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)

meowbrown:

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。

帰っていく vs. 帰ってくる (0926 レッスンメモ)

This is an extension of the grammar ていく and てくる

Quick recap

• ていく – moving away from the speaker
• てくる – moving towards the speaker

For example, when I am the speaker:

彼は帰っていきます。
He is going home (to his home and moving away from me).

彼は帰ってきます。
He is returning home (I am at home, and he is moving towards me).

Reference

Difference between 帰って来る and 帰る

2 Japanese resources that are good for N3 level

Sesame Street Japan

Sharing one of my favorite episodes, going to the beauty salon.

美容院 (びよういん) – beauty salon

エルモは可愛いです！世界で一番 (echo: 番番番)~~~~ you’ll get this after you watch it 😆

NHK for School

I used to think NHK stuff is boring until my Japanese teacher shared it with me today. They tried to “animenize” some dry topics like environmental topics. I find it quite cringe to watch the actor, but also much more fun if they didn’t do that.

ばんぐみ一覧 | NHK for School

luckydoeslanguage:

Nostalgia Steeped | Blog Info

ALT

“you open the tin to find a letter, a dusty fountain pen and a pressed leaf.”

This blog is being made to encourage myself to keep up with my language learning endeavours. I suppose its a studyblr? well, its probably going to be more of an online diary. I’m not exactly the studious type, but language learning has slowly been growing into a passion for me. I also want an outlet to try typing in my target language, and maybe make some friends?

Goals for this blog:

• document and encourage myself while learning. I kind of want to treat this blog as if I’m talking to an audience, but also I’m really just talking to myself lol.
• organize any information i find useful, or want to remember.
• update it semi-frequently? don’t expect a content hose or anything. this blog is for me, primarily.
• document what I’m immersing in. Primarily using immersion based methods to study, and honestly id like to talk about the experience more than just gas-lighting myself into acquisition lol.
• practice some self output. talking in my target language is still far a ways a way, but i still want to get used to flexing that muscle more.

so yeah. if you’d like to talk about language learning with me, please feel free to shoot me an ask or a dm. I’m far from an expert, more just soap-boxing on my own, but I’m always looking for new things to immerse in and love talking about media. 🙂

This is a side-blog, so it stays on topic. Interactions from me will probably go through my main! @lukrio99990

また同じ目的のブログを見つけて嬉しいです。

て form song

There are so many て form songs on YouTube, but this is the one I learned in class a couple of years ago and I couldn’t find the exact one. So I’m recording it for backup purposes in case my memory fails me.

うつる->って

ぶむぬ->んで

く->いて ぐ->いで

す->して

くる->きって

する->して

例外 (れいがい)→行って

For る verbs like 食べる, all you do is replace る with て so no need to memorize.

I wonder how everyone else learned their て forms 🤔

tokyo–blue:

しわ

しわ – wrinkle, crease

• スーツを着る前に、しわをアイロンで取りましょう
• Before wearing this suit, let’s remove the wrinkles with an iron.
• 最近、顔にしわが増えてきた
• Recently, the wrinkles on my face are increasing.
• 私は４０歳けど、しわがない
• I’m 40 years old, but I don’t have wrinkles.

This reminds me of カタオモイ from Aimer

シワが 増えても それでも良いんだ

シワ here is the same as しわ, I’m guessing it’s a “song” thing like the song’s name using カタオモイ instead of using 片思い.

tokidokitokyo:

Seitokai Discord・May Japanese Bookclub

This month we are reading わたしの幸せな結婚 in novel format in the Seitokai Japanese Bookclub!

Join us in the Seitokai Discord Server and grab the Japanese bookclub role to get started!

The book club starts May 1st! There’s also an English book club if you’d like to join that!

この読書会に参加したいん！

tokidokitokyo:

Podcast Review: ことのは

Podcast Title: 日本語の会話のpodcast −ことのは−

(にほんごのかいわのpodcast −ことのは−)

Available On: Spotify, YouTube

Ease of Listening: ★★★★★

Length of Episodes: ★★★★★

Level of Engagement: ★★★★★

Episode Frequency: ★★★★★

Overall: ★★★★★

Today I will be reviewing the Japanese conversation podcast ことのは (Kotonoha) by Yamamo-sensei and Kibi-sensei. They have episodes for all levels, separated by JLPT level N5-N1 and labeled so you can determine which episodes best suit your level or challenge yourself with a higher level.

Do I currently listen to this podcast?: Yes, I like this podcast a lot and listen to it frequently.

General Overview

Good For Levels: Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced

In this series, Yamamo and Kibi, two Japanese language teachers based in Japan, speak on a variety of topics in a conversation style of podcast. The conversation-style format is good for training your ear to listen to questions and responses, and every day banter between two speakers. They talk about Japanese culture and their own personal experiences which gives listeners an insight to the particulars of daily life in Japan.

Length of Episodes ★★★★★

The podcasts are usually around 20-30 minutes long. This is ideal for a commute or when you have some down time. They cover 2-3 subtopics within each topic they pick, so the conversations are very interesting and catch my attention and they don’t seem too short or too long. They plan out each conversation topic carefully and keep it interesting and informative.

Level of Engagement ★★★★★

The conversation format is very engaging because they cover 2-3 subtopics within the main topic and structure the conversation to focus on each point of the topic. They keep the listener engaged with carefully planned-out topics and conversations, and there is obviously a lot of work that goes into their podcast. They match the vocabulary and pace of speaking with the level they are targeting, but even in the higher level podcasts I believe beginners would be able to catch the general flow of the conversation and challenge themselves to understand the content.

Episode Frequency ★★★★★

New podcasts come out once a week, and with the planning that goes into each episode it’s a very good pace. There is also a lot of episodes already produced so you can go through them fairly quickly without running out of material.

Overall ★★★★★

This podcast is designed by two Japanese language teachers to convey information about Japanese culture completely in Japanese. The episodes are labeled by JLPT difficulty and I find the label system to be very accurate. It is a good podcast with which to practice your listening skills for every day conversation and to learn a bit more about Japanese culture.

Thanks for the detailed review, exactly what I’m looking for. I’ll listen to this episode today!