Regarding the suspension of new sign-ups on Lang-8
Update (03/12/2018)
Thank you so much for your continued support of Lang-8!
We would like to inform you that we have extended the suspension of new sign-ups on Lang-8 that has been in effect since February, 2017.
We do not have an exact date when we will be able to resume new sign-ups at this time.
Thank you for your understanding on this subject.
( Please refer to the following previous post that explained the reason we halted the the new sign-ups and stated that we might be able to resume it sometime around this March)
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Thank you so much for your continued support of Lang-8!
We wanted to provide everyone with a little more information regarding the suspension to new sign-ups on Lang-8 that has been in effect since February, 2017. We also want to apologize for the lack of an official announcement these past few months 🙇
Update (08/2017)
As of February, 2017, new registrations to Lang-8 have been suspended. Any users who registered before the suspension took effect continue to have full access to all of Lang-8’s features.
There are a few reasons why we decided to implement this suspension, the main one being a lack of resources here at Lang-8, Inc. We’re an extremely small company, and we were having difficulty actively developing Lang-8 and its sister service HiNative simultaneously.
We didn’t have the time or resources to update the Lang-8 platform or optimize it for smartphones and truly felt like we were letting our users down. We wanted new users excited about the Lang-8, Inc. ecosystem to experience the newer and more refined HiNative. We do understand that Lang-8 and HiNative provide very different experiences, however, and we believe strongly in the value of both.
We were also having an increasingly difficult time dealing with spammers and bots who were signing up for Lang-8 and abusing the platform. Again, we do not currently have the resources to implement preventative measures that are strong enough to combat this type of behavior, and we will be forced to extend the suspension period as a result.
What happens now
We had originally planned to lift the suspension after 6 months, but due to a continued lack of resources within the company, we will need to extend the period into next year.
We are aiming to reopen sign-ups in March of 2018, though this date isn’t set in stone. We are currently looking at strategies to help us maintain and support Lang-8 while allowing free users who have already registered to continue using the platform for free. Some possible changes include charging a small fee to register to the platform.
Both Lang-8 and HiNative are nothing without their users and their communities, and once more, everyone here at Lang-8, Inc. would like to apologize to everyone for the radio silence and for the current state of Lang-8. Please rest assured that we are working as hard as possible to reopen sign ups as soon as we can and to continue towards our goal of developing the best language learning platforms in the world. Thank you, and talk to you soon!
Beware of messages from users claiming to be in the military asking for money!
Thank you for your continued support of Lang-8!
It has come to our attention that there have been multiple instances of attempted monetary fraud by a user or users claiming to be in the American military. The main targets so far have been female, Japanese users.
Thankfully, there have been no reported victims of the actual scheme yet. However, if you receive a message containing similar information to that found in the summary below, please:
1) Do not respond
2) Block the user
3) Report there message to Lang-8, Inc immediately
＜Summary of information found in the fraudulent messages＞
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- Claims to be from the American military
- Persistently asks to be contacted on Skype
- Claims to be in an active war-zone (i.e. Afghanistan, Iraq)
- Has only one remaining family member: either a son or daughter
- Requests for users to receive money and pass it on to their son or daughter
- The user will receive a portion of the money as thanks for holding onto it
- Or, they simply request a large amount of money in JPY(¥) be deposited into their bank account
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If you are a victim of this or other acts of fraud, please contact your local police as soon as possible.
<Helpful links>
1) Blocking users
http://blog.lang-8.com/post/23158922197/blocking-users
2) Reports messages
http://blog.lang-8.com/post/25502049340/how-do-i-report-spam-on-lang-8
Team Lang-8
Regarding the suspension to new sign-ups on Lang-8
Thank you so much for your continued support of Lang-8! We wanted to provide everyone with a little more information regarding the suspension to new sign-ups on Lang-8 that has been in effect since February, 2017. We also want to apologize for the lack of an official announcement these past few months 🙇
Update (08/2017)
As of February, 2017, new registrations to Lang-8 have been suspended. Any users who registered before the suspension took effect continue to have full access to all of Lang-8’s features.
There are a few reasons why we decided to implement this suspension, the main one being a lack of resources here at Lang-8, Inc. We’re an extremely small company, and we were having difficulty actively developing Lang-8 and its sister service HiNative simultaneously.
We didn’t have the time or resources to update the Lang-8 platform or optimize it for smartphones and truly felt like we were letting our users down. We wanted new users excited about the Lang-8, Inc. ecosystem to experience the newer and more refined HiNative. We do understand that Lang-8 and HiNative provide very different experiences, however, and we believe strongly in the value of both.
We were also having an increasingly difficult time dealing with spammers and bots who were signing up for Lang-8 and abusing the platform. Again, we do not currently have the resources to implement preventative measures that are strong enough to combat this type of behavior, and we will be forced to extend the suspension period as a result.
What happens now
We had originally planned to lift the suspension after 6 months, but due to a continued lack of resources within the company, we will need to extend the period into next year.
We are aiming to reopen sign-ups in March of 2018, though this date isn’t set in stone. We are currently looking at strategies to help us maintain and support Lang-8 while allowing free users who have already registered to continue using the platform for free. Some possible changes include charging a small fee to register to the platform.
Both Lang-8 and HiNative are nothing without their users and their communities, and once more, everyone here at Lang-8, Inc. would like to apologize to everyone for the radio silence and for the current state of Lang-8. Please rest assured that we are working as hard as possible to reopen sign ups as soon as we can and to continue towards our goal of developing the best language learning platforms in the world. Thank you, and talk to you soon!
Want to work for Lang-8? Read on!
Lang-8, inc. is hiring for positions related to HiNative Trek.
Lang-8’s sister service, HiNative, released an English learning program through our app called HiNative Trek in February, 2016. Students receive problems every morning via the app, turn in answers, and then get personalized feedback from their Teachers.
The service has been out for a little over a year and a half, and we’re looking to hire more Teachers to help support students as they register for the program. If you meet the requirements of the position below and are interested in working for the best language-learning startup in Japan, we hope you’ll drop us a line!
What you’ll be doing:
- Be responsible for your group of students as they progress through the HiNative Trek course, correct written pieces of homework, giving tips on pronunciation, and providing great examples on a daily basis
- Answer follow up questions and make sure your students are grasping difficult concepts
- Curate the Trek course materials making sure everything is accurate and typo free, help record sample answers and register the problems to our system.
- Help out with various marketing and customer support tasks.
Minimum qualifications:
- Native English speaker (American)
- Experience in business/tech/IT/startups
- Very flexible schedule on weekdays, M-F between 12 - 6pm JST
- Good with computers and always quick to respond to messages
- Always on top of things and never miss deadlines
- Reliable and independent
Preferred qualifications:
- Located in Japan / Korea / Taiwan / China
- Intermediate to advanced Japanese language skills
- Experience using GitHub
This is a paid position which you can do from the comfort of your own home, and a great opportunity to work for a growing Japanese startup, improve your teaching skills, and be a part of the development of a new and exciting service.
To apply or to hear more about the position, please send a message to jobs@lang-8.jp with the subject line “HiNative Trek Teacher Application” and your resume attached as a PDF and we’ll be in touch!
Can’t wait to hear from you!
Team HiNative
Regarding the suspension to new sign ups for Lang-8
Thank you for your continued support of Lang-8.
Starting last week, we implemented a temporary halt to new sign ups to the Lang-8 platform.
Please rest assured that the site itself will not be shut down and will continue to operate as usual.
Thank you.
Multilingual marketing staff wanted!!
What you’ll be doing:
Lang-8′s sister service HiNative is growing, and we would like you to help us spread the word about the #1 Q&A app for language learners to the rest of the world! Using influencer marketing channels like Youtube and Facebook, you’ll be in charge of finding effective creators within your language sphere and commissioning content that effectively drives traffic to the app.
Qualifications. You are:
- A native speaker of a language other than Japanese, Russian, or Chinese. (English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Korean, preferred.)
- A conversational speaker of English or Japanese.
- A confident writer of business emails with a knack for negotiating terms.
- Well-organised and never late for deadlines
- Located in Tokyo, Japan and able to work at least 3 days a week here in the Lang-8 office.
- Prior marketing experience is not required.
Details:
- Hourly rates start between 950¥ - 1500¥
- Reimbursement for transportation expenses will be provided
- Free canned coffee!
For interested parties, please send a message to jobs@lang-8.jp with the subject line “HiNative Multilingual Marketer Application” with your resume attached and we’ll be in touch!
Can’t wait to hear from you,
Team HiNative
Are you a native speaker of one of these languages? Come work for us!
Lang-8, inc. is looking for native speakers of Korean!
What you’ll be doing:
Checking through the translations of the new HiNative Trek Business Course and editing them to sound as natural as possible. You’ll also help us make sure that sample answers to problems are logical and correct. Click here for more information about the HiNative Trek program.
Qualifications. You are:
- A native speaker of Korean
- An confident speaker of English
- A prolific writer who can handle anything from emails to presentations
- Well-organised and never late for deadlines
It would be nice if:
- You are able to work onsite in the Lang-8 offices here in Tokyo
- You have experience doing translation from English to your native language
This is a paid position. It’s also a great opportunity to work for a growing Japanese startup, improve your translation/editing skills, and be a part of the development of a new and exciting product.
For interested parties, please send a message to jobs@lang-8.jp with the subject line “HiNative Trek Multilingual Problem Editor” with your resume attached and we’ll be in touch!
Can’t wait to hear from you,
Team HiNative
Lang-8, inc. is hiring developers!
Lang-8, inc. is expanding, and we’re looking for talented web and mobile developers who are passionate about language learning to come and join our team here in Tokyo, Japan.
Background:
Lang-8’s sister service, the Q&A app HiNative, burst onto the language learning scene a little over two years ago, and has been growing rapidly ever since. Some recent milestones include the release of HiNative for Android and HiNative’s 1,000,000th question, which was posted to the platform just a few days ago. HiNative is currently on iOS, Android, and the Web, and we’re looking to fill the following positions as we progress into the next stage in it’s development:
Web Developer (Ruby on Rails)
What you’ll be doing:
- Taking care of development on the server-side, including our API
- Adding in new features to the HiNative platform
- Helping to maintain and improve the HiNative web app
Qualifications:
- 2 - 3 years of Ruby on Rails development experience
- Experience working on and maintaining a live web app
- Currently (or soon to be) located in Tokyo
- Interested in language learning and passionate about making it easier for people to learn about languages and cultures
- Fluent in English and conversational in Japanese (Or vice versa)
iOS Developer (Swift)
What you’ll be doing:
- Taking care of development on the HiNative iOS app, in particular, converting legacy Objective-C code to Swift while adding in new features
- We use ReactiveCocoa (FRP), Swinject (DI Container), and Swiftz
- The app is built on the VIPER architecture
Qualifications:
- 2 - 3 years of iOS development experience
- Proficiency with Swift, Objective-C, and the iOS SDK
- Experience with client-server based development
- Currently (or soon to be) located in Tokyo
- A language learner at heart who wants to help create an easier way to learn about languages and cultures
- Fluent in English and conversational in Japanese (Or vice versa)
Android Developer
What you’ll be doing:
- Working together with a small, agile team on all aspects of the HiNative for Android app’s development
- Constantly improving on, adding features to, and testing the app, basing decisions off of the data you collect along the way
Qualifications:
- 2 - 3 years of Android development experience
- Experience with client-server based development and knowledge of the Android system architecture
- Experience building an app from the ground up and releasing it on the Play Store (not 100% necessary, but helpful!)
- Currently (or soon to be) located in Tokyo
- A learner of languages who wants to solve problems with simple, easy-to-use tech
- Fluent in English and conversational in Japanese (Or vice versa)
For interested parties, please send a short introduction/cover letter to support@hinative.com with the subject line “HiNative #{position_name} Developer Application” with your resume attached and we’ll be in touch!
Can’t wait to hear from you,
Team HiNative
[PR]Cafetalk Japanese lesson giveaway!
Cafetalk Japanese lesson giveaway!
Tell us why you’re learning Japanese and win 3 private tutoring sessions on Skype! Click here to learn more:
https://cafetalk.com/campaign/monitor-extra/japanese/sep2016/?lang=en
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About Cafetalk
Cafetalk is a online lesson marketplace from Japan that offers unique one-on-one language lessons on Skype. We started out as a humble site that offered English lessons only, but now we have over 60,000 students and more than 40 languages to choose from.
Work for Lang-8, inc.
Lang-8, inc. is looking for native English speakers with business experience to help us with a new project!
Background:
Lang-8’s sister service HiNative recently released an English learning program through their app called HiNative Trek. Students receive problems every morning based around phrases and conversations used in IT startups via the app, turn in answers, and then get personalised feedback via their HiNative Trek Teachers.
The service has been a success so far, and we’re getting ready to launch a new course over the HiNative Trek platform. The new course is going to be a basic Business English course, and we’re looking for native speakers of English with actual experience working in a business setting to help write the problems. If you meet the requirements of the position below and are interested in helping build the next course for the hottest language-learning app in town, we hope you’ll drop us a line!
HiNative Trek Problem Writer (freelance/remote)
What you’ll be doing:
- Write the daily problems that students will be answering on the HiNative Trek Business course
- Consult on the various themes that will be covered throughout the year-long course
Qualifications:
- Native English speaker
- 2+ years experience working in an English business environment in either Finance, Advertising, Marketing, Sales, or a similar field.
- A prolific writer who can handle anything from emails to presentations
- Someone who is well-organised and able to make and meet deadlines
This is a paid position which you can do from the comfort of your own home. It’s also a great opportunity to work for a growing Japanese startup, improve your writing skills, and be a part of the development of a new and exciting product.
For interested parties, please send a message to support@hinative.com with the subject line “HiNative Trek Problem Writer Application” with your resume attached and we’ll be in touch!
Can’t wait to hear from you,
Team HiNative