Whether you are translating between languages, or simply trying to understand a foreign language, looking up the meanings of words is a common activity you can end up doing tens, if not hundreds of times a day. Learning to improve your word research process will not only help save time but can also lead to… Read More »
As I gradually hone my translation skills through Gengo.com, I’m learning not just new words in Japanese, but more effective ways of researching word meanings and their proper translations in English. When translating in an environment where conveying the meaning of the original text accurately is critical, there are often cases where only one word or phrase would… Read More »
Learning the basics of a foreign language, while a time-consuming activity, is generally relatively straightforward: memorize the alphabet(s), pronunciations, grammar rules, and of course loads and loads of vocabulary words. With these fundamentals under your belt, you’ll surely be able to express a great many things in that language. The challenge comes when you want to… Read More »
One thing that has always struck me as surprising is the large number of homophones – words with the same pronunciation – in the Japanese language. Those new to Japanese typically discover this by looking at the number of dictionary entries for a given pronunciation, or number of kanji conversions when hitting spacebar while typing. In… Read More »