Blog - Japanese
The structure of Japanese sentences One of the most difficult parts to learning Japanese for Speakers of European languages is the word order of the sentences. You may hear people say that it’s opposite or backwards. That’s not necessarily true. What is almost always true is that the verb . . .
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Particles , the structure of a Japanese sentence. In English, the structure of a sentence is important. It tells us who is doing what. Where and when also have their separate places. In Japanese, that’s not the case. Particles (single syllable words for grammatical purposes) are used to indicate . . .
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Writing systems In Japanese, there are three writing systems. Thousands of years ago, the Japanese brought writing from China, along with other things such as Buddhism. Unfortunately, the Chinese and Japanese languages have absolutely nothing in common. In fact, sentence structure of Chinese is almost identical to English, which . . .
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What books are good? Many times I have been asked how I learned to speak Japanese and what books I used. Many times people are surprised that I seem to have learned so quickly or that I seem to be able to say what I want. I’m always flattered, but . . .
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About Japan For many years, countries in the Far East have seemed to have captivated Americans. From commercials touting “Ancient Chinese secrets” to cartoons about army ninjas. I have to admit that when I was a boy, I was just as captivated. I even did a report on Japan in . . .
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by David Ockey Before I came to Japan, I had studied Japanese in college for 3 1/2 years. When I came to Japan, I could say virtually nothing in Japanese! I could say my name, where I was from, and, “The apple is on the table.” To this day, I . . .
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