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Tag Archives: Japanese
Japanese Idioms: O-tsukaresama desu
Thank You For Your Hard Work Usually, when お疲れ様です (o-tsukaresama desu) rolls off the Japanese tongue, it can be safely understood as “Thank you for your hard work.” The “o” part means that this applies to someone else. The “tsukare” part … Continue reading
Hitotsu! Japanese in Karate
一つ The easiest reading of 一つ (ひとつ、hitotsu) is one. So how can we explain something like this? Behold:
Nova Scotia and Japan
ノバスコシア This is “Nova Scotia” in katakana. This is the province of Canada (カナダ) in which I live. While largely the same latitude as Japan, it is a world away, with a 13 hour difference between Atlantic Standard Time and … Continue reading
Japanese Cultural Principles: Gaman
Gaman (我慢、がまん) I saw this word being used as a cultural principle over at the Japan Times in an article about a modern production of the Tale of the Forty-Seven Ronin (known natively as the Chuushingura – “chuushin” (中心) means … Continue reading
So You Want To Read Manga In Japanese
Try This. I only just saw this, but try this link and take a look. It’s by the Japan Foundation and well, I can’t draw and I can’t program in Flash by myself, so I don’t want to repeat anything … Continue reading
Japanese: Shinobi Made Verb
“Shinobi” Comes From Somewhere Now, very serious ninja fanatics may know, or suspect, that the word shinobi, used as a synonym for ninja (even by the Japanese), is derived from the verb shinobu (忍ぶ、しのぶ), meaning to hide (and also, to … Continue reading
Japanese: Making Things Plain
はっきりする The word はっきり (hakkiri) exists only in hiragana.This does not mean it is unimportant. Rather, it simply means that its roots are entirely native Japanese. This word is most often pressed into service as a “suru” (する) verb, which … Continue reading
Informal Japanese: Why It’s Important
Not Every Situation Is Formal One of the real, visceral failings of standard Japanese courses is that they only teach the formal versions of verbs in the classroom. Granted, this is good for academic situations, the conduct of professional business, … Continue reading
J-Comi: Can It Overcome Growing Pains?
Some Unrequested Advice 日本語版は英語の後 (Japanese version below English) So, I was speaking to my Japanese culture interested friends about J-Comi. I had asked for an update if the site went up, and apparently it did. Also, it apparently has some … Continue reading