News

This might be the reasons that you cannot learn Japanese well. – ①

Posted on February 2nd, 2018 by ajadmin

On the way of learning Japanese, are you still going smoothly? I recently summarized 10 facts that might be your obstacles to learn Japanese. This week I will introduce the first 5. Let’s see if they can help you.

1. 100%-accurate-pronunciation “obsessive-compulsive disorder”.

Learning is a process of accumulating the knowledge. You don’t have to strive for perfection of pronunciation at every step. Time or say the experience can solve and consolidate the defect, especially the pronunciation problem.

2. Progress disorder

The study might be very likely to fail if you don’t have an ordered learning plan. I suggest you make a long-term plan and a short-term plan. The short-term plan could be based on the actual situation of yourself with flexible adjustments. For example, how many vocabularies should be memorized in three days, how many pages of the textbook should be read in a week, and so on. By doing so, the long-term plan could be completed through every “small target”.

3. Cannot memorize the vocabularies no matter how hard you’ve tried

A tip for this problem is to memorize vocabularies by those phrases of fixed combination together. You can also try to memorize new words with the context in the textbook.

4. Unbalanced time allocation for listening, speaking, reading and writing

If you have failed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test for many times, I believe the reason is the unbalanced time allocation for listening, speaking, reading and writing. You might be wondering there is no test for speaking and writing, why do I need to take the trouble to practice it. Now I’m telling you a fact: good speaking would result in good listening, and good writing would result in good reading. No doubt, indeed.

5. Poor knowledge absorption

You might have wondered for a long while that why are you still not able to “handle” Japanese very well after memorizing a quite number of vocabularies and finishing many textbooks. “Handling” a language is like using a tool. You have to practice all the way through until it becomes a part of your body. Though, the process is absolutely tedious.

“I’m an eel!”

Posted on January 26th, 2018 by ajadmin

Have you ever order the soba noodle by saying “私はたぬき”(I’m a fox.) or “私はとらだ”(I’m an eel.)? Have you ever heard any Japanese saying that? “私はxxです” is the very first expression when a Japanese lesson which is a way of self-introduction. However, how to understand the above situation?

Once I have heard an interesting story. A foreign student was taken to the public canteen by a Japanese friend to have lunch during which the foreign student heard other guests were saying to the clerk “私はうなぎだ”. He checked the dictionary immediately and shocked that “Japanese call themselves as an animal to show polite in restaurants!”. Then he shouted in English that “I’m an eel!”.

It might be a small joke for many people, however, such misunderstanding must be avoided in the Japanese study. The correct way to understand the “私はうなぎだ” is to transfer it to “私は’うなぎ丼’を注文する” (
わたしはうなぎどんをちゅうもんする, I would like to order the eel rice). From this example, we can see that the self-evident information has been omitted. This is a very important way to authentically speak Japanese. From the next example, you might understand why the local Japanese talk like that.

A: 食べた? (たべた, have you ate?)
B: うん、食べた. (うん、たべた, yes, I have)
A: じゃ、食べちゃうから待ってて. (じゃ、たべちゃうからまってて, then wait for me a bit, I’m going to eat)

However, if people say this without omitting, it would be quite annoying.

A: あなたは、お昼(ひる)ご飯(はん)をもう食(た)べましたか。それとも、まだあなたは昼ご飯を食べていないですか
B: はい、わたしはもう昼ご飯を食べました。あなたがまだ昼ご飯を食べていないのなら、どうぞ、あなたも昼ご飯を召(め)し上(あ)がってください
A: それでは、失礼(しつれい)して、お昼ご飯を食べますから、私が昼ご飯を食べ終(お)わるまで、すみませんが少々(しょうしょう)お待(ま)ちください

The most annoying five sentences to Japanese wives.

Posted on January 20th, 2018 by ajadmin

A Japanese newspaper conducted a survey targeting 6000 housewives in Japan. It selected five sentences which piss off Japanese wifes most. Probably you should be careful even your wife is not Japanese.

#5. 疲れた (つかれた, I’m tired.)
Housewives who’d been interviewed said that “I do housework every day at home and I’m very tired, but I didn’t complain anything. So it’s annoying to listen to my husband says ‘tired’.”

#4. おかず、これだけ? (The meal is too little to eat!)
“I work very hard to cook. You don’t have to say it’s delicious, but how dare you complaining it’s not enough to eat”, a 30-year-old housewife said.

#3. 何怒こっているの (なにおこっているの, why are you angry?)
Most women are not likely to consider why they’re angry when they are angry. In the end, they might forget why they are angry. At this moment, if a husband says something like “why are you angry”, the conversation is likely to end awfully.

#2. 言ってくれればやるのに (I will do it as long as you tell me)
A woman who is married for 40 years said that we are married for so many years, but my husband still doesn’t know my thoughts. Can’t he be more considerate? It’s really annoying.

#1. 俺は働いている (おれははたらいている, the person who’s working in the family is ME.)
Although there is a large number of Japanese women who keep working after their marriage, most Japanese women are still mainly responsible for domestic affairs at home. Hence, husbands often have a sense of superiority in their mind. The implication is that you do not make money, so you have to listen to me.

The difference between male and female doesn’t have too much relationship with nationalities. Maybe men and women really come from different planets, so people often do not understand each other’s thoughts. It seems like the problem is still “communication”. So please communicate well your partner.

Myth about Japanese cuisine

Posted on January 14th, 2018 by ajadmin

Is Japanese food really healthy food for foreigners? After chatting with foreigners who love Japanese food, this question appeared in my mind. A few years before, 和食(わしょく, Japanese cuisine), which was assessed as a world cultural heritage, have attracted worldwide attention. As a Japanese who can be recognized as the world’s health food by the world, I am really happy.

On the other hand, though the Japanese food is recognized as the most healthy food in the world, no one realizes the correct way to eat Japanese food. This is because the foreigners’ way of eating Japanese food is a little weird: dipping soy sauce on both sides of sashimi, pouring the sauce on katsudon (カツ丼, かつどん), mixing rice and the main dish and eat them together, etc.

The reason for such way of eating is probably because people do not know Japanese cuisine and the “food law.” With French cuisine, there is such a ceremonial sequence of etiquette: starter → staple → dessert and take away one dish after eating. However, in Japan, it should be followed by the so-called “Triangle rule” that the order is rice → soup → the main dish. If you eat Japanese food by the order of French cuisine, excessive intake of salt can cause poisoning. Furthermore, as Japanese food needs to be enjoyed for the fresh material itself, pouring too much sauce would obstruct the pleasure of the food.

Eating is also to taste the culture. It is important for foreigners to learn Japanese dining etiquette, which is different from the food culture of their own country.

Business etiquette – #4

Posted on January 7th, 2018 by ajadmin

新年あけましておめでとうございます! Happy new year! みなさん! Wish you all the best in the new year! Let’s continue our topic of business etiquette, and hope you have a chance to take advantage of the information in 2018.

10. Complain about the work on drinking parties
In other countries, people usually do not talk about their jobs on drinking parties. In contrast, the line between public and private is vague. As discussed before, the drinking party in Japan is the most effective way to get know each other. Hence, complaining about the work is not only a way of communication but also the way of exchanging the “inside” information.

11. Use fixed phrases to start an email
There is no such thing as a standard phrase to start a business email. However, it is quite normal to do so in Japan. The following phrases are the most useful business email format and phrase.

Customer’s company name
Customer name

いつもお世話になっております。
(Your company’s name)の(your name)

For example:
株式会社〇〇 (かぶしきがいしゃ)
〇〇様 (さま)

いつもお世話になっております。
(いつもおせわになっております)
〇〇株式会社の〇〇(write your name here but make sure do not put さん/様 after your name)です。