Tag - language-3

 
 

LANGUAGE 3

Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 12, 2016
Can Japanese speakers really read Chinese? It depends on what you mean by 'read'
Will acquiring the ability to read Japanese give you some degree of literacy in Chinese? Well, it could at least give you a head start.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Sep 12, 2016
How you use 'dake' can mean the difference between 'giving it a try' and 'trying your best'
Introducing forms of the pattern X(verb)-dake Y, which expresses limitations.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 10, 2016
The need for effective English teachers
Japanese students' ability to speak English is abysmal. Improvement will require finding native speakers as teachers.
LIFE / Language
Aug 29, 2016
The Emperor's speech: lucid but appropriately indirect
Emperor Akihito's choice of words and presentation speak volumes about how the relationship between the Imperial family and the people of Japan has evolved since his father's address to the nation in 1945.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Aug 29, 2016
'Kakeru' and 'kakaru': two very useful Japanese verbs worth hanging on to
Introduce some meanings and usages of the verbs u639bu3051u308b and u639bu304bu308b (both 'to hang').
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 22, 2016
Stuff happens: opening up to intransitive Japanese verbs
While English prefers to describe things in terms of an actor who performs some action on an object, in Japanese such things often seem to happen out of themselves.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2016
Dentsu to push simplified Japanese to ease communication with tourists
As part of its project to encourage the creation of tourism services, advertising giant Dentsu Inc. will urge the public to use simple Japanese when communicating with tourists.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Aug 14, 2016
After 30 years in Japan, teacher from Zambia is still learning
Globe-trotting son of Zambian envoy thought he'd seen it all until he arrived on these shores.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 8, 2016
安: a peaceful character for these turbulent times
One kanji character that learners encounter at a fairly early stage is u5b89, pronounced 'an' or 'yasuraka' and meaning 'peaceful' and, by extension, 'safe.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Aug 8, 2016
Living it large with 'oki' and 'hiroi'
Introducing the meaning and uses of the adjectives u5927(u304au304a)u304du3044 (big/large/great) and u5e83u3044 (spacious/wide) and their related expressions.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Aug 8, 2016
Japanese fans flock to 'Pokemon Go'
Nintendo's smartphone game 'Pokemon Go' has finally launched in Japan, the birthplace of the little virtual monsters.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 1, 2016
A Japanese guide to dealing with gentlemen callers and unruly dogs
Bookworms often have a rare jewel in their collection that they are unable to throw out — despite efforts to こんまり (Konmari, tidy in the method of Marie Kondo by getting rid of clutter) around the house. For me, this book is the 1965 エチケット事典 (Echiketto Jiten, Etiquette Dictionary)....
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Aug 1, 2016
It'll be all good once you learn how to use 'ii desu' the correct way
Ima-wa ii-desu. (I'm fine for now.)
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Aug 1, 2016
Talking about Harajuku Station's new look
Harajuku Station is getting a makeover, let's describe how we think it should go.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 25, 2016
Better to holiday at home than endure a resort during the Japanese summer
In the late-capitalist scheme of things, the Japanese resort probably makes sense. But speaking as a reformed resort junkie, I believe we can do better.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Jul 25, 2016
Going from A to Z with 'no ho ga' and 'made'
Tōkyō-kara Fukuoka-made iku-niwa, hikōki-to shinkansen, dochira-ga ii-deshō-ka. (Is it better to go from Tokyo to Fukuoka by plane or shinkansen?)
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jul 25, 2016
Sashihara wins AKB48 general election
About 30,000 people packed a baseball stadium in Niigata for the annual event to announce the most popular members of the AKB48 family of all-female idol groups.
LIFE / Language
Jul 25, 2016
Looking at vocabulary in the runup to 'Pokemon Go'
'Pokemon Go' fans in Japan are vexed by the wait for the popular game.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb