Category Archives: Speaking

Making The Most Out Of Mixi

Posted on July 30, 2011 by
Making the most out of mixi

Mixi.  The language study haven for Japanese learners.  If you’ve never heard of it, you need to sign up right now before you even start reading the next sentence.  If you have used it in the past, are you using it to its full potential?  Consider it your master sword. What makes Mixi so great is it puts the live Japanese world right at your … Continue reading →

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Homage to る(ru), The Magical Verbifier

Posted on July 18, 2011 by
Homage to

Now I love English words turned Japanese.  I’ve discussed the importance of being able to use them before.  But I especially enjoy English words turned into Japanese verbs by adding る to the end of them. You probably all know サボる (saboru), one of the first words you learn that has both katakana and hiragana in it.  This comes from the word “sabotage”, even though … Continue reading →

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Six Seconds to Prove Yourself

Posted on March 27, 2011 by
provingyourself

One of the biggest complaints of foreigners living in Japan is: “I talk to them in Japanese, they respond in English” You can imagine the frustration of working so hard to study Japanese, and when you finally talk in it, you hear English in return.  The result is either: 1)  You give up, and switch to English. 2)  You continue, and there is an awkward … Continue reading →

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