Category Archives: Japanese

Guide to learning moonspeak

Erin’s Challenge! I can speak Japanese

I am months late to the game, but I found this interesting Japanese-learning website set up by the Japan Foundation called Erin’s Challenge! I can speak Japanese. It has a few dozen short skits with copyable soft-subs in Japanese, kana, … Continue reading

Posted in Japanese | Tagged , | 5 Comments

No more JLPT!

The results for the 2006 Japanese Language Proficiency Test are out. It’s official: NO MORE JLPT FOR DM EVER AGAIN! YAY! I passed JLPT level 1! WOOHOO! I am now officially qualified to look down on lousy fansubbers and stir … Continue reading

Posted in Blog, Japanese | Tagged , , | 54 Comments

Japanese Titbits #3 – 絶対領域

As you may or may not have noticed, there are two new banners in the random rotation. Don’t try refreshing this page because I’m using WP-Cache so the banner changes only after the cache expires. Instead you can view the … Continue reading

Posted in Anime, Japanese, Otaku | Tagged , , , , | 60 Comments

My final JLPT adventure

…hopefully. I just got home. Today’s JLPT 1 paper was the hardest Japanese paper I have ever taken in my whole life. It felt like an entire level higher than all the level 1 past year papers that I’ve been … Continue reading

Posted in Blog, Japanese | Tagged , , | 38 Comments

Beginner’s Japanese – Chapter VI – Keigo

You hear it in anime and drama all the time, often without realizing it. It is the bane non-native Japanese speakers (or at least one of the numerous). It lurks in the shadows as it descends upon you with such … Continue reading

Posted in Japanese | Tagged , | 27 Comments

Japanese Titbits #2 – Hentai vs. Ecchi

Okay, so I’m just a little overdue for the next Japanese lesson chapter. It will come soon, I promise. Really. Anyway, I’m going to spend a little time today talking about the difference between hentai and ecchi and why Hentai, … Continue reading

Posted in Japanese | Tagged , , , | 58 Comments

Beginner’s Japanese – Chapter V – Adjectives

Finally, a new chapter! Sorry it took so long, but I’m lazy. :( This time I’ll introduce Japanese adjectives. Adjective is pretty simple in Japanese so this chapter will hopefully be clear and not as confusing as kanji… Please make … Continue reading

Posted in Japanese | Tagged , | 35 Comments

Japanese Titbits #1 – 黄昏 (tasogare)

I came across an interesting passage about the origin of the word 黄昏 (tasogare) today. It’s not enough for a proper lesson chapter and I have no idea what topic to dump it under, so I’ve decided to create a … Continue reading

Posted in Japanese | Tagged | 7 Comments

Beginner’s Japanese – Chapter IV – 1st Katamari

In Japanese, 塊まり katamari refers to a lump or a mass of substance, made famous by the hit PS2 game Katamari Damacy about an alien prince trying to roll the entire planet up into a ball. Don’t ask. Today’s lesson … Continue reading

Posted in Japanese | Tagged | 14 Comments

Beginner’s Japanese – Chapter III – Kanji

Wait a minute… didn’t I mention in the previous chapter that this time I would be highlighting some interesting quirks about the Japanese language instead of a formal chapter? So why is today’s chapter on kanji? Well, let me just … Continue reading

Posted in Japanese | Tagged , | 25 Comments

Beginner’s Japanese – Chapter II – Sentences

Now that we have studied how verbs are grouped in Japanese and the various tenses of the polite (丁寧 teinei) form, it’s time to put some of them to use. I’m going to assume that you have read the first … Continue reading

Posted in Japanese | Tagged , | 30 Comments

Beginner’s Japanese – Chapter I – Verbs

So we finally reach the start of lesson one. Defining the terms took longer than I expected… Please make sure that you have read through the basic term definitions in Chapter 0 before continuing. I assume that people who read … Continue reading

Posted in Japanese | Tagged , | 28 Comments