Archive by Author
Job Hunting for College Students (就活）Part 1 Posted by eriko1 on Nov 29, 2021
This time, I will write how Japanese university students get a job – the system of 就職活動 (shushoku katsudo). It is abbreviated as 就活 (shukatsu). As this is a complicated yet interesting system, I will make this in 2 parts. First of all, most of Japanese college students start college in April and graduate four…
A Door Posted by eriko1 on Nov 18, 2021
A door (ドア doa). It can open or close, and it can show things and it can hide things. It does so many things and it affects so many things in our lives. I wrote about the refrigerator in my first blog. It is hard for a Japanese student who stays at a US host…
Yes or NO – tag questions Posted by eriko1 on Oct 21, 2021
This time, I am going to talk about tag questions (付加疑問文 fuka gimonbun). I know that these are confusing to Japanese students learning English, and I bet the Japanese learners must be sharing the same confusion (混乱 konran). So what is a tag question in English? You didn’t go to see the movie last night…
The Dictionary as a Mirror of Time Posted by eriko1 on Oct 16, 2021
One of the largest Japanese dictionaries (辞書 jisho) is published from Sanseido. It is the most popular one. It was first published in 1960, and it has been edited periodically to add or delete words. The dictionary was updated this year after 8 years. Language is alive and it is changing all the time whether…
Kirakira Name and Shiwashiwa Name Posted by eriko1 on Sep 29, 2021
I have talked about kanji in the last blog. Today, I will talk about kirakira names (キラキラネーム). So what are kirakira names? They are names that sparkle, shine, and twinkle. Most of them are very unusual – parents come up with sounds or rhythms they like, and apply kanji that may not relate to the…
Kanji Quiz for Adult and Thoughts on Kanji Posted by eriko1 on Sep 18, 2021
There is a kanji quiz called “Kanji Quiz for working adults” put out by Baila. The quizzes are not easy. Almost all kanji are certainly recognizable (認識できる ninshikidekiru), but how you read them is very difficult. Today’s kanji was 仄々. I certainly was one of many that could not read this kanji. It is read…
Variety Makes Life Richer – Writing System Posted by eriko1 on Aug 27, 2021
Like many people in the world, I started playing Animal Crossing New Horizon on a Nintendo Switch that my son had brought back from Kyoto. It was extremely hard to get one in the US or Japan due to the very high demand (需要 jyuyo), so that was great. The great thing about the Switch…