Monthly Archives: April 2014

Numbers in Japanese: 4(し or よん?) and 7 (しち or なな?)

When first learning Japanese numerals, you probably have learned that the numbers 4 and 7 have two different ways to express them in Japanese: 4  => し / よん 7  =>しち/なな In some references and textbooks, they may leave it at that, which can leave you wondering which number to use when. To begin with,… Read More »

Is there really no word for ‘foot’ in Japanese?

You may have heard there is no word for ‘foot’ in Japanese. That’s only partially true, and in this post I’ll talk about this misconception. When speaking everyday Japanese, it’s true there is no single which maps exactly to the English word ‘foot’. Generally speaking, the word あし refers to both the leg and the foot, but… Read More »

Japanese Vocabulary List: Final Fantasy 1 words

This is my first post in a series containing Japanese vocabulary lists on different topics. If you enjoy it, please like it and comment if you have any suggested topic your want me to write up vocabulary lists for. A great many people have gotten into Japanese via anime or manga. Another way is through… Read More »

Foreign Language Practice – Higher necessity means higher understanding and retention

The effectiveness of foreign language practice depends on part on how pressing of a need there is to communicate and understand correctly. When speaking with a native or fluent speaker of that language, there are all sorts of emotions that get engaged and one usually tries his or her hardest to comprehend and speak in… Read More »

パタリロ! (Patalliro!) – A classic, crazy manga series

I recently had the opportunity to read through a few issues of the classic Manga series “Patalliro!”, created by Mineo Maya (魔夜峰央) and published by Hakusensha (白泉社). The experience was both delightful and challenging. One single book contains a few mini-episodes which cross over into many genres including science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, and spy, with frequent comedic… Read More »

Japanese tongue twisters

One thing you’re unlikely to come across in most Japanese learning resources is tongue twisters, which are the Japanese versions of phrases like “She sells sea shells by the shore”. These are called 早口言葉 (はやくちことば), a word which might seem like a tongue-twister in itself (: Though these phrases themselves don’t have much practical use (you’re not… Read More »

Can you say the word “glove” in Japanese, in reverse?

As I’ve touched on several times in this blog, one of the themes in my Japanese studies is uncovering what real Japanese is like. Not the stuffy textbook Japanese (though that’s also important in it’s own way), but things like slang expressions and other phrases you’d hear on the street or spoken by an everyday native… Read More »

Blog analytics – What influences follower count more: number of posts or blog age?

While the number of followers is not the end-all-be-all of blog success indicators, to me it’s a fairly important metric and getting more followers always makes me happy – especially when I check their blog and find their interests relate to mine. After all, if you don’t have content that interests people you’re not likely to ever… Read More »

Don’t make a てき out of 的 (てき)

The Japanese suffix 〜的(てき)is extremely useful and will help you understand many existing Japanese words, as well as act as a tool to create your own. The simplest way to understand this suffix is to see that it turns nouns into (Na) adjectives. 劇(drama)     =>  劇的 (dramatic) 政治 (politics) =>  政治的 (political) 教育… Read More »