Learning a foreign language isn’t only about the language itself, but also about its culture, customs, and society. Family is the minimum unit of a social group, and it’s important to understand its characteristics as this is closely related to culture and customs. When you learn how to explain your family in Japanese, it helps to expand your vocabulary and improve your communication skills in Japanese. Compared to English, there are many more words to describe family members in Japanese. These words are according to age and the style (formal and informal). For example, what is a Japanese father-in-law called? Let’s learn how to describe family in Japanese at JapanesePod101.com. Here’s our list of the most useful Japanese words and... Show more

Are you traveling to Japan and want to learn practical Japanese travel phrases? This article is designed to help you learn the most useful Japanese words for travel. It’s always good to learn basic words when you travel to a foreign country. Not only does it make getting around easier, but it also allows you to enjoy communicating with the locals. In general, Japanese people are not so good at speaking English, free wifi services aren’t very prevalent (especially outside of the central cities), and Japan is still more of a cash-based society than you may think. However, Japanese people are very kind; they’ll listen to you patiently and do their best to help. So just use these basic Japanese travel phrases to talk to Japanese people when... Show more

  Numbers are necessary in everyday life as you need them to express time, record dates, interpret recipe amounts, count objects, and the list goes on. Japanese numerical systems have unique features and they are very different from those in English. For example, Japanese has a variety of counter words depending on different factors. Further, large numbers are counted by units of four digits while the Western system counts by that of three digits, and the differences only continue for numbers in the Japanese language. Let’s start to learn basic Japanese numbers with JapanesePod101.com! Table of Contents Counting in Japanese: Numbers 0-9 Counting in Japanese: Numbers 10-99 Counting in Japanese: Numbers up to 1000 Counting in Japanese:... Show more

You're learning to speak Japanese, and it's going well. Your confidence is growing! So much so that you feel ready to share your experiences on social media—in Japanese. At Learn Japanese, we make this easy for you to get it right the first time. Post like a boss with these phrases and guidelines, and get to practice your Japanese in the process. 1. Talking about Your Restaurant Visit in Japanese Eating out is fun, and often an experience you'd like to share. Take a pic, and start a conversation on social media in Japanese. Your friend will be amazed by your language skills...and perhaps your taste in restaurants! Mamoru eats at a restaurant with his friends, posts an image of it, and leaves this comment: POST Let's break down... Show more

Bunka no hi, celebrated each year in November, is a relatively new Japanese cultural holiday that has experienced some adaptations over time. Originating during the reign of Emperor Meiji, and originally called Meijisetsu, this holiday was a day for Japan to celebrate the birth of its emperor until 1948. In this article, you’ll learn the most pertinent facts about Culture Day in Japan: activities, meaning, and what role the Constitution of Japan played in evolving the holiday into what it is today. At JapanesePod101.com, we hope to make every aspect of your learning journey both fun and informative! 1. What is Culture Day in Japan? Culture Day is a Japanese national holiday for appreciating peace and freedom, and was... Show more

Greetings are the first thing you learn when you start to learn a new language. “Hello” and “Thank you” are essential, but “Sorry” becomes even more important when it comes to good communication in a foreign culture which often has different customs and values from your original culture. Thus, “sorry” in studying Japanese is one of the most vital things you’ll learn. One of the noteworthy features of Japanese apologies is that there are various ways to say sorry. How to say sorry in Japanese has variations, both formal and informal, and in the severity of what you’re apologizing for and who you’re apologizing to. Japanese apologies also have to accompany particular gestures in some situations. Let’s take a detailed look at how to say... Show more

From time to time, we all need to reevaluate our health—our dietary habits, our exercise patterns (or lack thereof), and our ability to live each day well. On Health and Sports Day, the people of Japan do just this. This holiday encourages and inspires good health and more exercise at every level of society, but most especially for children and young adults. In this article, you’ll learn about Health-Sports Day in Japan and how it affects the health and lives of people all over the country. At JapanesePod101.com, we hope to make every aspect of your language-learning journey both fun and informative! 1. What is Health and Sports Day in Japan? Health and Sports Day is a national Japanese holiday dedicated to inspiring a... Show more

Have you ever wondered "How are the elderly treated in Japan?" Each year, the Japanese population celebrates and honors the elderly people in Japan for their contributions to society. The aged are regarded with much respect, and Respect for the Aged Day is a special occasion on which to really go all out and show this admiration. In this article, you’ll learn all about the Respect for the Aged Day meaning, and more facts about the elderly people in Japan. Learning about this holiday and what it looks like in Japanese society will go a long way toward helping you understand the culture of Japan. At JapanesePod101.com, we hope to make every aspect of your learning journey both fun and informative! So let’s get started. 1.... Show more

Every culture has its own unique body gestures when speaking to express certain feelings or situations efficiently. Japanese hand gestures and body language are no exception and there are a variety of body gestures in Japan—many more than you’d expect! Most Japanese body gestures are particular to the Japanese culture and foreign people may wonder what they stand for, or even get the wrong meaning from them. Learning the body language in Japan will not only help you understand the Japanese culture better, but also make you feel more comfortable communicating with Japanese people. If you’re a beginner in the Japanese language, you can express and communicate much more with Japanese body gestures without lengthy explanation. If... Show more

Do you know the Japanese slang ググる (guguru)? It means “to search on Google” and is one of the most-used Japanese internet slang terms. If you chat with your Japanese friends online or use social media such as Facebook, you might be struggling to understand Japanese internet slang terms. However, most common Japanese slang words aren’t exclusive to the internet, as you may have found them in anime and manga as well. The problem is that your teachers and textbooks won’t teach you those slang terms, because they aren’t official Japanese language. Japanese text slang terms might be very confusing for Japanese learners because they developed very uniquely. Japanese people also use many kinds of 顔文字 (kaomoji) or text face, such as “（*^_^*）,... Show more