Grammar
- App Giveaway: Japanese 101 Particles
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July 9th, 2010
CLOSED! To celebrate the iOS4 update for Japanese 101: Particles, Harvey from japannewbie.com has kindly offered zonjineko.com readers the chance to win one of 5 free codes for his superb iPhone app. Don’t worry if you miss out on the free codes as the app is also on sale from Friday 9th July to Monday 12th July 2010 at US$3.99 – close to 40% off!
- App Review: Japanese 101 – Particles
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June 3rd, 2010
Let’s face it, if you’re reading this then you, like me, think that learning Japanese is great fun. However, there are certain aspects of the language such as particles that can test even the most ardent Japanophile. Surprisingly there are very few iPhone apps that cover this area of the market and even fewer that do it well. This is where Japanese 101: Particles steps in to fill the void.
- Japan Signs: Tokyo Fruit Juice Bar
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April 23rd, 2010
I stumbled on this juice bar at a train station in Tokyo and thought it would make a perfect image for my Japan Sign series. There’s a great mixture of hiragana, katakana and kanji although I’ll mainly be looking at the katakana in today’s example. First up on the left we have Banana Juice (バナナジュース), which is entirely in Katakana. Banana is written as バナナ (ba-na-na) and juice is ジュース (ju-u-su).
- Japan Signs: Soup Nazi Barber
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April 7th, 2010
I found this small ¥1,000 barber shop hidden somewhere in the back blocks of Ueno Station in Tokyo. The whole concept highlights the Japanese predilection for hyper-efficiency and I must admit that is exactly what I love about Japan. Although the love doesn’t extend far enough to get my haircut for ¥1,000. I’d assume you get one style here – salaryman standard.
- Use Twitter To Improve Your Japanese
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January 25th, 2010
The ubiquity of Twitter means you can connect to the Twitterverse in so many different ways.
Having the ability to always connect to Twitter on the run means you essentially have a free Japanese resource available to you at any time and wherever you happen be.
- Should You Take The JLPT?
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December 7th, 2009
The JLPT is over for another year. Some of you attended, some may have missed it, others didn’t know it was on and the rest. Well, care factor = 0.
If you spend any time reading around the interwebs this time of year, you’ll notice the great unwashed coming out of their caves and denouncing the JLPT as a waste of money and/or time.
- JLPT 4: Top 50 Adjectives Worksheet
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December 3rd, 2009
So it’s only days away from the 2009 JLPT test and if you don’t know a good number of these i-adjectives by now, you’ll either need a case of RedBull to pull a few all-nighters or just resign yourself to guessing your way through the multiple choice questions.
- The Tale of the Little Tsu
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November 27th, 2009
When you’re just starting to learn Japanese and in particular hiragana and katakana, the small tsu (っ/ッ) is one of those tricky little buggers that may get you a little confused. Every time I saw something like がっこう (gakkou), I thought it was reading as が (ga) っ (tsu) こ (ko) う (u).
- JLPT 4: Top 100 Verbs Worksheet
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November 24th, 2009
Featured below are the Top 100 verbs that you need to know to avoid breaking in to a cold sweat when you first flip over your test paper. If you nail these you are well on your way to a Grammar pass. Then you only have to worry about listening, reading and vocabulary (^_^)