JapanesePod101.com Blog

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 Pole!

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary If someone said, Konomi wa konomi desu, would you know what they meant? Maybe it would help to see the kanji and kana: 好みは木の実です。 Konomi wa konomi desu. Or perhaps things remain unclear. If so, a translation should help: My preference is nuts. If you still feel a little confused, thrown off, discombobulated, or miffed without quite knowing why, it's probably because the yomi didn't shake out as you expected. The kanji here have atypical yomi, compared with what one usually sees for these characters. Here's the breakdown: 好み (konomi: preference) This kanji often appears as 好き (suki: liking, taste, choice). 木の実 (konomi or kinomi: nuts, fruits,... Show more

Back in November, Dr. Matt Wachsman contacted us about his mnemonic system for learning Kanji using captivating and enjoyable flash movies. Unlike any other system out there, Dr. Wachsman's uses advanced mnemonics features that involve multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, reinforcing memory linkage while at the same time appealing to people with a variety of learning styles. Mnemonics is the way of tying information together in a way the the brain likes to receive it. There are a large number of ways to do this. The most basic one is putting information into a story. Dr. Wachsman's system uses short Flash movies that tell a story using visual associations, humor and rhymes. His system covers all the Kanji taught in the first... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary Last week we looked at ways in which 実 and body parts combine in compounds. My investigation of one such word took me in an entirely unexpected direction, and as I went farther and farther down that path, I decided to present my findings as a separate blog. So this week we'll detour from the 実 examination (an examination of the facts!) to take a look at melons. (Seems appropriate to jump out of sequence on Leap Day!) Here's the word that took me so far off track: 瓜実顔 (urizanegao: oval or classic face (e.g., of a beautiful woman))     melon + seed + face Pronouncing Urizanegao ... This word combines the characters for facts (実) and face... Show more

Back in November, Dr. Matt Wachsman contacted us about his mnemonic system for learning Kanji using captivating and enjoyable flash movies. Unlike any other system out there, Dr. Wachsman's uses advanced mnemonics features that involve multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, reinforcing memory linkage while at the same time appealing to people with a variety of learning styles. Mnemonics is the way of tying information together in a way the the brain likes to receive it. There are a large number of ways to do this. The most basic one is putting information into a story. Dr. Wachsman's system uses short Flash movies that tell a story using visual associations, humor and rhymes. His system covers all the Kanji taught in the first... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary In the movie Atonement, there's a scene between a detective and a girl who claims to have witnessed a man's crime. The detective asks her pointedly, "Did you see him with your own eyes?" She replies deliberately, "Yes, I saw him with my own eyes." Whose eyes might she have used instead? I was so distracted by the weird phrasing that I missed much of the ensuing conversation. I must have heard this expression before, but it's as if I heard it with new ears (my own, by the way). Have English speakers really made use of this redundant expression? Do we still say it regularly, or was this more a quaint turn of phrase from the British World War II period (the setting... Show more

Back in November, Dr. Matt Wachsman contacted us about his mnemonic system for learning Kanji using captivating and enjoyable flash movies. Unlike any other system out there, Dr. Wachsman's uses advanced mnemonics features that involve multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, reinforcing memory linkage while at the same time appealing to people with a variety of learning styles. Mnemonics is the way of tying information together in a way the the brain likes to receive it. There are a large number of ways to do this. The most basic one is putting information into a story. Dr. Wachsman's system uses short Flash movies that tell a story using visual associations, humor and rhymes. His system covers all the Kanji taught in the first... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary My cousin Lois has a useful motto: Start with the truth. No matter how difficult a situation is, you won't get anywhere by lying to yourself about the facts. My husband has also taught me something about the truth: Whenever someone says "Frankly, ..." you should be on guard. The person might as well have said, "What I'm about to say will be tactless and cruel." In Japanese, starting with the truth means starting with 実, the kanji we investigated last week. This character works its way into all manner of expressions related to truth and reality, including this sampling: 実は (jitsu wa: in fact, as a matter of fact, by the way) Merely combining the kanji with the... Show more

Quick Links Welcome to Kanji Curiosity | The Basics | Glossary Winter is a time of harshness. In spring, as trees explode with fragrant blossoms, we're full of hope. In summer, we can delude ourselves that peaches will always be in season and that sunny, warm days will keep coming for a good six months. In fall, colorful leaves and crisp air fill us with optimism. And then it's winter, and we can't fool ourselves any longer. Haiku About Harsh Realities ... But facing reality isn't all bad. Check out this cool compound: 実験 (jikken: experiment)     reality + to test As the breakdown indicates, an experiment allows one to test reality. That is, an experiment is a reality check! Well, here's one... Show more

Back in November, Dr. Matt Wachsman contacted us about his mnemonic system for learning Kanji using captivating and enjoyable flash movies. Unlike any other system out there, Dr. Wachsman's uses advanced mnemonics features that involve multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, reinforcing memory linkage while at the same time appealing to people with a variety of learning styles. Mnemonics is the way of tying information together in a way the the brain likes to receive it. There are a large number of ways to do this. The most basic one is putting information into a story. Dr. Wachsman's system uses short Flash movies that tell a story using visual associations, humor and rhymes. His system covers all the Kanji taught in the first... Show more