Once in awhile comes along a study resource thats so good, you revel in the treasure you’ve found and for a moment the thought of keeping it to yourself flashes through your mind. Podcastle is one such site, and when I first discovered it I thought it was too good to be true. It’s a… Read More »
“~て＋ある” is one of those expressions that doesn’t really have a directly translation in English, but once you grasp what it used for you may find what it can express quite useful. It is made using the て form (“食べて”、”歩いて”、”話して”、etc.) plus the word “ある” which means for something to physically exist, or be in a… Read More »
For me, one of the attractions of studying and becoming fluent in a foreign language is the concept of thinking in a language other than my native tongue. I’m not talking about just speaking in a foreign language without first forming the thoughts in one’s native language, but also the ability to follow a chain… Read More »
When I started this blog, I promised myself I would first write 50 posts and then see how things went before I decided to continue or not. I managed this many posts in a little under two months, which translates to almost a post a day. This is actually my second WordPress blog (my first… Read More »
I’ve noticed that in Japanese they are many, many ways to say something, each with a different connotation or feeling. I’m sure this is the case in English as well, but I don’t typically think about it in the same analytical and logical way, so I haven’t really noticed it. Having said that, I feel… Read More »
When studying a foreign language, we have no choice but to resort to dictionaries time and time again to help comprehend new words and search for ways to express ourselves more effectively. Having said that,after many years of using dictionaries as a reference, I’ve learned to not over rely on them, sometimes even going as… Read More »
For those Japanese learners who understand a good amount of Kanji, grammar constructs, and vocabulary, your options for study materials are drastically increased. Thats because you can use sites and books that native speakers would use. I’ll introduce a few of my favorite resources in this post. １）教えてgoo (http://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/) This site is extremely valuable for… Read More »
I believe that having a child is one of the most rewarding things you can do in life, and for parents where two or more languages are spoken fluently there is always the option of raising the child on more than one language. There are many different approaches to this, but what’s clear is that… Read More »
Mastering Japanese verbs so that you can use and understand them fluently requires a good grasp of the concept of transitive vs. intransitive verbs. Transitive verbs are those which perform an action on an object (i.e. つける、たてる). You can think of these as “targeted”. The object is typically specified using the particle を。 On the… Read More »
I’m sure that those of you studying Japanese take advantage of TV dramas and anime to help boost your vocabulary and comprehension, but documentaries are another great resource that is often overlooked. Documentaries typically talk about more real life subject matter, so you’re more likely to learn expressions you can use in real life, unlike… Read More »