Yorumlar

• u/AutoModerator·1·1 Ağu 2026 00:01

  Useful Japanese teaching symbols:

  〇 "correct" | △ "strange/unnatural/unclear" | × "incorrect (ＮＧ)" | ≒ "nearly equal"

  ---

  #Question Etiquette Guidelines:

  • 0 Learn kana (hiragana and katakana) before anything else. Then, remember to learn words, not kanji readings.

  • 1 Provide the CONTEXT of the grammar, vocabulary or sentence you are having trouble with as much as possible. Provide the sentence or paragraph that you saw it in. Make your questions as specific as possible.

  Ｘ What is the difference between の and が ?

  ◯ I am reading this specific graded reader and I saw this sentence: 日本人の知らない日本語 , why is の used there instead of が ? (the answer)

  • 2 When asking for a translation or how to say something, it's best to try to attempt it yourself first, even if you are not confident about it. Or ask r/translator if you have no idea. We are also not here to do your homework for you.

  Ｘ What does this mean?

  ◯ I am having trouble with this part of this sentence from NHK Yasashii Kotoba News. I think it means (attempt here), but I am not sure.

  • 3 Questions based on ChatGPT, DeepL, Google Translate and other machine learning applications are strongly discouraged, these are not beginner learning tools and often make mistakes. DuoLingo is in general NOT recommended as a serious or efficient learning resource.

  • 4 When asking about differences between words, try to explain the situations in which you've seen them or are trying to use them. If you just post a list of synonyms you got from looking something up in an E-J dictionary, people might be disinclined to answer your question because it's low-effort. Remember that Google Image Search is also a great resource for visualizing the difference between similar words.

  Ｘ What's the difference between あげる くれる やる 与える 渡す ?

  ◯ Jisho says あげる くれる やる 与える 渡す all seem to mean "give". My teacher gave us too much homework and I'm trying to say " The teacher gave us a lot of homework". Does 先生が宿題をたくさんくれた work? Or is one of the other words better? (the answer: >!先生が宿題をたくさん出した!< )

  • 5 It is always nice to (but not required to) try to search for the answer to something yourself first. Especially for beginner questions or questions that are very broad. For example, asking about the difference between は and が or why you often can't hear the "u" sound in "desu" or "masu".

  • 6 Remember that everyone answering questions here is an unpaid volunteer doing this out of the goodness of their own heart, so try to show appreciation and not be too presumptuous/defensive/offended if the answer you get isn't exactly what you wanted.

  • 7 Please do not delete your question after receiving an answer. There are lots of people who read this thread to learn from the Q&As that take place here. Deleting a question removes context from the answer and makes it harder (or sometimes even impossible) for other people to get value out of it.

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• u/zeekaran·1·1 Ağu 2026 00:28

  I'm watching GitS and 2nd Gig ep 4 introduces this new guy. His name is Kazundo Gouda, but everyone thinks his name is ひとり given the kanji on his business card says 合田一人. I looked it up in renshuu and as far as I know there isn't an alternate reading of those kanji that lines up with that. Please explain.

  • u/tyrellLtd·3·1 Ağu 2026 00:47

    Proper names are an entirely different beast to regular words. You could/should try installing a specific dictionary for reading places and other names. https://preview.redd.it/rvmru39uungh1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ecff38a6af642faa792b722d99b898fd0e0e515f

    • u/lestuckingemcity·3·1 Ağu 2026 00:58·1 yanıt

  • u/rgrAi·1·1 Ağu 2026 01:14

    There was a trend called kirakira names going on in Japan where people would use kanji then apply completely random names to them for effect. It got bad enough to the point where the government had to step in and start setting up guidelines and restricting absurd guesses for names.

    • u/danko1667·1·1 Ağu 2026 17:29·1 yanıt

  • u/CreeperSlimePig·2·1 Ağu 2026 02:15

    一 is read as かず "number", it's actually a pretty common reading in names.

    The んど for 人 seems to be a slurred pronunciation of うど, which as far as I can tell is a rare reading that's only used in a few words.

    Not really a kira kira name like the other commenter suggested, since you can make some sense of the readings, but it certainly is unusual.

    • u/somever·1·1 Ağu 2026 02:34

    • u/rgrAi·2·1 Ağu 2026 04:13

    • u/zeekaran·1·1 Ağu 2026 04:37·1 yanıt

  • u/Available-String-109·2·1 Ağu 2026 15:55

    かず is the standard reading of 一 in male given names and と is the standard reading of 人 in male given names. I would expect to read it as かずと. As to why his parents/author/etc. chose it to be read as かずんど instead of かずと, I can only suppose that it is a slurred/dialectal/flaired variant.

• u/DokugoHikken·1·1 Ağu 2026 01:13

  [deleted]

  4h ago

  Finally at the point where I've decided to give up on ever trying to learn this language. 4.5k words and 32 grammar points into n2 (n5-n3 complete) on bunpro and I can't understand ANYTHING in anything I try to immerse in. Can't believe I've wasted hundreds of hours on this shit over the last year, most time I've ever wasted on anything in my life.

  u/Grunglabble

  2h ago

  I often want to advise people to forget about flashcard apps and these kinds of things. People often end up in a loop where they never do anything they wanted to do.

  Basically there is no app that can do anything more than be a minor supplement to your learning, anymore than there is any textbook that can bring you to competency on its own. So you have to start with the fundamental problem of how do you do the things you want to do and not treat it as this delayed gratification thing you'll get to by memorisation.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  I think 4.5k words and 32 grammar points simply aren't enough to jump into random native content and expect to understand much. That's actually a pretty common experience.

  Feeling a sense of progress along the way is very nice to have. That's one reason textbooks like Genki include exercises at the end of every lesson. After studying a chapter, you can do the exercises and see that you're able to use what you've just learned. That immediate feedback helps keep people motivated.

  In a typical university course, one hour of classroom instruction is often accompanied by around four hours of self-study. That self-study includes working through the textbook, completing the workbook exercises, and reading the Genki graded readers. Finishing Genki I usually takes about an academic year, not just a few months.

  The classroom time itself is also important. In many courses, it's often closer to a flipped classroom than a lecture. Students are expected to study the textbook on their own before class. Spending valuable class time simply explaining what's already in the textbook would be an inefficient use of both class time and tuition. Instead, class time is used for activities that are difficult to do alone, such as pair work, conversation practice, role-playing, and receiving feedback from the instructor.

  None of this means flashcard apps are bad. They can be useful supplements. But they're only one part of a much larger learning process, and they're not designed to replace a structured course, a graded reading program, practice exercises, or interaction with other learners.

• u/ckydmk·-1·1 Ağu 2026 01:20

  How good is ChatGPT/AI at answering questions about Japanese? Such as grammar points and how certain words can be used?

  • u/morgawr_·2·1 Ağu 2026 01:24

    https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/1vbbvp0/thoughts_on_ai_chatgpt_gemini_etc_as_a_learning/

    • u/worthlessprole·0·1 Ağu 2026 03:17

• u/DokugoHikken·2·1 Ağu 2026 01:26

  [deleted]

  4h ago

  Finally at the point where I've decided to give up on ever trying to learn this language. 4.5k words and 32 grammar points into n2 (n5-n3 complete) on bunpro and I can't understand ANYTHING in anything I try to immerse in. Can't believe I've wasted hundreds of hours on this shit over the last year, most time I've ever wasted on anything in my life.

  u/Grunglabble

  2h ago

  I often want to advise people to forget about flashcard apps and these kinds of things. People often end up in a loop where they never do anything they wanted to do.

  Basically there is no app that can do anything more than be a minor supplement to your learning, anymore than there is any textbook that can bring you to competency on its own. So you have to start with the fundamental problem of how do you do the things you want to do and not treat it as this delayed gratification thing you'll get to by memorisation.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  I think 4.5k words and 32 grammar points simply aren't enough to jump into random native content and expect to understand much. That's actually a pretty common experience.

  Feeling a sense of progress along the way is very nice to have. That's one reason textbooks like Genki include exercises at the end of every lesson. After studying a chapter, you can do the exercises and see that you're able to use what you've just learned. That immediate feedback helps keep people motivated.

  In a typical university course, one hour of classroom instruction is often accompanied by around four hours of self-study. That self-study includes working through the textbook, completing the workbook exercises, and reading the Genki graded readers. Finishing Genki I usually takes about an academic year, not just a few months.

  The classroom time itself is also important. In many courses, it's often closer to a flipped classroom than a lecture. Students are expected to study the textbook on their own before class. Spending valuable class time simply explaining what's already in the textbook would be an inefficient use of both class time and tuition. Instead, class time is used for activities that are difficult to do alone, such as pair work, conversation practice, role-playing, and receiving feedback from the instructor.

  None of this means flashcard apps are bad. They can be useful supplements. But they're only one part of a much larger learning process, and they're not designed to replace a structured course, a graded reading program, practice exercises, or interaction with other learners.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  It's certainly possible for a young teenager to become quite proficient in Japanese after spending thousands of hours watching anime. There are people who have done exactly that.

  However, that doesn't mean it's the best approach for every learner.

  That approach depends on two very important assumptions: first, that the learner has an overwhelming desire to understand anime no matter what; and second, that spending hours watching anime is genuinely enjoyable for them.

  For people who succeeded that way, those assumptions are so natural that they're easy to overlook. It's perfectly understandable that their first-hand experience leads them to emphasize what Japanese makes possible and how enjoyable the process can be.

  But objectively speaking, that doesn't make it the optimal approach for everyone. Different learners have different goals, different motivations, and different ways of staying engaged.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Do what you enjoy" is generally excellent advice. Enjoyment makes it much easier to stay motivated and build long-term habits.

  Of course, nobody is seriously arguing that we should quit the moment learning stops being enjoyable. That would be an unfair caricature. Still, it's an interesting thought experiment.

  Would it follow that we should stop doing anything the moment it stops being enjoyable?

  I don't think so.

  Many worthwhile things in life aren't enjoyable all the time. Learning a language, raising children, caring for family members, recovering from illness, or training for a marathon all have periods that are frustrating, exhausting, or even miserable.

  So perhaps enjoyment is best understood as something that's nice to have, very nice to have, rather than a requirement. It helps enormously, but it isn't the ultimate criterion for whether something is worth doing.

  So trying to make learning enjoyable seems like perfectly reasonable advice. But interpreting that as "you must enjoy it" or "don't even start learning Japanese unless you enjoy it" would simply be a misunderstanding. I don't think anyone is actually arguing that.

  • Not feeling much progress doesn't automatically mean you should quit learning Japanese.
  • Nor does it mean that studying has to be enjoyable all the time.
  • And it doesn't have to be merely a means to some external goal in order to be worthwhile.

  None of these things should become prerequisites for continuing.

  • Slow progress doesn't mean you should quit.
  • Studying doesn't have to be fun every day.
  • And language learning doesn't have to justify itself by serving some external goal.

  Once you stop treating those things as conditions, your study routine becomes much more resilient.

  Learning a language can simply become part of your life, whether or not it's exciting, obviously useful, or producing visible progress every week.

  • u/DokugoHikken·2·1 Ağu 2026 01:39

    A learning strategy also depends heavily on your goal.

    If you need to pass the JLPT N1 within two years because of your career or immigration plans, then an intensive approach may make perfect sense. You might attend a highly regarded Japanese language school, spend four hours preparing and reviewing for every hour of class, and add extensive reading on top of that. In a sense, that's a brute-force strategy, but if your circumstances require it, it may well be the right one.

    On the other hand, if you're learning Japanese simply because you enjoy it, I'd suggest starting with a very different assumption: expect it to take around ten years, not two.

    That single assumption changes almost everything about how you design your study plan. Instead of constantly asking, "How can I learn faster?", you start asking, "What's a pace I can realistically maintain for the next ten years?"

    For the same reason, comparing yourself with other learners is rarely helpful. Someone else may be studying full-time because they need Japanese for work. Someone else may simply have far more free time than you do. Those comparisons don't tell you much about what is sustainable for your own circumstances.

    You'll probably also experience what almost every long-term learner experiences. At first, your progress is rapid and easy to notice. Later, improvement becomes slower. You hit plateaus. You may even start wondering whether you've stopped improving altogether.

    That's normal.

    If you're learning as a hobby, I don't think the most important question is, "Have I reached this level by this date?" The more important question is, "Have I kept going?"

    If you find yourself thinking, "If I haven't reached this level by this date, I've failed," it's worth reminding yourself why you started. This is your hobby, not your job. That doesn't mean you shouldn't set goals. It simply means that missing a self-imposed deadline doesn't make you a failure.

    One strategy that may help is to define an Absolute Minimum.

    In other words, decide on the smallest amount of Japanese you will do every single day, no matter what. Make it as routine as washing your face, brushing your teeth, or having your morning coffee.

    To avoid any misunderstanding, I'm not saying that this is all you should do. I'm saying that this is the one thing you always do.

    Choose an Absolute Minimum that you can realistically maintain even when you're traveling with your family, going out for dinner, or spending the evening with friends. If you can still do it under those circumstances, you're much more likely to keep going for years.

    You'll travel with your family. You'll go on business trips. Friends will invite you to a barbecue. You'll go out for dinner. Those things aren't interruptions. They're simply part of having a life.

    If your Absolute Minimum is "1," then a week like 1, 1, 5, 1, 3, 10, 1 is perfectly fine. On days when you have more time or more motivation, studying at level "10" is wonderful, but think of it as a bonus, not as the standard you expect from yourself.

    In the long run, consistency is usually more important than intensity. Success isn't measured by how often you reach "10." It's measured by how rarely you reach "0."

    Learning a foreign language is a lifelong process.

    • u/Nice_Leather4821·2·1 Ağu 2026 01:45·2 yanıt

• u/Grunglabble·4·1 Ağu 2026 01:34

  I started watching ホットスポット. I find it really mesmerising. Some aspects of the cinematography remind me of Wes Anderson, just in terms of the colours and camera angles. It's a very kooky kind of plot but I enjoy the way the dialogue is done a lot, it's quite funny. Their friendships are nice.

  • u/eidoriaaan·7·1 Ağu 2026 02:08

    It's a good drama, I saw it all in 2 days. It has 夏帆 my beloved.

    • u/worthlessprole·1·1 Ağu 2026 05:33

  • u/worthlessprole·3·1 Ağu 2026 03:10

    Love this show. Definitely one of the best shows I’ve watched in Japanese.

• u/wanderhuai·2·1 Ağu 2026 02:33

  Learning is one task most take on. How about remembering? I'm curious what others are doing to remember what have been learnt? How do you use it frequently? Try talking to the native people in person? Over text chat? Reviewing the words everyday? And when chatting, even if they only reply what you asked making it a one-way conversation? I'm frankly curious. As I have got quite a lot of one-way conversations and foresee a lot more coming.

  • u/DokugoHikken·2·1 Ağu 2026 06:57

    One thing that really helps is putting yourself in situations where you have to use Japanese. Having to recall words and grammar in order to communicate is much more effective than simply reviewing them.

    The second important ingredient is feedback. It's one thing to produce Japanese, but it's another to find out whether your message actually gets across. When someone doesn't understand you, you're forced to rephrase, simplify, or find another way to express the same idea. That struggle to make yourself understood is some of the best practice you can get.

    The difficult part is that, outside Japan, situations where you genuinely have to communicate in Japanese are quite rare. So you often have to create those situations yourself. One way to do that is to use the exercises in textbooks like *Genki*. Instead of just answering with the textbook vocabulary, substitute words that reflect your own life and experiences, then practice those conversations with a teacher or tutor. In other words, use the textbook dialogues as templates for talking about yourself rather than as lines to memorize.

    One thing that's worth keeping in mind is that this kind of practice can make you feel as though your Japanese has suddenly become much worse.

    When you're practicing with a partner, your goal shifts from producing accurate Japanese to simply getting your message across. As a result, you'll probably make far more grammatical mistakes than you normally would, and your Japanese may feel very broken compared with the level of Japanese you can comfortably understand when reading.

    That's perfectly normal.

    Communicating with limited resources is a very different skill from understanding well-written Japanese. Don't mistake that temporary, eh, it lasts about 10 years, feeling for a loss of ability. In reality, you're developing a different aspect of the language, one that requires you to retrieve what you know under real communicative pressure.

  • u/Jon_dArc·1·1 Ağu 2026 13:15

    Take the things you do for leisure and, to the extent practical, do them in Japanese. Set your operating system languages to Japanese, set game languages to Japanese, pick Japanese media to consume, find Japanese speakers to do things with. Contact with the language is how you maintain it. (Keeping up with SRS reviews also helps, and if you’re not adding much to it because you’re focused on maintenance it will progressively take you less and less time.)

• u/smn_18·1·1 Ağu 2026 04:01

  I can't make a post, so I'll ask here. I'm currently learning Kanji through Anki using a deck called "Kaishi 1.5k" that shows the kanji and a phrase where you can see the kanji in context. Let's say I can't recall the kanji just looking at it, but immediately recall the meaning and reading while going through the example. Should I select again, or good?

  • u/worthlessprole·3·1 Ağu 2026 07:08

    To answer your question, you hit 'good' in that case. to address something else in your post, those are words, not kanji. The kanji are the characters that make up the words. Kaishi 1.5k is a vocabulary deck, not a kanji deck.

    • u/smn_18·1·1 Ağu 2026 14:43·1 yanıt

  • u/JapanCoach·3·1 Ağu 2026 14:12

    This level of question is exactly what this daily thread is for. Just keep posting these simple questions here and you will build up karma.

• u/TeacherSterling·1·1 Ağu 2026 10:43

  Anyone have trouble with understanding foreign accents in Japanese? Today I met a Vietnamese woman with a Japanese boyfriend. She seemed nice and friendly but I was really struggling understanding her Japanese. I actually have a lot of experience talking with Vietnamese people in English, but it was hard for me to understand her pronunciation. Mind you, I have pretty good listening for regular Japanese people. I passed N1 and I frequently watch television in Japanese without subtitles.

  • u/PlanktonInitial7945·1·1 Ağu 2026 11:14

    Yes, foreign accents in any language are generally considered by the average person, including natives, to be harder to understand than native speech of the same language. You can eventually get used to one foreign accent if you listen to it a lot, but the ways that American people pronounce Japanese wrong are different from the ways that Vietnamese people pronounce Japanese wrong, and those are also different from the ways that Vietnamese people pronounce English wrong, so no, foreign accent comprehension doesn't really carry over across languages.

    • u/TeacherSterling·1·1 Ağu 2026 11:16·2 yanıt

  • u/somever·1·1 Ağu 2026 16:55

    I tend to understand foreigners speaking Japanese better than natives can because I have a whole nother language in my brain and often can identify what they meant to say when they use the wrong words while natives in the same call are left confused

    • u/TeacherSterling·1·1 Ağu 2026 18:02

    • u/TeacherSterling·1·1 Ağu 2026 18:02

• u/ghostcaesar·1·1 Ağu 2026 12:26

  the stroke in シ and ン goes from bottom left to top right, right? is the stroke unique to those 2 katakana? as I cant think of any kanji example with bottom left to top that curves up like that

  • u/Grunglabble·2·1 Ağu 2026 13:05

    泳 the water radical on the left, third stroke, goes bottom left toward top right.

    • u/ghostcaesar·1·1 Ağu 2026 13:15·2 yanıt

• u/Silver_Half_7918·1·1 Ağu 2026 14:31

  I want to download a core 6k deck for days when I don't sentence mine as much so I can still learn some vocabulary everyday, which one is good for this?

  • u/PlanktonInitial7945·1·1 Ağu 2026 15:10

    All the ones I'm aware of are bad so I guess it doesn't matter which one you choose