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What’s the difference between San, Sama, Kun, & Chan?
I know this will be really basic for a lot of you, but recently, I’ve noticed a lot of people having trouble with which honorific to put on the end of a name. Not only have I gotten several emails specifically asking what the difference between them, but I’ve also had a barrage of folks [...]
Continue reading...How to Study Japanese Over the Summer
Well, it’s that time of year, isn’t it? Some of you are getting out of school for summer break and some of you haven’t had to go to school for decades. Some of you took Japanese classes at school, and some of you are self-taught. Either way, summer makes it really easy not to continue [...]
Continue reading...6 Reasons Why Kanji is Necessary
I’ve been really surprised lately. I’ve gotten a few emails from people that ask me why kanji is necessary. “Kanji is sooo hard” they say. “Why do Japanese bother learning kanji when they could just use a phonetic alphabet? I mean, they have hiragana already, why would you need kanji when hiragana does the same [...]
Continue reading...My Japanese Video Final from Highschool. Let the Embarrassment Begin.
The other day I came across a copy of the video I made (with a few other folks) for my Japanese final at the end of high school. I’m probably wrong, but I feel like video finals in Japanese high school classes are very common. It’s something that links us all together somehow. Our video was [...]
Continue reading...Japanese people aren’t actually impressed with your Japanese
You know, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but sometimes it’s my job. If you’ve ever used your Japanese with a Japanese person, you know how impressed…they seem. You say something (anything, even if it’s only vaguely Japanese) and they will respond with ecstatic claps, squeals of joy, and “jyouzu jyouzu sugoi [...]
Continue reading...Lang-8 Review: Quite Possibly the Best Way to Practice Your Japanese Writing
The title of this post says it all. Lang-8 is an absolutely amazing way to practice your Japanese. I’ve been using Lang-8 for about six months now, and plan on using it a lot more this summer. It is a mix of social networking and language learning, though I think the emphasis lands mostly on [...]
Continue reading...Mixi.jp now hates foreigners. Requires a (Japanese) mobile email address to join.
Wow Mixi, way to put a damper on things. About two months ago, I put up a tutorial on how to get started with Mixi so that you could use it to practice your Japanese. Now it seems like Mixi is pretty much off limits (for now) to foreigners without a Japanese cell phone email [...]
Continue reading...A Huge Thank You! Japanese Learner Trends!
I want to thank all of you for your help. By filling out my questionnaire I (might) be able to finish my thesis on time! I will be getting to all of your thank you cards eventually, though I wouldn’t expect them right away. I still have to finish my thesis first, and then I’ll [...]
Continue reading...Help Me Help You (Plus Extended Nara Mascot Contest Deadline!)
Hey Everyone. I need your help in a big way. I’m doing my senior thesis on Japanese Pedagogy (basically I’m researching how people learned Japanese, how they are learning it now, and how it should change in the future). I need to interview a lot of people who are learning Japanese to get a better [...]
Continue reading...Japanese Textbook Review: Genki I
Over the next month, I will be reviewing some of the mainstream Japanese text books that are currently being used by Japanese language learners; from there I will move on to reviewing programs that use technology to teach Japanese (such as Japanesepod and Rosetta). Why am I doing this, you ask? Well, it’s pretty big [...]
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28. June 2008