I learned it's easier to learn verbs in their ない form first, vs. their dictionary form first. Makes recognizing the difference between Godan and Ichidan verbs 100% easier and removes the need to "remember" the "hidden/fake/lying" verbs that parade as the other verb type. The trick to doing it is far easier and I hate how Genki teaches it in the book.
Leaving me with only having to learn the conjugation patterns for Ichidan, Godan, and Irregular verbs. Far, far easier.
Why it's important to read as much native materials as you possibly can in your target language and where/how to start.
※ When learners first embark on their journey of picking up a new language, the first thing we do is familiarize ourselves with the alphabet, pronunciation, and other important innerworkings on the language. With Japanese, the first step is to learn hiragana and katakana. A lot of people stop in the middle of that because they feel that it's not worth learning the language if they have to learn that many letters. But what if you've made it past that point? Where do you go from there? Of course, we move on to basic grammar and sentence structure so that you can begin to understand why sentences are formed the way that they are. (and, of course, vocab words).
※ However, while textbooks and workbooks do teach us the way that sentences are formed, it's stiff. Of course, the purpose behind that is to make sure that you understand the basics before you move on to more native/nuanced versions of the structures. But once you're ready to do that, where do you go? Click below to keep reading:
★If you're ready/interested in reading native material, and you don't know where to start, I highly recommend trying out Natively. Think of this as a goodreads for Japanese learners.
★If you're concerned about picking a book or series that's too difficult or too long for you, the website has already taken that into account. The website is structured so that all of the books and series that are on there are added, graded, and reviewed by fellow Japanese learners. The grading system that is utilized goes from Level 0 to Level 41; the grades roughly correspond with JLPT levels (if you're preparing for the JLPT and are trying to prepare for the reading comprehension section). You can learn more about the grading system by clicking here.
★The website includes all sorts of books: textbooks, graded readers, light novels, manga, novels, children's books, short stories, and other kinds of books. When you click on a title or see it in the search results, the color coded grade will pop up next to it. These grades are user-determined. When users finish reading a book, we're prompted to grade the difficulty level in comparison to other books that we may have already read. In doing so, the difficulty level of the book might change when calculated in with other reviews. The point of this is to help fellow learners gauge what types of reads you find find difficult and which ones you find to be easy. Here's an example photo:
☞Caveat: don't feel discouraged if you found a book to be difficult even though it didn't seem like it would be. Everyone thrives in different areas and different subjects. Just because something was graded at N5 and you had difficulties with it at N3 doesn't mean anything--it might mean that it wasn't something to your liking. There are some series that I have difficulty with because of pacing or because I lacked interest in it.
❀ If you're worried about reading a book or series on your own and you're looking for friends to read and discuss about it with, come join us over on the discord and propose it as an option in the bookclub.
㉄ Can't find a particular book or series that you're looking for on the website? You can request for it to be added here.
★ The website is also equipped to let you "organize" your library into categories and track your reading progress. Additionally, you can make your library and reading progress private if you don't want anyone to see. As I'm currently using this blog to be as open as I can possibly be on my language learning journey, mine is made public. Feel free to check me out on the website.
★This is not sponsored, but if you receive a welcome message from Brandon, the owner and creator of the website, tell him that maobuchou sent you (that's me! ☺️). Brandon is really nice, so if there's anything that you're confused about or if you have suggestions for the website, he has an option for you to contact him.
★If you're interested in seeing what I'm currently reading, what I'm interested in reading next, and what I've graded thus far, click here to follow me (I'll follow back). Following other users allows you take a peek at what books they're reading. I also update my profile to say what book is also being read in the discord bookclub.
There will be more posts to come in the future about ways to become comfortable with reading in your target language.
This grammar point is very simple. You use くなる when the condition of something becomes a certain way by itself. On the other hand, くする is used when the condition of something is changed by an outside agent (either a person or a thing). In this post, let’s look at these two very basic constructions and how the Japanese works.
Here is your vocabulary:
【The Grammar】
The grammar is very simple. First, you take an adjective or a noun and change them to their adverbial forms. For example, the adjective 長い has an adverbial form of 長く. The noun ひま has an adverbial form of ひまに.
After you make the adverbial forms of the adjective or the noun, you just put it before either なる or する. That’s it!
We talked about the く connector in this post and about the adverbial に in this post.
I should point out that while this grammar point appears in most JLPT books and websites as くなる and くする, as you can see in the picture above, nouns don’t use く! For that reason, I choose to call this point adverb ✙ なる and adverb ✙ する.
【adverb + なる】
Here are some examples with なる:
① 熱が下がって、気分がだいぶ{よくなりました}。
=fever will go down and then feeling became considerably better
= My fever went down and then I felt much better.
② この仕事が終わったら、少し{ひまになる}と思います。
= when work finishes, a little bit, will become free, I think
= I think that when work finishes, I’ll have more time.
③ このごろ仕事が減って、前ほど{忙しくなくなった}。
= these days, work decreased and so as much as before, became not busy
= These days, I have less work and so I’m not as busy as before.
④ きみは{大人になったら}、{何になりたい}の。
= when you become an adult, what want to become
= When you grow up, what do you want to be (and explain)?
Some things to notice:
In example 1, the sense is that when the fever went down, the person’s mood got better by itself.
In example 2, the condition of having more free time arises naturally when work decreases. (ひま can have the connotation of having absolutely nothing to do and can be considered rude by some people. I use the word for myself sometimes, but I never seriously refer to other people as ひま.)
Concerning example 3, the negative form of 忙しい is with 忙しくない. If you want to make THAT into an adverb, it will become 忙しくなく. This was very difficult for me when I was just beginning Japanese.
Finally, Example 4 shows that the question word of 何 can be treated as a noun. This makes sense if you think of it as a placeholder for whatever answer the listener will give. Also, because the speaker uses the word きみ we know that the speaker and listener are close. It would make sense if it were a parent-child relationship. きみ is NOT used with people that you have just met or that you don’t know well!
【adverb + する】
Here are some examples with する:
⑤(父が子どもに)もっと部屋を{きれいにしなさい}。
= father to his child: a little bit more the room, make it clean
= Clean up your room a bit more.
⑥ このケーキ、ちょっと大きいから、{半分にして}ください。
= this cake, a bit big and so make it half please
= This cake is a bit (too) big so please cut it in half.
⑦ スカートを5センチぐらい{短かくして}ください。
= this skirt, about 5 centimeters make it short please
= Please shorten this skirt about 5 centimeters.
Notice that examples 5, 6 and 7 all include someone (other than the speaker) making a thing (a room, a cake, and a skirt) a different condition than the current one. This is when you will want to use adverb + する.
【Conclusion】
The grammar points of adverb ✙ なる and adverb ✙ する are pretty simple to understand. That is why they are considered Level N5. Adverb ✙ なる shows a person or a thing becoming a different condition by itself. Adverb ✙ する shows a person or a thing changing to a different condition by a different person or thing.
Today I will be reviewing the Let's Talk in Japanese! podcast by Tomo-sensei. This podcast is aimed at Japanese learners who want more chances to listen to spoken Japanese but using vocabulary and grammar that they can understand. The podcast is for levels N1 (the highest level) to N5 (the lowest level), but I would say that a majority of the content is focused on level N3 or N4.
Do I currently listen to this podcast?: Yes, I like this podcast a lot and listen to it frequently.
General Overview
Good For Levels: Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced
In this series, Tomo, a Japanese teacher for foreign students, discusses in Japanese only a variety of topics either selected by him or suggested by the audience. These can range from topics about daily life to JLPT related topics. He understandably discusses topics that he has a decent knowledge of, and admits when there are gaps. He is quite faithful to the level of each episode, which he indicates at the end of the episode title, so you can be sure that you will be able to understand the majority of the content or challenge yourself as the case may be.
Length of Episodes ★★★★★
The podcasts are usually around 10-15 minutes long. This is ideal for a quick listen when you are short on time or just want to supplement your studies, but may not be ideal if you are looking for something a bit longer. I usually listen to two or three podcasts in a row during my commute and feel like I've spent my time well. The short length can be useful if you are not interested in a particular topic, because you can make it to the end of the episode without losing interest and a new topic will come up with the next episode.
Level of Engagement ★★★★★
Although this is just one person (Tomo) talking throughout the podcast, he is engaging because he speaks as though he is talking to a small group. I find it engaging because I can, in the privacy of my room or car, reply to him when he poses questions, or make a response if I am surprised by what he says, etc. Even though it's not interactive per se, it can feel interactive because of the way he speaks in his podcast. I find myself engaged in most episodes, and the shorter length means I don't have to work as hard to stay engaged through the entire episode.
Episode Frequency ★★★★★
New podcasts come out about weekly, and sometimes more frequently than that. I have heard that he works very hard to put out the podcasts so frequently, and I think this intense schedule plus the large archive of material means you can listen almost indefinitely to this podcast.
Overall ★★★★★
This podcast is completely in Japanese and designed by a Japanese teacher for foreigners learning Japanese, and has material for everyone from beginners to advanced learners. The shorter episodes mean you can fit it into a busy schedule, and the JLPT labels mean you can pick and choose episodes based on your own level and be confident that you will get what you expect. I highly recommend this for those looking to improve their listening skills.
hi!! where did you learn Japanese? 🥺 ive only just started so im trying to improve as i go. any tips?
hello! so, i self-studied for about 8 months before i started studying it at university!
my tips are!
-learn hiragana and katakana make sure they’re solid! probably take about 3 weeks! but you might’ve already learnt them.
-increase input of the language! so watch and listen to more japanese, music etc. when i first started studying i would play this city pop playlist and this one, so now whenever i play it i can focus on japanese and study cos my brain is used to hearing it when studying it if that makes sense!
-i used memrise for a few months but Duolingo is good too, just to slowly implement the language before learning any grammar! in this time i suggest starting to learn some light vocab, like Quizlet>> N5 japanese vocabulary.
- to start learning grammar i started with the app, tae kim’s guide to japanese and then some minna no nigongo books, i also used an italki tutor for a few months (quite cheap language teacher online over video call).
- my other tips are make sheets of basic things like hello, how are you, the weather is nice etc, i feel like it really helps you get used to the basic structure of sentences and i felt like memrise was really good at this and that’s why i suggest using it over Duolingo because it teaches you things like “he likes books etc.” “cherry blossoms are pretty etc etc.”
- then when you’re feeling good with the basics start with some kanji! i was lucky enough to study japanese in lockdown where I could study 2-4 hours a day.
i will now show you all the resources i used like apps and books!
-best app for learning katakana and kanji!
-the Japanese app is great and I still use it now! so, i input kanji I’ve learnt onto a list and you can study it in flash cards! i even have a list for words and phrases i hear in anime and dramas and films, and interesting dictionary sentence examples.
-the grammar guide i used loosely at first and the vocab stack i used!
- the yellow textbook is the most important bc it has the grammar summarised
if you’d like to see what my notes looked like in the beginning or anything else please let me know I’d be happy to help! try your best! I’m not sure of your experience of language learning but it’s not always linear and some days you feel you’ve learnt so much and others like you’re set back and there’s a wall, if you feel a wall, take a break, take a few days, a week, your brain is like a sponge and I always feel like it soaks in and then you can continue when you take a break hehe, good luck <3