I like to talk about words as a bridge to cultural communication. Unfortunately, there’s some pretty basic reasons why this is hard: even if I talk about an adjective, beginners in Japanese will want to, you know, use them. And that can be tricky at first.
Exhibit A for “Moe” After showing the Madoka Magica character Homura as a rather icy, hardcore combatant for most of the show, Episode 10 of the show revealed Homura to have had more humble origins as a clutzy, ditzy, glasses-wearing girl. A figure has been released that is extremely cute and can include this “moe” (“budding”) look. As defining moe (mo-ay) is concerned, a picture really is worth a thousand words.
Hi, I haven’t been able to blog enough lately due to personal scheduling. A busy stretch has now ended, so I wanted to cover some important Japanese basics for early learners.
The kanji for “noren” are 暖, which is used for “atatakai” (warm), and 簾, which is used for screen/ blind in the furnishing sense. Perhaps we should therefore understand the original intent as warmth blinds, blinds intended to add figurative warmth to a home or establishment.
風 (かぜ)The wind (kaze) is all around us. It can be gentle (yasashii) or violent (hageshii).
Here’s a fun post I was linked to. The post is by a certain Derek Silvers. It explains that in Japan, streets don’t have the names, but blocks do. Details – and visuals – at the link. I hadn’t thought about it even though I’ve had to translate addresses before. – J
This is the audio for a Japanese lesson I put together as a free sample for someone. It’s meant to show off what I can do while providing some basic assistance that will benefit most Japanese language learners for literally years. Audio below; slides after the break.
[audio:https://jp.learnoutlive.com/media/Fun%20With%20Japanese%20Particles.mp3]
Not In An Anime Near YouThe Virgola is a fictional machine designed as a video game original for the crossover mecha game Super Robot Taisen Z (Super Robot Wars Z). By “original,” we mean that it does not appear in any anime. So far, this includes Original Generations anime seasons 1 and 2.
Here’s a phrase I randomly saw in a video game: “Kanarazu modotte kuru!!” This roughly means, “I’ll be back!” (though not with the same delivery as the Governator, above.)
