Japanese Grammar and More: Episode 16 (Osaka travelogue)
In this episode I take a break from grammar discussions and talk about a recent trip to Osaka, Japan.
Category Archives: Japanese Study: Beginner
Japanese vocabulary list: Ki Aikido (martial arts) training words 
I wrote up a few pages of vocabulary words and expressions that can be used during training Ki Aikido (or another martial art) in Japanese.
Japanese literature release: “Dreams of a Child: Mimei Ogawa: The Father of Modern Japanese Fairy Tales”
I’m happy to announce the release of a collection of stories by Mimei Ogawa (the father of modern Japanese fairy tales) containing 36 stories and one essay, all in bilingual Japanese form.
Japanese verbs “ukeru” (受ける) and “ukaru” (受かる): a useful pair
Japanese verbs often conveniently come in transitive/intransitive pairs, but sometimes those verbs don’t have the meanings you would expect. In this post I’d like to talk about “ukeru”（受ける） and “ukaru”（受かる), two verbs that are pretty important in daily life. The first of these, “ukeru” is the transitive one, which means it takes an object using… Read More »
Foreign Language Tricks: Being aware of tone and nuance (and being humble)
Some thoughts on being aware of what we don’t know as language learners, and acting accordingly in a way to get along well with others.
Japanese Grammar and More: Episode 15 (Let’s learn about ‘you’)
In this episode of my podcast for learning basic Japanese grammar, I go over the word “you” that is commonly used to compare one thing to another. I also go over a useful expression for making a wish.
Japanese Bilingual Reader Release: “Kantan! Read Japanese Stories Like a Native (Volume 3)”
I’m happy to announce Arigatai Books’ latest release: a bilingual reader featuring a story by Hayashi Fumiko, an important woman Japanese author.
Learning to Read Japanese Quickly
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of articles related to audio or video stuff, and haven’t written too much about grammar or the process of learning Japanese. Part of the reason is a lack of ideas for content. That’s why when I received an email from a reader asking if I had any suggestions for… Read More »
Japanese Grammar and More: Episode 14 (The potential tense)
In this episode of my podcast for learning basic Japanese grammar, I go over the potential form and a few related conjugations. I also go over a casual way of asking “Really?”
A reconsideration of teaching Japanese intonation (and a useful tool to examine intonations)
Japanese intonation, in a nutshell, consists of a series of high and low pitches, where each word has a characteristic pattern of these high and low pitches. There are words where the pitch rises, words where the pitch falls, as well as where the pitch both rises and falls. When a word is said in… Read More »