変化 and 変更 both means “change” and many people find it hard to differentiate the two. This post explains the difference and how they can be rephrased.
洋
Meaning: ocean, Western Conventional Reading: ヨウ 洋服（ヨウフク）: Western clothes洋風（ヨウフウ）: Western, European洋書（ヨウショ）: a foreign (Western) book海洋（カイヨウ）: the sea(s), the ocean遠洋（エンヨウ）:…
かれ、カレイ、カレー
Today’s conundrum is: かれはカレイのカレーをつくりました。 He made flounder curry. Here the key words are かれ (he)、カレイ (flounder)、カレー (curry). First, listen to…
足
Meaning: foot Reading: ソク（ゾク）、あし、た 足跡（ソクセキ、あしあと）: a foot print, a foot mark頭寒足熱（ズカンソクネツ）: keeping one’s head cool and one’s feet warmご足労（ソクロウ）:…
マッシュルーム
マッシュルーム is the transliteration of the English word “mushroom.” Some people might be saying “so what?” In Japanese, マッシュルーム refers…
体験 vs 経験
体験 and 経験 are both translated as “experience” in English, but they are not interchangeable. This post explains the difference and when to use which.
気
Meaning: gas, spirit Reading: キ、ケ（ゲ） 気候（キコウ）: climate気体（キタイ）: a gas, a vapour空気（クウキ）: air, the atmosphere天気（テンキ）: the weather元気（ゲンキ）（な）: healthy, lively病気（ビョウキ）: illness,…
おこのみやき
おこのみやき Your content goes here… おこのみやき is a savoury pancake in Japan. The word おこのみやき is made of 2 parts…
うん vs ううん
うん and ううん may not appear in textbooks but kids in Japan use them all the time. Although sounding similar to Western ears, the meanings are completely opposite.
元
Meaning: the origin Reading: ガン、ゲン、もと 元旦（ガンタン）: New Year’s Day元日（ガンジツ）: New Year’s Day元祖（ガンソ）: the founder元本（ガンポン）: capital, principal 元（ゲン）: a…
リストラ
リストラ is not the Japanese word for bells. リストラ is a relatively new word in Japanese. It comes from the…
Yes
“Yes” “Yes” is such a basic word, but there are a few variations. はい – This is the most proper…
心
Meaning: a heart, a mind, the centre Reading: シン（ジン）、こころ（ごころ） 心臓（シンゾウ）: the heart心配（シンパイ）: anxiety, fear, worry関心（カンシン）: interest, concern中心（チュウシン）: the centre,…
ぎょうざ/ギョーザ
ギョーザ The Japanese word ぎょうざ comes from the Chinese word 餃子 (in that sense, I should be writing it as…
はと、ハート、ハット
Today’s similar sounding words are: はと、ハート、ハット. 鳩（はと） A pigeon ハートA heart ハットA hat
令和
Today, we celebrate the arrival of the new era 令和（れいわ）. It’s written with these two kanjis. Meaning: a command, good…
パート
Last week I talked about アルバイト and this week I’m going to talk about パート in the similar context. …
Quiet
quiet The English word “quiet” is another difficult word to translate into Japanese. 静（しず）か（な） – silent, still 静（しず）かにしてください。 Be quiet,…
体
Meaning: a body, a shape Reading: タイ、テイ、からだ 体力（タイリョク）: physical strength, stamina体育（タイイク）: physical education体験（タイケン）: (personal, practical) experience身体（シンタイ）: the body, the…
えだまめ
If you had a chance to dine in a Japanese restaurant, you may have come across えだまめ beans. Many Japanese…
