In this lesson you will learn what adjective describes your personality best. In this video, Risa a native Japanese speaker, will explain the simple adjectives you need. They’re written in both Japanese characters and the alphabet, giving all the tools you need to get started in your Japanese study. Here is our list!
We always see this kind of advice on the Internet: “You should watch Japanese drama, it helped me to quickly progress” or “There is nothing better than anime without subtitles for learning Japanese”.
Can you really learn a language without much effort by watching anime?
Following this advice can bring many advantages:
Attuning your ears to Japanese by listening to native speakers
Boosting your vocabulary
Boosting your dialogue-related listening comprehension
Letting you hear a language used in context
Learning passively while having funAt the end of the day, it seems like a great idea, but in reality it’s not totally true… Actually, it varies! We definitely recommend that you expose yourself to a lot of resources in their original language such as movies, drama, anime, music…for the reasons above. But you will never learn Japanese like that.
Anime as a complement to your learning tools
It’s best to see these videos as a Japanese learning complement. You need to acquire a certain amount of vocabulary and grammar in order to better comprehend a Japanese video or conversation.
This is our approach: JapanesePod101.com brings you tons of audio and video lessons, from songs to dialogues and cultural insights, and each of these lessons has a grammar focus, a vocabulary list, a lesson transcript and notes so that you don’t miss any points. We give you the foundation you need to be able to understand anime and benefit from watching it.
The “watch anime and learn Japanese” concept is just a myth. A lot of high school students improve their English level by reading books and comics, or watching dramas and movies in English with subtitles in their own language. You, meanwhile, might watch all 700 episodes of One Piece or Dragon Ball in Japanese but still not make any progress!
The difference? Those foreign students are not starting from scratch when they use this method to learn Japanese. Even though they might still be at a low level, they were working on some solid foundations.
Basically, what you will hear after 6 months of watching anime in Japanese, while hiding the subtitles, would probably be something like:
bla bla bla bla bla Hello bla bla bla bla Thank you for this meal bla bla bla bla die A**hole bla bla bla Kawaiiii bla bla bla bla bla It hurts! bla bla bla bla I love you bla bla bla bla bla bla really!?
The key is the amount of passive vocabulary you already have. It’s all the vocabulary you understand when listening to or reading Japanese, without having the need to search in the dictionary. Our brain has limited capacity and if it doesn’t recognize 70-80% of the words in a sentence, it will be incapable of filling in the blanks to give a sense to the unknown words based on the context.
Let’s look at these two cases:
1. You are at a beginner level of Japanese
2. You are at an intermediate level of Japanese
In both cases, you must expose yourself to a lot of Japanese media: podcasts, videos and so on…
In the first case, your brain won’t be able to analyze what you hear when you’re watching anime because you miss too many words. Of course we don’t forbid you from watching anime, but be aware that you are only training your ears to become accustomed to the sounds of Japanese. This is a good start, though. But you will also need to start learning grammar basics and vocabulary. Our Japanese for Absolute Beginners series will offer you the resources you need to quickly understand the foundations of the Japanese language, through entertaining topics.
If you are at an intermediate level, you will need to acquire a lot of vocabulary covering a large range of topics. Challenge yourself with our Listening Comprehension series on YouTube, listen to our podcasts and verify through the lesson notes and transcripts that you understood everything, from the grammar point to the explanation of the kanji used in the lesson.
Anime can be a great learning tool because it’s fun and there is a lot of it around. Just make sure to do a little extra work to optimize its use! Don’t forget to sign up for your Free Lifetime Account to access all our resources and be able to watch anime without subtitles!
Stuck in traffic? Losing time in your car? Have you ever felt that in all this wasted time, you could have watched the 750 episodes of One Piece, finished the last Super Mario ten times, or even better…you could have learned Japanese? Between family, friends and work, in addition to this time-consuming commute, it can become difficult to find time to properly learn Japanese.
Fortunately, every problem has a solution, and what could be a better solution than turning that commute time into learning time? Stop passing the time mindlessly listening to the radio and try some of our best tips for mastering Japanese in your car!
You can learn Japanese in your car, hands free
While driving, it’s important that you keep your focus on the road, so this is why our top tips won’t require you to use your hands!
Listening to Japanese audio content in the car is a good way to learn
This is because it is a fun and efficient way to learn. With JapanesePod101.com podcasts, you will be able to discover Japanese culture through topics about everyday life. Instead of the radio, listen to a Japanese podcast adapted to your level, from Absolute Beginner to Advanced, and you will make progress sooner that you would expect!
You can listen to Japanese music in the car
Did you know that you can learn Japanese by singing while driving? Listen to songs from anime or Japanese idols and try to identify some words you learned.
You can also go to our YouTube Channel and play our Kids’ Songs playlist! Challenge yourself! Use the Japanese you’ve studied up to this point and see how much you understand! Making the jump to real-life Japanese is a scary one, but friendly children’s songs are a great place to start!
You can learn alone in your car
When you’re driving alone, you can be as loud as you want – there is nothing better for remembering your Japanese lessons than repeating loudly, again and again. Next time you see a driver who seems to be talking alone, you will know he or she is just learning Japanese!
You can learn through repetition with your passengers
If there are passengers in the car, it can be more stimulating to learn together. You can set a role play with Japanese dialogues. With JapanesePod101.com, you can download all the lessons transcript including the dialogues, as a PDF. Print it out and have some fun speaking in Japanese!
One of the passengers can answer the quiz available on each of our lessons, while another can correct that person. Listening to someone at a more advanced level of Japanese or a better accent is positive and helps you improve.
You can learn Japanese offline
Do you have a poor connection or are unable to use the Internet? It’s not a problem for learning Japanese! Before you start your commute, use our App to download the lessons you want to study and the podcast you want to listen to in your car, and you will be able to enjoy your lessons offline. Entering a tunnel won’t be a problem anymore. What a pleasure to listen to audio content without having the host freezing every 5 seconds!
You can learn every day at your own pace
One of the best approaches for learning a language is little by little and often. It’s not efficient to take in a huge amount of information at one time. What you need is to study on a regular basis – a little bit of Japanese every day. You commute several days a week, and that is all time you can take advantage of!
You have the freedom to choose the lessons and podcasts you want to focus on, at your own rhythm. You may want to do a little revision or discover how to talk about a new topic. And if you’re wondering what to learn next, you can use the new Learning Paths, which is our customized pathway feature that gives you a step-by-step way to learn Japanese without getting lost!
If you don’t have a car and commute by another method, these tips are still valid! Learning Japanese is no longer limited to the classroom or your house; there are so many benefits to learning in your car or elsewhere. Reaching a conversational level will take you less time than you could ever have imagined! Don’t forget to sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and enjoy our content!
In Japan many things are considered to bring good or bad luck. Superstitions are strongly entrenched in Japanese society, and some of them are meant to teach lessons or serve as practical advice. Here is a list of the top 10 superstitions in Japan you must know!
1) Numbers 4 and 9 are considered to be unlucky numbers because 4 in Japanese is sometimes pronounced し which means “death,” while 9 is also sometimes pronounced く and means “suffering.” In the US, some old buildings don’t have a 13th floor, while in Japan hospitals and some hotels don’t have a 4th floor. Often the room number 4 and rooms 40 through 49 are not there. When you give a gift of a set of plates or cups to somebody, it is usually 3 or 5 rather than 4. So if you are giving presents in Japan, be careful not to give 4.
2) Hearses are probably one of the most important bad luck symbols in Japan. If you see a funeral car passing, you should hide your thumb, making a fist with the thumb inside. The reason is that the thumb is like a parent finger, so by doing this you are protecting them from the spirit of the deceased that lingers around the car. Some people even hide their thumbs when passing a graveyard or a funeral.
3) When you attend a funeral and come back before you enter your house, you have to throw salt on yourself. Salt kind of cleanses things. When a friend is with you, you throw salt on each other, or on yourself if you are alone.
4) Another one that is related to night, is that you shouldn’t cut your nails at night. Because if you do that, you won’t be able to be with your parents when they die. One of the main reasons would be that cutting your nails at night may result in your death, so you won’t be able to see your parents die. In the past, they had to use knives or other sharp cutting tools to cut their nails. Which can be quite dangerous at night…
5) Speaking of night, another superstition that’s related to night is whistling in the night. If you whistle at night, a snake could come out. There are some poisonous snakes in Japan, so you really don’t want them to come out. Whistling is also known to have been used as a sign by burglars and criminals to communicate to each other. It’s better to avoid them too.
6) There are other animal-related superstitions as well. A black cat is considered to be bad luck nowadays, but this superstition has been imported from the west. So if people see a black cat, they will stop and wait to see which way it goes so they don’t cross its path. Having a spider inside your house at night is bad luck, but if you see it in the morning, it’s good luck.
7) Japanese people don’t sleep facing north. Someone sleeping face north might receive bad luck, or it could be even worse, as death is known to welcome whoever sleeps facing north.
8 ) Don’t write a person’s name in red ink, because it is considered as inauspicious. This is due to names on grave markers being red.
9) There is a lucky cat symbol called maneki neko. It’s a cat with one paw held up. They often have these in shops or places where business is done because it’s supposed to bring good fortune.
10) There is one more lucky thing that Japanese people might carry called omamori, in their bag or purse. It is a kind of amulet that protects. They have different types of omamori – some are for success in business or study, some are for curing illness, preventing traffic accidents and so on. You can buy them at shrines.
On the subject of shrines, did you know that in Japan if you are making a big wish, you might consider doing it at a shrine? Traditionally when people need a prayer to be answered, they would just visit a shrine and give money in return.
Shortcuts for learning and tips to remember Japanese words are useful but it’s even also important to fix objectives to reach every month! What Is Your Language Learning Goal for the Month?
In your journey to become fluent and conversational here are 10 monthly goals you can go after!
– あなたの事を愛しています。
Anata no koto o aishiteimasu.
I love you.
– あなたは私にとって、とても大事な存在です。
Anata wa watashi ni totte totemo daijina sonzaidesu.
You mean so much to me.
– バレンタインを一緒に過ごしてくれる？
Barentain o issho ni sugoshite kureru?
Will you be my Valentine?
– 君はとても美しいよ。
Kimi wa totemo utsukushī yo.
You’re so beautiful.
– 私は、友達以上としてあなたのことを考えている。
Watashi wa, tomodachi ijou toshite anata no koto o kangaete iru.
I think of you as more than a friend.
– 百個のハートでも、君を愛しているというのは表現しつくせない。Hyaku-ko no hāto demo, kimi o aishi teru to iu no wa hyōgen shi tsukusenai.
A hundred hearts would be too few to carry all my love for you.
– 愛」はただ単に「愛」である。説明なんてできない。
`Ai’ wa tada tan ni `ai’ de aru. Setsumei nante dekinai.
Love is just love. It can never be explained.
– あなた、とてもハンサムですね。
Anata, totemo hansamu desu ne.
You’re so handsome.
– 私はあなたに一目惚れした。
Watashi wa anata ni hitome bore shita
I’ve got a crush on you.
– あなたは私により良い男になろうと思わせてくれた。
Anata wa watashi ni yori yoi otoko ni narou to omowa sete kureta.
You make me want to be a better man.
– どんな事も愛情をもってやりなさい。
Don’na koto mo aijō o motte yarinasai.
Let all that you do be done in love.
– あなたは私の太陽、そして愛です。
Anata wa watashi no taiyō, soshite aidesu.
You are my sunshine, my love.
– 言葉であなたへの愛情は言い表せられない。
Kotoba de anata e no aijō wa ii arawaserarenai
Words can’t describe my love for you.
– 私たちは一緒になる運命だったんだ。
Watashitachi ha issho ni naru unmei datta’nda.
We were meant to be together.
– これを読んでいる時に誰かの事を考えているなら、あなたは恋に落ちているに違いない。
Kore o yonde iru toki ni dareka no koto o kangaete irunara, anata wa koiniochite iru ni chigainai.
If you were thinking about someone while reading this, you’re definitely in love.
We recently gave you some shortcuts to learn Japanese.
In your journey to become fluent and conversational in less time that is needed to say “Gotta catch ’em all”, we will this time give you the Top 15 tips to remember words!
1. Use repetition: reading, writing and speaking words over and over again.
2. Associate words with drawings, pictures and funny scenes.
3. Try to use the language routinely in the context of daily life.
4. Reading as much as possible, especially the newspaper, helps you to remember words.
Golden week is almost here! In few days it will be the beginning of the Golden week, the longest public holiday in Japan.
It’s an exciting moment for a lot of people as it’s the period for some time off and to fully enjoy Spring. Here is the list of Top Words you need to know for your holidays!
Here are some handy ways you can master the quotes with this lesson:
Press the sound icon to hear each word and read along
Review all words in a slideshow by pressing “View Slideshow”
Listen to all the words in one lesson with “Play Audio”
Add the words to your Word Bank or Flashcards
Print the entire list out for your personal review
Leave us a comment and put these quotes to use
Speak and master even more Japanese with our fun audio and video lessons made by real teachers. Click on “Browse Lessons” in the top menu to access our massive library. Then, start speaking minutes into your lesson.
Japan is a country rich in pop culture, which has spread all around the world and had a big influence. Popular culture changes quickly and drastically, but who are the biggest icons from Japanese Pop Culture in recent years? Here is our Top 5!
1. ハローキティ – Hello Kitty
Hello Kitty, also known as Kitī-chan in Japanese, is one of the major characters in Japan, and a symbol of “Cute” culture. Hardcore fans of Kitty are called kitirā (キティラー). Hello Kitty is popular overseas as well. For example, celebrities like Paris Hilton, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga are known to be enthusiastic Kitty fans.
2. AKB48
AKB48 is currently the most popular idol group in Japan, and known for the fact that they have many overseas fans as well. Working from the concept of “idols whose fans can meet and greet”, they have live performances at their own theater, or handshake sessions as part of their service to their fans. AKB was the first female idol group in Japan to adopt a general election system to decide on its members.
3. 初音ミク – Hatsune Miku
Many people may think of Hatsune Miku as a character with green twin ponytails. Hatsune Miku has been recognized as one of the most famous characters in the world, but the name was originally used for a synthetic vocal sound source. When they created a character of a virtual reality idol for the sound source so that it would be more realistic, it became a big hit across Japan. And not only did it become popular in the country, but it has also gained a big reputation overseas, and even performed in the first part of one of Lady Gaga’s concerts.
4. きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ – Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu is a fashion icon of the Kawaii (かわいい, “cute”) style, which is highly regarded overseas, and has gone on multiple word tours. She has also been chosen as the “Harajuku Kawaii Ambassador” (Harajuku kawaii taishi, 原宿カワイイ大使) based in Harajuku, which is the center of Japanese pop culture. Although she started her career as a fashion model in Japan, she has become well-known as a singer since her first single Tsukematukeru (つけまつける) was a big hit.
5. ポケモン – Pokemon
Pocket Monsters – also known as Pokemon – have captured the hearts of children, not only in Japan, but also around the world. It all started from game software for Game Boy which was released by Nintendo in 1996. The game was so popular among both boys and girls that it became one of the biggest megahits in the Japanese game industry. This year Pokemon celebrated its 20th anniversary with a 5 million dollar commercial.
Speak and master even more Japanese with our fun audio and video lessons made by real teachers. Click on “Browse Lessons” in the top menu to access our massive library.
