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I’m about to head out the door to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, level 2.  Wish me luck!

Do you know the difference between Japanese snowmen and the snowmen we are used to?  Check out this picture of Japanese snowmen:

The main difference is that Japanese snowmen are made from only two snowballs instead of three. They also tend to be much smaller than our snowmen, although that’s not always the case.
The Japanese [...]

I came across an interesting word in the Japanese novel I’m reading.  The word is おてんばさん (otenbasan).  It means tomboy.  It has kanji too: お転婆さん.  This makes it look like the actually word is 転婆 (tenba) with an honorific o- prefix and honorific -san suffix.
But this is not the case.  This word is actually a [...]

Here’s a language learning tip that has worked really well for me: read children’s books.  I’m talking books intended for children aged 0-5. Even if you aren’t a beginner. Here’s why:

They are easy – This is as easy as reading material comes. Even if you are a complete beginner, if you have [...]

Here’s a language learning tip that has recently worked really well for me: start a translation project!
Here are the steps:

Find something in your target language that hasn’t been translated into English before. It could be a novel, a comic book, a children’s book, a movie, a TV show, a cereal box, a magazine, a [...]

I came across an interesting word in one of my JLPT prep books today.  It’s 蛇口 (じゃぐち　jaguchi).  The first character 「蛇」 can be read ja or hebi and means snake.  The second character 「口」 is read kuchi or kou and means mouth.   So 蛇口 is snake mouth, right?  Not quite.   What does this word [...]

I took my first practice test for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) level 2 the other day.  I scored a 70%.  To pass, you need 60% or above, so I passed!  My goal is to pass the real test with 90% or above.  The test is in December so I only have a couple [...]

So I haven’t written on language learning in a while. That doesn’t mean I’ve been doing nothing. In fact, I’ve been extremely focused. I put a halt on my SRS sentences. I put down the novel I was reading. I took a break from transcribing Fight Club. I stopped [...]

If you’ve been paying close attention, then you know that I have an infant son. You may also know that I have a Japanese wife. Since my parents speak English, and my wife’s parents speak Japanese, our son will need to know both languages if he is going to be able to communicate [...]

In case you haven’t noticed already, I added some new ad spaces in the right sidebar. Both are 125×125 spots and can be had for pennies. You don’t have to purchase them for a whole month either – you can grab the ad space for one day if you want to. If [...]