I would first like to say thank you to Moon\_Atomizer for giving me the opportunity to post an open discussion regarding my work, [www.imabi.org](https://www.imabi.org), which to many is loved, and to many others is left in obscurity to say the least.
From 2014-2018, I was far more present here in r/LearnJapanese, but since then, things have been very rocky on a personal level. From being hospitalized on death’s door to having multiple surgeries to survive a sudden cancer scare, the time the universe has even allowed me to work on IMABI has been limited. Throughout this time, however, I never stopped my ambition of completely rewriting IMABI, having implemented a bucket list of format, content, and layout suggestions one lesson at a time. Now that 1 out of 4 pages have been spruced up, I think it is time to ask for help in ramping up its remodel so that more people may be benefited by it in their Japanese studies.
That all being said, there are a few points I would like to discuss.
1. The remodel project is still ongoing, and yes, one has been going on for quite some time, and it will continue ramping up over the course of the next couple years. Pages, as has been the case since the site’s founding, are all subject to change, as I strive to achieve a higher level of accuracy and thoroughness that other sources do not, and sometimes refuse, to offer.
2. Although monetization in the form of selling a finished product in other mediums such as book form, PDF form, etc. is the ultimate goal so that I might have a fighting chance at doing my best work on it, the site has NEVER created a profit for me. Donations have quite literally helped me afford even the most essential necessities such as hosting fees, etc., and even then, I would be several thousand in the red.
3. Since the site’s relocation from .net to .org, it has received far more viewership, many of whom may not know much about the site’s history or where its vision lies. About 90% of all my pages do not get viewed, and so consequently, I could spend months ramping up content without a single soul noticing. For the eyes that do make their way to unexplored regions of my curriculum, I am in need of honest, good-willed, constructive proofreaders who would be willing to pinpoint unintended typos, difficult to parse language, provide footnote suggestions (as that feature is being implemented), suggestions on where a lesson ought might be better placed in the line-up, etc. for lessons that have been marked on the table of contents as having been rewritten at least once. Addressing untouched lessons would be jumping the gun too much for the time being, as I try to remaster 1-4 a month depending on time constraints and the complexity of the topics.
4. I am also open to native speaker collaborators who, if they have nothing better to do, would be tasked with creating example sentences under strict instruction based on whatever topic is being discussed, as well as suggest any naturality notes that would be useful to users.
既存の例文の訂正（どう考えても非文と認められる場合）や補足（ご指摘の内容が文法性「Grammaticality」に触れるか、あるいは「適格・不適格」かどうか、またその理由をなるべく客観的に証明する事）、又はテーマに沿った用例を提供してくださる方を応募しております。モノリンガル（日本語しか話せない）の方でも大歓迎ですから、是非ご協力いただければと思います。
A major theme of IMABI that is often misunderstood by native and non-native users is my desire to explain “why” things work, and just as one might find in linguistic papers, grammaticality forms the foundation of what a native speaker views as being right or wrong. Almost all example sentences are based on real text from literature, the Internet, my own personal readings, as well as conversations I have had as a speaker of Japanese for 20 years. Does that mean my Japanese is perfect? No. And, as many are so quick to point out, I don’t always produce the most ‘correct’ English either. Six languages is a lot to handle, but I have known Japanese for most of my life, and I do count myself as a very, very invested near-native speaker, capable of erroring just like anyone else. I just ask that any claim that is not readily obvious be backed up with fact. Meaning, if a native were to look at the lesson regarding さ入れ’s expanded use and flag everything as garbage without so much as batting an eye to the X and △ marks on the examples in a spiteful e-mail, I would politely decline. If, however, I must’ve written drunken nonsense – as a recovering alcoholic, very likely – I could use a helping hand finding them, as there is far too much to read even for myself to spot everything in what time I have while balancing two jobs.
5. I also ask that this discussion not drag any competitors into the mix. If anyone from any resource would like to collaborate, you know where to find my e-mail, and you are also more than welcome to voice your critiques or help pitch in, as this is at the end of the day about providing a safe space for people to learn the minutiae of Japanese in a world where we have people saying Japanese has no copula and making more than a sweet buck off it, and that shall be the extent of what I will say, at least here, about other resources. Every resource fills its niche and purpose, and for that, we can all be at peace about our same love: 日本語.
So, in short, I really do want to have IMABI finished by the end of 2025, and even if I don’t make that goal a reality, I hope that I’d at least get most of the way there. Before I start a Patreon or start Youtube videos, I want to iron out the legitimate shortfalls that still remain, and a lot of that, out of sheer honesty, rests on diction and how that is perceived, all being valid problems that I just need help fixing. Without further adieu, I now hand over the mic to y’all.
​
by seth3