Useful Hooks in Japanese for Foreign Loan Words
There's nothing more interesting than studying a foreign language, of learning the way its unique grammatical rules work so you ...
Tag: Teaching English (ESL)
My Grammatical Problem
I've got a grammatical problem: my son, who began Junior High School in April, has started learning formal English grammar ...
Some Useful Japanese Proverbs
"Even monkeys fall from trees." This is one of the many bits of wisdom you can glean by studying Japanese ...
Is it Possible for Someone to Forget their Native Language?
Is it possible for a person to forget their native language? You wouldn't think so, but during my years of ...
Juken season in Japan — time to eat your Kit Kat!
Right now it's juken (test) season in Japan, when hundreds of thousands of high school students take the university entrance ...
Thoughts on men and women and marriage, things that surprise foreigners in Japan, and how we sound to the Japanese
Yesterday my wife and I went to our favorite restaurant and noticed that the girl who had been working there ...
The joy of “onigiri” rice balls, observations on cooperative elements of Japanese language, and man, that’s a really Nice Boat!
If you were to plan a picnic, you might pack a basket containing things like sandwiches, potato salad or maybe ...
More about the “second childhood” you get when learning a language, my daughter’s Sports Day, and all about the Toyoya Prius and Tezuka Osamu
Last time I mentioned the "second childhood" I'd enjoyed as a student of Japanese. It's true -- learning a foreign ...
“Respect for the Aged Day” in Japan, various ideas about the grammar of Japanese, and the joy of shared popular culture
Today is a holiday in Japan: Keiro no Hi, or Respect for the Aged Day. Celebrated nationally since 1966 -- ...
A big typhoon pummels Japan, thoughts on the concept of “standing out” and a fun word of Japanese for you
September is storm season in Japan, as we were reminded when Typhoon Fitow -- designated boringly as Typhoon No. 9 ...
On psychology and jealousy of gaijin living in Japan, thinking about Japanese grammar while in the bath, and using the Far Side in English class
I've written before about the psychology of ex-pats living in Japan, such as the the Three Stages of Eye Aversion ...
Japanese High school baseball update, things I’ve learned from teaching ESL, and the next “boom” to hit Japan — Vinegar Beer?
You never know where the next interesting "boom" will come from in Japan. Maybe it'll be a strange new fashion ...
Thinking about “conformity” some more, making English easier for students to learn, and the Brazil you can visit from Tokyo for 1000 yen
I've written about conformity in one form or another a lot recently. The word isn't one that Americans probably have ...
Bizarre urban legends of Japan, funny English words the Japanese invent, and where are all the pregnant women?
Urban legends are funny things, sometimes leading millions of people to believe something that just isn't true. When Gerber started ...
Embarrassments of being a foreigner in Japan, Japan’s latest “rose boom” and words that feature a unique kanji
Hello again from Japan, where the zipper in your pants is known as the "window of society" (shakai no mado).As ...
The Japanese fear of making mistakes, the end of the Japanese blood type myth, and panty shots in anime you didn’t expect to see
Although the Japanese generally study six years of English (or up to ten if they take it in college), they're ...
The needless tragedy of ‘ijime,’ what’s easy and hard about learning Japanese, and the Japanese as the most expressive people on the planet
The other day I went to my son's school to watch the various end-of-year performances the students had prepared for ...
A happy day in Japan, forgetting which kind of English you speak, and feeling “natsukashii” with my old Japanese textbook
It's a boy! All Japan is currently cheering the news that Princess Kiko has given birth to a boy. The ...
Differences between Japanese and English, how to say “like” in Japanese, and what’s up with that wax food?
When you start studying Japanese, one of the first things you learn is that sentence structure will not be anything ...
Back in the USA (and sleepy), English and my son’s spelling, and a theory of macro-economics
I've made the hop from Japan to the U.S. once again, going from the world of sushi and bullet trains ...
Aya Ueto’s hit drama in Japan, how my son perceives English grammar as music, and what a “cat’s tongue” means
The most popular "unit" of television in Japan is the drama, which usually run for 15 weeks of hour-long episodes, ...
How universities work in Japan, my fond memories as an ESL teacher, and battle of the sexes, Japan style
Some of the biggest differences between Japan and the U.S. can be seen in higher education. Japan has an extensive ...
The mathematical aspects of Japanese grammar, Japan and its environment, and ways to fluster a Japanese person
A show I like a lot is NHK's Eigo de Shaberanaito ("I must say it in English"), which helps motivate ...
A watershed year for Japan, notes on Japanese education and university life, and Alo-Hello USA!
Hello from sunny San Diego. We've made the hop from Japan to the U.S. to enjoy our first Christmas at ...
