I didn’t start my 10 month long exchange in Japan back in 2003 with ‘nothing’. At that point I had been through 4 years of primary school Japanese and 3 years of high school Japanese. After 7 years of Japanese study, where did I stand? I could basically read and…
This is a N4 grammar point that is often one of the trickier ones for people to get their head around. However it is so common in Japanese that you would do well to learn it as it will be used in a wide variety of circumstances, including all the…
At the beginner stage of learning a second language, often you find yourself much slower than everyone else. This is because you hear what someone says in Japanese, try and remember it, then go through each word individually, parse the grammar and then maybe end up with an understanding of…
What’s the difference between someone who is just good at speaking a second language, and being fluent/native? Maybe a hard distinction to draw sometimes but you know it when you see it. The Triple JJJ Hottest 100 #1 song from 2018 sums it up nicely. Features Let’s think about some…
How does one study Japanese? Through these blog posts and previous videos I offer many sources you can use to practice your reading, writing, speaking in Japanese. One common question I get asked is, “Do you recommend to consume native materials, particularly kids’ books and school worksheets?”. My short answer…
Join me as we read through a NHK Easy article. Link to article: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10012821451000/k10012821451000.html More on the particle と: https://www.imabi.net/citation.htm
Another aspect of being in Japan on a working holiday visa is finding appropriate accommodation. If you go to Japan on other visa schemes, particularly for example as an English teacher, your employer will often sort out your accommodation. This has its benefits, mainly that it will often be furnished,…
から から can be used grammatically in certain ways to show reasons for something, basically acting as ‘because’ or ‘so’: 人とロボットが一緒に働く時代だからこそあらためて考えたい安全のことBecause it is the era where humans and robots work together, we need to rethink safety https://monoist.atmarkit.co.jp/mn/articles/2012/11/news046.html オフィスチェアメーカーだから伝えたい。Because we’re an office chair maker, we want to inform you. https://www.bauhutte.jp/bauhutte-life/chair-mat/ This…
A 難問 is difficult question. Here is an extract of the kanji entries. 難 [音] ナン [訓] かた.い -がた.いむずか.しい むづか.しい むつか.しい -にく.い[英] difficult; impossible; trouble; accident; defect 問 [音] モン[訓] と.う と.い とん[英] question; ask; problem There is a similar word, 難読, read as なんどく, with the second kanji giving more a meaning of ‘difficult to read’. This is…
Adventures on a working holiday visa After I finished up at university near the end of 2010, I decided to go to Japan for at least a year on working holiday visa. WHV systems are generally reciprocal, which means that if you have WHV people coming to your country, you…