The Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) results in various emotions for many people studying Japanese. 25% of Japanese learners (over a million people) challenge themselves with it every year now. If you haven’t heard the news yet, there is major restructuring going on this year. The last time big changes happened to the test was in 2010, where the test switched from 4 to 5 … Continue reading →
Learning polite, followed by ultra-polite Japanese is hard. But you want to look good as a functional member of Japanese society. Whether you work in Japan or have just one Japanese co-worker at your non-Japanese company, wouldn’t it be great if you could use professional sounding Japanese that made you stand out as a model employee. There are 7 words, that if you use correctly, … Continue reading →
Have you ever needed sugar to get you through a painful (or sleepy) Japanese study session? We’ve all been there, and know that sugar is a great language energy booster. It can help keep you awake and aid in the memory acquisition process. But what if sugar could be something more? What if the sugar itself could actually teach you Japanese? What if by eating candy, … Continue reading →
In my many years of studying, I had never really found a negative to choosing Japanese. Of course the time commitment, the struggle, and the sacrifices required could be viewed in a negative light, but at the end of all that adversity, things are bright and clear. Well not “clear,” because as I had suspected for a long time, all that reading Japanese kanji had a dark … Continue reading →
How many of you are studying kanji? 100%. While you are all at different levels of your kanji studying, everyone has and will spend an enormous amount of time and energy to master the Japanese writing system that dominates the country. So hearing the news that all that studying will have to be redone for the sake of progress leaves you in quite a puzzling situation … Continue reading →
Not loving all of the kanji you have to memorize? Want to know the most important kanji first, so that you can avoid spending unnecessary time in brutal struggle, and more time watching your favorite anime? Yes. I want to help you out. The following 10 kanji (technically 20, as I wanted to give you the simple compound words they are found in) are the … Continue reading →
