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A Huge Thank You! Japanese Learner Trends!

1. April 2008

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 [...]

Help Me Help You (Plus Extended Nara Mascot Contest Deadline!)

26. March 2008

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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 [...]

Japanese Textbook Review: Genki I

28. February 2008

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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 [...]

How to Talk Like a Samurai

9. February 2008

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It seems as though bushido, i.e. “the way of the warrior,” is getting pretty popular amongst several (mostly otaku) groups in Japan. Not only are people speaking like Samurai - using Samurai grammar, vocabulary, etc., but people are starting to “act like them” as well. Here’s a quote from Japan’s Weekly Playboy (2/18): “Samurai are supposed to [...]

Using Twitter to Practice Japanese

31. January 2008

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about using Mixi to practice your Japanese. This week I will be talking about another valuable (but fun) online tool that is a little easier on the busy learner. I started getting into Twitter because I thought it would be a cool addition to this site. Every day [...]

Try our (Free) Tofugu Kanji Memorization Worksheet

23. January 2008

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I know this was in our news post, but I think this sort of thing deserves its own article as well. The other day I put together a new kanji memorization worksheet. I think it’s completely different from anything I’ve ever seen or used before. Most kanji worksheets make you write the same bloody kanji over [...]

The Best Site News Post Ever: January 22

22. January 2008

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Wow. We actually have a lot of interesting/exciting site news for you all today. Normally it’s pretty uninteresting, I think, but today we will be revealing a whole bunch of neat stuff I’ve been getting ready for a long time now. All of it should help you with your Japanese studies in some way, at [...]

Japanese Online Translators: They Laugh at You

18. January 2008

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Ladies and gentlemen, step right up! Today I am going share with you the secret to producing perfect Japanese emails, comments, and even blog entries all without a drop of effort on your part! Sounds to good to be true, you say? Well of course, that’s because it is. Believe me when I say that I [...]

Use Mixi.jp to improve your Japanese (and make some friends, too!)

9. January 2008

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Mixi.jp is Japan’s number one social networking site, much like America’s Myspace or Facebook. To get in, you have to be invited by someone who is already a member, which thankfully helps to make Mixi a lot less sketchy than Myspace (though I guess that doesn’t take much effort). I’ll be giving out invitations for [...]

Resolutions for Learning Better Japanese in 2008

1. January 2008

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The New Year is a great time to break disgusting habits and set impossible resolutions…at least, it’s a great time to try to do those things. Most people come out from the rubble a couple of weeks later still smoking, drinking, or using Japanese words in English sentences, but everyone at least gets a little [...]