Japanese Grammar: The mysterious connection between the volitional form and でしょう / だろう (deshou / darou)
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 »
Japanese grammar: When is it safe to omit a first person pronoun?
One important aspect of the Japanese language, especially compared to English, is how nearly anything can be omitted––at least as long as the context is sufficient for the reader/listener to guess what is missing. But for those used to explicitly stating things (even if they are ‘obvious’ from the context), it can be tricky to… Read More »
Free Japanese literature limited-edition ebook: “Fireworks of the Day” by Masao Yamakawa.
10 usages of the Japanese word でも (demo)
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 »
Japanese Book review: 『九十歳。 何がめでたい』 (“What’s so great about being 90 years old?”) by 佐藤 愛子 (Aiko Sato)
Japanese Radio Dramas: a unique and interesting way to study the language
My “method” for learning Japanese (if you can even call it that) is based on the idea of immersing yourself in the language and trying to actively use whatever you have learned whenever an opportunity presents itself. I’m guessing the majority of my readers are not actually living in Japan––though my stats do point to… Read More »
Japanese Literature Audio Narration: “The Foundary” by Kyusaku Yumeno
Japanese literature translation: 風の又三郎 (Matasaburo of the Wind) by 宮沢賢治 (Kenji Miyazawa) [Part 4]
Japanese vocabulary list: Employment-related words
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 »