Category Icon承り

by Mojodon

Since this is my first post, I have no idea what I am gonna talk about but I guess I can start with a Kanji that has recently blown my mind away, in terms of making life a lot easier when living in Japan and also in terms of learning another side to Kanji.
Your average-billy-bob […]

Category IconRadical!

by Matthew

Salvatore-John, saint that he is, handed this off to me to post. It’s a short list of radicals and their names. You can download the pdf here. I will try to track down something similar with meanings included and post it.

Category IconAnimelab Kanji Guide

by Matthew

Kanji gets a lot simpler when you start thinking about them in their component parts I think. For me that is the case anyway. On this theme, Salvatore-John has a book called “Easy Kanji” which groups kanji according to common components. It is good for low-intermediates and people who already have a couple of hundred […]

Category IconI have a dream

by pollo diablo

akemashite omedeto gozaimasu (just woundered if i could say that to congratulate the starting of this beautifull site)..
once a good teacher tought me just to learn how to read the kanji, she said don`t waste your time with the meaning and the various combination…..i didn`t take it seriously …i was still excited about those little, […]

Category Iconたがわず

by Matthew

Keiko’s post included this 案にたがわず which made me think, “w.t.f. is たがわず?”
It is one of those ず negatives. If you don’t know the grammar, then it is formed the same way as a normal negative, but you swap ~ない for ~ず. As an aside, the same applies for ~ぬ to make a negative.
Group 1 verbs […]

Category IconFrom Keiko

by Matthew

すごい!『石の上にも(^_^)v』に書くように、意識して話します。 《あ》シリーズ:
*案外(あんがい) / unexpectedly; contrary to expectations / 案外な unexpected / 案外難しい more difficult than expected.
洪水の被害(こうずいのひがい)は案外少なかった。 The flood damage was less than we expected.
*案の定(あんのじょう) / So, 案 is plan, scheme, proposition, proposal or suggestion (and so on). From which we get stuff like / …という案を出す propose that… / 案を立 make a plan / 案を作る work out a […]

Category IconKanji Practice

by Matthew

Viv, SJ and I all use (and recommend) these kanji workbooks. They are well-organised and with space to practice writing each one a few times. Every time you learn a new character they use compounds of kanji you have already covered and so you can expand your vocabulary as well.