Looking to start going to Japanese-Japanese only, but having trouble with the dictionary entries. Well, it turns out that the Sanseido Dictionary is really good because it’s a “concise” dictionary. The entries are short and to the point, rather than long and encyclopedic. Which makes it great for a learner. Japanese text can be intimidating…
Language is Like a Video Game
by khatzumoto
Specifically, fighting games. You know, Mortal Kombat, Tekken(鉄拳）, Soul Calibur — the good ones. Anyone who’s played these before has seen (or experienced first-hand) complete beginners defeat advanced players. Just yesterday a make-up-wearing non-video-gaming girrrrrl ripped me to shreds in Tekken 5 on a friend’s PlayStation 3. I told her it was because the “X”…
Not Yet?
by khatzumoto
This is the story of a fictional boy, his fictional laptop and the fictional operating system “Mado QG”, a piece of software (in the most liberal sense of that word) that takes its sweet time starting up. It’s all a thinly veiled jab at Microsoft Windows, with the added benefit of being a fun way…
Kenya-chan, Wake Up!
by khatzumoto
In the pattern of Dick and Jane, here is another short “children’s story” in Japanese, about a boy called Kenya (yes, that is a Japanese name) who hates waking up. Explanations are at the bottom. Note: many words have multiple meanings, but it would be too overwhelming to cover them all, so only one meaning…
KhatzuMemo: Like SuperMemo/Mnemosyne, but web-based
by khatzumoto
Hello everyone! Happy New Year! 謹賀新年！ Lately, I have been silent, but not idle. Here’s the story: As you’re probably aware, in Japan, especially larger cities like Tokyo, there’s a lot of this business of moving around on trains. This leaves a train passenger with lots of free time to do things like stare into…
On Grammar
by khatzumoto
Momoko is really amazing, she only recently started learning Japanese, but she’s had, virtually word-for-word, the same grammatical insights as one of the most respected (if controversial) Japanese writers: HONDA Katsuichi (本多 勝一). Honda discussed his ideas on grammar in his primer on how to write easily understandable Japanese: 日本語の作文技術 (Nihongo no Sakubun Gijutsu, Techniques for…