JapanesePod101.com Blog

To help your Kanji studies, we came up with a fun game using Twitter! Kanji Scrabble, a JapanesePod101.com original game. (Learn How to Play Here) The Kanji for this week are as follows: (Remember, each compound must use the Kanji in the brackets .) Kanji Scrabble #02 　日、二、本、一、国、人、十、中、三、時 (Learn How to Play Here) To start, all you need is a Twitter account and to follow our Twitter account @japanesepod101 (What's Twitter you ask? Read our guide here.) We're waiting for your tweets and blog comments! @Hint: (deleted) Kanji Scrabble #2 Answers Kanji Kana English Meaning 一日中 いちにちじゅう Throughout the day 中中 なかなか Very, considerabley, easily, readily, quite, highly, rather, by no means (with negative... Show more

Thanks for playing and for all the great feedback on our first-ever Kanji Scrabble game! 30+ people played Kanji Scrabble #01 by putting their answers on Twitter. Several more visited the blog and offered feedback and advice. When we created the game, we had no idea how it would go.  You took a chance on us by playing, so we want to say "Thank You!" for help making the game a success. So what do you win? Everyone who answered on Twitter or commented on the blog entry gets a 1-month Basic Subscription ($8). Our way of saying thank you! What do you do if you've won? If you played, you won. Simply e-mail us contactus@japanesepod101.com with your JapanesePod101 username and Twitter username. (You'll need to be a member... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary First off, there's some housekeeping to attend to; I promised that today I would provide answers to the most recent contest and make the winners famous. The top three contestants did a great job. They also happened to be the only contestants! Congratulations to the following people: Devon Bartlett Naveh Mazenko Alberto Sanz (again!) You'll find answers and explanations at the link. Famous Sayings: Answers and Explanations ... These three people deserve credit not only for terrific research but also for feeling motivated enough to do extra work for no material gains. That is, they acted in the following way: 積極的 (sekkyokuteki: assertive, positive, active,... Show more

Thank you to all the Kanji Scrabble Twitter users and Bloggers! どうもありがとうございました! I think this is a really fun use of Twitter and am personally looking forward to each new game! We'll also post an update via blog post with detailed answers including the meaning and both Kana and Romaji readings to help you learn new vocabulary.  There were a few compounds that weren't noticed so this should be great for all levels of learners. Kanji Scrabble #1 Answers Kanji Kana English Meaning 日 ひ Sun, sunshine, day 一日 いちじつ One day, first off the month 一日一日 いちにちいちにち Gradually, day-by-day 一日中 いちにちじゅう Throughout the day 三十日 さんじゅうにち Thirty days, thirtieth day 三日 みっか Three days, the third (of the... Show more

To help you break the monotony of Kanji study, we came up with a fun game using Twitter! To start, all you need is a Twitter account and to follow our Twitter account @japanesepod101 (What's Twitter you ask? Read our guide here.) How to Play Japanese Kanji Scrabble On the day we play in the morning (Japan time), we'll select 10 Kanji: 1 Key Kanji and 9 other possible suffix and/or prefix Kanji. Example Tweet: Kanji Scrabble #01 　二、本、一、国、人、十、中、三、時 (Learn How to Play Here is what you do: 1. Using the Key Kanji (the one in brackets): Make as many compound words using the Key Kanji and Kanji in the list *Remember each compound you create must included the Key Kanji* 2. Write those compounds in a reply to our tweet... Show more

To keep you updated on our lessons and better communicate with you, we created a Twitter account (actually a long time ago) and urge you to do so too! In case you're confused what in the world Twitter is or don't know how or why you would use Twitter, we've made a simple FAQ & guide just for you. What is "Twitter"? Twitter is a "micro-blogging" service. Each post is limited to 140 characters so that each post, called a "tweet", is short and to the point. This makes it perfect quickly sharing internet links, messages or ideas with others. To see automatic updates of others' tweets, you go to their page and then "follow" them. If they want to see your tweets, they'll follow you. 1. Start your own account To start using... 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

Welcome to the JapanesePod101.com blog, Feature Spotlight. Here we would like to periodically introduce some well known features as well as some not so well known features here at JapanesePod101.com. We want to make sure everyone knows about all the great features that you can use to master Japanese in just minutes a day. Today we would like to introduce My Feed. This is a fully customizable RSS feed. What's that mean? Well, for those that haven't studied up on the latest Web 2.0 technology, that basically allows Premium members to decide exactly what lesson content they want on their Premium feed. Here's 3 simple steps on how you can use My Feed to really master Japanese: You decide exactly what you want. You download what you... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary As a multicultural citizen of the world, you've probably left your hometown behind. You may miss it occasionally, but what do you miss? The way the hills and valleys came together, a river running through it? The scent of honeysuckle in summers, and the crickets that never stopped chirping? The brilliant autumn displays, and the heavy snows in winter? Do you miss the kind of people from that area? Your family in particular? The food you can't find anywhere else? Your house and the room that was yours and yours alone? The familiarity of everything in that house—the layout, the way the place smelled, the possessions that acquired so much meaning along the way? Or... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary Today we'll start with a Verbal Logic Quiz! But first, consider this compound: 郷土 (kyōdo: native place; birthplace; old home)     village + soil If you come from Kyoto, you're lucky, because you can say this: 京都は郷土だ。 Kyōto wa kyōdo da. My hometown is Kyoto. OK, now you're ready for the quiz! Quiz 1: If-Then 1. If 色 (SHOKU, iro) means "color," what color is 郷土色 (kyōdoshoku: village + soil + color)? Does the answer vary with the color of the local soil? 2. If 博物館 (hakubutsukan) means "museum," what kind of museum is 郷土博物館 (kyōdo hakubutsukan: village + soil + extensive (knowledge) + physical phenomenon + public building)? 3. If 文学 (bungaku) means... Show more