Weekly discussion and small questions thread

In response to user feedback, this is a recurring thread for general discussion about learning Japanese, and for asking your questions about grammar, learning resources, and so on. Let's come together and share our successes, what we've been reading or watching and chat about the ups and downs of Japanese learning.

The /r/Japanese rules (see here) still apply! Translation requests still belong in /r/translator and we ask that you be helpful and considerate of both your own level and the level of the person you're responding to. If you have a question, please check the subreddit's frequently asked questions, but we won't be as strict as usual on the rules here as we are for standalone threads.

by AutoModerator

5 comments
  1. YouTuber tip of my tongue

    Trying to find a YouTuber who came up on my shorts. He interacts with Japanese in a really fun and silly way. In one of the videos he was talking to girls celebrating Coming of Age Day and another one was around Christmas at a festival where he was drinking mulled wine. Felt like a fun way to listen to natural Japanese. He’s a white guy. I know it’s not a lot to go off of but if any of you follow him would you let me know? Thanks!

  2. Hello everyone,

    I studied Japanese from 2020 to 2022 and managed to pass the JLPT N3. However, due to time constraints—especially while writing my thesis—I wasn’t able to maintain my Japanese studies. Now, I’d love to start over again, but I feel like I’ve forgotten a lot.

    Has anyone been in a similar situation? What are the best ways to refresh my knowledge and get back into studying without feeling overwhelmed? I’m open to any suggestions, whether it’s textbooks, apps, immersion methods, or structured study plans.

    Thanks in advance! Looking forward to hearing your experiences.

  3. I am trying to read my obachan’s photos that she labeled. But I was told it is an older style of writing. I wasn’t sure what would then be the best style to learn (i never learned to write/read japanese)? She was labeling these in the 1960-1980s the most, but was born in 1940s.

  4. I have a question about new words formed by combining characters.

    In Japanese, there are lots of words which formed by combining other words like 世界(World) -> 世yo (World) and 界kai (world) or 野菜(Vegetable) -> 野ya (plain) and 菜sai (vegetable). So as you can see, 世 and 界 can be used alone and give the same meaning as 世界 and 菜 also mean vegetable all alone. I don’t know why Japanese have this kind of words. Can someone explain me the reason of this kind of words? Thanks in advance 😊.

  5. I have a question again. Is there any dictionary which shows the roots of the words. For example 未来 is an originally Chinese word or 手紙 is an originally Japanese word. If you guys know some type of website, dict etc please let me know.

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