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You can batch download all JTest4You’s infographics HERE.

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This game does not have furigana, but with the software Capture2Text (http://capture2text.sourceforge.net/) and the dictionary website Jisho (https://jisho.org/) you can play Tangle Tower (https://store.steampowered.com/app/359510/Tangle_Tower/)!

This game is fun, short, and currently cheap because with the current Steam sale it costs only 4.19€!

It's a point and click detective adventure.

The voices are in English (there's no Japanese dub), so you won't get lost in the story. I think it's fun to listen to the English actors while reading the Japanese text and it makes it easier for beginners like me.

Completely recommended.

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The Sims in Japanese! (And other videogames and manga without furigana)

Want to play The Sims in Japanese but don't know enough kanji to play it? I recently discovered a way to do it! And it probably works in lots of other videogames AND manga that do not have furigana!

It's not perfect, I admit. But it really helps. And it's free, by the way.

The software I began using is called Capture2Text.

You can know more about it here: http://capture2text.sourceforge.net/

And you can download it here:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/capture2text/

You just have to press two keys of your keyboard and then select what you want to translate.

And here is how I use it:

I don't know if there's a way for the software to separate the words and to give me their pronunciation. But that's easy to solve. I basically just copy the word/text from the software and paste it into Jisho (https://jisho.org/).

I do not know much about its settings either, but here are the main ones that I somehow changed:

Why did I start using this?

Because I would need to know thousands of kanji to play it in Japanese, so I could easily look up the words in the dictionary using their pronunciation. But I just know 400 kanji right now. I could wait until I know most of them, but I'm into language immersion (seriously, guys. It works.) and I really love The Sims 2, 3 & 4. So why wait? I will keep learning kanji, of course (it's more important than I ever imagined when I began learning this language, because I thought learning vocab would be enough). But through this method, I can even improve my kanji knowledge. Reading immersion can improve our vocabulary, grammar AND kanji.

So... if you're like me, try it out!

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いつも v. ずっと

These two are tricky, since they both can mean “always.”

いつも means always, but is used more-so for habitual actions for things like you always go to bed at 10, or you always look before crossing the street. But this isn’t exactly a definite always, it means more so of 9/10 times, usually, just about every time.

ずっと means always, but more so continuously, like a constant or continuous state of being, an ongoing thing. So for cases like you’ve always had long hair,or you believed someone the whole time. 

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Hello there, I like your blog :) I was wondering If you can recommend some books with vocab for beginners.

Hello !

Thanks for the ask. For beginners I would recvomend graded readers c:

They are made to be read for a certain comprehension level and are great practice. You could find some on your own if you dig around, and I'll also post a link with a website that has some!

Graded readers

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Japanese lesson 67

Today's theme is "That must be hard on you".

Translated literally :

"それはあなたにとってハードだったに違いない。"

(それは あなたにとって はーどだったに ちがいない)

But

"それは大変だっただろうね"

(それはたいへんだっただろうね)

Japanese use this.

A: I missed the train and ran to school.

　電車に乗り遅れて、学校まで走ったよ。

　(でんしゃに のりおくれて がっこうまで は　　　しったよ)

B: Oh.. That must be hard on you.

　それは大変だっただろうね。

　(それはたいへんだっただろうね)

You should use it!

See you again!!

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Bilingual Manga

https://bilingualmanga.com

It’s easy to get the meaning of the individual words through an addon like Rikaichamp (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/rikaichamp/) and, if you still don’t understand the meaning of the sentence, just click “language switcher“ and it will give you the translation. I don’t recommend it though. As Matt from MIApproach says, «Growing your capacity to tolerate ambiguity is essential to making rapid progress. Unfortunately, tolerating ambiguity often doesn’t come naturally. Most of us have grown up in a culture that places a lot of value on “understanding things.” Because of this, for most people, being able to tolerate ambiguity is a skill that must be actively cultivated over time.»

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Words I definitely never use

ほろ酔い（ほろよい）tipsy, slightly drunk

酔っている（よっている）drunk (broad meaning in terms of level and cause of intoxication)

酔っ払っている（よっぱらっている）drunk (specifically for alcohol and specifically a pretty high level of intoxication)

泥酔（でいすい）super drunk

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Japanese lesson 76

Today's theme is "Be careful".

今日のテーマは「気をつけて」です。

(きょうのてーまは　きをつけて　です)

1. Be careful of your health.

　健康には気をつけて！

　(けんこうには　きをつけて)

2. Watch your step!

　足元に気をつけて！

(あしもとに　きをつけて)

3. Take care.

　気をつけてね

　(きをつけてね)

You should use it!

See you again!!

Have a nice weekend!!!

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Do you use perfume? Or are you allergic to it? Or… you just don’t like it? Let’s focus on Japanese vocab concerning perfumes, fragrances and other smells.

匂い・におい・nioi “smell”, this term can describe nice aromas, for example 香水の匂い・こうすいのにおい・kousui no nioi “smell of perfumes”, or not that pleasant ones 薬品の匂い・やくひんのにおい・yakuhin no nioi “smell of chemicals”, it doesn’t have an on’yomi reading

香り・かおり・kaori, “(nice) scent”, for example 甘い香り・あまいかおり・amai kaori “sweet smell”, you can also use it the phrase 潮の香り・しおのかおり・shio no kaori “the salty scent of the sea” (I’ll leave the decision to you whether it’s a nice smell or not), as you probably noticed its on’yomi reading こう・kou like in 香水・こうすい・kousui “perfume” (meanings of individual kanji are “smell-water”), for some reason it also appears in 香港・ほんこん・honkon “Hong-Kong” (”smell-harbour”)

薫り・かおり・kaori, “smell”, an alternative kanji of 香, both of them tend to appear in feminine and masculine names Kaori and Kaoru, the only difference is that the on’yomi reading of 薫 is くん・kun

臭い・くさい・kusai “(badly) smelling”, that one is hard to translate because technically speaking it’s an adjective, but it’s often translated into English with a verb for example トイレが臭い・トイレがくさい・toire ga kusai (lit. the toilet is badly smelling), “The toilet smells bad”, its on’yomi reading is しゅう・shuu like in 血臭・けっしゅう・kesshuu “smell of blood” “blood-stink”

Most of Japanese people that I’ve met did not use perfume at all. I think it’s due to a fact that Japanese are very careful not to be a nuisance to anyone. I know a few people (*sighs* my dad, for instance) who upon smelling a fragrance of perfumes get a severe headache. Once my Japanese native speaker wore perfume (while being dressed more elegantly). Maybe she had a date? Or an appointment with a doctor? That was unusual.

Generally Japanese people do not emit any kind of distinctive smell. When you get on a bus or a train in Japan, probably the only aroma which will get into your precious nostrils will be the smell of soap. I cannot say the same about my Polish communication… *sighs*

Today I went to perfumery to buy myself a ridiculosly expensive bottle of perfume (I got a gift card from my aunt, thanks <3 ). The moment I entered the shop, a group of salesladies surrounded me and showed billion million different brands. Their persistent attention exhausted me, and eventually I took my leave without buying anything. It’s hard being an introvert in perfumery.

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みたい・よう・そう・っぽい ・らしい for comparing

Some person/thing A looks/seems like some descriptor X noun.  Part 2 on the same words for reporting.  

AはXみたいだ　A is not X but seems/looks like X or seems as if X.  Similar to よう but for speaking informally.  

Can have a negative connotation (a derogatory “someone like you”).  Conjugates like a な-adj.

ネコみたいだという人もいる。Some say he looks like a cat

まるで肖像画から抜け出してきたみたいだったよ！　It was as if the portrait were walking!

 AはXのようだ　A is not X but seems/looks like X. 

Similar to みたい but for writing or other formal situations.

狐のようにずるい　sly as a fox

AはXっぽい　A seems/looks like X.  

Very casual. Conjugates like an い-adj.  Seems to be very general and can be used to replace any of the above words.  Can be used with colors to mean “a color close to X.”  There are also several common words using っぽい.

彼は非常に忘れっぽい男だ　He is a very forgetful fellow.

彼は黒っぽいセーターを着ていた。He wore a dark sweater.

AはX に見える・AはXに思える　A appears X (only based on physical appearance)・A is thought to be X (a general opinion).  

Can be combined with よう.

いくつ？　How old are you?

いくつに見える？　How old do I look?

君が書くｏはａに見えるね。Your o’s look like a’s

患者は治癒したように見える　The patient appears cured

最初は簡単に思えることがあとで難しいと分かることがよくある　What seems easy at first often turns out to be difficult.

皆が自分を馬鹿にしているように思えたので、彼は怒った　Since everybody regarded himself as making a fool, he got angry.

AはX (stem) そうだ　A is likely to X based on what I’ve observed.  

Conjecture.  Can’t be used with plain nouns (we can use だろう・でしょう etc. to express conjecture for nouns)

雨が降りそうだ　It looks like it’s going to rain 

私は、何か恐ろしいことが起こりそうな感じがする。I have a feeling that something dreadful is going to happen.

この冬はとても寒くなりそうだ。In this winter, it seems like it’ll get very cold.

Remember that we use this to describe how someone else looks or does something instead of using the adjective (etc.) descriptor by itself.  

ケイト叔母が心配そうに尋ねた、asked Aunt Kate anxiously. (な-adj)

彼女はその若者を恥ずかしそうにちらりと見た。She glanced shyly at the young man. (い-adj)

AはXらしいだ　A is X and acts as an X should/is expected to based on some archetype.

Neutral.  Conjugates as an い-adj

悩みを笑い飛ばすとはいかにも彼らしい　Laughing troubles away is characteristic of him.

一様に男らしい道への別れの称賛 　Valedictory praise for his uniformly manly course

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みたい・そう・らしい  for reporting

I heard/I guess/it seems that ____.   Part 1 on the same words for comparing.

X (plain verb/い-adj and noun/な-adj + だ)そうだ　

I heard directly from someone else that X and reporting just what I heard (high degree of certainty).  Does not conjugate to the past (そうだった).  

新聞によればメキシコで地震があったそうだ　According to the paper, there was an earthquake in Mexico.

あなたはアメリカに行くそうですね　I hear that you are going to the United States.

X (verb/noun/い- and な-adj)らしいだ　

I heard something from someone (and maybe made some assumptions or I heard from someone who heard from someone) that X (secondhand information, pretty high degree of certainty).  More objective than そう.  used both in writing and speaking.  Can convey a feeling of indifference.

彼は病気だったらしい　He seems to have been ill.

息子がいたらしいが名前はわかっていない　He had a son, but his name is unknown.

X (verb/noun)みたいだ　

Based on what I’ve what I’ve seen (etc.), I’ve come to the conclusion that X, conjecture based on experience.  Can’t be used with adjectives.  

このテレビドラマの警官は職権を乱用する汚職警官みたいです。It seems that the policeman in this TV series is a dirty cop who abuses his authority.

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Some useful collocations for time

(from “Common Japanese Collocations” by Kakuko Shoji, with some additions)

時間をつぶす　to kill time  時間を無駄にする　to waste time ～に時間を費やす　to spend time (wastefully) on ~ 時間を節約する 　to save time 時間をかける　to take (a long) time (to do something) (usually ～に時間をかける or 時間をかけて～する) 時間がかかる　(something) takes (a long) time  時間を決める・変更する　to set/change a time 時間に追われている　to be pressed for time 時間に縛られる　to have a tight schedule 時間が余る　to have time left over

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Word of the week: 暗記（あんき）Memorization, learning by heart Standalone it’s a noun, but combined with する it means “to learn by heart” or “to memorize”. 例：漢字を全部暗記するのは私の夢だ！

漢字（かんじ）details: “あん” is the Chinese reading of “暗”. The Japanese reading is “くらい”, meaning darkness or disappear. “き” is the Chinese reading of “記”, meaning scribe, account, or narrative. The Japanese reading is “しるす”, which means to write down or to note.

暗, darkness 音読み：アン ー 訓読み：くらい 記, scribe, account 音読み：キ ー 訓読み：しるす

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Japanese lesson 75

Today's theme is "I have a favor to ask".

今日のテーマは「お願いがあります」です。

(きょうのてーまは おねがいがあります です)

1. Excuse me. I have a favor to ask.

　すいません。お願いがあります。

　(すいません　おねがいがあります)

A: I have a favor to ask.

　お願いがあるんだけど。

　(おねがいがあるんだけど)

B: Sure, what is it?

　いいよ！どんなお願い？

　(いいよ　どんなおねがい)

You should use it!

See you again!!

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Japanese lesson 72

Today's theme is "What made you start ... ?".

今日のテーマは「何がきっかけで...を始めたの？」です。

(きょうのてーまは なにがきっかけで をはじめたの です)

1.What made you start studying Japanese?

　何がきっかけで日本語の勉強を始めたの？

　(なにがきっかけで にほんごのべんきょうをはじめたの)

2.What made you start playing tennis?

　何がきっかけでテニスを始めたの？

　(なにがきっかけで てにすを はじめたの)

3. What made you start?

　何がきっかけで始めたの？

　(なにがきっかけで はじめたの)

You should use it!

See you again!!

Enjoy the rest of the year!!!