How to Japanese Podcast

幸い ( saiwai ) is very close to 幸せ ( shiawase ), but it gets incorporated into one of the most frequently used phrases to make a polite request in Japanese. I introduce that phrase in the newsletter this month, and on the blog , I looked at how to use 幸い to say "fortunately/luckily." Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com . You can also follow How to Ja...

Generative AI is reaching a fever pitch these days, and I think it's not a good sign for those who are just starting to learn Japanese. Unlike an electronic dictionary or an SRS app, generative AI offers to do the language for students, eliminating the friction of language learning. That friction is necessary for you to learn, so I'd recommend seeking out that pain instead. For new students, I'd c...

It's good practice to double check Japanese phrases you use every now and then, and this month I looked into 改めて ( aratamete ), which is a nice, polite way to say "again." I go through some examples and introduce one of my new favorite writers. I've also got grocery store recommendations AND the latest information about the new Murakami novel coming out in July. Check out the newsletter and blo...

事項 is one of the most useful Japanese words, but it's useless on its own. It must link together with another word to take on meaning. This month I look at all the different combinations I could find. Also, I give my recommendations for Kobe. Don't forget to check out the blog and the newsletter . Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com . You can also follow...

Japanese passive forms can be difficult to get used to at first. Finding a few phrases you understand, such as 初めて言われました, can make it easier to access others. Check out the newsletter and the blog for more info. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com . You can also follow How to Japanese on the newsletter ,  Bluesky ,  Instagram , TikTok , and Faceb...

This month, I wrote about 御社 ( onsha ) and 弊社 ( heisha ), two business words used to mean "your (honorable) company" and "my (humble) company." These were difficult for me to differentiate at first, but I have a helpful mnemonic, and a helpful way to understand how they get used: essentially they function as pronouns. Check out the newsletter and the blog . Feel free to reach out with any ques...

I'm taking December off to prep for parental leave, so I went back through some of my favorite writing from the past 18 years. Give it a listen, and don't forget the newsletter and the blog . Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com . You can also follow How to Japanese on the newsletter ,  Bluesky ,  Instagram , TikTok , and Facebook .

当日 is an extremely efficient little word that can refer to any specific day in the past or the future. Tune in to learn how to incorporate it into your active Japanese instead of trying to use grammar from your native language translated into Japanese. For more, check out the newsletter and the blog . Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com . You can also f...

謎です。 This is all you need to get a laugh in Japanese, given the right situation. Listen to learn more about how to use this funny phrase, and to dig into the career of comedian Katagiri Jin who acted in a comedy short that went viral on the internet outside of Japan in the late 2000s. See more on the newsletter and blog . Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gma...

Re-orient yourself in receiver-oriented expressions of thanks! If that sounds complicated, it's not, I promise. Essentially, I show you how to replace your くださって with an いただき and take a look at some interesting language trends that I hope actual linguists are looking into. I've also got a beer recommendation and a way for you to get rid of stuff for free in Japan. See more on the  newslet...

This month I wrote about one of the very first topics I ever covered on the blog: How do you convey reported information in Japanese? And how does it differ from conveying information in English? ということです is a super convenient way to do so, as long as you do the work of setting up clear context. Take a look on the  blog or on the newsletter , which is now at newsletter.howtojapanese.com. Fee...

This month I'm taking a look at another set of "impossible pairs." Except this time, they aren't homophones. I've also got soup recommendations, details on the Osaka Expo, and some rambling about 商店街 ( shōtengai ) shopping arcades. Head to the newsletter and blog for more. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to  howtojapanese@gmail.com . You can also follow How to Japanese on Su...

なんです！ What is it? What does it mean? How do I use it? Listen in to learn a couple simple patterns that will make your spoken Japanese more natural by adding in this small little piece of language at the end of your clauses. Check out the  newsletter and blog as well. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to  howtojapanese@gmail.com . You can also follow How to Japanese on Substa...

This month I wrote about the word 五月雨式 which has a really interesting history. Unless you already know the word, I bet you don't know how it's pronounced. It's a very useful word in business situations, so add these example sentences into your list of sentences to review regularly. I've also got tourist recs, and there are still spots open in the USJETAA Japanese Coaching sessions I'm helping...

This month I wrote about how to authenticate new Japanese phrases/words that you've never encountered before by doing a search for 例文 ( reibun , example sentences). Stick around for Kyoto recommendations this month, and I also talk about the volunteering I'm doing for USJETAA: We're offering Japanese coaching sessions four times a year for anyone who needs advice on how to proceed with their stu...

This month I wrote about the word 筋 ( suji ), which has a huge range of literal and figurative meanings. One of these is closely related to Osaka geography. Stay to the end to hear me give Osaka travel recs and tell a funny story about my wedding this month. Full Osaka recs on the blog , and more about 筋 on the newsletter . Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gma...

This month is all about acquisition. Specifically the appraisal and acquisition of new Japanese. I argue that a "collector's mindset" can help benefit students. It's how I recently acquired the new phrase あとになってわかったこと. Listen in to learn about what it means. And check out the blog here , and the newsletter here this month. Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojap...

This month I introduce another "Impossible Pair," which I first wrote about back in September 2024. The pair I introduce: the words 状態 ( jōtai ) and 状況 ( jōkyō ). One way to differentiate these is size, but the other is a time element. I think I've hit on an interesting way to think about these. Check out the newsletter for more, and the blog for how 状態 gets used with Pokemon. Feel free to r...

This month I look at three paragraphs from an essay by Kakuta Mitsuyo. These three paragraphs have an interesting combination of 常体 ( jōtai , direct style) and 敬体 ( keitai , distal style), which gives me another opportunity to talk about written and spoken Japanese. And I also address のだ ( no da )/のです ( no desu ), the little bit of language that comes at the end of clauses and sentences....

This month I talk about the importance of giving up! (What!?) I also examine a sentence from a very difficult essay and talk about 修飾 ( shūshoku , description/modification) and 主題 ( shudai , topics). At the end I go over a few additional reviews of the English translation of Murakami's latest novel and discuss a usage of 伺う ( ukagau , to ask/to hear/to visit) that I neglected to include in l...

Special Emergency Episode: The English translation of Murakami's The City and Its Uncertain Walls will be published on November 19, so I'm re-running my review episode of the Japanese version that I posted last year. I'm adding 20 minutes of additional content as an introduction to discuss a couple of the reviews that have already been published. Check out the blog for links to the reviews and to...

In the newsletter this month, I looked at 伺う ( ukagau ) a broadly useful "humble" keigo verb, and on the blog I looked at the other kanji that help ukagau expand its meanings. On the podcast, I talked about keigo more broadly. It's often overcomplicated and intimidating. Students need an easy way in, and I think there's a way to create a simple binary for many keigo verbs. Give the episode a lis...

確か ( tashika ) and 確かに ( tashika ni ) seemed impenetrable to me when I first started studying; somehow they're nearly identical but meant the exact opposite? I found that I was able to crack the code by "brute forcing" this an other impossible pairs. Read more in the newsletter , and check out the blog for a link to the Kakuta Mitsuyo reading I mentioned and to find a link to my Japanese read...

確認 ( kakunin , confirm/check) is one of the most flexible words in the language. This month I go over all the different usages. Check out the newsletter for the prefixes/suffixes it connects with and how it's an extremely effective tool in work chats. On the blog , I've got more in depth discussion of 確認 and how it can set a template for conversations. Feel free to reach out with any questions...

It's been three years since I restarted my kanji study, and unfortunately it's languished over the past year. I take a look at the recommendations I made last year to see if they still hold up and provide an alternate method of creating your own manual spaced-repetition system. Check out the newsletter for the details and the blog for a look at how much a draft of Norwegian Wood might have weighed...