In this post I’d like to go over the phrase さも (“samo”), which you are likely to come across if you read enough Japanese literature, along with a few examples and explanation of its origin. さも is usually written in hiragana, but it can technically also be written with partial kanji as 然も. さも is… Read More »
With the majority of both my job and hobby life involving computer screens and keyboards, I like to try and set aside some time away from technology, or at least screens. Calligraphy is a fun hobby that I’ve recently picked up, although I still use digital reference materials frequently. But audiobooks are great because they… Read More »
In this post I want to go over the expression というのも (“to iu no mo”) as it is something you will probably hear eventually if you listen to enough native speech. It can also be written in kanji as と言うのも, though perhaps the hiragana representation is a bit more common. I will be focusing on… Read More »
In this post I’ve translated Hayashi Fumiko’s classic fairy tale “The Crane’s Flute” (鶴の笛) in full, a simple story that touches upon important topics.
Languages have different vocabulary and grammar for different areas (or “domains” as I call them), for example newspapers, popular novels, and Internet forums. This can be frustrating because being knowledgable in one domain doesn’t mean you’ll have an easy time in another. But the plus side is that once you learn some common phrases and… Read More »
I compared the English translation abilities of 5 different machine translation services (including those of Google and Microsoft) using a short excerpt of classic Japanese literature from Akutagawa Ryunosuke.
I’m always on the lookout for different ways to help people throughout the world improve their Japanese. For example, a few months ago I started experimenting with free online classes, and I also have a series of articles about practicing writing in Japanese (Japanese Writing Lab). After having an exchange with one of my readers… Read More »
The Japanese も (mo) particle has a handful of uses, but one of the most common––and easiest to understand––is when it is used to indicate that something else also applies to a certain statement. For example: バナナも好きだよ (banana mo suki da yo) (I) also like bananas. Here we can see the word “also” cleanly captures the… Read More »
It’s not uncommon for one word in a language to have multiple meanings, but for non-native learners it can be challenge to figure out all the meanings from context. Japanese is no exception, although intonation (depending on region) and kanji selection can help to differentiate meanings in some cases. In this post I want to… Read More »
One of the joys of reading Japanese literature is that the more you do it, the more you pick up certain words and phrases that are specific to literature and not commonly used in spoken language. This knowledge helps you not just understand the meaning of such words but also their nuances. In this post… Read More »