasionally added grammar notes to the free newsletter. In this segment, I add more explanation to help deepen your understanding of the structure of the text by breaking down one difficult sentence from that day’s installment.
A monthly Q&A. Each month I’ll organize a Q&A, in which you can ask all of your burning questions, about the texts for that month, about any kind of Japanese language issues you may have outside of the newsletter, or about anything related. This is a space in which the community can really help each other to learn and make progress in their Japanese studies.
And more…. This segment can grow into whatever supports the needs of the community. I imagine this smaller group becoming even more interactive, allowing us to support each other.
Option #3: pay it forward!
Some of you might not be in a position to donate. I want to emphasize this point again: please do not feel any pressure to donate if you’re not in a position to do so. Your continued support through likes and comments are more than enough.
However, if you’re feeling extra generous, this third option is an opportunity to pay it forward. Any amount you donate in addition to a standard subscription fee will go toward a free subscription for someone who cannot afford it, but who would still like to receive the longer newsletters with audio and sentence breakdowns. I’ll make sure your generous donation gets to the right people.
Conversely, if you aren’t in a position to donate, but would still like to receive the bi-weekly audio newsletter, please get in touch with me. As soon as donations become available, I can manually add you to the list of subscribers.
[Keep your eyes peeled for Announcement #3 later this summer.]
I just made a donation! Congratulations on your successful newsletter! It's successful because there is nothing like it, because you clearly have an excellent knowledge in the Japanese language and literature, but more importantly you have the skills and people with know-how with computers to make this all possible. You are helping me a lot so, I'm glad to support you in anyway I can. By the way I followed your advise and I'm now reading 告白 from Kanae Minato and pleasantly surprised that I'm able to read the first pages. I believe it is thanks to your newsletters I read daily.
Hi Koppa, thank you so much for your generous donation! It really means a lot to me and helps me sustain the platform. But more importantly I'm very happy to read that you're starting to notice progress in your reading proficiency! You've been studying so diligently, and now you're starting to notice the benefits. Fantastic! Keep going, it's only going to get more fun from here on out.
Thank you for all the work you put into these news letters. I find myself still trying my best to read them even if i can't read everything. Your efforts help motivate me! ありがとうございます！
Thank you for your kind words, C.J. I'm glad to hear the newsletter is helping to keep you motivated. I know it's tough to keep continued focus on your studies sometimes, but stick with it! Over time, you'll notice big improvements.
Thank you for considering how you can reach the widest audience while still being fairly compensated for your time and effort! You are doing amazing work.
Personally, I like options one and three (with a bit of option two included). Please keep making free content for those who cannot afford to pay. I think that is a generous way to help those who would benefit from the high quality resources you are providing. I think it's fine to provide extra resources for those who donate. And option three essentially allows other patrons to generously contribute to a "scholarship fund" that benefits highly-engaged students who have limited financial resources.
Hi Christopher, thanks for your generous comment. For me, this was the most social and humane way that I could think of to sustain the platform long term while still serving the largest possible audience. I'll always keep creating content accessible to everyone, no matter where they live or what their financial situation is.
I just made a donation! Congratulations on your successful newsletter! It's successful because there is nothing like it, because you clearly have an excellent knowledge in the Japanese language and literature, but more importantly you have the skills and people with know-how with computers to make this all possible. You are helping me a lot so, I'm glad to support you in anyway I can. By the way I followed your advise and I'm now reading 告白 from Kanae Minato and pleasantly surprised that I'm able to read the first pages. I believe it is thanks to your newsletters I read daily.
Hi Koppa, thank you so much for your generous donation! It really means a lot to me and helps me sustain the platform. But more importantly I'm very happy to read that you're starting to notice progress in your reading proficiency! You've been studying so diligently, and now you're starting to notice the benefits. Fantastic! Keep going, it's only going to get more fun from here on out.
Thank you for all the work you put into these news letters. I find myself still trying my best to read them even if i can't read everything. Your efforts help motivate me! ありがとうございます！
Thank you for your kind words, C.J. I'm glad to hear the newsletter is helping to keep you motivated. I know it's tough to keep continued focus on your studies sometimes, but stick with it! Over time, you'll notice big improvements.
Thank you for considering how you can reach the widest audience while still being fairly compensated for your time and effort! You are doing amazing work.
Personally, I like options one and three (with a bit of option two included). Please keep making free content for those who cannot afford to pay. I think that is a generous way to help those who would benefit from the high quality resources you are providing. I think it's fine to provide extra resources for those who donate. And option three essentially allows other patrons to generously contribute to a "scholarship fund" that benefits highly-engaged students who have limited financial resources.
Hi Christopher, thanks for your generous comment. For me, this was the most social and humane way that I could think of to sustain the platform long term while still serving the largest possible audience. I'll always keep creating content accessible to everyone, no matter where they live or what their financial situation is.