Japanese is infamous for its tendency of omitting the subject in a sentence, but pronouns are still an important part of the language. Personal pronouns are especially numerous in Japanese, many have one or more honorific versions. Japanese personal pronouns are more commonly omitted as the subject of a sentence than impersonal pronouns are. In …
Learning a new language requires time commitment, and you may be wondering how long it will take you to learn Japanese. The answer depends on what level of Japanese fluency you want to achieve in your studies. For example, the Japanese Language Proficiency N1, which is the highest level of Japanese proficiency, requires between 2,150 …
How Long Does It Take to Learn Japanese? Here Are Our ThoughtsRead More »
In Japanese, particles are called 助詞 (joshi) or てにをは (tenioha). These one-syllable building blocks within a Japanese sentence follow immediately after a noun, verb, or adjective. They modify each of these words, indicating what the word’s role is within the sentence. In this article, we’re going to cover the major Japanese particles, how they work, …
What Are Japanese Particles? Understanding Wa, Ga, and MoreRead More »
How do you say sorry if you make a faux pas in Japan? Japanese people will say sorry when they feel they’ve done something wrong, when they want to correct an inconvenience—and even when they want to say thank you! Apologizing properly is vital in Japan. Some of you might already know the words すみません …
Sorry in Japanese: Learn How to Properly Apologize in JapaneseRead More »
As Valentine’s Day approaches, you may be wondering how to say I love you in Japanese. Whether you’ve been together for a while now or one of you is just picking up the courage to confess your feelings, saying I love you isn’t as simple as anime would have you believe. Japanese culture is nuanced when …
I Love You in Japanese: Learn How to Express Your Feelings in JapaneseRead More »
As the holiday season approaches, do you ever wonder how Christmas and New Year’s are celebrated in Japan? Both holidays are widely celebrated, but Japan has only been celebrating Christmas for about 500 years! New Year’s is a much bigger, much older celebration. In this article, we’ll take a look at these two popular year-end …
All You Need to Know about Christmas and New Year in JapanRead More »
The rules governing Japanese sentence structure are quite different from those of English sentence structure. Many learners struggle with how to best approach that difference. Some box Japanese sentence structure into an SOV (Subject Oject Verb) formula in order to compare it to the SVO (Subject Verb Object) structure that English takes. Others argue that …
Japanese Sentence Structure: Do’s, Don’t’s, and Other Helpful TipsRead More »
So, you want to learn Japanese. It might seem like a daunting task. After all, Japanese has three alphabets, multiple levels of formality, and a different sentence structure than the one you might be used to. Where to begin? In this article, we’ll talk about the best way to learn Japanese. Here’s a hint: the …
The Best Way to Learn Japanese: A Comprehensive GuideRead More »
If you want to study Japanese or travel to Japan, one of the most essential Japanese phrases to know is hello. However, the word hello in Japanese varies depending on the time of day and the person you’re greeting. In this article, we’ll cover how to say hello in Japanese in a variety of social …
Hello in Japanese: All the Japanese Greetings You Need to KnowRead More »
Japan boasts one of the longest life expectancies in the world and has 80,000 citizens who are over 100 years old. Would it surprise you to learn that many of these centenarians have only recently started celebrating their birthdays? In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at how to celebrate birthdays in …
“Happy Birthday” in Japanese – How to Celebrate Birthdays in JapanRead More »