Learn Hiragana
- Book Review: Japanese Graded Readers
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July 20th, 2010
The Japanese Graded Readers Series is aimed at providing a fun and informative way to practice basic Japanese vocabulary and reading/listening comprehension. With it’s colourful illustrations and easy to read text, the Japanese Graded Readers Series sure beats the heck out of wading through boring lists of vocabulary and grammar.
- Japanese Terms Explained for Beginners
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July 12th, 2010
So you just started learning Japanese and you’re wondering what all these crazy new terms are that you’ve never heard of before? To get you started I’ll kick you off with a quick explanation of some of the more popular terms.
- Learning Japanese: Do It Your Own Way
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June 10th, 2010
Everyone learns a different way. It’s an obvious statement but one that bears thinking about when you’re attempting to learn a language. For example, if you’re studying at school I guarantee that no-one bothered to ask you about how you wanted to learn Japanese?
- Learning Japanese: Never Give Up
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May 25th, 2010
Whether you’re a beginner, advanced or somewhere in between, at some point in your Japanese studies you’ve probably “hit the wall”. I’m sure you know the feeling – you’re over it, you don’t want to see another kanji or verb conjugation as long as you live.
- Japan Vocab: Around My Home
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March 29th, 2010
In today’s J-Vocab series we take a look at some items that you’d expect to find around the house. The proliferation of more Western goods in Japan means that there are several loan words featured in our list including Computer (コンピュータ), TV (テレビ), Shower (シャワ) and Bed (ベッド).
- Hiragana: The N Line
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March 23rd, 2010
Welcome to the fifth instalment of our hiragana lessons on zonjineko.com – the hiragana N line. The N line consists of na (な), ni (に), nu (ぬ), ne (ね) and no (の). There are a few important hiragana in this line that you’ll frequently see in any Japanese sentences.
- Hiragana: The T Line
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January 8th, 2010
The T line consists of ta (た), chi (ち), tsu (つ), te (て), to (と) and the changes to the aiueo rule happen in two places. The first difference comes with chi (ち), which replaces the expected “ti” and is a mirror image of さ (sa) so don’t get confused there.
The other change is tsu (つ), which comes in place of what you may have assumed would be “tu”.
- 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.
- Japan Vocab: Weather Words
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December 2nd, 2009
Visiting Japan and want to discuss the weather? Or maybe you’re just looking for a few lame hook up lines for a new Japanese girlfriend.
These weather-based words will make sure you’re good to go at any time.
- 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).