chuuka_ryouri or chuugoku_ryouri? Have you had an experience that you went to a Chinese restaurant in Japan and the food…
とかい, とうかい, とうかい
Japanese has so many homonyms – the same sound but different meanings. Today I talk about とかい and 2 different とうかいs.
島
Meaning: island Reading: トウ、しま（じま） 列島（レットウ）: an archipelago, a chain of islands日本列島（ニホンレットウ）: the Japanese Islands離島（リトウ）: an isolated island; leaving the…
レンジでチン
When I googled ”レンジでチン,” I got nearly 5 million hits. It is a very common expression in Japanese. What does…
十分 – じゅっぷん or じゅうぶん ?
If you are reading this article, that is probably because you were intrigued by the question in the photo. So…
空
meaning: sky, emptyreading: クウ、そら（ぞら）、あ、から 空港（クウコウ）: an airport空気（クウキ）: air架空（カクウ）: overhead, aerial; fanciful, imaginary航空（コウクウ）: aviation空（クウ）: the air, space, the void 空（そら）:…
Kaiseki
If you have read or heard about traditional Japanese multi-dish meals, you may have come across the word, かいせき/kaiseki or…
ちずとチーズ
Today’s sound key words are ちず（地図） and チーズ. Listen and repeat the sound, and you will be able to pronounce them correctly.
地
meaning: ground reading: チ、ジ 地球（チキュウ）; the earth地位（チイ）: a (social) position, a status地域（チイキ）: a region地理（チリ）: geography産地（サンチ）: a producing centre,…
シール
Have you ever been asked シールでよろしいでしょうか? at a checkout of a shop? Do you know what that means? If you…
「は」＆「が」(1)
A: 息子（むすこ）は ケガをしたので 仕事（しごと）を 休（やす）んだ。 has quite a different meaning from B: 息子（むすこ）が ケガをしたので 仕事（しごと）を 休（やす）んだ。 I don’t usually…
冬
meaning; winter reading; トウ、ふゆ 冬至（トウジ）: the winter solstice冬眠（トウミン）: hibernation, winter sleep冬季（トウキ）: winter, the winter season冬期（トウキ）: winter, the wintertime暖冬（ダントウ）: a…
to fry
to fry 2 weeks ago, I wrote that the English word “to boil” is translated into 4 different Japanese words.…
よい＆ようい
The caption sentence: くねくね道（みち）を通（とお）るから、酔（よ）い止（ど）めの薬（くすり）を用意（ようい）した方（ほう）が良（よ）い。means: As we will go on a windy road, it’s better to have travel sickness pills ready.…
秋
meaning: autumn reading: シュウ（ジュウ）、あき 秋分の日（シュウブンのひ）: Autumnal Equinox Day (22nd or 23rd September)秋月（シュウゲツ）: an autumn moon, a harvest moon秋思（シュウシ）: a…
レア
Today’s Katakana Tuesday and today’s word is レア. It’s a short word and easy to work out the sound. It…
to take a day off
There are several different ways but the easiest way of saying “to take a day off (…)” is: (…を)休（やす）む. インフルエンザで三日間仕事を休んだ。…
夏
meaning: summerreading: カ、ゲ、なつ 夏季（カキ）: summer, summertime, the season of summer夏期（カキ）: summer, summer time, the summer period晩夏（バンカ）: late summer 夏至（ゲシ）:…
たまごをやきます
A while ago, I wrote about a cooking verb 焼（や）きます/yakimasu. There I said I have to talk about frying eggs,…
すてき、すてっき、すうてき
Today’s sentence with a set of similar sounding words is: 看護師さんはステッキをもった素敵なおじさんに目薬を数滴さした 。 かんごしさんはすてっきをもったすてきなおじさんにめぐすりをすうてきさした。 The nurse administered several drops of eye…
