漢字が読めますか？

please let me know if there are any mistakes ^^

足　「あし」 foot, leg

頭　「あたま」 head

鱗　「うろこ」 scales

お尻　「おしり」 buttocks

お腹　「おなか」 stomach

顔　「かお」 face

体　「からだ」 body, torso

口　「くち」 mouth

嘴　「くちばし」 beak

首　「くび」 neck

毛　「け」 fur, bodily hair

「しっぽ」 tail

背中　「せなか」 back

「つの」 horns, antlers

翼　「つばさ」 wings

爪　「つめ」  nails, claws

鶏冠　「とさか」 crest

歯　「は」 teeth

鼻　「はな」 nose

羽　「はね」 feathers 

蹄　「ひずめ」 hooves

耳　「みみ」 ear

胸　「むね」 chest

Hey there! There are actually quite a few recommended sites for Japanese learners, so I’ll link them right now :)

Japanese IO – I’ve used this site quite a few times and I love the interface! The design is really sleek and “to the point,” so there’s no distractions from what you’re trying to do, which is practice reading Japanese. It also has a great library and look-up feature.

朝日学生新聞社 – This is the “kid’s version” of the more adult 朝日新聞社. If you don’t feel that you’re quite up for the adult version, test out the version geared towards kids. They have fewer articles, but there’s plenty for a learner to pick through.

NHK NEWS EASY – I’m almost positive this is one of the most famous ones for learners. It’s similar to Asahi’s kid newspaper – articles are condensed with easier kanji and vocabulary, and it’s geared towards children, so learners can spend some time combing through updated articles and testing their skills.

Yahoo! Kids – More short news articles geared towards easier-to-understand Japanese.

MATCHA – A fun magazine similar in style to NHK EZ.

Watanoc – Another magazine-type site with a variety of articles.

Traditional Japanese Stories – Get your hands on some easily printed Japanese stories that are told to children. Great for language skills and culture! Similar to English pop culture stories (like Cinderella and so on), Japan has its own fairytales that are occasionally referenced.

Fuku Musume’s Fairy Tale Collection – More stories!

World of チョコチョコ – These are beginner stories, but as you progress you can read other stories on this website.

EhonNavi – Read hundreds of Japanese picture books for free!

If you’re looking for more advanced content…

NHK – Japan’s national broadcaster. You can read articles as well as stream audio and video (may be blocked depending on location).

毎日新聞 – Moderate/left-leaning national newspaper

朝日新聞 – Left-leaning national newspaper

読売新聞 – Conservative national newspaper

東洋経済オンライン – A well-known business and finance magazine.

Project Gutenberg (Japanese) – Get access to a ton of out-of-print and classical books for free.

小説家になろう – A site where authors can publish their works online in exchange for reviews.

青空文庫 – Another site where you can get older and out-of-print novels.

University of Virginia Japanese Text Initiative – Another place to access novels in Japanese for free (with the option to read them with furigana).

ComicWalker – Free manga from the publisher Kadokawa. There’s an app too!

最前線 – You can read some manga online for free.

コミコ – More free Japanese manga available here!

キナリノ – A woman’s lifestyle blog which covers fashion, cooking, decor, and more!

Magazine Lib – You can read PDFs of Japanese magazines.

1000文字小説 – A place where users can submit 1000 characters or less stories. 

I also highly recommend starting a Twitter (if you don’t already have one) and following Japanese accounts. I follow a lot of feminist and political accounts so that I’m learning words relevant to my interests, as well as interacting with people that are discussing topics of interest to me (i.e. women and their place in Japanese society).

If you’re curious, you can find me on Twitter at @sydney0313 :)

I hope this list proves useful to you! (And others.)

I think for almost every language learner, having good listening practice is probably the most important but also the most challenging.  There are a lot of different ways to do this, so let’s just jump into it

First off, establish what you enjoy most in your native language.  If you never listen to music, then a playlist full of music in your TL is going to do absolutely nothing for you, even if they’re all bangers.  The same works in reverse:  if you live on Spotify, podcasts probably aren’t gonna be your jam (yes, I know Spotify has podcasts now too but you get the idea).

Once you’ve established that, bring those into your life.  Add TL music to your workout playlist or make a TL playlist of music that you genuinely like (remember, if this isn’t something you’d like in your native lang, you’re probably gonna have a hard time integrating into your life).  Subscribe to YouTubers (again, who talk about stuff you’re legitimately interested in) in your TL.  Subscribe to podcasts.  Listen to local talk radio online.  You get the idea.

Actively interact with your material.  This is so so so sO important.  If your practice is just on in the background, that means you’re not really gaining much from it.  The first time you listen to a song in TL, actively listen for words you know and try to write down (in correct spelling) the words you don’t understand. (note: 100% of your listening practice doesn’t have to be active.  Putting on music in the background as you do the dishes is definitely better than doing nothing at all, but it will benefit you a lot less)

Accept that you are going to feel very, very stupid at first.  That’s okay.  We all do.  The important thing is that you not give up.  Don’t be ashamed to slow down the video speed and still have subs on, or watch a lyric video, or whatever it is that makes it easier for you.  Just keep going and practicing and over time you will start to notice yourself improving.

Use this site.  Seriously, it’s amazing.  There are plenty of different types of exercises for varying levels of difficulty.  There’s also a pretty solid range of languages to choose from.  11/10 would recommend, just know that #4 will definitely apply

Repeat

Repeat

Slowly incorporate new media into your practice.  If you primarily listen to pop music, try rap.  Even if you don’t like rap, it is undoubtedly one of your best sources of fast-paced, slang-filled listening practice.  Try watching some TV shows in TL.  Kids shows are great because they’re most likely to have the vocab that’s most common in everyday life (again, there’s no shame in watching Peppa Pig if that’s what helps you learn)

This is probably just me, but if anyone else likes ASMR, I’d definitely recommend listening to it in TL.  Most people also put their language into their video title, so it’s super easy to find stuff.  ASMR is useful because they speak super quickly and super quietly, so understanding them is usually a pretty solid challenge.  Bonus: if you like ASMR but feel a little icked out by some of the stuff they say, here’s your chance to not understand the words, but enjoy the video.

A Guide to 6 productivity apps 

Hi guys, this is my 6 favourite productivity apps that I use for school and work. I recommend these 6 apps because I think that it helps me to organise my work and also keep track of my habits. 

Today’s topic is “What do you want?”

What do you want?

A: いま、なにがほしいですか？ B: ミルクセーキとホットケーキがほしいです。 A: What do you want now? B: I want milkshake and hotcakes. A: そうですか? わたしもホットケーキをたべたいですよ!いっしょにたべましょう B: うわーいきましょう！ A: Is that so? I also want some hotcakes. Let’s eat together! B: Uwaa! Let’s go!

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Important Points

Below are some points you might need to know~

About ほしい Although you can use ほしい (hoshii) to express what you want. You cannot use it to express what other people want. You can never know what other people really want so it’s impolite to talk as if you know about it. When you want to talk about other people, you need to use another word. We won’t share it for now, but just keep in mind that you can only use this word to talk about yourself or to ask what other people might want.

そうですか そうです (sou desu) is often used as a response to other people’s talking. Without ending particle か (ka) or ね (ne), it has a nuance which means “I see”. そうですか (sou desu ka) often translated as “Is that so?” or “Really?”. While そうですね often translated as “Right?” or “Isn’t it?”.

…ましょう Japanese conjugates their verbs to give additional meaning. Verbs conjugated with ましょう (mashou) have a nuance to ask other people to also do the action. So it’s often translated as “Let’s”.

うわー The stripe (ー) in this word means that the last kana sound is prolonged. So it shall be read as “Uwaaa~”

Happy learning °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°  

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Useful Links:

Hello! I know Japanese and would love to translate for you, Although I’m now charging $0.03 for each word. I’m using PayPal to do this. Here’s how my translating works.

50 words or less is Free

I would be more than happy to translate short text for you! Please use the submissions or asks to send me small text 50 words or less. Send either text or pictures. Please take clear pictures of the text if you choose to use pictures. You can choose to be anonymous or not. If you don’t know if it’s 50 words or less message me. You can also ask me anything about Japanese etc using submissions and asks for free, I love to answer.

50 words or more is $0.03 each word

Please use the messaging for this. You may ask me how much words it is if you're unsure then I’ll translate if you like. You may send the text or take pictures. Please take pictures up close until the text is clear. Far away tends to make the text blurry and impossible to read. You may have to take multiple pictures. I’ll give my email for PayPal so you can pay. Other than that you may use messages to talk with me about anything Japanese for free, I would love to message with you.

What can I ask for a translation?

Anything! Pages in a Japanese book you have, a sign, song lyrics, a letter etc. If you’re on a Japanese website I can help you understand it. The text just has to be clear enough to read, I love to help. 

me: i love learning languages so cool being able to talk to new people around the world!!!!!

me: doesn’t even talk to people in the same house as me

me: never replies to texts

me: hates communicating with other breathing individuals in general

me: