The curious case of the Potato Starch
A while back, someone asked in a group chat what ‘katakuriko’ meant. Of course, I turned to my favorite Japanese dictionary site, jisho.org, to find out. Turns out that katakuriko, or 片栗粉, means potato...
View ArticleGummy Grandma Christmas!
A friend shared this really hilarious meme to me, and I just had to share it here. Oh the things that can happen when you don’t know the language! Gummies? Grandma? In Tokyo? During Christmas? It’s...
View ArticleVocabs: Taste your food
Ah the food of life! We all eat. To get nutrients, to satisfy our hunger… But how do you describe food in Japanese? This list will teach you just that. 味覚 (みかく, mikaku) – taste; palate; sense of taste...
View ArticleBlog: Countdown to Are You Happy?
10 more days till the release of the “Are You Happy?” album! あさです Don’t you get it MV 大宮のわちゃわちゃとか5人のアピールとか大野さんのダンスとか pic.twitter.com/s4CVyJcF4i — 青 あ め (@wtamst) October 12, 2016 嵐 Don’t you get it MV...
View Article“Are You Happy?”– My Thoughts
It’s finally out! Arashi’s album for 2016, “Are You Happy?” I’ve watched the PV and making, and also been listening to the songs for the past few days, so I thought I’ll share my opinion on the album....
View ArticleKanji Spotlight – Water
This entry of kanji spotlight is dedicated to the universal solvent – water. Learners of the Japanese language will encounter this word (水) pretty early on. It’s classified as an N5 vocab. After all,...
View ArticleNews: Aiba Masaki and Arimura Kasumi as 2016 Kouhaku MC
「第67回NHK紅白歌合戦」の司会者が決まりました。紅組司会は有村架純さん。白組司会は相葉雅紀さんです。紅白公式サイトには、お２人からのコメントも掲載しています。 #NHK紅白 https://t.co/nhljZi0W8Z — NHK紅白歌合戦 (@nhk_kouhaku) November 12, 2016 Aiba and Arimura Kasumi will be the white...
View ArticleKanji Spotlight: Sing Your Song
Today’s kanji spotlight is on the word 歌! You may have seen this kanji around recently… Yup. It’s the kanji for song, and it appeared in the previous post as the Kouhaku theme for this year, “夢を歌おう”,...
View ArticleVocabs: Occupations Part 1
What’s your occupation? In this vocabulary list, we’ll learn the names of some occupations in Japanese. 仕事 (しごと, shigotou) – work; job; business; occupation; employment; vocation; task 職業 (しょくぎょう,...
View ArticleVocabs: Occupations Part 2
We’ll continue our exploration of how various occupations are called in Japanese. 写真家 (しゃしんか, shashinka) – Photographer カメラマン (kameraman) – cameraman; photographer; cinematographer 画家 (がか, gaka) –...
View Article2017 Anime, Manga, Japanese Idol Calendars
It’s that time of the year again, when we get ready to wrap up the old year and welcome the new. How has your year been? Whether it’s been good, bad, or merely average, it’s about time to look ahead...
View ArticleVocabs: Occupations 3
This week, we’ll continue our exploration of various occupations in Japanese. 料理人 (りょうりにん, ryouriin) – cook; chef 給仕 (きゅうじ, kyuuji) 1. waiting on a table; serving (at dinner) 2. waiter; waitress;...
View ArticleVocabs: Travel
This week we’ll explore some travel related vocabulary! Modes of transportation will not be covered in this post, please refer to my Types of Transport post instead. 旅行 (りょこう, ryokou) – travel; trip 旅...
View ArticleHello 2017
明けましておめでとうございます！ Happy new year everyone! Whether 2016 has been exciting or nonchalant, fulfilling or lacking, it’s over and it’s time to look forward to the new year ahead. 2016 has been really...
View ArticleSay What? Snakes and Prawns
Introducing a new segment on Nihongo Manabu! Say What? aims to discuss words and phrases that are easily confused. In this first post, let’s talk about two fairly similar sounding words, へび (hebi) and...
View ArticleReview: Sakurai Sho’s Ichimen – News Zero 11 Jan 2016
Hi! Today I’d like to do a little review of Sho’s Ichimen corner. I’m just catching up to watching their shows from last year, hence the reason why this review is from an episode that aired so long...
View ArticleReview: Sakurai Sho’s Ichimen – News Zero 18 Jan 2016
Today, I’ll do a short review of the 18th Jan 2016 News Zero Ichimen segment. In this Ichimen, they talk about the cold weather in Japan, and precautions to take to stay safe. First, let’s look at the...
View ArticleVocabulary: Sakurai Sho’s Ichimen – News Zero 18 Jan 2016
Here are some noteworthy vocabulary from the 18th Jan 2016 news zero ichimen segment. You can read a review I did of the segment here. 降雪 (こうせつ, kousetsu) – snowfall; snow 路面 (ろめん, romen) – road...
View ArticleReview: Sakurai Sho’s Ichimen with Uchimura Kohei – News Zero 8th Feb 2016
In this instalment of Ichimen, newscaster Sakura Sho interviews the gymnast Uchimura Kohei. With just half a year to go till the Rio 2016 Olympics, Sho interviews Uchimura Kohei, the ‘King of...
View ArticleVocabs: Sakurai Sho’s Ichimen with Uchimura Kohei – News Zero 8th Feb 2016
As usual, I will put up a list of some interesting vocabulary used in the Ichimen segment reviewed. If you are looking for the review, it’s over here. 体操 (たいそう, taisou) – gymnastics; physical...
View Article