Checking out Japanese language learning forums reveals some common trends. I often find myself analysing people’s entire personalities through their comments. I’m not entirely sure remote psychology is a thing but I do see certain attitudes and behaviours that are unlikely to be very helpful in your language learning journey….
One of the most common beginner questions I deal with is about kanji. But from experience, it it clear that even people who get to a relatively advanced level of kanji still don’t know basic things about kanji or study them really ineffectively. The treatment of kanji in most textbooks…
Tip: Look for the noun and then read backwards. One issue I see coming up a lot in my lessons is students struggling to understand ‘clauses’. I’m no linguist and there are many fancy ways to specifically talk about what exactly a clause is (and isn’t) but for the purposes…
There are so many options for learning Japanese or any language. The amount of choices can be overwhelming. As many beginners have found out, the early stages of language learning can be tough and it is easy to blame the methods, techniques or resources for the slow progress. So what…
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