16 comments

1. I’m looking for JLPT N5 Vocab but grouped by categories (days of the week, colors, numbers, etc). I feel like that will be easier for me to memorize than new random words everyday. I’ll love that in any format, but if there’s an Anki deck that does that, it would be awesome. Appreciate any help!

2. N2 Grammar もらってきた　くれていた

   Ans: もらってきた Mine くれていた

   can someone help me understand the differences please? i thought くれていた is 最も良い　because it shows nuance for gratitude, rather than receiving. and also since what the writer received was a good thing.

   私は両親に子供のころから自分がやりたいことを自由に ________

3. elusive samurai ep 7, around 14:40! i struggle greatly with the old timey japanese so i’ve listened back to this many times but i’m sure this is very wrong…but the part that i DID hear is what i have a question about. with that in mind…

   jp: なのに村人どのはたいまも（？）つもってけんぶつかいは？よさものわかぞを一人に戦わせて。臆病のこった。

   en: Letting a young outsider fight? How cowardly.

   I know a lot of that jp transcription was wrong and is lacking kanji, forgive me: i really struggled to understand 90% of it. BUT. the question I have: this 一人に戦わせて that is rendered as “letting a young outsider fight”. I know this can be letting or making, but wouldn’t it be more likely to be “making” in this case? it’s a cowardly thing to make this outsider guy fight; they’re not LETTING him. idk, curious to hear any thoughts. thank you!

4. Hello, I have a question about a sentence in a novel I’m reading.

   For context, the main character is learning about bees, and the queen bee specifically.
   何万という卵を、たった一人で産んでいく女王。

   I understand the sentence fine (I think!), but I’m not used to seeing sentences end in a noun as opposed to a verb or adjective. From reading my grammar textbook, I’m guessing this is a relative clause? Almost all of their examples for sentences with relative clauses still have a verb at the end though. Is there an implied verb here?

5. This might be a bit of a specific question, but I’m a bit at a loss.
   I’m looking for resources that I can use to learn vocabulary related to the pharmaceutical industry, analytical chemistry, quality control, or good manufacturing practice. I’m hoping to switch careers soon, and while I have experience in English, I don’t have experience in Japanese. Thank you!

6. Anyone here using GBoard’s Japanese Handwriting keyboard? Starting about 3 days ago it’s suddenly started suggesting incorrect kanji with same reading when I’m writing. For example, if I try to write out the character 会 it will make the first suggestion 回 or 買い and put 会 as the second option.

   This is getting incredibly annoying and I was curious if anyone else has been experiencing this.

7. What do Yomitan and Yomichan *do*?

8. My current study routine:

   With my morning coffee, I do my SRS study. I’m currently 750/1000 sentences into JALUP Intermediate using the Nihongo Lessons app. JALUP has been my primary grammar instruction since I started seriously studying Japanese. I’m not sure it’s for everyone, but I know pretty much all the grammar in Genki 1 and 2 and then some. When I get done with the intermediate deck, I will write a longer review. After an average of 70 or 80 review cards, I add 10 more every day. I spend about an hour to an hour and a half with JALUP every day.

   I also read at least 2 chapters in the Satori app every day. I’m nearly done with the Nutshell Grammar series, which has been a FANTASTIC supplement to JALUP and has aided my reading comprehension greatly. I am also very deep into Akiko’s Foreign Exchange, which is also excellent. I’ve enjoyed her story way more than I expected I would. The voice acting is fantastic and I learn new stuff every single day. I don’t use any of Satori’s SRS stuff. I very highly recommend Satori reader. I think everyone who is somewhere between advanced beginner and advanced intermediate will get a lot out of Satori.

   This takes me to around 2 hours a day study time. I spend any remaining time I want to give to studying to listening and reading exercises. While I think my reading, vocabulary and kanji knowledge (I did wanikani up to 1000 kanji) are upper N4 or beginner N3 level, my listening skills SUCK. Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of N5 practice videos on YouTube, and let me tell you, they are VERY humbling. I felt like an idiot when I started, but I’m steadily getting better. I’ve even listened to one N4 listening practice and did better than I thought I might.

   I’m also VERY SLOWLY getting through the Monster anime on Netflix. I use the Migaku app to help track my vocabulary, and eventually I may use its Anki card creation ability – maybe when I’m done with JALUP in a year or so. I don’t watch it with English subtitles at all. It’s very challenging, but also fun. I’m hoping Migaku will help me figure out where my vocabulary holes are eventually. I’m pretty sure I know at least 3000 words, but I don’t know for sure. It might be higher.

   My current goal is to take and pass JLPT N2 in mid or late 2026. Possibly late next year, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be ready by then. I’ll be 57 by then, and I have NO idea what I’ll do with my N2 abilities beyond just reading manga and watching anime.

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11. https://ibb.co/3Y9Skhq

    > あの子ったら、財布の中も怪しいってのに、やっぱり少しくらいのバイトは検討すべきかしら

    Is it the correct definition for 怪しい: ❸ よくない方向に変わりそうである?

    Does 検討 here means to look for part time jobs?

12. Is there an abriviation for 横断歩道 in casual speach? Seems like a long word.
    Like 字半引き becoming じはんき for example.

13. In Chainsaw man: 借金はパアだぜ

    What does パア mean? I get different translations everywhere.

14. Are there any good resources for learning vocab auditorily? I’ve been having trouble making myself sit down to do anki or work through textbooks for learning, so I’ve instead been using podcasts for learning and have felt like they’ve been working really well for me (I’ll worry about kanji later I guess, lol). I feel like I’m lagging behind on vocab though. Are there any podcasts or other auditory resources that have a strong emphasis on vocab compared to grammar?

    And to clarify, I mean actively learning vocab rather than just listening to conversation.

15. From what I can tell from both dictionary lookups and google translate, the second sentence in the second-to-last paragraph here says that “mountains will crumble” (山などが崩れたり…”) I feel I must be missing something, I can’t imagine the Japanese meteorological agency is using flowery language when it comes to a typhoon warning!

    [https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/em2024082812052/em2024082812052.html](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/em2024082812052/em2024082812052.html)

16. Koi (the fish) vs. koi (“come”) .. is the difference in meaning contextual in Japanese, or does this word have a different pitch accent depending on if it is “fish” or “come” ? I’m guessing pitch accent, because listening to koi (“come”) it sounds like the pitch falls, and I’m pretty sure the pronunciation of the koi (fish) it rises.