by Matthew

Onomatopoeia. Enough said. These are those ふわふわ words that can make you いらいら. I found this list somewheres floating around the web. Print out the PDF list of giongo and add it to your vocab studies.

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by Matthew

As if there weren’t enough words for “I” in Japanese already, I stumbled across 己 [おのれ] today.
賢者は己の失策から学ぶ / A wise man profits from his mistakes
己を知れ / Know thyself

Take it.

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by Matthew

My student dropped this one in a lesson the other day: 英会話を聞く骨知りたい, said she. こつ? thought I. The bones of listening? No. The knack. “I want to know the knack of understanding what I hear.” I will add some examples later.

Not this Knack
_______________________________
[UPDATE] the examples I promised.
それには骨がある
There is a knack to it.
骨を知っている
have the knack […]

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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 […]

Filed under: Kanji (TA), Vocabulary, Vocabulary (A), Idiom, Kanji, Otani | Post a comment

by Matthew

I always thought that 慌てる　（あわてる） was “to hurry” or “to rush”. 大谷先生 put me straight last night. She told me to 慌てないでね　－ remain calm. 慌てる apparently has a bit of a feeling of panic to it. I checked it out - “be flustered” the dictionary reckons. It’s quite different to 急ぐ　（いそぐ） in that regard. She […]

Filed under: Vocabulary, Vocabulary (A) | 1 Comment