As many of you are painfully aware, most Japanese-language movies, TV dramas and animes still have no subs on the DVDs. Foreign/Hollywood movies dubbed into Japanese generally do have subs, but these are almost never exact dialogue transcripts (at least, I have never seen one), rather they are a rewording or a paraphrasing. But why?…
Sentences
How To Score Yourself On Repetitions 2
by khatzumoto
This is a repeat of a previous post. I wasn’t happy with the wording the last time, it seemed unclear and difficult to understand. Truth be told, scoring repetitions requires some individual judgment, but much of it, I think, can be standardized. So here’s a second attempt at explaining how to score repetitions. Hopefully this…
10,000 Sentences: Input Before Output
by khatzumoto
@Update: 10,000 Sentences is Dead. Let the MCD Revolution Begin! | AJATT | All Japanese All The Time is.gd/AWLzAv OK…this is embarassing to admit, but: I didn’t invent this method of learning language. A couple of very sharp Poles learning English did. And a very sharp American linguistics professor says they’re right. I merely put…
Book Review: Understanding Basic Japanese Grammar
by khatzumoto
The book is Understanding Basic Japanese Grammar by Koichi NISHIGUCHI [基礎日本語文法教本 西口光一（著）]. に・ほん・ご き・そ ぶん・ぽう きょう・ほん ISBN: 475740168X You probably know by now what I think about textbooks and studying grammar. Textbooks are the devil’s spawn; studying grammar is a confusing waste of time in terms of actually teaching you how to use the language. Grammar is a “why”,…
Intel Centrino Duo…The Pun is Not Lost in Translation
by khatzumoto
This ad was posted on a train a while ago, and I’ll be frank…I chuckled. Perhaps you will enjoy it. So here it is with an explanation. Intel Centrino Duo. 世界各国の評価サイトで 大絶賛。 胸を張る代わりに、 シールを 貼って見ました。 The Intel Centrino Duo. Acclaimed on ratings websites worldwide. Rather than stick out our chests, we thought we’d just try…
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…