Passing the JLPT is all about preparation – the right preparation. Whether you are months, weeks or even days away, the way you prepare for the test will determine how well you pass it, or how badly you fail it.
The best preparation you can do is to take the test . You need some combat experience.
Japanese Proficieny Power will take You by the Hand and Show You How To Pass the JLPT with Over 6 Hours of Screen Capture Video Lessons and 3 practice tests.
Is the only product that shows you how to answer the test questions with screen capture videos – this is not just an e-book. We show how to answer each question.
Is written and recorded by someone who has passed the test and by a Japanese native who tutors Japanese for a living. If you are serious about passing the JLPT this year then take a look at Japanese Proficiency Power.
I have stumbled across a very effective vocabulary building method which I think can help you to learn lots of vocabulary.
Do you know what a Mnemonic device is?
It is a method for enhancing memory – a trick that one uses to help memorize something. Mnemonic devices can help with remembering peoples’ names and faces as well as with remembering words in a foreign language.
You could be memorizing Japanese in the slowest way possible, and not even know it.
Most Japanese courses teach you the slow way. They cram you with grammar, grammar, grammar… and treat vocabulary as a side dish.
Your biggest challenge isn’t the few hundred grammatical rules… It’s the thousands and thousands of words you have to remember.
” Speak Japanese Fast ” takes a fool-proof memory tool that’s been used for 30-years and launches your Japanese skills in no time at all.
So if you want a smart study system, that is fun to use and will give you results in days instead of weeks, then Speak Japanese Fast is something you need to get your hands on. i have tested the product myself.
Several months ago I was contacted by David McGimpsey. He is the creator of “Speak Japanese Fast”, a Japanese Language learning ebook that uses Mnemonic devices to learn and retain vocabulary.
Anyway, David emailed me and asked me to promote his product Speak Japanese Fast. At first, I was sceptical of his product and said no. So he gave me a copy and just asked me to read and try his learning tool.
So about a week later when I had some free time I had a look at his ebook. I was actually pleasantly surprised and found his learning system fun. Yet, I already knew all of the Japanese words in his ebook. I couldn’t really review his product as a learner. However, I did believe his learning tool was effective. So, I had the product tested with some of my wife’s private students. We gave it to five of my wife’s private students who are beginners.
I actually had my wife test the students with the vocabulary from the ebook after a week. She gave them a little test for five minutes at the start of her next lesson. All five students had made incredible progress with the method. One student had pretty much remembered all the 300 pages of the ebook.
So I highly recommend the book if you are struggling to learn and remember Japanese words. This ebook can definitely help you learn and retain vocabulary.
We have just been through the worst heatwave in Melbourne and Victoria. Two weeks ago, we had three days of 43 degrees in a row. Then, last Saturday we reached 47 degrees. You may have heard about the terrible bush fires in Victoria. Devastating stuff – probably over 200 dead, 750 homes destroyed and whole communities lost. And to think some of the fires were lit on purpose. How could someone go out and intentionally light a fire knowing the possible destruction it could cause. So please spare a thought or two for the many people who lost family, friends and just about everything else.
In this post we have a short video lesson on “commenting on the weather”.
Everyone knows some Japanese. You probably have heard or know the meanings of these Japanese words; kamikaze, keisha, kimono, karaoke, samurai and so on. Many Japanese words and phrases have deep cultural significance which can make it hard for students to learn Japanese. However, Japanese words aren’t always deeply culturally rooted – there are some wacky words. While living in Japan I came across some ridiculous Japanese words that could only exists in Japan. The Japanese have a knack for stealing foreign words and giving them new meanings. Let’s learn a few.
My pet hate Japanese word is juice, in katakana ジュース. In Japanese “juice” basically means soft drink. It can even mean canned coffee. How could they get this word so wrong. So if a Japanese offers you “juice” in Japan don’t be surprised if you are giving a glass of coke.
Snack, スナック, is an other word Japanese give new meaning to. Instead of relating to eating food the word is all about drinking. In Japanese snack means bar. But not just any bar. Snack bars are small drinking places usually for the older generation where Japanese can drown their sorrows with whisky or beer and belt out some enka. These places are very popular with men as they are sort of a hostess bar where you’re charged quite a lot to drink with female company. Enka is traditional Japanese music- songs about lots love. These places are probably the most depressing places you could ever visit in Japan.
Vikingis one of my favorite’s. It is pronounced “Bye -king” and written in katakana バイキング. Japanese most likely wouldn’t know who the Vikings were. Yet, at least one Japanese picked up on their eating habits and coined the phrase to mean buffet. Viking means “all-you-can- eat” . It can also mean ”all-you-can-drink”.
Icecomes close. It means ice cream. In katakana アイス. This is an example of how Japanese will take English words and shorten them or abbreviate them. Japanese generally like to communicate with the least amount of words. They will take a foreign word shorten it, give it a new meaning, and eventually it slips into main stream vocabulary.
When you first learn or discover these words you will feel dumbfounded . You will either feel amused or annoyed. It is quite hard to believe that the words I just taught you are meaningful and common words in the Japanese language. It certainly took me a while to accept and use them. One of the most frustrating things is many Japanese believe that they are speaking English when using these loan words. Good reason enough not to even consider teaching English in Japan……just joking.
Time to learn some basic Japanese phrases and Japanese words relating to things you like doing – your hobbies. “Hobby” has a slightly different meaning in Japan. Japanese consider things like shopping, eating favorite foods and even sleepping as hobbies. The word for hobby in Japanese is しゅみ (shumi). The Japanese symbol or kanji for this word is 趣味.
In this lesson you will learn how to ask and answer questions relating to hobbies. We have upload many videos to youtube. Video language lessons are a great way to learn Japanese. We hope you like this one. This is a basic Japanese lesson, but hopefully you will learn something.
Structure
私のしゅみは……………です。
Watashi no shumi wa……desu.
My hobby is………………
My hobbies are………….
Vocabulary
ひらがな
Romaji
English
らくがき
Rakugaki
Drawing, graffitti
うんどう
Undou
Exercise
かるい
Karui
Light
たべる
Taberu
Eat
ひく
Hiku
Play (a musical instrument)
Grammar Note
verb + こと
Adding “koto” will nominalize the verb; change it into a noun.
たべる － Eat ; たべること － Eating
After watching the video try to read the sentences and questions below.
In Japan every time you walk into a restaurant, shop, department store – basically any place of service you will you will be verbally attacked with a “welcome” greeting. This will happen without fail. The greeting is “Irasshaimase” – いらっしゃいませ. Like many Japanese words this one is deep and goes way back. More on that later. I do have to say that I loved the word when I first came to Japan. I really liked walking to restaurants to be greeted with a chorus of “Irashiamase”. I made me feel…..well, very welcome. I remember thinking it was a little un-Japanese for Japanese to be yelling at their customers. Now, after living in Japan for ten years I can say I am pretty sick of this word. I do find it irritating when I am shopping at a clothing store or just browsing at book store to been constantly disturbed by shouts and chorus of Irasshaimase. Some staff will really scream it out. I have walked out of the odd store or two because of the constant cries from a tone deaf Japanese.
The deeper meaning of the word goes way back and not surprisingly has to do with etiquette. Centuries ago Japanese behavior was formalized to the extend that there was a prescribed way for doing virtually everything. Direct interaction with other people, weather greetings, requests and speeches was the most important and carefully enforced. This lead to one of the most interesting and early developed etiquette customs – the calling out of “irasshai” or “iarashaimase” when someone entered the vestibule home of a home or place of business.
“Irasshai” means “walk in” as well as “welcome” and is an informal, friendly expression used by tradespeople in traditional restaurants and shops and department stores. This greeting kind of takes the weight of formality off the customers’ shoulders. It lets them know that they are at a place where they can relax and have fun. This could explain why Japanese are quite happy to eat with total strangers with restaurant owners often asking customers to share tables when business is busy. I have done it myself and it a bit unusual and very uncomfortable. A contradiction to Japanese culture in general, but then again eating habits are very different indeed and an area of Japanese culture that lacks etiquette and decorum. Japanese can eat like pigs; making nosies as they eat, speaking while eating, and even using communal chopsticks as tooth picks.
“Irasshaimase” is a much more polite and formal term used only in the sense of “welcome” and “thanks for coming”. This is one word you want to remember and use. It represents an important part of the overall etiquette of Japan and one of the things that foreign visitors and businessmen can easily assimilate, and benefit from, in their interactions with Japanese.
