allons-y!

Native: English, Russian. Learning: French C1, Spanish C1, Chinese C1, Japanese B1

[tokidokitokyo]

梅雨の単語

Some vocabulary words for the rainy season in Japan.

梅雨　つゆ　rainy season

梅雨入り　つゆいり　the beginning of the rainy season

梅雨明け　つゆあけ　the end of the rainy season

長雨　ながあめ　prolonged rain; continuous rainfall

小雨　こさめ　light rain; drizzle

土砂降り　どしゃぶり　torrential rain; downpour

豪雨　ごうう　heavy rain; torrential rainfall

湿気　しっけ　humidity; moisture in the air

蒸し暑い　むしあつい　hot and humid; muggy

曇り空　くもりぞら　cloudy sky

水たまり　みずたまり　puddle

雨具　あまぐ　rain gear (umbrella, raincoat, etc.)

五月雨　さみだれ　early summer rain; an old poetic word for the rainy season

入梅　にゅうばい　the beginning of the rainy season (formal/meteorological term)

空梅雨　からつゆ　a dry rainy season with little rainfall

梅雨前線　ばいうぜんせん　Baiu front; seasonal rain front

雨宿り　あまやどり　taking shelter from the rain

じめじめする　to be damp and humid

しとしと降る　しとしとふる　to rain softly and steadily

ザーザー降る　ザーザーふる　to rain heavily

[fraactals]

this site is actually insane and so amazing for anyone who reads historical cnovels and wants to understand historical context

you can find things like: * this map of chang'an when it was the capital of the tang dynasty

or * this reference on the various measurements and units, their conversions to more widely known western units, and their regional/dynastic variations or * this list of sayings related to marriage

etc etc etc

[tokidokitokyo]

次回予告

じかいよこく

next episode preview; preview for the next installment

アニメの最後に次回予告が流れました。 アニメ の さいご に じかいよこく が ながれました。 A preview of the next episode played at the end of the anime.

[marilearnsmandarin]

Source

[ramenjlpt]

does any1 know any good servers for japanese learning specifically jlpt prep? its been tough to motivate myself with nobody else around me doing it rn :(

[corvidconventicle]

Just a reminder when reading books the sweet spot for building literacy is 2 to 3 unknown words per page. If you have to look up more than 5 words on the page then it’s far enough above your reading level to cause burn out and if you don’t have to look up any words then the text is too easy for you

[moonshinemagpie]

for any Japanese learners who like creative writing in any capacity, my new study trick is this:

I combine the grammar and kanji I'm learning to write short stories. Like this:

Let's say I've got 5 kanji I'm learning, and 3 grammar points.

I look up vocab words for those 5 kanji and choose one word I especially want to learn for each. I make a lil' list of the new-to-me words.

Btw: You don't choose the words based on a predetermined story. You pick the words you want to learn and then decide how to make a story out of them.

Using the vocab and grammar points as creative restraints, I make myself (hand)write a 5-sentence short story, each sentence containing one of the vocab words. Occasionally I'll write a few more sentences to ensure the story has a beginning, middle, and end.

I'm not gonna share my stories because I'm sure they suck, but it's honestly been a lot of fun. I've written about pirates and witches, gods and a lawyer who got turned into a rabbit.

It feels very efficient because I'm reinforcing my kanji and my grammar at the same time that I'm practicing my writing skills. Plus, I entertain myself and actually look forward to doing it.

[tokidokitokyo]

垢抜け

あかぬけ

refinement; style; sophistication

この絵は垢抜けした書き方。 この え は あかぬけ した かきかた。 This picture is done in a sophisticated style.

[tokidokitokyo]

生ぬるい

なまぬるい

① lukewarm; tepid​

② half-hearted; vague; weak​

③ lenient; mild; soft

今は生ぬるい手段なんか取っていられない。 いま は なまぬるい しゅだん なんか とって いられない。 This is no time for half measures.

[fucko]

[moonshinemagpie]

If I had to pick one cultural difference between Japan and the rest of the world that doesn't get discussed on social media all the time, it's the ever-present thought of 3.11 and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster.

Yesterday in my reading group a non-Japanese person who moved to Tokyo very recently turned the AC down to 23 degrees. My immediate thought was that this was too low—not for comfort, but because it uses too much power. I caught myself thinking about Fukushima and then mentally scolded myself: Seriously? 23 degrees and I immediately think of Fukushima? Just enjoy the cold room, sheesh.

My Japanese friend came into the room, saw the thermostat, and turned it up to a more reasonable 25. The person who'd turned it down playfully groaned, and my friend (being totally friendly, but still) gave them an entire spiel about where Japan gets its energy (mostly gas, an especially unreliable source since the Russian invasion and the US-Iran war breaking out). And they asked straightforwardly if the person knew about the Fukushima disaster. It took the person several moments to figure out what my Japanese friend was even talking about, while for me it was already on my mind.

I was struck that both of our heads went there just by seeing "23 degrees" on an aircon remote control.

When I was teaching in Japan, an alarm would sound in the teacher's room when we'd used our electricity allotment for the day. If we went over, it'd be taken out of the allotment for next year. We turned off hallway lights and kept the AC on at 28 degrees (82 degrees Fahrenheit). There was no expectation of being nice and cool in the summertime, only of avoiding dangerous heat exhaustion.

The cultural difference is that Japan learned in the hardest way possible where its energy comes from, and most people have not.

Also if you've read this far I would like to add that the US pushes Japan to continue using nuclear power because it wants a convenient supply of uranium ready for its own nuclear weapons arsenal. Ty have a nice day!!

[woshibai]

My three-day comics workshop at the China Academy of Art has come to an end, and I've realized that I actually really enjoy teaching! Maybe it's because I simply love sharing. Spending time in a campus surrounded by mountains, talking about comics with a group of young people who are passionate about the medium—it doesn't get much better than that!

On the first day, I asked the students to illustrate haiku. I'm sure Shinsuke Sumihara and Kobayashi Issa would have enjoyed seeing these drawings. (I actually think this has the potential to become a publishing project—inviting cartoonists to turn haiku into comics.)

On the second day, the students had just one day to create a comic based on a given prompt. I prepared a long list of keywords to choose from, including *transparent*, *building blocks*, and *unknown creature*. Even with such limited time, they exceeded my expectations. Some students were drawing until 2 a.m.—their dedication was incredible!

The works were all completely different in style, and each explored the theme from a unique perspective. It reminded me how rewarding teaching can be.

My heartfelt thanks to Professor Ruan Yunting for this wonderful opportunity and for all her kindness and support. I gained so much from these days at the China Academy of Art, and I hope to see everyone again soon! 😸

[z0ruastudyblr]

The most revolutionary thing I've learned about Blackness is that our English is not at all "broken"

It was 2012 and I was a "white washed" (not real but you know what that means) junior in undergrad and an entire chapter included in this textbook was dedicated to our pidgin/dialect whichever your argument. 14 years later and the amount of borrowing with and without permission of rest of English is truly a marvel to the point where things I know damn well are just AAVE are attributed to wide ranging sources such as "Gen Z/Alpha slang" and "gay lingo" and "internet speak" in general. Our range

These are just a few of our many common grammatical rules:

Habitual "Be": In Standard English "He is working" means right now or generally. In AAVE "He be working" specifically means he works regularly or habitually, a distinction that Standard English can't make without adding extra words.

Copula Deletion: Dropping forms of the verb "to be" in places where Standard English requires them ("She tired" instead of "She is tired" or "They going" instead of "They are going")

Double Negatives: In Standard English, two negatives make a positive. In AAVE, using multiple negatives ("She ain't never going") simply adds emphasis to the negation, a common feature in many of the world's languages.

Metathesis: switching sounds within a word, the most famous example being "ask" as "aks," a pronunciation that has roots in Old English.

Remote "Been": When you say "I been knew that" the stressed "been" means you've known it for a long time, remotely in the past, which doesn't exist in Standard English without adding extra words.

Completive "Done": "I done told you already" is a way of saying the action is finished and the matter is settled with an emphasis on finality or frustration.

Subject-Verb Disagreement: In AAVE verbs are often uninflected for the third person ("She walk" instead of "She walks") to simplify conjugation.

I love being Black, we're so smart! We been developed our slice of language despite the slavery and diaspora

[tokidokitokyo]

同義

どうぎ

same meaning; synonymy

私は、生きる事と選ぶ事は同義だと思います。 わたし は、いきる こと と えらぶ こと は どうぎ だと おもいます。 I believe that to live and to choose are synonymous.

[corvid-language-library]

Similar kanji

I came across the word 海水浴（かいすいよく = swimming in the ocean) today and thought, wait, doesn't that last kanji mean melt or dissolve or something? And I looked it up and the answer is no, but it's very similar to that kanji (溶). So, here they both are:

浴

Kun: あ、ゆあみ On: ヨク Meaning: bathe, be favoured with, bask in

Here you've got the radical for water on the left and valley on the right. A valley of water is something you can bathe in, right?

Related vocab:

浴びる（あびる）to bathe, to bask in

入浴（にゅうよく）going in the bath

浴室（よくしつ）bathroom

浴衣（ゆかた）yukata (summer kimono)

溶

Kun: と On: ヨウ Meaning: melt, dissolve, thaw

Now, this one you have the same radical on the left, but on the right you have 容, which means contain and is itself the radical for lid + valley (because you put a lid on the valley to contain what's in it, I guess). And this is actually a pronunciation tip because the onyomi is ヨウ. But I guess when I'm cooking, if I want something to heat up faster (and thereby melt/dissolve/thaw), I'd put a lid on the pot to contain the heat.

Related vocab:

溶ける（とける）to melt, to thaw

溶く（とく）to dissolve (paint), to scramble (eggs), to melt, (metal), to mix (eg water with flour)

溶け込む（とけこむ）to melt into, to dissolve into, to merge into

溶液（ようえき）solution (of liquid)

溶岩（ようがん）lava

[tokidokitokyo]

欠かせない

かかせない

indispensable; vital; fundamental; imperative; crucial; critical

水は植物に欠かせない。 みず は しょくぶつ に かかせない。 Water is vital to plants.

[jpn-langblr]

Japanese Writing Practice Prompt Generator for Intermediate Learners

Japanese Writing Practice Prompt

Hello, intermediate learners of Japanese. Need some practice producing written Japanese, but having trouble thinking of something to write? Well, look no further. Here's a prompt generator featuring 193 different grammar points and a fairly solid library of topics, nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs for you to scribble a little something on.

Remember to get your writing checked by someone - a native speaker, if you can! If you don't know a person you can ask, HiNative or iTalki are worth trying.