I can confirm as a Japanese speaker that the differences seen in frequency of vocabulary, as well as unique words that don’t translate across multiple languages are enough by themselves to significantly alter one’s way of thinking when speaking another language. That being said, in my experience, this change is mostly limited to when you are speaking a chosen language. More specifically, I don’t feel that knowing Japanese has affected my English personality to the extent that knowing Japanese has …
Author: growkaru
Although the dish can be traced back to China, “shina soba” is thought to have been brought to Japan sometime in the 18th or 19th century. Eventually, through many …
One of the key techniques to teaching yourself Japanese is to record everything. By recording your own progress in learning Japanese you will be able to give yourself the appropriate …
I’ve personally wasted a lot of time on inefficient Japanese study habits over the years, in particular before I moved to Japan. I believe that the best way to learn …
In my experience, attending a Japanese language schools provided me with the perfect environment to immerse myself in a strict ‘Japanese only’ environment. The intensity and long study-hours, as well …
Did you know that Tokyo technically isn`t a city? Technically, Tokyo is a prefecture, made up of 23 smaller mini city pocket special wards. However, Tokyo prefecture is only a …
Japanese texts were historically written to be read from the top of the page down, and right to left. This was originally due to China’s influence on Japan’s writing system, …
In my time living in Japan I have heard many people say that you need to memorize around 2000 Kanji characters to be able to fluently learn Japanese. Based on …
Japan currently has the highest life expectancy in the world. Every time I plan out a new article on this site, I do a search analysis to see what people …
While there are 3 major alphabets in Japanese, Hiragana is the most standard and widely used alphabet that binds the grammar of Japanese together. If you are just starting to …
The many things Japan is and was called. From Wakoku to both Nippon and Nihon, “The Land of the Rising Sun”, Japan, and more, Japan has been referred to by …
Torii gates serve as both the entrance and importance symbol of Shinto shrines in Japan. Symbolizing the doorway between the outside material world, and the world of the spirits found …
As someone who has studied Japanese for over 8 years, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say I’ve gone through around 30 textbooks. While finding intermediate level textbooks is comparatively …