How to Japanese Podcast

Oct 21 2024 59 ep. 42 mins 132
How to Japanese Podcast artwork

Everyone learning Japanese needs a senpai - this podcast is your digital senpai. Join Daniel from HowToJapanese.com and guests to learn what strategies have been effective for them as they study, live, and work in Japan and using Japanese.

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Episode 56 - 伺う

Oct 21 2024 40 mins  
In the newsletter this month, I looked at 伺う (ukagau) a broadly useful "humble" keigo verb, and on the blog I looked at the other kanji that help ukagau expand its meanings. On the podcast, I talked about keigo more broadly. It's often overcomplicated and intimidating. Students need an easy way in, and I think there's a way to create a simple binary for many keigo verbs. Give t

Episode 55 - 確か・確かに

Sep 23 2024 36 mins  
確か (tashika) and 確かに (tashika ni) seemed impenetrable to me when I first started studying; somehow they're nearly identical but meant the exact opposite? I found that I was able to crack the code by "brute forcing" this an other impossible pairs. Read more in the newsletter, and check out the blog for a link to the Kakuta Mitsuyo reading I mentioned and to find a link to

Episode 54 - 確認

Aug 05 2024 29 mins  
確認 (kakunin, confirm/check) is one of the most flexible words in the language. This month I go over all the different usages. Check out the newsletter for the prefixes/suffixes it connects with and how it's an extremely effective tool in work chats. On the blog, I've got more in depth discussion of 確認 and how it can set a template for conversations. Feel free to reach out w

Episode 53 - 日記

Jul 20 2024 26 mins  
It's been three years since I restarted my kanji study, and unfortunately it's languished over the past year. I take a look at the recommendations I made last year to see if they still hold up and provide an alternate method of creating your own manual spaced-repetition system. Check out the newsletter for the details and the blog for a look at how much a draft of Norwegian Wood mi

Episode 52 - 聖地巡礼

Jun 21 2024 24 mins  
Do you have an 推し? Do you do 推し活? Have you been on a 聖地巡礼 as part of this? Do any of the words I just wrote make any sense at all? If not, tune in for details on how the language of fandom is mutating into more mainstream topics. In the newsletter I look at how having an 推し is good for language study, and on the blog check out a very funny use of 推し活 in

Episode 51 - 文壇 (The Japanese Literary World)

May 17 2024 29 mins  
This month I looked at the 文壇 (bundan, literary world) and 文芸誌 (bungeishi, literary journals) thanks to the 120th anniversary issue of Shinchō. Murakami Haruki has a short story, but the real reason to pick up the issue is the 随筆 (zuihitsu, nonfiction essays/miscellaneous writing). Tune in to learn why, and don't forget to check out the newsletter and the blog. Feel

Episode 50 - Sentence Diagramming

Apr 19 2024 36 mins  
How do you improve your ability to understand Japanese sentences on your own? And to craft structurally sound Japanese sentences? I have a theory that sentence diagramming is a great step along the way, and I wrote about it this month in the newsletter. Plus, I provide a great way to increase your exposure to trending news articles in Japan. Read more over at the blog. Feel free to

Episode 49 - 角ハイ

Mar 15 2024 35 mins  
The word 角ハイ (kakuhai) kind of formed in my mind without me even consciously realizing what it was, so I explored that for the newsletter and the podcast this month. Turns out, it's related to Suntory, Japan's whiskey history, and the booming highball market since 2008. Check out the blog as well, where I look at お湯割り (oyuwari, cut with hot water). And at the end I in

Episode 48 - The 1,000-yen Haircut and まとめる

Feb 11 2024 44 mins  
This month I continue the conversation about value in Japan with a close comparison of the 1,000-yen men's haircut and the 2,000-yen men's haircut. The former has terrible value, while the latter has great value. I also get into some good haircut vocab and talk about the interesting customs of men's barbers, which I expanded on over at the blog. For the newsletter, I wrote about th

Episode 47 - Murakami and 見積もり

Jan 11 2024 39 mins  
明けましておめでとうございます！ New Year, New Murakami. We're getting a Jay Rubin translation of Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World in September. I talk about the market for used Birnbaum translations and go over some of the details that Rubin revealed about the translation in a talk at Wellesley last April. I also talk about the 見積もり (mitsumor