Warning! crazy Japanese signs
Japanese signs are great fun. You really have to admire the amount of detail that went into some of them. Here’s a collection of pictures of various warnings, notices, caution signs, etc. that I’ve come across in my journeys…
Vocab power: stop saying “totemo”
Totemo means “very” in Japanese, also sometimes pronounced とっても/tottemo with a kicked “t” for added emphasis. Because it is so easy to pronounce, so broad in meaning and so simple in grammar, it is one of the most useful words in the Japanese language. “Power-words” like totemo great for speed-learning, and non-Japanese pick up on these words with unparalleled ease… However, all too often those learners end up clinging to these words to a far greater degree than they should and for a much longer time than they should…
Japanese Proverbs: October 2009
Another month, another round of proverbs. For those of you who are following me on twitter you already know the drill: every day I select a new Japanese proverb to tweet for everyone’s learning pleasure. So if you like these, please be sure to follow me.
Starting this month I’ll be including the romaji readings for the proverbs alongside the katakana…
Katakana Mysteries: 7 lucky loan words
In the first chapter of Katakana mysteries, I covered a few words whose Japanese meaning has by one path or another become quite different from their English ancestors. This time, I’ve rounded up 7 more words/phrases that are interesting for the opposite reason: their accuracy. You probably wouldn’t have expected these underdogs of English to even become loanwords at all, much less to have survived the Japanese translation gauntlet intact…
Sharemo: social sharing service
Sharemo is Japanese ingenuity at its best. It’s a new kind of website, dubbed “social sharing”, where people can list things they have but don’t need around the house, and borrow or take similarly listed items from other people across the country.
Outlandish Japanese flavors: Azuki (sweet bean) Pepsi
Not long ago you could find matcha (powdered green tea) flavored coca cola at convenience stores around Japan. Thankfully that scourge seems to have passed, but the age old rivalry between Pepsi and Coke wages on, and Pepsi has fired back with… sweet bean flavor? all…. right….
Crazy kanji: what’s the highest stroke count?
Sooner or later every Japanese learner asks the question, which kanji has the highest stroke count?
Well, today I’m going to hopefully answer that question for everyone once and for all…
Japanglish journeys: the 100 yen store
Not only are 100 yen shops a kind of messiah for tight-budgeted students, travelers and residents, they are an honest to goodness goldmine for top-quality Japanglish. I imagine some of the products they carry ended up there specifically because the maker realized their translation was rubbish.
Recently I made a trip to the Skyle building Daiso in Sakae, Nagoya… here’s what I came away with…
A few random shots
Sorry for the lack of updating but as I mentioned on Twitter, my parents are visiting for 10 days and I don’t have much time for the blog. Of course it’s also a chance for me to get out and about, so I’ve taken quite a few pictures that I’ll be putting here eventually.
For now, here are a couple random shots from my travels so far…
Japanese Proverbs: September 2009
Every day I tweet a new Japanese proverb with it’s reading, translation, and definition explained. Here is a roundup of all 29 proverbs that I posted in September 2009 (the first full month that I’ve been doing this…). If I had done one every day there would have been 30 but it looks like I forgot one on the 30th…
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