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Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
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How Many Japanese Words Do You Need to Speak?
Conversation runs on a much smaller vocabulary than learners assume, which is why adding another thousand words so rarely makes speaking easier.
7 min readSpeaking Japanese in Izakayas and Other Noisy Places
Your Japanese was fine in the cafรฉ and useless in the izakaya, and the difference is not the drink.
7 min readWhy You Feel Like a Different Person in Japanese
You are funny in your own language and flat in Japanese, and it is easy to conclude that the problem is your personality rather than your vocabulary.
7 min readGiving a Presentation in Japanese Without Reading It
A presentation is the one speaking situation where you can prepare every word, which is exactly why so many learners deliver an unlistenable one.
7 min readInterpreting Between Japanese and Your Own Language
The first time somebody asks you to interpret for a friend, you discover that speaking two languages and moving between them are different skills.
7 min readReading the Room in Japanese: Kuuki wo Yomu
Someone said yes and meant no, and everybody in the room understood except you.
7 min readWhy Japanese Phone Calls Are Harder Than Talking in Person
You can hold a conversation in a cafรฉ and freeze completely on the phone, and the reason is that a phone call takes away three things you did not know you were using.
7 min readShould You Mix English Into Your Japanese?
Reaching for an English word mid-sentence keeps the conversation moving, and done often enough it is also the reason your Japanese stops improving.
7 min readHow to Practise Keigo Until You Can Actually Say It
You can identify sonkeigo on a test and you cannot produce it at a counter, and those two facts are entirely compatible.
7 min readHow to Get More Out of a Japanese Tutor Session
An hour with a tutor can be the most valuable hour of your week or a pleasant conversation you have paid for, and the difference is decided before it starts.
7 min readMaking Yourself Clear in Japanese Without Sounding Blunt
You said something perfectly grammatical and they understood a different sentence, because Japanese let you leave out the part that mattered.
7 min readWhat to Do When Someone Corrects Your Japanese
The correction was helpful and it cost you the next three sentences, because you were still thinking about it.
6 min readPractical guides
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