[onigiriforears]

Recommendation: Apps for Japanese Learning

Over the years, I've downloaded and tester many apps. Though my favorite app was discontinued (I miss you, mindsnacks Japanese), there are still others that I don't think I'll be removing from my phone any time soon. In light of duolingo's horrible update causing a large migration and search for other apps, I thought I'd share some of my favorites. Also, some of these apps have websites or discords for you to interact with other users or to ask support questions.

For those who cannot use/don't like the graphics, the written out version is below the break.

Lingo Legend

RPG-based language learning game that I was a beta tester for. It also offers Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, German, Italian, and Portuguese. Uses spaced repetition.

Offers beginners, intermediate, and advanced levels.

User can jump between lessons and difficulty levels.

Available on ios and android

Manabi Reader

Caters to all JLPT levels and offers reading options on an array of topics (including news, games, reddit). Can hilight words and look up in-app. User can also paste a link within the app to read.

Companion app available (Manabi Flashcards).

Available on ios

TODAI: EASY Japanese News

Aggregates news from various sources.

Offers practice JLPT exams in-app.

Offers grammar resources and in-app dictionary that can generate flashcards from words saved in notes.

Offers audio listening, as well as videos with transcriptions.

Available on ios and android. Also has a website.

Shirabe Jisho

Offline dictionary app.

User can favorite words, make lists, take notes, make flashcards, etc.

User can search for words in kana, romaji, drawing, or through radical (or radical building).

Available on ios

Renshuu

Think quizlet, but solely for Japanese. You can create your own lists, use others, play shiritori, earn prizes and interact on forums.

You can study grammar, kanji, vocab, flashcards, learn and submit mnemonics. You can also friend people.

Available on ios and android. Also has a website (of which I am an avid user).

Connect with me: Ko-fi Shop & Tips | Discord | Studygram | Ask Box

↳ psst! my ko-fi shop has learning resources on it. try to check back for new things bc im always working on something to add in there

[escapetoluna]

How to learn a language when you don’t know where to start:

General Plan:

Weeks 1 and 2: Purpose:

Learn the fundamentals sentence construction

Learn how to spell and count

Start building a phrase stockpile with basic greetings

The Alphabet

Numbers 1 - 100

Subject Pronouns

Common Greetings

Conjugate the Two Most Important Verbs: to be and to have

Basic Definite and Indefinite Articles

Weeks 3 and 4: Purpose:

Learn essential vocabulary for the day-to-day

Start conjugating regular verbs

Days of the Week and Months of the Year

How to tell the time

How to talk about the weather

Family Vocabulary

Present Tense Conjugations Verbs

Weeks 5 and 6: Purpose:

Warm up with the last of the day-to-day vocabulary

Add more complex types of sentences to your grammar

Colours

House vocabulary

How to ask questions

Present Tense Conjugations Verbs

Forming negatives

Weeks 7 and 8: Purpose:

Learn how to navigate basic situations in a region of your target language country

Finish memorising regular conjugation rules

Food Vocabulary and Ordering at Restaurants

Money and Shopping Phrases

Present Tense Conjugations Verbs

Weeks 9 and 10: Purpose:

Start constructing descriptive and more complex sentences

Adjectives

Reflective verbs

Places vocabulary

Weeks 11 and 12: Purpose:

Add more complex descriptions to your sentences with adverbs

Wrap up vocabulary essentials

Adverbs

Parts of the body and medical vocabulary

Tips for Learning a Foreign Language:

Learning Vocabulary:

What vocabulary should I be learning?

There are hundreds of thousands of words in every language, and the large majority of them won’t be immediately relevant to you when you’re starting out.Typically, the most frequent 3000 words make up 90% of the language that a native speaker uses on any given day. Instead try to learn the most useful words in a language, and then expand outwards from there according to your needs and interests.

Choose the words you want/need to learn.

Relate them to what you already know.

Review them until they’ve reached your long-term memory.

Record them so learning is never lost.

Use them in meaningful human conversation and communication.

How should I record the vocabulary?

Learners need to see and/or hear a new word of phrase 6 to 17 times before they really know a piece of vocabulary.

Keep a careful record of new vocabulary.

Record the vocabulary in a way that is helpful to you and will ensure that you will practice the vocabulary, e.g. flashcards.

Vocabulary should be organised so that words are easier to find, e.g. alphabetically or according to topic.

Ideally when noting vocabulary you should write down not only the meaning, but the grammatical class, and example in a sentence, and where needed information about structure.

How should I practice using the vocabulary?

Look, Say, Cover, Write and Check - Use this method for learning and remembering vocabulary. This method is really good for learning spellings.

Make flashcards. Write the vocabulary on the front with the definition and examples on the back.

Draw mind maps or make visual representations of the new vocabulary groups.

Stick labels or post it notes on corresponding objects, e.g when learning kitchen vocabulary you could label items in your house.

How often should I be practising vocabulary?

A valuable technique is ‘the principle of expanding rehearsal’. This means reviewing vocabulary shortly after first learning them then at increasingly longer intervals.

Ideally, words should be reviewed:

5-10 minutes later

24 hours later

One week later

1-2 months later

6 months later

Knowing a vocabulary item well enough to use it productively means knowing:

Its written and spoken forms (spelling and pronunciation).

Its grammatical category and other grammatical information

Related words and word families, e.g. adjective, adverb, verb, noun.

Common collocations (Words that often come before or after it).

Receptive Skills: Listening and Reading

Reading is probably one of the most effective ways of building vocabulary knowledge.

Listening is also important because it occupies a big chunk of the time we spend communicating.

Tips for reading in a foreign language:

Start basic and small.  Children’s books are great practice for beginners. Don’t try to dive into a novel or newspaper too early, since it can be discouraging and time consuming if you have to look up every other word.

Read things you’ve already read in your native language. The fact that you at least know the gist of the story will help you to pick up context clues, learn new vocabulary and grammatical constructions.

Read books with their accompanying audio books. Reading a book while listening to the accompanying audio will improve your “ear training”. It will also help you to learn the pronunciation of words.

Tips for listening in a foreign language:

Watch films in your target language.

Read a book while also listening along to the audio book version.

Listen to the radio in your target language.

Watch videos online in your target language.

Activities to do to show that you’ve understood what you’ve been listening to:

Try drawing a picture of what was said.

Ask yourself some questions about it and try to answer them.

Provide a summary of what was said.

Suggest what might come next in the “story.”

Translate what was said into another language.

“Talk back” to the speaker to engage in imaginary conversation.

Productive Skills: Speaking and Writing

Tips for speaking in a foreign language:

If you can, try to speak the language every day either out loud to yourself or chat to another native speaker whether it is a colleague, a friend, a tutor or a language exchange partner. 

Write a list of topics and think about what you could say about each one. First you could write out your thoughts and then read them out loud. Look up the words you don’t know. You could also come up with questions at the end to ask someone else.

A really good way to improve your own speaking is to listen to how native speakers talk and imitate their accent, their rhythm of speech and tone of voice. Watch how their lips move and pay attention to the stressed sounds. You could watch interviews on YouTube or online news websites and pause every so often to copy what you have just heard. You could even sing along to songs sung in the target language.

Walk around the house and describe what you say. Say what you like or dislike about the room or the furniture or the decor. Talk about what you want to change.This gets you to practise every day vocabulary.

Tips for writing in a foreign language:

Practice writing in your target language. Keep it simple to start with. Beginner vocabulary and grammar concepts are generally very descriptive and concrete.

Practice writing by hand. Here are some things you can write out by hand:

Diary entries

Shopping lists

Reminders

What could I write about?

Write about your day, an interesting event, how you’re feeling, or what you’re thinking.

Make up a conversation between two people. 

Write a letter to a friend, yourself, or a celebrity. You don’t need to send it; just writing it will be helpful.

Translate a text you’ve written in your native language into your foreign language.

Write a review or a book you’ve recently read or a film you’ve recently watched.

Write Facebook statuses, Tweets or Tumblr posts (whether you post them or not will be up to you).

Write a short story or poem.

Writing is one of the hardest things to do well as a non-native speaker of a language, because there’s no room to hide. 

There are lots of ways to improve your writing ability, but they can be essentially boiled down to three key components:

Read a lot

Write a lot

Get your writing corrected

[namikubo-deactivated20200320]

How to read kanji?

The answer is that all of them are correct when you treat reading kanji as something impossible.

Today, I’ll present you with a few kanji reading “rules”. However, treat them as your last resort. Kanji work in unpredictable ways:

Verbs are usually read with kun’yomi: easier said than done, it’s not a rarity that one kanji appears in more than one verb. A Japanese verb usually comes in two variations: intransitive (it means that something is happening on its own) and transitive (it means that someone is doing something). These intrasitive-transitive verb pair can be read with the same kun’yomi reading (壊れる・こわれる・kowareru “to be broken” vs 壊す・こわす・kowasu “to break”) but sometimes not (消える・きえる・kieru “to disappear” vs 消す・けす・kesu “to make sth disappear” or “to erase”). There are also instances of a one kanji which appear in two (ore more) verbs with different meanings and kun’yomi readings (行く・いく・iku “to go” vs 行う・おこなう・okonau “to perform”). However, that doesn’t change the fact that verbs are usually read with kun’yomi. The exception to this rule is verbs ending in ～じる・～jiru. Kanji attached to this hiragana stem are read with on’yomi (感じる・かんじる・kanjiru “to feel”)

Nouns consisting of a single kanji are usually read with kun’yomi: there are a few instances of kanji with on’yomi reading only and in such cases… well, you have no choice but to read it with on’yomi, for example: 意・い・i “meaning” or 胃・い・i “stomach”, and well… there are a few f*&kers which have both kun’yomi and on’yomi, yet when standing on its own as a noun we read them with on’yomi, for example 茶・ちゃ・cha “tea”

Nouns/adjectives composed of two kanji, which DON’T have any hiragana stem attached to it are OFTEN read with on’yomi: that’s probably the least helpful rule since there HUNDREDS of exceptions: 1) two kanji compound read with kun’yomi 暗闇・くらやみ・kurayami “darkness”, 2) two kanji compound read with mixed readings 両手・りょうて・ryoute “both hands” (りょう is on’yomi while て is kun’yomi) 3) exceptional readings: 雪崩・なだれ・nadare “avalanche” (both of these kanji are normally NOT READ like this)

Nouns/adjectives composed of two kanji, which HAVE a hiragana stem attached to it are USUALLY read with kun’yomi: look at this example: 殺人 vs. 人殺し, the first one is read with on’yomi さつじん・satsujin “murder” and the second one with kun’yomi ひとごろし・hitogoroshi “murderer”, I suspect there are exceptions to this rule but I can’t think of anything right know

More than three kanji without a hiragana stem is usually read with on’yomi

To conclude this optimistic post, I’ll give you my personal advice. Kanji can be compared to printers: when they feel your fear and impatience towards them, they refuse to cooperate. Clear your mind, get rid of your desperation, look at the kanji and read it. 

Don’t TRY to read kanji. Just read them.

That’s a logical complaint. I’ll try to answer it in another post.

[macaron-latte]

(PDF) THE SUMMARY OF 500 JAPANESE GRAMMAR POINTS (JAPANESE EDITION)

PDF | The revised version of the summary of 500 semantically ordered Japanese grammatical constructions, written in kanji/hiragana with Engl

This was posted in the Learn Japanese subreddit by user KnowYourJapan. I love love love how the grammar points are categorized by their semantic meanings which makes them a lot easier for me to learn.

[medstudentblues]

11.11.21 | time check: 1:23 in the morning. 😮‍💨 just studied for tomorrow’s shifting exam and staying up until 3 or 4 maybe to study for our pharmacology shifting exam on friday since I want to keep the good streak this finals.

I changed my table position since the internet signal by the window was laggy, so my photos aren’t going to be ~aesthetic for awhile because I spend all my time studying and catching sleep in between breaks.

last tuesday, I stepped out into the open air, let the warm, lazy afternoon comfort me, and I realized that I haven’t gone outside for two days even to walk my dog because I was literally studying 99% of the time and staying up really late like it’s the week before the exam week.

anyway, I’m slowly adjusting to this routine. it’s all or never. at least I had that warm afternoon in my memories. I watched them put up the big christmas tree in the “clubhouse” of our condo complex and I felt happy because christmas is my favorite 🎄 the afternoon walk shall resume since I’m done with my ~big reports 😌

[academes]

[average-monster]

I’m looking for a good source for like a Japanese word of the day. Preferably something customizable so I can limit it to hiragana for now and add katakana and kanji later. I know that may be reaching, so that’s not a deal breaker. I’m just looking for something to gradually expand my vocabulary.

[babyspacebatclone]

Beginner Japanese Word of the Day Index | Learn Japanese Free

This page displays all of our beginner-level daily vocabulary words. If you are a beginner of Japanese, these lessons will help with your re

A list of pages with a single word to look at. Ranges from Adjectives to Verbs to terms for siblings on the first page (If you watch anime, you now words for family members are big).

Includes the Kanji and “adult” writing for the word and sentences, but everything appears to be written out in Hirigana so you can pratice reading that and focus on pronounciations. Audio clips also there.

Sample:

I like the literal translation provided, to help emphasize the Japanese grammar, but also focusing on the more natural English meaning.

It seems tonhave stopped updating a year ago, but there’s tons for you to practice learning with.

[average-monster]

Thanks 🙂

[soulbutterlanguages]

What should you be reading to maximize your language learning?

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of literature we can learn from. Baby books bore you, but you’re not ready for any type of novel, so what’s left?

Here are some tips 

For beginner/A1/A2 learners

Watch a YouTube video in your target language, then read the comments

you’ll already have vocabulary from watching the video, most of the comments will probably use that vocab

it’s a short enough text that you won’t get fatigued

the only downside is that sometimes people utilize abbreviations and slang terms, but even these are good to know

Read news headlines and if you find one you understand almost fully, try to read the full article

sometimes the vocabulary used is not common in everyday usage, but it’s a total win for an A1 learner to fully read and mostly understand any text

while vocab is not used everyday, it will give you the ammunition to talk about that particular topic

Watch Netflix in target language with subtitles in the same language

believe it or not, you will learn to read better, especially because you don’t have to understand written description of visuals (usually uses very niche vocab) or emotion

and now you can slow down or speed up 

I watched DARK in German before I felt like I could read a book, and I understood 85% of it. This is because I looked up some vocabulary in the first episodes and they continued to use it throughout the show so it really cemented in my head to the point where I don’t even think about it. Now, I had to rewatch some conversations the characters had, but that’s much better for understanding than switching it to English or looking up full phrases and sentences. 

For intermediate/B1/B2 learners

read fanfiction

it’s ALWAYS good to read about something you’re interested in so if you like any major movies, books, television, this is the perfect option for you

most people use relatively basic language and you can choose the length 

find a comic book or graphic novel

like watching tv, that visual aid really helps with understanding of the plot without all those tricky descriptions

read a book in your target language that you’ve read and loved in your native language

this is by far my favorite way

you don’t have to worry about trying to understanding the bigger picture because you already know what’s happening/what will happen, you really have to discover the meaning of each sentence and then you begin to picture the scene using only your target language

Check out my other post for methods of how to get the most out of reading !

[goodplan-ipromise]

[goodplan-ipromise]

🌷Helpful One A Day Japanese Videos For The Beginners!🌷

Easy Japanese | NHK WORLD-JAPAN On Demand

Fun and easy Japanese! Fast track your language learning with these simple expressions! Plus handy travel tips and easy kanji! Give it a try

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/program/video/easyjapanese/?type=tvEpisode&

🍡This is just to get you to start taking some and boost your confidence. Obviously start at video 1 and work up. Have fun!

[languagessi-deactivated20210423]

Reblog this if you are a langblr learning Japanese!

[warau-okami]

All about Japanese Particles The function of Japanese particles Japanese particles are small words that indicate relations of words within a sentence. They follow other words such as nouns, verbs, …

List of 188 Japanese particles with meaning / usage

は (wa)Indicantes the topic of a sentence

か (ka)At the end of a sentence indicating a question

が (ga)Indicates the subject of a sentence

に (ni)Indicates a location

の (no)Indicates possession

は (wa)Indicates a contrast between 2 items

に (ni)Indicates time or frequency

へ (e)Indicates direction

を (wo/o)Indicates the direct object of a verb

と (to)Used to connect and list up multiple items

や (ya)Used to connect and partially list up multiple items

など (nado)Used with や (ya) to partially list up multiple items

も (mo)means “too”, “either”, “also”

も (mo)both…and…, neither…nor…

に (ni)Indicates the indirect object of a verb

に (ni)Indicates the surface of a object where some action takes place

で (de)Indicates the location of an action

と (to)Together with

の (no)Indicates an apposition

から (kara)Indicates a starting point in time or place

より (yori)Indicates a starting point in time or place but more formal than kara (20)

まで (made)Indicates a limit on time, space or quantity

くらい (kurai)Indicates an approximate amount

ほど (hodo)Indicates an approximate amount

ばかり(bakari)Indicates an approximate amount

で (de)Indicates a means or material

か (ka)Indicates a choice or alternative

を (wo/o)Indicates a point of departure

を (wo/o)Indicates a route of a movement/motion

に (ni)Indicates a point of arrival

に (ni)Indicates an entering motion

に (ni)Used together with a verb to express a purpose

と (to)Used when quoting someone

と いう (to iu)Indicates the name of something

とか (toka)“something like”

で (de)Indicates a limit or scope

と (to)Indicates a comparison

より (yori)Indicates a comparison

より (yori)Indicates superlative

くらい (kurai)Indicates a comparison

ほど (hodo)Indicates a comparison in a negative sentence

か (ka)someone, something

も (mo)“nothing”, nobody”, nowhere” if used with an interrogative word

に (ni)Used with a verb to indicate a change or choice

をする (wo/o suru)Expresses an occupation or position

でも (demo)Indicates emphasis

でも (demo)Together with an interrogative word it means “anything”, “anyone”, any time”

で (de)Indicates a cause or a reason

から (kara)Indicates a source such as a giver, a cause or material

に (ni)Indicates a person who gives something or who provides a service

は (wa) + が (ga)Indicates the relation between an object / subjects and a verb or adjective

が (ga)Connects two sentences with the meaning “but…”

を (wo/o)Used with an verb expressing emotions, it indicates the cause of this emotion

で (de)Indicates a state / condition of something

で (de)Limits numbers

だけ (dake)Indicates a limit on things or amounts

だけ (dake)Indicates a limit on an action or state

で (de)Indicates the time of completion or expiration of something

でも (demo)Following a noun, means “or something like this”

も (mo)Emphasizes in a positive or negative way

でも (demo)Indicates two or more items as an example of a larger list

ばかり (bakari)Indicates that an item, state or action is a single one

ばかり (bakari)Indicates an action was just completed

ところ (tokoro)Indicates that an action takes place, just took place or is about to take place

が (ga)Indicates the subject of subordinate clause when it is different from the subject of the main clause

から (kara)conjunction meaning “after” or “since”

ながら (nagara)Indicates that an action is happening simultaneously

が (ga)Indicates the subject of a relative clause

の (no)Indicates the subject of a relative clause

から (kara)Used as a conjunction and indicates a cause or reason

ので (node)Indicates a strong reason

の (no)Indicates a modified pronoun

の (no)Used to nominalize verbs & sentences

なら (nara)Used as a conjunction and indicates a supposition or condition

なら (nara)Indicates a topics and is used as an alternative to wa (No.1)

と (to)Indicates a condition that results in an inevitable outcome

ば (ba)Used as a conjunction to express a probable results

ばいい (ba)“all you have to do…”

ば (ba)Used to enumerate two or more actions or states

たら (tara)Used as a conjunction, indicates a supposition or condition

たら (tara)Used as a conjunction to indicate that one action takes place before the action described in the main sentence

ところ (tokoro)Used as a conjunction to indicate a condition that brings about a discovery

ても (temo)a conjunction meaning “even if”

ても (temo)Used with a set of contrasting verbs and adjectives

ても (temo)Together with an interrogative word it means “no matter what/where/who”

ては (tewa)Indicates a condition which will bring a negative conclusion

のみ (nomi)Indicates a limit (similar to だけ　dake)

まで (made)“even”, used to emphasize

さえ (sae)“even”, used to emphasize

さえ (sae)“if only” or “as long as”

のに (noni)“although”, “in spite of the fact that”

ながら (nagara)“although”, “though”, “but”

とか (toka)Indicates that a list of two ore more things or actions is not exhaustive

たり (tari)List of two or more actions in no particular sequence

たり (tari)Indicates actions or states that alternate

のに (noni)Indicates a purpose or function

のです (no desu)Asks for an explanation or reason

きり (kiri)Indicates a limit to an amount

きり (kiri)Indicates the last time a certain incident occured

とも (tomo)Used with numbers and counters to mean “both” or “all”

ながら (nagara)Used with numbers and counters to mean “both” or “all”

しか (shika)Used with a negative verb to indicate limits on conditions or quantities meaning “only”

しかない (shika nai)used with a verb meaning “to have no choice but to”

し (shi)Used as a conjunction, indicating two or more actions or states

し (shi)Used as a conjunction indicating a reason

とも (tomo)Indicates inclusion

に (ni)Indicates the one acting or the one acted upon

か (ka)Indicates uncertainty about something

か (ka)Indicates uncertainty about a state or reason

だの (dano) Indicates two or more items or actions of a longer list (similar to toka とか)

だの (dano)Indicates a pair of opposite actions or states

など (nado)“something to the effect”

やら (yara)Indicates two or more items of a longer list

やら (yara)Indicates uncertainty

ても (temo)Indicates an approximate limit with the meaning of “at the most”

とも (tomo)Indicates an approximate maximum or minimum

は (wa)Indicates that a number is the higher or lowest limit

と (to)Emphasizes a number in a negative sentence

など (nado)Indicates examples

くらい (kurai)Expresses an extent of an action or condition similar to ぐらい gurai

ほど (hodo)Indicates the extend of an action or condition

ほど (hodo)“the more… the more…”

だけ (dake)“as… as…”

だけ (dake)“the more… the more…”

と (to)“about to do something”, “trying to do something”

と (to)“even if…”, “whether… or not”

なり (nari)“either…”, “whether…or”

なり (nari)“anything”, “anyone”, “any time”

こそ (koso)Emphasizes the word preceding it

こそ (koso)Emphasizes a reason or a cause

ては (tewa)Expresses repetition of an action

に (ni)Joins two or more nouns to indicate a list of items

に (ni)Connects two or more items to indicate a matching or a contrast

にしては (ni shite wa)Indicates a generally agreed upon standard

にとって (ni totte)Indicates an effect or value of a person or thing

について (ni tsuite)“about”, “concerning” something or someone

とも…とも (tomo… tomo)“can’t say whether… or…”

が (ga)“even if”, “whether… or not”

は (wa)Emphasizes contrasting elements

として (toshite)Indicates status, capacity or function

として (toshite)Provides emphasis in a negative sentence

ばかりでなく(bakari de naku)“not only… but also”

だけ (dake) used to express “not only…but also”

のみ (nomi)used to express “not only…but also”

なり (nari)“as soon as”

146がはやいか (ga hayai ka)“as soon as”

やいなや (ya ina ya)“as soon as”

かないうちに (ka nai uchi ni)“no sooner had”, “hardly had”

ばかり (bakari)Indicates the only action left to do

ばかりに (bakari ni)Emphasizes a reason or cause

すら (sura)Emphasizes in the meaning of “even”

など (nado)Expresses a humble attitude towards an item

とも (tomo)“no matter what”, “even if”

ともあろうひと (tomo aroo hito)To express that someone did something not to be expected

どころか (dokoro ka)“far from”, “not to mention”

だけに (dake ni)Indicates a cause or reason

までもない (made mo nai)“there is no need to…”

ものの (mono no)“but” or “although”

ところで (tokoro de)“even if”

けれども (keredomo)Connects 2 sentences meaning “but” or “although”

けれども (keredomo)Indicates a preliminary remark

が (ga)Used to soften a statement or refusal

けれども (keredomo)Indicates a desire

ね (ne)At the end of a sentence to confirm a statement

ね (ne)At the end of a sentence to soften a request or suggestion

ね (ne)At the end of a sentence to indicate a reason or cause

ねえ (nee)At the end of a sentence to indicate emotion

よ (yo)At the end of a sentence to state a strong conviction

よ (yo)At the end of a sentence to articulate a request or suggestion

かしら (kashira)At the end of a sentence to express uncertainty, a request or a question and mainly used by women

かな (kana)At the end of a sentence to express uncertainty, a request or a question and mainly used by men

な (na)At the end of a sentence and used by men to confirm a statement

な (na)At the end of a sentence to express a prohibition, used by men

なあ (naa)At the end of a sentence to express emotion, used by men

なあ (naa)At the end of a sentence to express a desire

の (no)At the end of a sentence to express a question or soften a command, used by women

わ (wa)At the end of a sentence to soften a statement, used by women

さ (sa)At the end of a sentence to indicate slight emphasis, used by men

こと (koto)At the end of a sentence to indicate emotion, used by women

こと (koto)At the end of a sentence to express a suggestion or invitation, used by women

もの (mono)At the end of a sentence to express a reason or excuse

とも (tomo)At the end of a sentence to express an assertion

ものか (monoka)At the end of a sentence to express a negative determination, used by men

や (ya)At the end of a sentence to soften a statement, request or suggestion, used by men

たら (tara)At the end of a sentence to indicate a suggestion or proposal

やら (yara)At the end of a sentence to indicate a rhetorical question with a negative implication

ぜ (ze)At the end of a sentence to add for to sentence, used by men

ぞ (zo)At the end of a sentence to add force to a sentence or to express a question to oneself

[goodplan-ipromise]

[etto-etto]

JRR #2: August 1 - August 13, 2020 

If you saw this earlier and noticed it was a giant wall of text, that’s because posting drafts from mobile seems to erase all links and other formatting in my posts. Note to self. Anyway: here’s to another set of resources. 

Yuki’s Japanese TV: He’s got a variety of video content from JLPT and grammar to vocab but also topics like food and life during a pandemic. What makes his channel extra special in my book (can you guess?) is that he speaks in Japanese. He does have some in English, and others where he speaks both, but as far as grammar—it’s in Japanese (from what I’ve seen). If that sounds intimidating, he hard subs a lot of his sentences (still in Japanese) and supplies graphics to help demonstrate points, so even if you don’t understand all that he says it’s still difficult to feel lost with Yuki.  

Automatic Japanese: I am in love with Asari’s channel! Most of her videos are spoken in Japanese and accompanied by Japanese and English subtitles (that she herself makes). She speaks with clarity and in a fair pace that I feel isn’t too fast or too slow, plus she’s given me some pretty solid learning tips this week. I also recommend checking out her IG! 

Learning Language with Youtube BETA: something I discovered from Asari! It’s similar to the LLN extension, but for YouTube. 

Learn Japanese with Noriko: a podcast in Japanese for listening practice, of course. But I love this one a little more because she offers some (limited) transcripts on her site, and that makes it a little easier (and more fun) for me to follow along. 

Erin’s Challenge! I Can Speak Japanese: having never used Erin’s Challenge, I’m not sure if this is an update of the old content or entirely new, but it’s here and ready to help you learn Japanese╭( ･ㅂ･)و ̑̑ ˂ᵒ͜͡ᵏᵎ⁾✩ It’s a series of basic and advanced skit videos with additional parts like key phrases, scripts, and manga for onomatopoeia. I went into Lesson 7 and found it to be, yeah–completely cheesy–but also fun!  

Hito’s World: a fun game for learning kanji that I think is best for beginners–either that, or for hammering in the romaji spellings. Or at least in regards to the level I’ve worked up to. (And speaking as someone who never remembers which way is left or right–as in I literally bombed the same A&P quiz twice because I confused left and right–I really have to think about whether I need to type 右 or 左. It’s… a mental exercise.) I wish it allowed or accepted hiragana, but I know it’s a WIP. You can also join r/Hito and check out the road map. 

Tobira Vocabulary: Anki deck for Tobira (obviously). Beware: although it says it’s a complete vocab set, I’ve read two comments that claim otherwise. 

Tobira Kanji: includes kanji and vocab from all Tobira chapters. Another option if Anki’s not your thing (+ it may actually contain all vocab?). I’ve tried both the Tobira Anki deck and Memrise course, and I actually prefer Memrise in this case. But that’s just me. 

Learning ENG & JPN: I did a lot of hunting to find this again, and I almost thought it was a lost resource—this is a blog run by a native Japanese speaker who is learning English. Posts are short and written in both English and Japanese while containing interesting tidbits about Japan and its culture. 

Oshaberi Izakaya: this is a completely free way to get in some speaking practice with other learners organized by Japanese teacher Izumi Ise. They meet up a few times a month, but you’re not required to attend all meetings. 

Japanese Learner Cafe: similar to the one above, this provides a means to practice speaking. The on-site English allows room for needed clarity, but this is also through Zoom and I therefore assume 100% free. If anyone decides to try it I’d be interested to know what your experience was like!

[goodplan-ipromise]

[arahir]

You write so well!! How did you get to be so good at it? owo

thank you omg! i still have a lot to learn and always will but i definitely have a better handle on writing since i've practiced it so i can say with confidence: by 1) reading everything and 2) writing whatever.

for reading: there are a few tactics that help me. i keep track of how many words i read and try to do that instead of surfing twitter and such (for my own mental health mostly lol). use the pocket app to save articles and fic to my phone. i use moonreader pro for the same thing, and calibre on my computer to keep track of books and fic and word counts. i'm not as neurotic as i used to be about it but i try to read at least 2 million words a month. fic, books, anything. even the grungiest 2002 fanfic has something to teach me lol.

i think this is the best way to learn pacing, grammar, the cadence of how writing can flow, how action looks on paper, and, most of all, what you actually enjoy and want to read. because if it's something i wanna read, then it's something i wanna write, and probably something other people will wanna read.

for writing: i try to write any bit of story down that occurs to me. even if it's just jotting down a few words of a scene on my phone or on the back of my notes. the great part about fanfic is there's no pressure there. people can share anything, be it 200 words or 20k or a totally ridiculous concept. there's no harm in writing it and no harm in posting it. i think the more i write, the less pressure/anxiety i feel about the actual process of writing and the easier it comes.

tl;dr: read everything you want and write everything you want!

i hope that helps. i know it's stupid advice but that's literally all i did/do. i know it really will piss some people off to hear that because it has in the past, but that's it. everything i've learned, i tediously and pathetically taught myself by osmosis. my last/only real writing class i took when i was 17 and i got a C- so don't let your dreams be dreams. you can and will do better than me by a lot!!

[benkyogo-deactivated20190412]

Japanese.io: Read, Understand, Learn

Japanese.io is a free resource to improve your reading fluency in Japanese. After signing up with a Facebook or Google account, you are prompted to copy-paste a text into the website. I personally want to improve my ability to read the news, so I copy-paste news articles into the site. You could also paste in novels or short stories if you can find the Japanese text online. 

Once you have pasted in the text, you can then choose to toggle on/off furigana mode. On clicking a word/kanji, an English translation comes up above the word for smooth reading. 

Any word you click on will be saved into a word bank, where you can see clearly which words you have looked up the most, and remind yourself what they mean. 

  This site is awesome for intermediate learners. I have been using it for a while and have seen my reading fluency improve. I now also have the ability to see which words I frequently have to look up. Any consistent words that trip me up will be put into my Anki decks. 

  One thing I did notice whilst inputting daily news articles is how the news is fairly consistent, especially when particular stories are dominating for a few weeks at a time (Trump, North Korea etc.). This means that even if I learn specific vocabulary that is uncommon in daily life, I can read news articles at a faster pace as the vocabulary and phrases are re-used again and again. You can access the japanese.io website here.