Start Using New Verbs

by Buddy Lindsey on March 26, 2010

Learning new verbs is easy, for the most part, but using new verbs is a bit of a pain. This pain leads to apprehension when using Japanese, and trying to use this vocabulary we have never used before. However, only through use can we become comfortable with the verb.
One of the conundrums of new vocabulary [...]

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10 Steps to Start Learning Japanese

March 18, 2010 Learning

Knowing where to start learning Japanese is rough for someone new to the language, below is hopefully a good starting location for the journey of learning Japanese.

Steps to Start Learning Japanese

Define Your Goals
Learn About Learning AJATT is a Good Place to Start
Start Listening to Japanese
Learn Katakana and Hiragana
Try to Forget Romaji
Start Learning Kanji
Seek Out Friends [...]

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Quickly Zero Out Anki

March 7, 2010 Learning

Only use this when something catastrophic happens. I tend to have things come up where days on end I am unable to hit anki. Some is dealing with family during a death, another is a vacation where I am camping for a week or even a weekend. This method should be used only for [...]

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Make Your Strengths Your Weakness

March 1, 2010 Learning

Your next goal is to become weak where you are strong. Learning is a long process with a lot of different directions and forks to go. Usually there is one constant in the learning process when it comes to larger subjects, such as a language, and that is being stronger in one area and weaker [...]

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Language Terms Review – Part 1

February 26, 2010 Grammar

One thing I have realized in learning Japanese is I didn’t pay attention a lot during elementary school while learning English. The biggest thing I didn’t pay attention to was terms regarding grammar. I know the big key elements, but all the littler ones, not so much.
Unfortunately, I have noticed quite a few people are [...]

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What is JapanGaku?

February 23, 2010 Uncategorized

Some of you may know I started on the Dumb Otaku blog. I originally started the blog as a way to write about anime, manga, and general Otaku culture. However, along the way my interest in Japan and the language grew, and as a result so did the number of posts over language and Japan. [...]

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Can You Really Play in Japanese?

February 3, 2010 Grammar

The word for “play” in Japanese does not necessarily have the same context in Japanese as it does in English.
In English when we think play we think, in general, we think games or sports. From tennis and golf to video games or mind games.
The word 遊ぶ (あそぶ) can mean up to three main things.

to play
to [...]

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Do You Know Your Place?

January 20, 2010 Learning

I was recently put in my place this last December with the JLPT 4 test. I wrote it about it in “Why my JLPT Fail was Still a Win“. It was a very eye opening experience and a great motivational experience.
The biggest problem with it is not being able to convey my how I felt [...]

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Kanji Makes Japanese Easy

January 10, 2010 Kanji

Kanji and Japanese aren’t the same. At least that is how I see it in my head, for better or worse. It is very odd to see it that way so it takes some explaining.
One day I plan to learn Chinese after I learn Japanese. Since kanji is from China originally and the Japanese incorporated [...]

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Rangaku Learning About the West

December 14, 2009 History

Rangaku is the term used for “Dutch Learning” and started the Japaneses curiosity about the west from finding an anatomy book. From there it moved to all sorts of subjects some examples are: Political Science, Astronomy, Medicine, Physical Science and Cooking, and many more.

The Dutch were the first westerners to find Japan and they had [...]

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