Vocabulary

Learn Katakana: Japanese Computer Terms: July 29th, 2010

I’ve gathered a handful of common computer and internet terms with their Japanese equivalents. They’re a great way to learn new Japanese words plus get your head around the occasionally complicated Katakana involved. A good way to sharpen your skills in this area is to switch your whole computer over to the Japanese for a day.
Book Review: Japanese Graded Readers: 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.
Word Of The Week: Kaiwa (会話): July 15th, 2010

Our Japanese word for today is – Kaiwa (会話) meaning conversation. The first kanji (会) means meeting, meet, join or party and has the readings – カイ, エ, あう, あわせる and あつまる. We’ll be using the カイ (かい) reading for today’s word.
Japanese Terms Explained for Beginners: 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.
Word Of The Week: Choushoku (朝食): May 5th, 2010

This week’s Word Of The Week is – Choushoku (朝食) meaning breakfast (formal). There are two other versions of breakfast – 朝飯 (Asa-meshi) and the more polite 朝ご飯 (Asa-go-han). Why are there so many words for breakfast? If you think about it in English we have the same situation as breakfast can be known as “brekkie”.
Japan Signs: Tokyo Fruit Juice Bar: 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).
Similar Kanji: Icicle vs Eternity: April 19th, 2010

In terms of similar kanji, 氷 (icicle) and 永 (eternity) are very close. They’re clearly not indistinguishable but at normal reading size they can be difficult to tell apart especially for beginners. If we threw in 水 to the mix, which is the kanji for water, we could thoroughly confuse ourselves – so I think we’ll just stick with these two for today. ^_^
Word Of The Week: Monogatari (物語): April 13th, 2010

This week’s Word Of The Week is – Monogatari (物語) meaning story or tale. Monogatari is made up of two kanji – 物語 (ものがたり). The first kanji (物) means thing or object and has the readings – ブツ,モツ, もの – although we’re only interested in the もの reading for today’s example.
Japan Signs: Soup Nazi Barber: 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.
Word Of The Week: Densha (電車): March 31st, 2010

This week’s Word Of The Week is – Densha (電車) meaning (Electric) Train – which in Japan is an integral part of everyday life, especially in the larger cities. A train station such as Shinjuku in Tokyo claims over 3.5 million commuters passing through its gates daily – an incredible figure.