Tag - nihongo

 
 

NIHONGO

LIFE / Language
Nov 28, 2016
Record 20 million foreign visitors to Japan estimated for year so far
Sample newspaper article
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 21, 2016
Painful bloopers in Japanese can be valuable learning experiences
While working on the island of Guam in the early 1970s, I had regular business dealings with the expat Japanese business community — basically a good-natured crowd who were used to hearing locals mangle their language on a daily basis.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Nov 21, 2016
Taking things to the wire with 'girigiri' and 'suresure'
Introducing the proper uses of two similar expressions — u304eu308au304eu308aand u3059u308cu3059u308c .
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 14, 2016
Japanese translators forced to grab the Trump bull by the horns
A look at how the U.S. president-elect's words have been relayed in Japanese may help explain the source of uncertainty and concern here about his election.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Nov 14, 2016
With 'bun,' get your share in Japanese — or as much as you put in
Introducing some expressions using u5206 (u3076u3093), which means 'share,' 'part' or 'portion.'
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Nov 14, 2016
Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize in literature
U.S. music legend Bob Dylan is the first songwriter to win the Nobel Prize in literature in the award's 115-year history.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 7, 2016
Strength and tradition draw women back to sumo world
Let's face it, where else are we going to watch a lot of large, near-naked men wrestle each other in a tiny dirt arena?
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Nov 7, 2016
Articulating the unknown, unreliable or just plain dodgy with 'ayashii'
Introducing some uses of the adjective u3042u3084u3057u3044, which means 'dubious' or 'strange.'
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Nov 7, 2016
Pepper gets to work in Taiwan
Pepper, SoftBank Corp.'s humanoid robot, has started work at a bank and a life insurer in Taiwan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 31, 2016
Why you won't learn natural Japanese from dubbed foreign TV
It seems that in Japanese dubbing there is always something found rather than lost in translation — something that wasn't in the English original and is not part of regular Japanese either.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Oct 31, 2016
Using 'kiri' in Japanese to leave it at that
Introduce some uses of u304du308a, which is used to set limits on things.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Oct 31, 2016
Tokyo University ranked 4th best in Asia
The University of Tokyo ranked 39th in this year's Times Higher Education list, making it the fourth best institution of higher learning in Asia.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Oct 24, 2016
Getting quite a lot across with 'kanari' and 'daibu'
Introducing the use of two adverbs, u304bu306au308a and u3060u3044u3076, that show the degree of something.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Oct 24, 2016
Tokyo cell scientist gets Nobel prize
Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded this year's Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for explaining the processes whereby proteins are degraded and recycled.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 24, 2016
Whenever you meet katakana, expect the unexpected
A second dive into some of the many ways the katakana syllabary is put to use when writing Japanese.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 17, 2016
How do I struggle with katakana? Let me count the ways
The fuss over the use of the 'shin' katakana in the 'Shin Godzilla' film's title highlights the mystery that surrounds this often-frustrating syllabary.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Oct 17, 2016
Leaving some things left unsaid with 'no ni' and 'kedo'
Today we will introduce the use of u306eu306b and u3051u3069 as sentence-ending particles.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 3, 2016
'Thursday Night Football' NFL draws Friday morning tweeters in Japan
Reading the tweets as they scroll below NFL games shown live on Twitter has become my new Japanese study obsession.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Oct 3, 2016
Setting up contrary clauses with 'no ni,' 'te mo' and 'de mo'
Introduce the proper usage of u306eu306b and u3066u3082/u3067u3082, which link two contrary clauses.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Oct 3, 2016
Hitachi trials humanoid robot at Haneda airport
Hitachi Ltd. has started trials of its EMIEW3 humanoid robot at Tokyo's Haneda airport to aid foreign visitors to Japan.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan