何 – なに or なん
I seem to always know when to use なん and when to use なに without learning the rules and find it interesting.
Means that I have enough training data on this. www
Ways to ask for a word’s meaning
Ordered by formality:
- 「大晦日」とはどういう意味ですか。
- 「大晦日」はどういう意味ですか。
- 「大晦日」の意味は何ですか。(every day)
- 「大晦日」ってどういう意味ですか。(って is casual, friends)
Asking what this is in general:
- 「大晦日」とは何ですか？
- 「大晦日」って何ですか？
I’ve been using this the most:
「大晦日」は何ですか？
This is more of asking what 大晦日 is in general.
If I specifically want to ask what is the word in English, adding 意味 would make it more clear.
Apps/sites for learning Japanese
Can’t believe how high quality these free resources are!
Last updated: 2025-01-05
コース
Minato
Free high-quality interactive self-guided courses.
It also has live courses (I haven’t tried it yet).
Preview
TUFS Language Modules
From Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
The English version currently only has the pronunciation and dialog modules, so I’m studying the Traditional Chinese version.
Features
辞書
Kakimashou
Features
- Stroke order
- Tone
Preview
Jisho
Super clean interface
Features
- Tone
- Has JLPT tags
- Lots of sentence examples
アプリ
Miraa
The Miraa app makes it easy to listen and repeat (the shadowing/echoing technique).
It has a paid version, but I find the free version to be good enough
Features
- Can directly paste links from YouTube
- Can ask AI for an explanation of words/sentences you don’t understand
- Has search built in to search for podcasts in Japanese
renshuu
Also available as a web app
その他(た)のツール
Google – Text-to-Speech AI
Useful for reading out my transcripts. It already sounds much more natural than I do, so I can import it to Miraa and shadow my writings.
10ten Japanese Reader (Rikaichamp)
This is a Chrome extension that I use. I used to use Yomichan and then Yomitan after Yomichan sunsetted. But I personally like 10ten’s UI.
Preview
Ways to describe a lot of people
Today in class we talked about New Year’s Eve, and I noticed I’ve always been using たくさんの人
Time to add some other versions to my vocabulary!
多 (おお) くの人
like たくさんの人
多くの人が電車を待っています。
Many people are waiting for the train.すごい人数 (にんずう)
overwhelming number of people
駅にすごい人数が集まっていた。
There was an overwhelming number of people gathered at the station.大勢 (おおぜい) の人
refers to crowds or large gatherings of people
- Can only be used for people
- Often used for events, concerts, or public spaces
コンサートには大勢の人が集まっていた。
A large crowd gathered at the concert.人混 (ご) み
crowded places or areas, situations where you need to navigate through crowds, like the New Year’s Eve countdown event
駅の人混みを通りました。
I went through the station crowd.—
One fun fact I learned was the New Year’s Eve countdown is called 大晦日 (おおみそか) のカウントダウン
Always fun to realize when I cannot find a word for that in Japanese, all I need to do is just Katakana-ize the English word 🤣
Transcript:
昨日、さやさんの授業で、おおみそかのカウントダウンについて話した。
「大勢の人」や「人混み」と言いたかったけど、いつも「たくさんの人」ばかり使っていた。
他の言葉を考えたけど、思い浮かばなかった。
だから、覚えるために、新しいTumblrの投稿を書いた。
Vocabulary:
思い浮(う)かぶ – to recall
Funny story of 草 (くさ)
The other day, my boyfriend’s sister sent this sticker to his dad on LINE.
Because 草 sounds like 操 in Mandarin, which is a curse word. His dad was very confused why he got cursed.
The more I look at it, it seems to be ridiculing me for some reason.
嘲笑 (ちょうしょう) – ridicule
Anyways 草 means rofl, since www means lol, and how it became:
- 笑う (warau) → (笑) → w
- Multiple “w"s (wwwww) began being used to show stronger laughter
- The repeated "w"s visually resembled grass, leading to the use of 草 (kusa)
Two ways to write そ
How do you write your そ？
Ways to describe a lot of people
Today in class we talked about New Year’s Eve, and I noticed I’ve always been using たくさんの人
Time to add some other versions to my vocabulary!
多 (おお) くの人
like たくさんの人
多くの人が電車を待っています。
Many people are waiting for the train.
すごい人数 (にんずう)
overwhelming number of people
駅にすごい人数が集まっていた。
There was an overwhelming number of people gathered at the station.
大勢 (おおぜい) の人
refers to crowds or large gatherings of people
- Can only be used for people
- Often used for events, concerts, or public spaces
コンサートには大勢の人が集まっていた。
A large crowd gathered at the concert.
人混 (ご) み
crowded places or areas, situations where you need to navigate through crowds, like the New Year’s Eve countdown event
駅の人混みを通りました。
I went through the station crowd.
—
One fun fact I learned was the New Year’s Eve countdown is called 大晦日 (おおみそか) のカウントダウン
Always fun to realize when I cannot find a word for that in Japanese, all I need to do is just Katakana-ize the English word 🤣
How to Say “Ex-Company Employee” and “Ex-Boyfriend” in Japanese 💔💼
Ex-Company Employee
元(もと)社員
- Metaの元社員 – Ex-employee of Meta
- 元TikTokのエンジニア- Ex-TikTok engineer
Ex-Boyfriend
元(もと)カレ
This is the most straightforward translation. Think of it as the Japanese equivalent of just saying “ex.” It’s casual and widely understood.
元カレとバッタリ会っちゃった…
I bumped into my ex…
(Casual, expressing surprise/discomfort)
元カレの話はもういいよ。
I don’t want to talk about my ex anymore.
(Direct and possibly irritated)
前の彼氏
This translates to “previous boyfriend.” It feels slightly softer and less abrupt than 元カレ.
前の彼氏とはまだ友達だよ。
I’m still friends with my ex-boyfriend.
(Neutral and informative)
前の彼氏から連絡(れんらく)が来たんだけど…
I got a message from my ex-boyfriend, but…
(Slightly hesitant, leading into a story)
別(わか)れた彼氏
This means “the boyfriend I broke up with.” It’s more descriptive and emphasizes the past relationship.
別れた彼氏のこと、まだ少し考えてる。
I’m still thinking about my ex-boyfriend a little.
(Honest and slightly melancholic)
彼氏だった人
This translates to “the person who was my boyfriend.” This is the most formal and distant option, often used when the relationship ended a long time ago, or you want to downplay its significance.
彼氏だった人とは、もう何年も連絡を取(と)ってない。
I haven’t contacted the person who was my boyfriend for years. (Formal and distant)
見つかった vs 見つけた
Today, in my diary, I wrote that I found a new app and used the wrong verb.
新しいアプリを見つけた。
I have to use 見つけた because I found/discovered the app. 他動詞
見つかった is 自動詞 and is used for something “to be found” like:
探していた本が見つかった。
Explain something with ～かというと、〜です
What sort of app did I discover?
I have a habit of asking and answering when I try to explain.
Before: どんなアプリですか？日記のためのアプリです。
After: どんなアプリかというと、日記を書くためのアプリです。
Literally means: As for what kind of app it is, it is an app for writing a diary.
It does feel a bit too long and not conversational, but a good way to practice making sentences like this.
Another thing is that 日記のためのアプリ sounds a bit weird, should have used
- 日記アプリ
- 日記を書くためのアプリ – feels even more like explaining something, we’re using ための because of the noun in the end.
Note on ための and ために: If it’s ために, it feels like I have more to say:
日記をつけるために、新しいアプリをダウンロードします。
I’m going to download a new app for keeping a diary.
見つかった vs 見つけた
Today, in my diary, I wrote that I found a new app and used the wrong verb.
新しいアプリを見つけた。
I have to use 見つけた because I found/discovered the app. 他動詞
見つかった is 自動詞 and is used for something “to be found” like:
探していた本が見つかった。