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Category Archives: Languages
Video Lesson: Japanese Sentence Structure
Watch And Learn This is a little video on Japanese sentence structure, narrated by yours truly, Jeremiah Bourque, as used in my private Japanese tutoring lessons. Thank you very much.
Greetings, Meetings, and Farewells in Japanese
Hear Me Speak! …And Pronunciate Just listen along and we’ll be covering many common Japanese greetings, for meetings and otherwise, and goodbyes and farewells. I hope that this not only helps you understand the words themselves, but to gain a … Continue reading
Japanese Language: The Above Text
以上の文 Beyond the two uses of 以上 (ijou) mentioned in the previous post, there is an additional use very important to all aspirants to pass tests like the JLPT and so forth. In the headline above, 文 (bun) means sentences. … Continue reading
Japanese Language: End of Message
以上 Many Japanese e-mails, letters, and so forth, end with the above kanji, read as ijou. This is used in the same way as many Americans would use EOM, standing for End of Message, indicating that there is no more … Continue reading
Japanese Language: Do You Like Me?
Sweet-Talking Video Game Demon Girls This is a dialog in Persona 2: Innocent Sin, the first version of two games that were both labeled Persona 2. I have not tried the second, but I have very fond memories of the … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Languages
Tagged dialog, Innocent Sin, Japanese, language, nihongo, Persona, relationships
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The Nuances of Learning Japanese
It’s About The Little Things Some other things in my life have stabilized so I’m going to devote a little time to this blog to put some ideas out. Nihongo: A Precision Instrument In Japanese literature, the meanings of Japanese … Continue reading
Japanese Language and Culture: The Path
道 In Japanese language, this kanji represents the path. As a solo kanji, it is read as みち (michi). As part of compounds, it is read as ドウ (dou). In English, this is usually translated as the way for various … Continue reading
Japanese Language: I love My Cat (Pronunciation)
Pronunciation Exercise This is a Japanese pronunciation exercise intended for beginners and early intermediates. A girl from Saudi Arabia asked me to create a short sentence that uses all Japanese vowel sounds. I think this works. The English “I love … Continue reading
Posted in Japan, Japanese, Languages, Pronunciation
Tagged cat, Japanese, language, learning, neko, pronunciation
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Pattern and パターン
Did You Know… The Japanese word “pataan” (katakana: パターン) is 100% based on the English word pattern? Not all Japanese people (日本人、nihonjin) know this. After all, they know the word as part of their language, a loan word, one of … Continue reading
Japanese Culture: Geisha, A Term Of Art
芸者 (げいしゃ、geisha) Let’s start with a bang: Geisha is a gender-neutral term in the original Japanese. This word is actually quite simple, combining 芸 (“gei,” lit. performance) with 者 (“sha,” lit. “person who does ___”). Thus, the word itself suggests a … Continue reading