Blogger Ben: 日本語を勉強しています
I’ve been reviewing mostly Japanese vocab and some grammar lately because, and I am guessing here, that I can at least get by at the beginning in Japan by stringing verbs and nouns together to construct something remotely understandable to a native Japanese speaker. Case in point (maybe not so appropriate): in the movie Full [...]
New SakuraBranch Blogger Ben: Going to Japan on a Working Holiday Visa
Hi I’m Ben. I came to this website not too long ago searching for information on how I can, as painlessly as possible, obtain a Japanese working holiday visa. I got some really good tips on how to prepare my application for the visa from this site, and it was approved by the examiner in mere minutes at the consulate, all thanks to Tim. Long story short, Tim asked if I would like to blog about my upcoming journey here. And of course, I said yes. So If you’re interested, stay tuned. If you want to know more about the working holiday visa, you read this site’s guide about it here.
8½ x 11″ Hiragana + Katakana Chart
After dissatisfaction with the selection of printer-friendly kana charts found on the internet, I made my own. Simple, but ready to print on standard letter paper, this chart shows all kana in clarity. Great introduction to the Japanese Syllabary.
Japanese Language School Review: Aoyama International Education Institute
A guest writer who spent a year studying Japanese in Japan shares their review of Aoyama International Education Institute. If you’re in the market for language schools add this review to your reading list.
5 Everyday words that your textbook might miss
Textbooks all seem to teach the same vocabulary. Unfortunately sometimes what you’ll find in a textbook is only one of many ways to say something. Today I’ll look at 5 groups of everyday-use synonyms (different words with the same meaning) for common Japanese words that you’ll find in most textbooks.
Where to Practice Japanese when not in Japan
Browsing around some forums and language study message boards I often hear of one big hurdle for studiers of Japanese who are not in Japan; There are no Japanese people to practice with where they live. Practicing speaking and writing in actual daily conversation is extremely important. You can flip through flashcards or review grammatical [...]
Review of YesJapan.com
There are a lot of great resources online for learning Japanese, but I love YesJapan so much I think anyone who hasn’t tried it should check it out. Like I keep saying throughout my posts, before you spend loads of money on Japanese language school, learn the basics on your own so you don’t spend [...]
Secrets of the Japanese Language pt. 2
The second part of Lang-8 user Roomy’s thought-provoking series of editorials entitled ‘Secrets of the Japanese Language’. Part1 can be found here. *Reposted with permission from Roomy’s Lang-8 Journal found here “This photo is my father.” This was a sentence I wrote in English a couple of years ago. In proper English, this should be [...]
Review of GenkiJACS Japanese and Culture School
It has been basically 2 years since I attended GenkiJACS in Fukuoka, Japan to study Japanese full time for 3 months. To this day though, I still receive e-mails asking for my opinion and advice on GenkiJACS from would-be students who are looking at attending Genki for their studies. I still remember my time there very well though, as it was all-in-all a very enjoyable experience, and so I thoughts about GenkiJACS here for all to see.
Secrets of the Japanese Language
Lang-8 User Roomy, a native Japanese speaker, shares with us the first part of her series of editorials entitled ‘Secrets of the Japanese Language’
Tips for a Productive Study Environment
Study Environment This is hopefully common knowledge. A good student needs a good work environment. Unfortunately, I have friends who have a tonne of ambition for learning but have a hard time getting into it, and undoubtedly part of it is because they lack one of the most fundamental tools – a productive space to [...]
Review of Smart.Fm
This is a stand-alone review of the features, and pit-falls, of the popular study website smart.fm. For a comparative review of smart fm vs. other tools, please see the Learning Software Showdown article.. What is smart.fm Smart.fm’s Study Method Tools Good Points of Smart.fm Bad Points of Smart.fm Final Thoughts What is smart.fm Smart.fm (also [...]
Study Trick: Build Vocab with Post-It Notes
No matter how proficient your Japanese becomes, you’ll always have more words to learn. You can pass 1-kyuu, go to Japan and still come across new words every single day that you didn’t know. Learning new vocabulary doesn’t have to be difficult. This exercise makes learning new words as easy as looking around.. Learn Vocabulary [...]
