Duolingo is probably one of the most popular language-learning apps out there. It’s definitely a wonderful app, and I mostly used it for learning Swahili before I went to work in Tanzania. I had actually never used it much for Japanese before, since initially the course was aimed at beginners. However, I was surprised when…
The 2 Anki Add-ons All Japanese Learners Should Use
We at Kokoro Media have written about Anki quite a bit. It is one of the most popular spaced-repetition flashcard apps out there and practically made for learning Japanese. (Even the name comes from Japanese: 暗記 anki means “memorize”!) Anki is the only flashcard app I have used extensively and stuck with. One of the…
Reading in Japanese: How to Boost Motivation and Increase Literacy
As much as I emphasize the importance of using flash cards to learn Japanese, by the time you achieve an intermediate level of literacy you’ll want to start reading native material. Transitioning from textbook reading exercises to the same books, magazines, and manga that native Japanese people read is intimidating. Selecting reading material that’s too…
Voice of Cards: One of the Best Video Games to Help You Learn Japanese
If you’ve ever attempted to play your favorite video games in Japanese, you know how frustrating the experience can be. Massive 60-hour role-playing epics from the Final Fantasy series can obliterate your motivation once you realize just how long it would take to get through them in Japanese. Other games may be simpler, but they…
The Best Online Dictionaries for Japanese Learners
Whether you are a new learner of the Japanese language or already at an advanced level, a good dictionary (or dictionaries) is a must! We have come a long way from paper dictionaries and portable electronic dictionaries. Now, many of us use dictionaries online, on our web browsers, e-reader and tablets, Nintendo DS, or computer…
Not All Kanji Are Chinese: Understanding Japanese Kanji Creations and False Friends
One of the first things you will learn about kanji is that they are Chinese characters. But did you know that not all kanji are from China? What’s more, not all words written in kanji mean the same thing in Japanese as they do in Chinese! Let me tell you about these Japanese kanji creations,…
How to Count in Japanese
Do you know how to count in Japanese? Along with keigo, counting in Japanese is often considered one of the most difficult aspects of the language to learn. Because of the historical influence of Chinese vocabulary, the Japanese language actually has different ways of counting in different contexts. If you’re confused, that’s okay. I’m going…
Cardemy: An Integrated, Personalized, and Authentic Way to Learn Japanese
This article was produced in cooperation with Cardemy and contains affiliate links. I’ve studied Japanese on and off since I was in college, encountering several progress plateaus along the way. Whenever I managed to cross one of those plateaus, it was due to one of the following pillars of my language-learning journey. The first one…
7 Questions to Ask Yourself When Translating from Japanese to English
I’ve been living and working in Japan for more than ten years. Based on personal experience and talking with friends, I found out that when you are one of the few foreign assets in a Japanese company, and your Japanese level is fair, translating may be one of your unexpected jobs. Companies often overlook that…
Beginner Japanese Tip: Overcoming the Ambiguity of “Daijobu”
One of the more challenging aspects of learning Japanese is dealing with words that have multiple—often opposite—meanings. For beginners, one prominent example of this phenomenon is the word daijobu. Essentially, this word represents the concept of being “OK” or “all right.” For example, if you trip and fall in public, a passerby may ask, “daijobu…