17 comments

1. What are some magazines that explain different things about Japan’s culture that are in Japanese and from Japan?

2. I need some help understanding the nuance of these 2 versions of the same sentence:

   #1) 過去には、ハリマロンを稀に使用するから、今回、私はハリマロンが使用したかった。

   #2) 以前は、ハリマロンをあまり使わなかったので、今度、私はハリマロンを使用したかった。

   To my understanding they seem pretty much interchangeable, save for the fact that seond half of #1 uses が instead of を. From my experience pokemon are treated like objects not living things.

3. https://youtu.be/sLgC3mrCXxA?si=8xeX-COA72icmbrx&t=119
   「火が？？すくなっている」
   何と言いますか？

4. In the sentence 言いたいことは分かってるよ , there are two things bugging me out:
   1) 言いたい -> I know that that 言いた is the past indicative, but why do we have an extra い at the end in this case?
   2) 分かってる -> The closest conjugation I could find is 分かって いる. Why is the い omitted in this case?

5. この道をまっすぐ進むと国道に出ます

   Is it saying that they will exit the national highway or reach it? Kinda confused how to determine the right meaning

6. Tiny question
   「他に方法がありません」
   If you use の instead of に, does it have the same meaning? Does に sound more natural for some reason?

7. Is this a tanka?

   満月の/白い月光/死のように/部屋に広がる/寂しくなって

   Separation for clarity, without would be

   満月の白い月光死のように部屋に広がる寂しくなって

8. I’m a little puzzled by the use of と in these two sentences, both from [this NHK article](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20250317/k10014752161000.html):

   >フルタイムで働く人の去年の平均賃金は、月額でおよそ33万円**と**、比較できる1976年以降で最も高くなったことが、厚生労働省の調査でわかりました。

   The connective “and” usage of と doesn’t make sense because it isn’t an exhaustive list. Quotative doesn’t fit- the sentence order doesn’t really make sense with the only thing it could apply to, わかりました. Conditional also doesn’t fit. Comparative’s the one that would make the most sense to me, but I’m confused by the comma.

   >厚生労働省は、働く人の賃金の実態を明らかにしよう**と**、毎年6月分を対象に調査していて、今回は回答が得られた全国5万余りの事業所の結果を集計しました。

   Similar to the above… Connective “and” doesn’t work because it’s not attached to a noun phrase. There’s not a clear quotative verb it could apply to to be a quote marker. It’s not uncontrollable enough to be conditional. Comparative wouldn’t make any sense.

   In both cases the actual meaning of the sentences is pretty clear, I’m asking just to find out if there are any gaps in my understanding of と. I’ve looked through all the Dictionaries of Japanese Grammar and googled extensively but can’t find any usage examples beyond the ones I listed.

9. Is there anywhere I can see handwritten versions of kanji/Japanese in general? Not calligraphy or handwritten fonts, but actual pen and paper samples?

10. Is there a big difference between saying「A と B は X です」 and 「A も B も X です」?

    I suspect the general meaning is the same, and they would be translated to something like “A and B are X” vs. “Both A and B are X”, with the second sentence just having a stronger emphasis on *both*.

11. How can I memorise the, for lack of better word (and maybe this is the correct term), alphabetical order of hiragana? Like, I know that all the vowel sounds will go あいうえお, but I wanna memorise the consonants so I can use my lil Japanese dictionary more efficiently in tests/exams.

12. What’s your favorite online jp-jp dictionary?

13. 放っておけば 結界に
    **ほころび**が生じるかもしれない

    why is ほころび being used for 結界 when from the definitions it seems used for clothes and fibers that are unraveling , coming apart?

14. What are your top tips for language exchange? I live in a country where not many people speak Japanese, but got connected to a native speaker who moved here recently. We thought we could do language exchange where he helps me with Japanese and I help him with our language. I’ve never done something of the sort so any advice would be welcome!

15. Hello, could someone explain what どうの means in the following? I read that it is something like “this and that” or “blah blah blah”, but I don’t really get it in this sentence.

    「初陣だからな。派手にやって今後の景気づけにしたいだろ？　それに、さっき言いかけた打倒Ａクラスの作戦に必要なプロセスだしな」

    Ａクラスに勝つ為の作戦がどうのってことかな。内容までは聞けなかったけど。

16. When it’s a good time to start using Marugoto’s books? I’ve start learning japanese this month with Tofugu/WaniKani and i already know all the kana a i’m level 2 in wanikani. Should i just keep going a little more or can i try the books too? Are they any good for someone completely new?

17. Has anyone had experience attending an intensive online course? I’m considering taking the online intensive classes (Mon to Fri) offered by Akamonkai Online School. My research indicates it’s a well-established school with branches in Tokyo, for example, although it has received mixed reviews. I’m inclined to choose it because the five-day-a-week schedule, with only one session per day lasting 1 hr 40 min, fits my schedule perfectly.