Succeeding in learning a foreign language, especially one very different from your native tongue, requires many traits: a good memory, time management, the ability to experiment and learn to pronounce foreign sounds, listening skills, and an analytical ability to comprehend and use various grammatical constructions. But there is one critical trait that is often overlooked… Read More »
Recently I posted my second poll, “What would you like to see more of from this blog”, and was very delighted to get such a great response, with over 60 people chiming in on their opinions. First let’s took at the most common answers: Grammar constructs and usage, with example sentences [16% 10 votes] Detailed… Read More »
One of the big grammatical differences between Japanese and English is the way adjectival clauses are formed, and getting familiar with this will help you on the road to better understanding of Japanese, and more advanced sentence creation. The basic use of single-word adjectives is the same in Japanese in English, and the reverse in… Read More »
As most of you studying Japanese probably know, the language has to types of adjectives: Na-adjectives (i.e. 素敵(な)）and I-adjectives (i.e. 大きい). Each of these has different rules for conjugation into various forms. There is a few words in Japanese that look like Na-adjectives that derived from a I-adjective. Here is a list of a few… Read More »
At popular request, I’ve decided to make a list for computer science and software development terms. If you know of any ones not listed here that you use frequently please let me know in the comments! Many of these words can be used as both a noun and a verb with する. For details check your… Read More »
I’ve mentioned in a few posts how background knowledge on a certain subject will make comprehension, and acquisition of new vocabulary words much easier when reading or listening to foreign language content related to that subject. For example, if you are very familiar with biology and read a Japanese biological journal, you’ll be able to… Read More »
The Japanese suffix ーがる is one of those things you aren’t too likely to learn about in a beginner Japanese course. You may have seen it in a advanced textbook if at all. I understand the reason for not introducing this expression until a student has more experience with the language’s fundamentals. After all you… Read More »
I’ve been dancing between a few different topics on this blog, and looking for direction for what types of posts you are all craving for. Please take a moment to answer this poll. The answers will help drive what sorts of articles I write.
You may have heard there is no word for ‘foot’ in Japanese. That’s only partially true, and in this post I’ll talk about this misconception. When speaking everyday Japanese, it’s true there is no single which maps exactly to the English word ‘foot’. Generally speaking, the word あし refers to both the leg and the foot, but… Read More »
The effectiveness of foreign language practice depends on part on how pressing of a need there is to communicate and understand correctly. When speaking with a native or fluent speaker of that language, there are all sorts of emotions that get engaged and one usually tries his or her hardest to comprehend and speak in… Read More »