Learn a little Japanese everyday with the free Japanese Word of the Day Widget. Check back daily for more vocabulary!痛み　 (itami) pain (noun)彼女が別れを告げたとき、とても辛かった。Kanojo ga wakare o tsugeta toki, totemo tsurakatta.There was a lot of pain when she said goodbye.腰痛を患うと、それを和らげるのはとてもむずかしい。Yōtsū o wazurau to, sore o yawarageru no wa totemo muzukashii.It is very hard to get comfortable when you suffer from back pain.背中の痛みsenaka no itamiback ache辛い時期を過ごすtsurai jiki o sugosugoing through pain背中の痛みsenaka no itamiback pain肩の痛みkata no itamishoulder pain肩の痛みkata no itamishoulder painOwn a blog or website? Share free language content with your readers with the Japanese Word of the Day with Audio Widget. Click here for instructions on how to embed and... Show more

Learn a little Japanese everyday with the free Japanese Word of the Day Widget. Check back daily for more vocabulary!トイレットペーパー (toirettopēpā) toilet paper (noun)バスルームに換えのトイレットペーパーがあるか確認しなさい。Basurūmu ni kae no toirettopēpā ga aruka kakuninshinasai.Make sure you keep extra toilet paper in the bathroom.トイレットペーパーを二巻（ふたまき）買った。Toirettopēpā o futa-maki katta.I bought two rolls of toilet paper.一巻（ひとまき）のトイレットペーパーhito-maki no toirettopēpāroll of toilet paperOwn a blog or website? Share free language content with your readers with the Japanese Word of the Day with Audio Widget. Click here for instructions on how to embed and customize this free widget!

Learn a little Japanese everyday with the free Japanese Word of the Day Widget. Check back daily for more vocabulary!借りる rent (verb)家を買うより借りる方を好む。Ie o kau yori kariru hō o konomu.Instead of owning a house, I prefer to rent one.私のアパートの家賃は高すぎる。Watashi no apāto no yachin wa taka sugiru.The rent on my apartment is too expensive.私の家族はアパートを所有しており、私達の部屋以外は全て貸し出している。Watashi no kazoku wa apāto o shoyū shite ori, watashi-tachi no heya igai wa subete kashidashite iru.My family owns an apartment building, and we rent all the rooms except ours.賃貸を好みます。Chintai o konomimasu.I prefer to rent.家賃滞納yachintainōlate rent家を借りるie o karirurent a house月々の賃貸tsukizuki no chintaimonthly rentOwn a blog or website? Share free language content with your readers with the... Show more

Learn a little Japanese everyday with the free Japanese Word of the Day Widget. Check back daily for more vocabulary!旅行代理店 travel agency (noun)旅行代理店と旅行代理業者ryokō-dairiten to ryokō-dairigyōshatravel agency and travel agent旅行代理店にいる旅行代理人ryokō-dairiten ni iru ryokō-dairinintravel agent at a travel agencyOwn a blog or website? Share free language content with your readers with the Japanese Word of the Day with Audio Widget. Click here for instructions on how to embed and customize this free widget!

If you are in Japan for business or travel, or meeting you Japanese friend's family in your own country, we are sure you would love to impress your Japanese hosts. But you have heard that Japanese is difficult and a mistake can cause great confusion or trouble. Don't worry! Here we bring you some useful tips for that sucessful first meeting: "Kon'nichi wa. Watashi wa desu" こ んにちは。　わたしは です My name is . in this sentence, こんにちは Kon'nichi wa is the Japanese equivalent of "hello" and can be used at any time of day. わ たし Watashi is a polite way for males or females to say "I" or "me." は wa is a particle that follows the topic you are going to be talking about. です Desu is called a copula, and refers to one type... Show more

「走る」「食べる」などの語は、動作を表わす語群に分類され「動詞」と呼ばれます。今日は、文法の教科書に載っていない動詞を紹介しましょう。 「事故る」「愚痴る」「皮肉る」などがそれです。 名詞に「る」をつけて動詞として使う用法は、若い世代を中心としてかなり以前から広がりを見せています。「事故に遭う」「愚痴（皮肉）を言う」という表現が正しいのですが、話しことばの中で「昨日、交差点で事故っちゃってさ」「新聞に首相の言動が皮肉られていた」などと使うのです。 さらに興味深いのは、外来語にも「る」をつけて動詞化して用いている例です。「コピる」（コピーを取る、真似する）「メモる」（メモを取る）「スタンバる」（スタンバイする）「ハモる」（ハーモニーを奏でる）「トラブる」（トラブルを起こす、トラブルに巻き込まれる）「ミスる」（ミスを犯す）「パニクる」（パニックに陥る）など、数えればきりがないほどたくさんの動詞が、日常生活に溶け込んで使われていますよ。大正・昭和期に生まれた「サボる」にいたっては、フランス語の「サボタージュ」を略してさらに「る」をつけた動詞ですが、辞書にも掲載され、一般的な動詞と区別なく使用されています。 「告白する」という意味の「コクる」、「挙動不審な様子をする」という意味の「キョドる」など、ことば遊びのような新しい動詞を次々と作り出すことができる、これも日本語の特色の一つと言えるでしょう。 =================== “To run,” “to eat” are classified as words that indicate movement, and are called “verbs.” 　Today, I’ll... Show more

This Japanese All About lesson will teach you five critical words and phrases you need to know to get around Japan unscathed-and without offending anyone who might be helpful to you. You'll learn how to say "please," "yes," and "thanks,"-and, just in case you do overstep your bounds, you'll also learn "I'm sorry" in Japanese. Sumimasen (すみません) "Excuse me" / "I'm sorry" / "Thanks"Sumimasen is a versatile phrase with a few different meanings depending on the situation, the closest of which is "excuse me." Doumo (どうも) "Thanks" / "Hi" Domo is a simple and easy way to say "thank you" as well as greet someone. Douzo (どうぞ) "Please go ahead" / "Please" If you're offering something to someone or would like someone to go ahead of... Show more

Top Secret Project with the Legendary Jim Breen Finished! Well, it’s done, and it’s alive! Mr. Jim Breen, Innovative Language Learning, and JapanesePod101.com, are happy to announce that EDICT, Jim Breen’s legendary Japanese to English dictionary, now has… Audio clips for all entries! So what exactly am I going on about? First, let me back up a second. If you’re studying Japanese, you’ve encountered Jim Breen’s EDICT Japanese to English dictionary, whether directly at WWWJDIC or through another Japanese language learning tool. (Many popular Japanese language learning tools use EDICT.) Having used the dictionary at WWWJDIC countless times during my Japanese studies, I’m a huge fan of the site. Last November, I... Show more

Someone asked on a recent post at Japanesepod101.com what なつこ先生's name was in 漢字. I said that it was 夏子. I'm pretty sure it's 夏子, in all of the early PDFs, she is listed as 夏子. Almost all Japanese people have 漢字 names, and all family names are 漢字. The last time I went to Japan, I was quite fluent with my 漢字 from my Chinese study, but I still found common Japanese names very interesting. Whenever I'd go into any shop, I'd make a point of reading the various workers' namecards. I found the names fascinating. To someone used to dry, uninteresting Chinese names, Japanese names are a breath of fresh air. They sound like they were made up by hippie parents. Take 夏子 for example (the name, not the lady!) The first character is 'summer', the... Show more