JapanesePod101.com Blog

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary In English, "tail of the yak" and "tale of the yak" both make sense but mean very different things. This is nothing compared with the profusion of Japanese homonyms. When you type YAKU in hiragana and convert it to kanji, any of the following characters could pop up, as all have the on-yomi of YAKU: 約 (to promise, shrink, about) 訳 (to translate) 薬 (medicine) 役 (service, serviceability) 厄 (misfortune) 躍 (to leap) 疫 (epidemic) 益 (benefit, profit)　 This leads to a plethora of homophonous YAKU compounds. There are three more types of yaku: 焼く (to burn, roast, grill, bake) In this case, ya(ku) is the kun-yomi. Some compounds include the kun-yomi of... Show more

Mina-san, When we first started JapanesePod101.com, we only had a few lessons and a few levels, so it was very easy to figure out how to use the site. But now with over 700 lessons and many different levels and series, a lot of people have asked us “Where should I start?” While there are many ways to use the site, we definitely have a few recommendations! We grouped the lessons in 4 categories Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Miscellaneous. Also we designated each level linear or non-linear. Then we listed descriptions of the each course and included the first and last lesson so you can better gauge which levels are perfect for you! Check out the page here: Also, since it's Golden Week, we're running a special Promo... Show more

Back in November, Dr. Matt Wachsman contacted us about his mnemonic system for learning Kanji using captivating and enjoyable flash movies. These movies involve multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, reinforcing memory linkage with visual associations, sequence associations, humor and rhymes. We hope these will appeal to people with a variety of learning styles and that you enjoy them. We plan to introduce about 6-12 new Kanji per week to cover the Kanji taught in the first 6 years of school in Japan and the JLPT levels 4 and 3. This week's animation is titled Eyes!

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary Last week we saw how the 約 in 約束 (yakusoku: promise, promise + to bind) can imply a binding contract. I don't usually associate contracts with any sense of contracting, which is to say "shrinking." But just as "contract" has these two meanings, so does 約, strangely enough. "Contract" in English (and Latin) ... In fact, Halpern says that "shortening" is the original meaning of 約. When does 約 convey a sense of shrinking? I can think of no better example than this one: 括約筋 (katsuyakukin: sphincter)     to constrict + to shrink + muscle Oh, come now. There are several sphincters in the body! What's With the Breakdown of 括?! ... Whereas... Show more

Thank you for all the name entries, for all the votes, and of course, we can't forget the feedback. This has been a very interesting contest, not without its challenges. We apologize for the delay in posting this prize announcement, but the logistics of a contest of this scale do not allow for a very quick turnaround. We've decided to award the first place prize, a lifetime subscription to all of our existing sites, to all 8 finalists. We will be contacting all winners by email with the next step. In addition, for everyone who submitted an entry, we are offering a FREE 1-Month Premium Subscription to JapanesePod101.com + a very special coupon. Look for a follow-up email in the next few days with details on how to claim your prize.... Show more

Back in November, Dr. Matt Wachsman contacted us about his mnemonic system for learning Kanji using captivating and enjoyable flash movies. These movies involve multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, reinforcing memory linkage with visual associations, sequence associations, humor and rhymes. We hope these will appeal to people with a variety of learning styles and that you enjoy them. We plan to introduce about 6-12 new Kanji per week to cover the Kanji taught in the first 6 years of school in Japan and the JLPT levels 4 and 3. This week's animation is titled Nose!

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary In the past, we've encountered kanji that embody opposite meanings—namely, 出 and 追. Well, I’ve found another culprit: 約 (YAKU)! A Note on the Yomi ... In one side of its split personality, this is the laid-back kanji of approximations; when you don't know a precise number, you can precede it with 約 to express the idea of "about" or "circa" or "kinda sorta like that." For instance, you might use 約 to say "about half": 約半分 (yaku hanbun: about half)     about + half (last 2 chars.) The full breakdown is about + half + part. When I wrote an article about the soon-to-be-unveiled Shibuya Station, I asked a project architect for its... Show more

We just rolled out a handy little feature that will make it possible for you to see the 5 most recent posts in this blog and our forum from the lessons page of the main site. Here's a screen shot of the functionality. Let us know what you think. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

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Back in November, Dr. Matt Wachsman contacted us about his mnemonic system for learning Kanji using captivating and enjoyable flash movies. These movies involve multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, reinforcing memory linkage with visual associations, sequence associations, humor and rhymes. We hope these will appeal to people with a variety of learning styles and that you enjoy them. We plan to introduce about 6-12 new Kanji per week to cover the Kanji taught in the first 6 years of school in Japan and the JLPT levels 4 and 3. This week's animation is titled Throat!