Tag - bilingual

 
Menu
Search
 
July 16, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

BILINGUAL

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 17, 2010
Keep your fūtō out of your mouth at the post office
A fun part of living thousands of miles from family and friends is sending packages home — that is, so long as you know the requisite jargon to communicate at the yūbin kyoku (郵便局, post office).
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 10, 2010
Is your Valentine's Day going to be hot and spicy?
At this time of the year it seems inappropriate to talk about food that's not chocolate — but word is getting out that women have begun to regard the giving and getting of chocolate on you-know-what-day as, like, totally kakkowarui (カッコわるい, uncool). Which is why I feel justified in...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 27, 2010
Spouse hunting, politics had us all abuzz in '09
The 2010 edition of the "Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words" was recently put on sale by publisher?Jiyukokuminsha. The bulky paperback's English title doesn't really do justice to the Japanese name, which is "Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki." Broken down by its individual components, it becomes 現代 (gendai,...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 20, 2010
'New' hope, anxiety in Japan's Kanji of the Year
As the first decade of the 21st century drew to a close, the Japanese Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation conducted its 15th annual Kanji of the Year poll, inviting the nation to decide which single kanji best symbolized 2009.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 13, 2010
O-shōgatsu can really test a woman's endurance
Here's my take on the Japanese o-shōgatsu (お正月, New Year's) holiday week: I am, like, so ecstatic the whole thing is over.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 30, 2009
Need to know those buzzwords to follow Japan's big hit products
Of all the jobs I've held in Japan, by far the most challenging was the four years I spent during the baburu keizai (バブル経済, bubble economy) as a trend watcher for a market-research company.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 23, 2009
Yappa! Abbreviated Japanese ain't all that bad
"Ain't" ain't a word. My high school English teachers pounded that into my head. And they were right — "ain't" is not proper English. On the other hand, it is used colloquially by people all over the English-speaking world. Language is not just limited to those words found in reference books and...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 9, 2009
Recession brings with it the 'loneliness of pockets'
"Two men on the subway, both middle-aged and a bit the worse for wear, were reminiscing about what it was like in the furuki yoki mukashi (古き良き昔, the good old days). It made me realize how rare it is to hear anything so positive today. "Yoruto sawaruto fukyōno hanashi (よるとさわると不況の話,...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 25, 2009
Moving house needn't leave you speechless
Along with divorce and bereavement, hikkoshi (引っ越し, moving house) is widely considered one of the most stressful experiences a person can go through, and adding an unfamiliar language to the mix can be enough to drive the best of us bonkers. It doesn't help that in Japan fudōsanya (不動産屋,...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 18, 2009
Let's kensaku — searching the Web in Japanese
Has this ever happened to you? A friend in another country e-mails a plea for help in finding information in Japanese due to their encountering any one of several obstacles. For instance, the operating system or software on the computer they are using might not be able to input Japanese or read it. Or...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 11, 2009
Life in Japan can be a long and fraught train ride
Here's an illuminating little tale: In the early years of the Meiji Era (1868-1912), a Japanese official was sent to France to study the police system (which, incidentally, was replicated here). Traveling across the Paris suburbs in a crowded train one summer afternoon, the official was assailed by acute...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 28, 2009
Be careful not to bend your gender in Japanese
One of the biggest omissions in Japanese textbooks, classes and one-on-one lessons is gendered language. Ignore it and at some point you will wind up sounding like a little Japanese girl — or a guy — when you didn't intend too.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 28, 2009
Be careful not to bend your gender in Japanese
One of the biggest omissions in Japanese textbooks, classes and one-on-one lessons is gendered language. Ignore it and at some point you will wind up sounding like a little Japanese girl — or a guy — when you didn't intend too.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 14, 2009
Plant-eating guys just waiting to get chomped on
It has finally happened: the inevitable relationship phenomenon. I was at a party the other day where every one of the couples present were paired off in the kokusan onna (国産オンナ, domestic woman)-gaikokujin otoko (外国人オトコ, foreign man) combination, a sight that would have caused my...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 30, 2009
Learn the coded language all Japanese know
Encoding and decoding may be almost as old as writing itself.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 23, 2009
How to lose your temper in Japanese
Sometimes you just want to wring someone's neck (kubi wo hinetteyaru (首をひねってやる). Oh, only figuratively, I mean. And having wrung — verbally, that is — you feel like a new man or woman, totally refreshed. This may even clear the air, or, in Japanese, sukatto suru (すかっとする),...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 16, 2009
How to write a speech for a wedding in Japan
If you are nonnative and have decided to marry a Japanese, congratulations are in order. But prepare for a world of worry if you plan to have the kekkonshiki (結婚式, wedding) in Japan.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 9, 2009
A soft spot for the good old/bad old Showa days
One vice I can't rid myself of is listening in on conversations between JK (an abbreviation for joshikōsei, 女子高生, or high school girls) on commuter trains. This has become easier these days due to the introduction of joseisenyōsharyō (女性専用車両, women-only cars) on almost...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 26, 2009
How bureaucrats spell logic in Romanized Japanese
Tomorrow I will go to Sinzyuku to meet my old friends Mr. Tutida and Ms. Oisi. We will get some susi and then end up in Kabuki-tyo, drinking syoutyū until the syūden.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 12, 2009
Putting the lie to the health of Japanese bodies
After decades of paying little attention to the needs of their bodies, the Japanese seem to be rediscovering themselves as flesh-and-blood beings who require proper physical care in order to lead happy and satisfying lives.
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
Shooter came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why
An aerial view shows the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump had been standing during an assassination attempt the day before, and the roof of a nearby building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.
How to tweak your diet when temperatures spike
Most people think of hydration as a strictly liquid-based concept, but eating foods with high water content is an essential part of making it through a Japanese summer unscathed.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Omron helping firms achieve carbon neutrality
Omron helping firms achieve carbon neutrality

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER