When you go out in Japan you can expect to be asked this phrase. This is the polite way of asking how many people are in your party. When responding, instead of using the term 名様 (mei-sama) you should say (number of people) plus 人 (nin). 三人です。(San-nin desu.): Three people. P.S. Get Your Daily Dose of Japanese with 1-Minute Mini-Lessons The Daily Dose of Japanese is a Calendar that gives you new, 1-minute lessons every day. Why? Because learning a little every day is easy, strengthens your habits and motivation and you improve your Japanese over time. Lessons range from culture and holidays to grammar, slang, phrases and more. Find it in the Japanese Resources menu or in the Quick Links menu on your Dashboard. Click here to... Show more

Everybody's got to eat, right? Right! This is why food can be a great way to connect with different cultures! Food can give us a little taste (literally) of life from around the world. When you’re traveling, one of the funnest things to do is try the local restaurants and cafes. From Asia to America, every place has a few unique snacks to munch on! So what are some unique foods in Japan? Kit Kats Yep, that’s right. From Green Tea to Blueberry Cheesecake, there are dozens of interesting and quirky flavors of Kit Kat bars that can be found in Japan. They even have a Wasabi flavor for those of you who are brave enough to try! Kit Kat bars have become wildly popular in Japan. The name “Kit Kat” is often associated with the phrase... Show more

Which do you like? どちらが好きですか？ (Dochira ga sukidesu ka?) We're having another Choose One Quiz. Which do you like, 親子丼(oyakodon) or 牛丼(gyūdon)? Choose one and let us know! 親子丼(oyakodon) vs 牛丼(gyūdon) A. 親子丼(oyakodon) Oyakodon Is a combination of chicken, egg, green onion and various other ingredients that is put over rice to create a rice bowl. The litereal translation of this dishes name is parent-and-child-donburi. B. 牛丼(gyūdon) Gyūdon is a Japanese rice bowl that uses cooked beef and onions on top of rice. The dish may also include noodles, and commonly has a raw egg poured on top of it. P.S. Do you want to learn more about Japanese food? Click here to listen to related a lesson on JapanesePod101: Culture Class:... Show more

わや*！That was a hard decision to make Kyushu? Okinawa? South Korea? Taiwan? No… I made it to Hokkaido and have to start this article by talking about Salmon Ikura Don (raw salmon with salmon fish eggs on rice that I ate in Sapporo), in honor of the best dish I’ve ever eaten. First, If you want to travel in Japan and don’t know where to start, I suggest you to take a look at this list: here So...why Sapporo? Well, my two closest Japanese friends are living there... What better reason to fly north? First of all, I love big cities. Tokyo is massive and I enjoy it. However, I’m still a Swiss girl from the Alps… So I was actually really excited about this trip. The image I had of Sapporo is pretty similar to the one foreigners can have... Show more

理解することはまあまあできるけど、話すのは難しい！ Understanding is alright, but speaking is hard! Hi, my name is Noemi and this is what I have been saying for over a year whenever someone asks me about my level in Japanese. I have tons of learning books, and I think they are all good but just too heavy to carry. My Japanese friends are helping me, but it is impossible to remember everything they are teaching me, especially in a more casual context. I also took Japanese classes for 2 years, and those are generally a great option, but not so much for my wallet. In other words: I was stuck at my let’s say lower intermediate level and this needs to change. I am in Japan now, so it’s time to learn. Basically, what I need is something light and... Show more

Can you learn a language through music? Probably not. You aren’t going to learn the proper rules of grammar. You aren’t going to learn essential phrases, like how to order something at a restaurant or how to ask for directions. You probably aren’t even going to learn how to introduce yourself. However, while it would be illogical to rely solely on music to learn a language, it can definitely aid your studies. This is true for learning Japanese. Here are a few reasons why music CAN help you learn Japanese: 1. Music can help you remember! Ever had a song stuck in your head? Music stimulates memorization naturally. So while you’re singing your favorite Japanese pop song every night before bed, you’ll be working on your... Show more

Hello everyone! Ai-chan here! I was talking to my Japanese friends recently and realized how much they use onomatopoeia in conversations. Onomatopoeia in English never amazes me as much as it does in Japanese because in Japanese, it feels like they have a word for everything! Unlike English onomatopoeias, Japanese has words to describe not only the sounds made by animate or inanimate object, but also feelings, actions and state. I’m pretty sure manga lovers would have known this already! I think some of the common ones would be ワンワン (wan wan), the sound of a dog barking,ドキドキ (doki doki), the sound of a heartbeat, and キラキラ (kira kira), to describe something that is glittering. One of my favorite onomatopoeias is ゴロゴロ (goro goro)... Show more

No matter how good you are, mistakes are inevitable, especially when you’ve just started learning Japanese. There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes, but who wants to be *THAT* foreigner who makes awkward mistakes when speaking to Japanese people? In this JapanesePod101 Blog post, we’ll give you a heads up so that you can be aware of common mistakes people make, which will make your Japanese language learning experience a lot easier. 1. Don’t Attach -san to Your Own Name! One of the first things English speakers learn in Japanese is the name suffixes used when addressing other people. The most common one is -san, which we attach to people’s names to show respect. -San corresponds with “Mr.” and “Mrs.” when referring to other... Show more

Japanese anime is very popular around the world. So popular that many people decide to learn Japanese because of their love for their favorite anime shows. But one problem with learning Japanese through anime is the kind of Japanese you’ll absorb this way. The characters in anime live in their own universe, where everyone tends to use slang, casual language, informal pronouns and even made-up words. It’s very easy to spot people who learned Japanese exclusively through anime – you’ll see 20-year-old boys talking like 10-year-old kawaii girls, or 20-year-old girls talking like yakuza, for example! Needless to say, native Japanese speakers may not take them seriously! Despite this, it can actually be useful to incorporate anime into your... Show more

Click on the video below to learn about Setsubun for FREE! Setsubun (the Bean-Throwing Ceremony) is celebrated on February 3rd in Japan. Can you talk about this holiday in Japanese? In this special Weekly Words lesson, Risa will teach you about the customs and vocabulary related to Setsubun. You can also get the lesson notes, review the vocabulary and try fun quizzes on our lesson page. >> Click here to visit the lesson page on JapanesePod101! Want to find out more about Setsubun? >> Check out our FREE advanced video on JapanesePod101! Are there any events like Setsubun in your country? Let us know in the comments!