Did you know that word order doesn’t matter much in Japanese sentences? Japanese sentence structure is quite different from a language like English. In English, word order determines the major part of the sentence. For instance, in the sentence, Chris called Melissa, if you switch the locations of Chris and Melissa the meaning of the […]
Japanese Particles – Can You Answer These?
Are you struggling with Japanese Particles? They are confusing, aren’t they? What Are Particles? Particles are grammatical markers that are attached to a word and indicate how the word functions in Japanese sentences. They are written either one of two Hiragana letters, and pretty much meaningless as isolated entities. For instance, the Particle NI に […]
What is Miso Paste? – Secrets for Japanese Longevity
Have you ever wondered why Japanese people live such long lives? (average life span for men: 80.79 years old; for women: 87.05 years old) I have wondered and suspected if it is due to many fermented foods we consume on a daily basis. Miso paste is one of them. Do you know Japanese miso paste? […]
How to Memorize Japanese Vocabulary
Today I want to talk about how to memorize Japanese vocabulary since I get the question a lot. Let’s face the fact, there is no quick and easy way to memorize new words in any language. It heavily depends on your efforts and repetition. Having said that, I know a few methods that worked for my students. […]
Japanese Stories for Kids – Karasu no Panyasan
Let’s Read Japanese Stories for Kids! Reading Japanese stories for kids written in Hiragana by a real Japanese author is a great way to improve your reading skills. Today I want to read a book for you that I recommend as a Japanese reading material. The book is called Karasu no Panyasan. (Mr. Crow’s Bakery) […]
How to Write Japanese Hiragana H Group – はひふへほ
Konnichiwa! Let’s learn how to write Japanese Hiragana H Group today- は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ. Read this post first, How to Write Japanese Letters if you are not familiar with the basic rules of hand-writing Japanese letters. You can access the previous Hiragana lessons here. I strongly recommend you to master Hiragana according to the Hiragana chart. Here is […]