The Different Ways to Say "I" in Japanese

How do you say "I" in your language? In English, it's simply, "I". In Chinese, it's 我 (wo). In Japanese, mm.. th...

Survivor Japanese for First-Timers in Japan

Do not know Japanese? Totally clueless about the strange strokes and characters on the signages and packagings in Japan? But still bent on v...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 26

I've decided to revamp the "Japanese Language Made Simpler" a little.Instead of focusing on a new particle in each lesson, it ...

Learning Japanese the iPhone way #2

With the dictionary, now it's time to download iPhone applications which provide more structured learning of the Japanese language.I...

Learning Japanese the iPhone way #1

Recently I've joined the iPhone club as well, as more and more of my friends and colleagues become enthusiastic ambassadors of iPhones, ...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 25

How to express "accompaniment", like I went shopping with my mum?We use the particle "と" in this case.The structure of t...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 24

Fourthly, the particle 'で' is used to express reason.The structure of the phrase will be in this form:[reason] で= because of [reason...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 23

Thirdly, the particle 'で' is used to express "made of/ from".The structure of the phrase will be in this form:[ingredient]...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 22

The particle 'で' can also be used to express the means of transport/ tool or language used.For example:came here by taxi= takushi de...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 21

How to express the location that an action is done? The particle 'で' is used.The structure of the phrase will be in this form:[place...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 20

To show the place of arrival, we also use the particle に. The structure of the phrase will be in this form:[place of arrival] に [verb] =[ver...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 19

For this lesson, we are going to explore another usage of に: to show the place where something or someone is at/ exists.To express living th...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 18

The 4th particle, we are going to cover today is に, to express the time when an action is taking/ has taken place.The structure of the phras...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 17

The third particle, we are going to cover is へ, which is used to express places the subject is going/ coming towards.The structure of the ph...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 16

The second particle, we are going to cover today is と, which is used to combine nouns.The structure of the phrase will be in this form:[obje...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 15

From this week onwards, we will touch on the basic particles used in forming Japanese sentences. Today's focus will be on を, which is us...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 14

In the last lesson, we have learnt that "あります" can be used to express existence of a non-living object or a plant, so how about su...

Japanese Language Made Simpler- Lesson 13

In the last lesson, "あります" is used to express what a person has/ what I have. "あります" can also be used to express existen...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 12

Last lesson - Lesson 11, ended the series on expression of wants for both ourselves and also for third parties. Today, we will touch on anot...

Japanese Language Made Simpler - Lesson 11

Here's another way to express a third party's wants- using がります. In contrast with Lesson 10, which is specific to wanting a particul...