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 29
Culture and etiquetteJapanese Gestures and Body Language Explained
Half of a Japanese conversation happens below the neck. Learn what the hands are saying and the sentence that usually rides on top of each gesture, and everyday exchanges suddenly make sense.
15 min read
Culture and etiquetteJapanese Seasonal Greetings and Yearly Events
The Japanese year is a calendar of set phrases. Learn which line belongs to which month and you can open almost any conversation with the words a native speaker was already expecting.
14 min read
Culture and etiquetteVisiting a Japanese Home: Etiquette and Phrases
A home visit is the one situation where every step has a set phrase and the host is quietly hoping you know it. This guide walks through the visit in order, with the lines you say and the lines you will hear back.
16 min read
Culture and etiquetteHow to Give and Receive Compliments in Japanese
A compliment in Japanese is a small negotiation. The giver keeps it light and specific, the receiver plays it down, and both walk away pleased. Here is how each side sounds, and where the traps are.
15 min read
VocabularyJapanese Colours: Words, Grammar, and Everyday Uses
Japanese colours are easy to memorise and surprisingly easy to get wrong, because red and green do not follow the same grammar. This guide sorts the colours by how they behave and puts each one into a sentence you will actually say.
14 min read
VocabularyJapanese Animal Words and the Sounds They Make
Animal words are some of the first Japanese you learn and some of the last you use correctly, because each one arrives with a counter, a verb, and a sound of its own.
15 min read
VocabularyJapanese Body Parts Vocabulary for Daily Life
Body words turn up far beyond the clinic: you need them to describe a friend, book a haircut, tell a masseur where it hurts, and understand why a colleague says their hands are not free.
15 min read
VocabularyJapanese Weather Words for Small Talk and Forecasts
Weather is the first thing Japanese people say to each other and the last thing learners prepare for, even though the whole exchange runs on about forty words.
14 min read
VocabularyJapanese Food and Drink Vocabulary Beyond the Menu
Menu Japanese gets you fed. The words in this guide let you say what the food was like, ask what is in it, choose a drink the way you want it, and talk about what you cook at home.
14 min read
VocabularyJapanese Words for Emotions and Feelings
Feeling words are among the first Japanese adjectives you learn and the last you use correctly, because the grammar around them decides whose feeling you are describing.
13 min read
VocabularyJapanese Jobs and Occupations Vocabulary
Your job is one of the first three things anyone asks about in Japanese, and the answer needs more than a noun. Here are the words, the endings hidden inside them, and the grammar that makes the answer sound natural.
14 min read
VocabularyTalking About Hobbies in Japanese
Shumi wa nan desu ka is the question every Japanese learner is asked in the first five minutes, and a one-word answer wastes it. This post gives you the pattern, the verbs, and the follow-ups that turn it into a real conversation.
14 min readPractical guides
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