One of my main goals has always been to become fluent in Japanese, but despite all the Japanese courses I’ve taken in college, I still seem to be stuck at the intermediate level. Now I am nearly graduated from college and have finished taking all my Japanese courses. Seeing how expensive it is to go to a language school, I decided I needed a cheaper alternative to continuing my Japanese education. Luckily for me, I recently discovered JapanesePod101. When I discovered JapanesePod101, I KNEW that I had found what I needed. After browsing through it’s website and signing up for a membership, I noticed that there are some perks compared to taking lessons in a classroom setting. Here are some of the main perks: The ability to start... Show more

Today, we bring you another blog post from Motoko, JapanesePod101.com lesson creator, host and Office Party Planner! Motoko will be sharing more bilingual posts on our blog, so check back often and leave a comment! Hey everyone. Motoko here! I’d like to talk about our year-end cleaning event, called Ō-sōji(大掃除) in Japanese. Most of our staff had questions about why people in offices did cleaning themselves instead of hiring cleaning staff. But this process is very significant for the year end in Japan. As you see from its kanji, this is the biggest cleaning season and takes place at the end of the year. It has its origin in a Shinto event called Susuharai (煤払い), in which monks and people cleaned their houses to purify them and... Show more

Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we're going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That's right - kanji seen and used everyday! The theme for this week is kanji found on vending machines. Let's take a look! ① 売切 (urikire) = SOLD OUT The word means that something is sold out. Usually, this word is written with a mixture of kanji and hiragana, as in: 売り切れ (urikire). However, it is possible to leave out one or even both of the hiragana. It will still be read the same way. In this case, only the two kanji are used in order to take up as little space as possible. 売切 (usually written as 売り切れ) = SOLD OUT ●売 (u(ri)) = to sell ●切... Show more

Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we're going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That's right - kanji seen and used everyday! The theme for this week is kanji found on forms at the bank. Let's take a look! ① お引き出し (o-hikidashi) = withdrawal This is the form to fill out when you want to make a withdrawal at the bank. The verb 引き出します (hikidashimasu) means to take out, so the word for withdrawal is simply the masu stem of this verb (the verb without masu) with the honorific prefix お added at the beginning. お引き出し (o-hikidashi) = withdrawal ●引 (hi(ki)) = to pull ●出 (da(shi)) = to take out Extra: 金額 (kingaku) = amount of... Show more

Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we're going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That's right - kanji seen and used everyday! The theme for this week is kanji found on envelopes used to put money into for special occassions. Let's take a look! ① お年玉 (o-toshidama) = New Year’s gift of money The word お年玉 refers to a gift of money given to children and young adults on New Year’s. Typically, this money is put in a small envelope called an お年玉袋 (“o-toshidama bukuro”, o-toshidama + bag). The お年玉袋 in the picture has a tiger (虎, tora) because 2010 is the Year of the Tiger. お年玉 (o-toshidama) ● 年 (toshi) = year ● 玉 (tama) = ball ... Show more

 Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we're going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That's right - kanji seen and used everyday! The theme for this week is kanji found at a gas station. Let's take a look! ① 泡洗車 (awa sensha) = bubble car wash This refers to a car wash. The first kanji is 泡 (awa) and means “bubbles”, and the second word 洗車 (sensha) means “car wash”. 洗車 is made up of the characters for “wash” (洗) and “car” (車). 泡洗車 (awa sensha) = bubble car wash ● 泡 (awa) = bubbles ● 洗車 (sensha) = car wash ● 泡 (awa) = bubbles 洗車 (sensha) = car wash ● 洗 (sen) = wash ● 車 (sha) = car Sample Sentence: 今日は泡洗車で、愛車を洗う。 ... Show more

 Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we're going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That's right - kanji seen and used everyday! The theme for this week is kanji found in a Japanese-language operating system of a computer. Let's take a look! ① 終了オプション (shūryō opushon) = shut down options When you’re ready to shut down your computer for the day, this is the button you press to see the different options. We have one word in kanji, 終了 (shūryō), and one word in katakana, オプション. 終了 means “end” or “completion”, and オプション means “options”. So literally this means “completion options”, or “shut down options”. In an English-language OS,... Show more

Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we're going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That's right - kanji seen and used everyday! The theme for this week is kanji seen on an electric water heater pot. Let's take a look! ① 給湯 (kyūtō) = hot water supply The word written on this button is 給湯 (kyūtō), which means “hot water supply”. This is the button you press for hot water to come out. 給湯 (kyūtō) = hot water supply ● 給 (kyū) = grant, bestow ● 湯 (tō/yu) = hot water Sample Sentence: 「給湯」ボタンを押すと、お湯が出る。 ”Kyūto” botan o osu to, o-yu ga deru. If you press the “kyūtō” button, hot water will come out. ② ロック解除 (rokku... Show more

 Hi everyone! Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we're going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That's right - kanji seen and used everyday! The theme for this week is kanji found on signs inside the train station. Let's take a look! ① 乗車券 (jōshaken) = ticket (usually refers to a train or bus ticket) 乗車券 (jōshaken) is a ticket used to ride a train or a bus. In this picture you can see the vending machine where you buy tickets for the subway. This word is includes the word 乗車 (jōsha, boarding) plus the word for ticket, 券. 乗車券 (jōshaken) = ticket (usually refers to a train ticket) ● 乗 (jō) = ride ● 車 (sha) = car ● 券 (ken) = ticket ... Show more

Hi everyone! ^^/ Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we're going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That's right - kanji seen and used everyday! The theme for this week is kanji found on food packaging. Let's take a look! ① 毎日果実 (mainichi kajitsu) = literally, Everyday Fruit 毎日果実 is the name of a snack product, which is 2 crackers with raisins and other fruit sandwiched in the middle. The information beneath the product name lets you know that this snack contains 5 kinds of vitamins, calcium, iron, and fiber! What a healthy snack! 毎日 (mainichi) = everyday ● 毎 (mai) = every ● 日 (hi) = day 果実 (kajitsu) = fruit ● 果 (ka) = fruit ● 実... Show more