Japanese learning blog
Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
All articles · Page 146
The Gojuon Chart and Why Its Order Matters
The kana chart is arranged by how the sounds are made, which is why it explains verb conjugation as well as dictionary order.
6 min readWriting Foreign Sounds in Katakana
Japanese has a set of katakana combinations invented specifically to write sounds the language does not otherwise have, and your name probably needs one.
5 min readWhy Kana Is the Key to Japanese Rhythm
One kana is one beat, which means the script you already know is a diagram of the rhythm you are trying to produce.
6 min readHow to Read Kana Faster Without Sounding Out
You learned the kana in two weeks and you are still reading them one character at a time a year later, which is the normal and fixable outcome.
5 min readWhy Japanese Without Kanji Is Harder to Read
Removing the kanji from Japanese does not simplify it; it removes the only thing marking where one word ends and the next begins.
6 min readHow to Write Meeting Minutes in Japanese
Minutes are the easiest Japanese business document to write, because the structure is fixed and almost nothing in them is a full sentence.
6 min readWriting a Business Report in Japanese
A Japanese business report puts the conclusion first, which is the opposite of how most people are taught to write one.
5 min readWriting a Formal Apology in Japanese
A Japanese apology letter is judged less on how sorry it sounds and more on whether it explains what will stop the problem recurring.
6 min readJapanese for Business Chat and Team Messaging
Business chat in Japan is not email with the formalities removed, and it is not casual messaging with a few polite endings added.
6 min readWriting Numbers and Dates in Japanese Documents
A Japanese form may ask for a year you have never used, written in a numeral system you have not needed until now.
5 min readChecking Your Own Japanese Writing Before You Send It
Writing gives you time that speaking does not, which means a written mistake is one you had every opportunity to catch.
5 min readWriting a Proposal Document in Japanese
A Japanese proposal has to work when you are not in the room, because it will be read by people you have never met.
6 min readPractical guides
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