パンク My non-Japanese speaking husband was almost ecstatic when he took this photo. “Punk” in a bicycle shop?? パンク in…
busy
busy The English word “Busy” is often remembered as 忙（いそが）しい in Japanese and it is correct when you talk about…
Udon
For the coming few weeks, I will talk about Japanese noodles. The first one is うどん, thick wheat noodles. It…
くき, くうき, クッキー
Today’s sound comparison is among くき, くうき and クッキー. Listen and repeat the sound. If you can say them correctly, you’ll be able to hear them apart.
白
#白 is listed under its own radical 白. My dictionary says it is a pictograph but it lists 3 different…
Da-su
If I say ビール１ダースください, how many bottles of beer would I get? The answer is twelve. If I ask…
to put … on / to wear …
Japanese has at least 5 words for the English verb “to put … on,” depending on the item of clothing being talked about. This post explains what goes with what
赤
#赤 is listed under its own radical but its original form was the combination of 大 (big) and 火 (fire)…
Mizutaki
水炊き（みずたき/Mizutaki） is another hot pot dish in which fish or meat (most often chicken) and vegetables are cooked in unseasoned…
いえ vs いいえ
いえ vs いいえ doesn’t become a problem to Japanese ears but many Westerns have trouble hearing them apart. Can you do it? Try here.
好
#好 is made of おんなへん（女） and 子 (a child), i.e., a girl or a young woman, from which the meaning…
ウィンナー
Do you know what ウィンナー is? Is it a “winner”? No, you can buy ウィンナー in a butcher. Yes,…
Strong Coffee
When a flavour is dense, the word “strong” is often used in English, but in Japanese we use 濃い（こい/koi）, which…
広
#広 is made of #まだれ（广） and ム. 広 used to be an informal variant of 廣. 黃, which is the…
Sukiyaki
Sukiyaki is a dish that is prepared and served in the hot pot style. It consists of meat (usually…
いしょ, いしょう, いっしょ, いっしょう
Today’s sound comparison is among いしょ, いしょう, いっしょ and いっしょう. Listen and repeat the sound over and over until you can hear them apart!
楽
#楽 is listed under the radical of #木 but it is a pictograph depicting various musical instruments placed on the…
Purinto
When I was teaching English in Japan, I always used プリント in my class. Making プリント was an important part…
play
Play is a difficult word to translate into Japanese because there are many different meanings. Following are some examples. 遊（あそ）ぶ…
近
#近 is made of #しんにょう/#しんにゅう with 斤. 斤’s original meaning is “an axe” but it also means “a small amount,”…
