LLearn Japanese

Daily Thread: for simple questions, minor posts & newcomers [contains useful links!] (May 13, 2026)

  • May 13, 2026

This thread is for all the simple questions (what does that mean?) and minor posts that don't need their own thread, as well as for first-time posters who can't create new threads yet. Feel free to share anything on your mind.

The daily thread updates every day at 9am JST, or 0am UTC.

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12 comments

  1. Does (今は)この前より(私は)もっと知ってます make sense? I’m trying to say something like “I know more than I did the other day/before”.

    The parentheses mark what I think is optional, and can drop from the sentence to sound more natural/conversational. Please let me know if you have any corrections!

  2. How resolute does volitional + と思っています sound?

    For example, 毎日三時間日本語を勉強しようと思っています。

    Maybe like on a scale of 1-10 how likely are you saying that you are to do this thing?

    Also how does this compare with other grammar points like つもり and よてい?

  3. 彼はいつも黙って仕事をします。came across this in kaishi 1.5k. the translation was given as “he always works in silence”; to say “he never …”, do we change the ending to しません? what would the construction be?

  4. Is there any implication/nuance difference between ほど and くらい? For Bunpro gave the sentence あと１０分ほどで着きます。I’m wondering if that’s the exact same thing as あと１０分くらいで着きます。but just more formal/polite

  5. I have a while til December, but I guess I’ll ask now

    At what point should I switch from regular listening practuce to JLPT specific listening practice before the test? My main listening practice is the Comprehensible Input Japanese site for 30 minutes a day everyday. Im learning a ton of new words and stuff, and the fact they use visual aids really helps with my understanding as they talk. But I know with the jlpt you kinda listen in a vacuum.

    I took the n4 this past December so I know the format. Im hoping for n3 this December. Im not sure if continuing on like I am would be beneficial specifically for the test. Im trying to watch alllll CIJ videos, and right now theyre admittedly still kinda easy. But they’ll get harder as I go along (i watch them in order of difficulty).

    I scored 141/180 on the last jlpt, but listening was definitely just barely doable for me. It took all of my effort to keep up. I got a good score, but that was like just perfectly at my level to push me to my abilities’ limits. I tried some n3 listening practice yesterday and it was beyond me. Not sure if maybe I should go back to n4 for a bit and try to master that level of intensity first. Or if I should just muddle through n3 listening practice until it finally clicks.

  6. Thought this was interesting.

    A hate song from 梁塵秘抄 (late 12th century)

    我を頼めて来ぬ男

    角三つ生えたる鬼になれ　さて人にうとまれよ

    霜雪霰降る水田の鳥となれ　さて足冷たかれ

    池の浮草となりねかし　と揺りかう揺り揺られ歩け

    “To the man who made promises to me but never came: may you turn into a demon with three horns, and be hated by everyone; may you turn into a fowl on a paddy upon which frost, snow, and hail falls, and have cold feet; may you turn into a floating weed on a pond, and drift about bobbing to and fro.”

  8. ふーん、今、「会社が金が好きだからその方が売れると思うならそうする。」って思わず書いたけど、「〜が〜が好き」が非常にレアで、「〜が〜を好き」のほうがずっと一般的とかよく言うのに。

    でも、その例文、「〜が〜が好き」が自然に聞こえる例になる?後者の「〜が」は総記の機能じゃない？

  9. I am reading a children’s book in Japanese.
    In the sentence [六つのとき、原始林のことを無いた「本当にあった話」と言う、本の中で、すばらしい絵をことがあります｡], I don’t understand the usage of 無い、and am struggling with the sentence in general. If someone could explain this to me, I would be very grateful.

  12. Finally going to Japan in August.. any recommendations for some free apps (not Duo) I can try that will teach me some useful everyday conversation words? I don’t need anything with handwriting. And while I’d like to understand more Japanese, my biggest concern is being able to speak a few more words.

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