In this post, I wanted to discuss an interesting connection between the volitional form in Japanese and the words “deshou” / “darou”. To begin with I will go over the meaning of each, and then see how they relate. The volitional form represents the speaker’s volition, or will, and for the verb “suru” looks like… Read More »
I’ve translated Masao Yamakawa’s “Fireworks of the Day” and released in full as a free ebook that you can download for a limited time. It’s a short piece of classic Japanese literature about a teenage boy who takes a woman to a baseball game, only to have her give a shocking declaration.
The word “demo” in Japanese (generally written in hiragana as でも) can have a variety of meanings depending on the context. In this article I will go through some of the most common ones and give example sentences for each. Usage 1: Contrasting a previous statement (“but”) One of the simplest and most common usage… Read More »
I reviewed the semi-biographical essay collection “What’s so great about being 90 years old?” by award-winning nonagenarian author Aiko Sato.
I’ve done a full voice narration of the work “The Foundary” by Kyusaku Yumeno, a story about a disturbing factory and the man who has inherited it.
Besides things like culture and media, one of the major reasons for wanting to learn a foreign language is a desire to live in a country that speaks that language, and to live somewhere the majority of us must also work there to be able to survive. So I’ve decided to make a vocabulary list… Read More »
My predilections for art style combined with my love of Japanese culture means that most of the time if I have a choice between a Japanese manga or a Western (English) comic book, I will usually pick the former. But when I came across Animus by French cartoonist Antoine Revoy, I couldn’t help giving it… Read More »
I’ve translated Masao Yamakawa’s “The Gift of Loneliness” and released in full as a free ebook that you can download. It’s a short piece of classic Japanese literature about a couple struggling to recover from a devastating loss in their lives, which is made that much more poignant during the holiday season.
I’m happy to announce Arigatai Book’s first ever end-of-year sale, with discounts on two ebooks and one paperback.
Compound words are very common in the Japanese language, and these can be especially nice for learners since it allows guessing the meaning and pronunciation of a word you have seen for the first time (assuming you are familiar with the component words). For example, let’s take this word: 売り物 (urimono) If we know that… Read More »