Every day some Japanese

Some background: Japanese is written with a mix of kana (which are phonetic characters that each represent a sound) and kanji (more complex characters which have both a meaning and often multiple possible sounds).

But little kids aren't expected to know every kanji yet, and there can be obscure words or names with oddball pronunciations that would puzzle any reader. So you can also put some small kana alongside the kanji to tell people how to pronounce it. Those are called furigana, and they're common in a lot of manga for youngish audiences.

As an example, here's the kanji 神 (meaning "god") with the furigana that say かみ (kami) in case you didn't know how to spell that one in kanji yet:

But at some point someone figured out that, hey, you don't HAVE to have the furigana match the kanji. There's nothing stopping you from just...

Using a foreign or made-up word but with a built-in definition: the kanji 祓魔師 (exorcise-demon-professional) pronounced as the English word エクソシスト (ekusoshisuto = exorcist)

Letting a character talk to himself really literally: 俺 (me) with the furigana おまえ (omae = you). You, by which I mean me,

Harping on the fact that you have a light themed villain this arc: 光 (light) but with the OTHER WHOLE KANJI 闇 (darkness) as the pronunciation. Darkness, but our darkness is Different because it's actually Light...

Clarifying what someone means like a little parenthetical statement: 俺達 (us/we) pronounced イルミナティ (iruminati = Illuminati). We, the Illuminati...

And many more. Those were just examples from Blue Exorcist that I already had saved to my hard drive. I cannot emphasize enough how much manga likes to create double meanings this way.

As you might imagine, this can be awkward to translate into a language that doesn't have even the slightest concept of furigana.

Usually you end up doing something that either ignores it (just pick the word that was most important of the two, or use the made up word but only define it the first time) or gets the job done but feels a bit like a cop-out (list both words, or put one in parentheses after the other)

But not always. Not in this one case from the first chapter of Blue Exorcist, translated for Viz by John Werry:

逆　ぎゃく　reverse; opposite

鉄筋　てっきん　rebar; (iron) reinforcing bar; reinforcing steel

文化財　ぶんかざい　cultural assets; cultural property

詳しく　くわしく　in detail; fully; minutely; at length

案内　あんない　guidance; leading (the way); showing around・information; notice; notification

早速　さっそく　at once; immediately; without delay; promptly

普段　ふだん　usual; normal; everyday; habitual; ordinary

一般　いっぱん　general; universal

解放　かいほう　release; unleashing; liberation; emancipation; setting free

選挙　せんきょ　election

投票　とうひょう　voting; ballot; poll; vote

建てられた　たてられた (passive) was built

建具　たてぐ　fittings that open and close (doors, windows, shoji, fusuma, etc.); fixtures

木造　もくぞう　wooden; made of wood; wooden construction

全国　ぜんこく　the whole country

庁舎　しょうしゃ　government office building

基本　きほん　basics; fundamentals; basis; foundation

被害　ひがい　(suffering) damage; injury; harm

現状　げんじょう　present condition; existing state; status quo; current state

進める　すすめる　to advance; to move forward; to put (a clock, watch) forward・to carry forward (plans, work, etc.); to proceed with; to make progress in; to further; to advance; to hasten; to speed up

地域性　ちいきせい regional characteristics

広角形　こうかくかたち wide type

不思議　ふしぎ　wonderful; marvelous; strange; incredible; amazing; curious; miraculous; mysterious

急遽　きゅうきょ　hurriedly; in a hurry; hastily; in haste

戦前　せんぜん　pre-war days; before the war

公開　こうかい　opening to the public; making available to the public; exhibiting; unveiling; release (of a film, information, etc.); disclosure; publication

として　As (i.e. in the role of), For

壊れる　こわれる　to be broken; to break; to fall apart; to collapse; to be destroyed; to be damaged

やっぱり　as expected; sure enough; just as one thought​

除く　のぞく　to remove; to get rid of; to take away; to eliminate

砂利　じゃり　gravel; ballast; pebbles

について　Concerning, About, Regarding

錆　さび　rust

施工　せこう　construction; constructing; carrying out; work; formation; workmanship; execution

大工　だいく　carpenter

求人　きゅうじん　recruiting; job offer; job vacancy

Because in ancient China they grouped everything like snakes and insects into 虫 without it really meaning "insect" but rather a garbage can term for anything not mammal, bird, or fish. So this has carried on through many other words, such as 爬虫類.

That's why you can write octopus (たこ) as 蛸 with the 虫 radical.

And another one that is related is 眼を覚ます, which means to wake up.

If you study Japanese you may have noticed that there are a lot of kanji and words that have the pronunciation of かえる (kaeru).

I wanted to make a quick list of words with this pronunciation and their meanings and kanji.

Verbs

帰る　かえる　to return; to come home; to go home; to go back

私は毎日六時に家へ帰ります。 わたし は まいにち ろくじ に いえ へ かえります。 I go home at six o’clock every day.

返る　かえる　① to return; to be returned; to go back; ② to revert; to be restored to an original state

借りた本が図書館に返りました。 かりた ほん が としょかん に かえりました。 The borrowed book was returned to the library.

変える　かえる　to change; to alter; to modify; to transform

私は髪型を変えました。 わたし は かみがた を かえました。 I changed my hairstyle.

替える　かえる　to replace; to exchange; to substitute; to switch

車のタイヤを新しいものに替えました。 くるま の タイヤ を あたらしい もの に かえました。 I replaced the car tires with new ones.

換える　かえる　① to exchange; to convert; to trade; ② to change something into something else

日本円をドルに換えました。 にほんえん を ドル に かえました。 I exchanged Japanese yen for dollars.

代える　かえる　① to substitute; to replace; ② to take the place of; to act on behalf of

彼が先生に代えて説明しました。 かれ が せんせい に かえて せつめい しました。 He explained it in place of the teacher.

Noun

蛙　かえる　frog (often written as カエル)

作った奴絶対に許さない

This is a lie.

Often if you don't know one word, you're lost, you're done for. If I'm reading a book and I only recognize 50% of the words, then I'm not reading a book at all. There's no story playing in my head, no sensible meaning I'm able to derive from the page.

If I'm reading about a research study that concluded that eating one packet of natto a day will help me live forever, and I'm suspicious of this conclusion but am willing to believe, but the one word I don't know is the *kind* of research that was conducted (double-blind test, or survey sent via email?), then I have no ability to assess whether I trust this study or not.

Yesterday I was in the doctor's office and she diagnosed my condition, but the diagnosis was the only word I couldn't understand. All the other words I'd ever learned in my life up to that moment were of no use to me at all.

ほしょう

guarantee; security; assurance; pledge; warranty

これは正真正銘の九谷焼を保証いたします。 これ は しょうしんしょうめい の くたにやき を ほしょう いたします。 I guarantee that this is genuine Kutani ware.

Target language?

Last language that you considered learning?

Language(s) that you could know but don’t?

What languages do you speak at home?

What languages do you speak with your friends?

Favorite movie in your target language:

The favorite food from the country that speaks your target language:

Favorite word in your target language:

Favorite spot to study:

Study snacks?

Favourite folk tale in the target language?

Vocab or Grammar:

Pen or pencil:

Favourite book in the target language:

First book you read in your target language:

Vocab word you are struggling with right now:

Favourite time to study:

How do you say your favourite food in your target language?

Introduce yourself in your target language. GO!

First movie or tv show you ever watched in your target language:

First foreign language you learnt:

First language you learn by yourself:

How did you get into languages?

Why are you studying your target language?

Describe your target language as an aesthetic:

Favourite pet name in your target language:

Favourite pet name in any language you know:

Do you want to visit the country that speaks your target language?

Proud moments regarding target language:

This month we’re reading 本なら売るほど 1. Join us for this read in Seitokai’s Discord!

ことわざ are Japanese proverbs, and I have listed some basic proverbs, their equivalents in English, and a rough translation of the meanings of the Japanese phrase.

There is a test for ことわざ called the ことわざ能力検定 (ことわざのうりょくけんてい) and these are some of the phrases that appear in level 8 or 8級 (10 being the lowest level). Try one or two of these out the next time you speak with a native Japanese speaker!

Additional ことわざ (こと検8級): 19 | 20 More ことわざ (こと検9級): 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 Even More ことわざ (こと検10級): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

猿も木から落ちる

さるもきからおちる

Even monkeys fall from trees

Even experts make mistakes.

触らぬ神にたたりなし

さわらぬかみにたたりなし

Leave the gods untouched and no curse will come

Stay away from trouble and you avoid problems.

三人寄れば文殊の知恵

さんにんよればもんじゅのちえ

Two heads are better than one

Three people together have the wisdom of Monju (the boddhisatva who represents wisdom).

失敗は成功のもと

しっぱいはせいこうのもと

Failure is the foundation of success

You learn from mistakes and improve.

親しき仲にも礼儀あり

したしきなかにもれいぎあり

Even among close friends, there is etiquette

Be respectful even with people you know well.

知らぬが仏

しらぬがほとけ

Ignorance is bliss

Not knowing is Buddha.

好きこそ物の上手なれ

すきこそもののじょうずなれ

What one likes, one will do well

People improve at things they enjoy.

雀百まで踊り忘れず

すずめひゃくまでおどりわすれず

Habits from youth remain for life

A sparrow never forgets dancing even at 100.

急いては事を仕損じる

せいてはことをしそんじる

Haste makes waste

Rushing causes mistakes.

背に腹はかえられぬ

せにはらはかえられぬ

In an emergency, necessities come first

One cannot substitute the back for the belly.

備えあれば憂いなし

そなえあればうれいなし

Forewarned is forearmed

If prepared, there is no worry.

そうは問屋がおろさない

そうはとんやがおろさない

It won't be that easy

nouns:

寂しがり屋（さびしがりや） = person who is often lonely and craves company

子（こ） = child; young person; anything affectionately ascribed a personality (e.g., pet, houseplant, etc.)

橙色（だいだいいろ） = orange (color) (uncommon)

弥生（やよい） = march (obsolete)

葉月（はづき） = august (obsolete)

せせらぎ = small stream; murmuring of a small stream

眼差し（まなざし） = a glance, look

ご無沙汰（ごぶさた） = neglecting to write, call, etc.

真似（まね） = mimicking, copying; behavior, conduct

ふり = pretense, pretending; behavior, appearance

八つ当たり（やつあたり） = taking out one's anger

空回り（からまわり） = spinning one's wheels, going nowhere

verbs:

くっつく = to cling to; to keep close to; to be thick (as thieves) with

逸らす（そらす） = to turn away, avert; to evade (e.g., the subject)

ずれる = to slip off, get dislocated, be out of alignment; to be out of sync, be slightly off

どく = to get out of the way, make way

去る（さる） = to leave, go away (usu. high register or literary)

脱ぎ散らかす（ぬぎちらかす） = to strip clothes off and leave them lying everywhere

紛らわす（まぎらわす） = to divert, distract (from), relieve (e.g., boredom, sadness, etc.); to evade (e.g., the subject)

遭う（あう） = to meet with (some incident), have a bad experience

千切る（ちぎる） = to tear to pieces

契る（ちぎる） = to pledge, vow, promise

adjectives:

無口（むくち）な = taciturn

苦手（にがて）な = can't handle, not suited for (e.g., of one's preferences)

マシな = preferable, least worst

薄暗い（うすぐらい） = dim, gloomy (lit. "thinly dark")

淡い（あわい） = light, faint, fleeting

ややこしい = complicated, difficult, tricky

人恋しい（ひとこいしい） = longing for others, wanting company

図々しい（ずうずうしい） = shameless, brazen

惜しい（おしい） = close (but no cigar) (e.g., of a guess)

愛おしい（いとおしい） = beloved, darling, dearest

メロい = lovable, captivating, swoon-worthy (slang)

adverbs/onomatopoeiae:

てっきり = surely but mistakenly (e.g., of some assumption)

むっつり = sullenly; taciturn person (as noun)

くっきり = clearly, in sharp relief (i.e., visually)

ずるずる = dragging (gradually)

ゾッコン = head over heels, completely in love

expressions:

めでたしめでたし = and they all lived happily ever after

わけがわからない = incomprehensible, baffling, meaningless

見て見ぬ（みてみぬ）ふり = turning a blind eye, pretending not to notice

ニコイチ = making a functioning machine out of broken parts from other machines; two people who are so close as to be treated as one unit

中途半端（ちゅうとはんぱ） = half-assed, incomplete

間（ま）に合う（あう） = to make it in time