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Archive for the 'Tips & Techniques' Category

How to Transform Your Daily Commute Into Learning a Language

Today, classrooms are no longer the only or even best place to learn a new language like Japanese. More and more people are finding that they can easily learn a language just about anywhere they have a few minutes of spare time, including their daily commute to work. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average American spends over 50 minutes a day commuting to and from work, or over 300 hours a year. Rethinking Your Daily Commute to Work But rather than simply sitting in traffic and wasting the time, you can instead use your daily commute to literally learn Japanese in just a few short months! JapanesePod101 has developed specialized learning tools that you can use on your commute to work (and home again) to master the language... Show more

Fall In Love With Learning

Let’s face it. Learning Japanese seems like a daunting task. You’ve got your hands full with new alphabet systems, grammar structures, formality levels and expressions...not knowing where to start, tackling this language and its nuances may be overwhelming. Luckily, the team at JapanesePod101 is dedicated to ensuring your linguistic success. As a foreign language enthusiast, I’ve flirted with a fair share of online learning sites (especially for Japanese), but none of them were ever the one my heart was looking for. I had almost completely given up my pursuit of Japanese, until JapanesePod101 made me fall in love with learning. Why JapanesePod101 Works: Fun AND Free! How often do you see this combo?! Really though,... Show more

How to Start Thinking in Japanese

Learn 4 tools and techniques to stop translating in your head and start thinking in Japanese Going through Japanese lessons is enough to get by and learn the basics of Japanese, but to truly become fluent you need to be able to think in Japanese. This will allow you to have conversations with ease, read smoothly, and comprehensively understand natives. To do this, you need to go beyond just completing daily or weekly lessons. We naturally translate in our heads because it's viewed as the easiest way to learn the definitions needed when learning a language. This way of learning can actually hinder your skills and fluency later on. If your brain has to make neural connections between the word you're learning, what it means in your... Show more

Good Resource to Learn Japanese, Check it Out!

I have visited Japan for three times, and each time this country always surprise me with its culture, scenery and people. As a dancer, I have attended many workshop and classes in Tokyo, and met many inspirational people. However, the biggest problem that came up to me is the language barrier. I have had problem to communicate with people about my ideas, stories. As we all known, communication is the most important thing for a friendship. So I started to look for online lessons, since taking actual classes is not possible for me, and I would rather save the money by finding some low budget online tutorial. That’s when JapanesePod101 popped up to me. I have used it for a year, and I can’t deny that JapanesePod101 has provided me... Show more

The 5 Review Tactics that Will Sharpen Your Japanese

Have you ever returned to JapanesePod101 lessons you’ve completed? Accessing a lesson once is enough to learn more Japanese. But to master what you’ve learned, to understand Japanese the second you hear it, to read with just a quick glance, and to speak smoothly, without thinking... you need to review. In this blog post, you’ll learn the 5 review tactics and learning tools that will truly sharpen your Japanese (all of which I’ve been able to resources for on JapanesePod101.com). Create Your Free Lifetime Account and Start Learning the whole Japanese Language from the Beginning! 1. Listen to lines over and over again! One of the best ways to learn Japanese (or any language) is to listen to native speakers over and over again... Show more

How to Overcome the Top 4 Japanese Learning Fears

Every Japanese learner will have these fears – “I’m not good enough yet.” “I don’t think I’m making any progress.” “What if I never reach my goals?” Japanese learning fears – we all get them from time to time. What are yours? And are they worth being scared of? In this blog post, we’re killing the top 4 Japanese learning fears – 1) what are the fears learners tend to have the most and 2) how you can overcome them! Here are the top 4 language learning fears according to our users: 1. “I’m not good enough to start speaking yet.” Do you feel like you’re not good enough to start speaking yet? It’s a pretty common fear or misconception that most learners have. Here’s how you overcome it: The best way to get good at speaking... Show more

My Honest Review and Opinion of JapanesePod101

Howdy people, my name is Thomas. I’m a blogger and huge Japanese enthusiast. Today I’m going to review www.JapanesePod101.com and give you guys a 100% honest opinion on it. I am not being paid or otherwise compensated for this, and all opinions are my own. Anyone who knows me will tell you I’m brutally honest and blunt, so I won’t pull punches in a review. That said, enjoy. My first impression of JapanesePod101.com was that it looked a lot like what I had come to expect from language learning sites, from Rosetta Stone to Duolingo, I knew the drill and the layout of the main page was the same, bare-bones info page that I always see when I go to a site with a landing page that tries to get you to sign up right away. By comparison,... Show more

Writing a Japanese Address on a Postcard

〒 - Postal symbol, preceding postal code 107-0052 - Postal code, composed of 7 numbers 東京都 - Prefecture (県, ken), with the exception of Tokyo (都, to), Hokkaido (道, do) and Osaka/Kyoto (府, fu) 港区 - Municipality, city (市, shi), village (村, mura) or ward (区, ku). Here it is Minato ward. 赤坂 - Area. Here it is Akasaka. 3丁目4-4 - City district (丁目, chome), city block (番地, banchi), bldg/house number (号, go) ジョン シナ - Recipient’s name. In Japan the last name precedes the first name and is often followed by a honorific suffix like San (さん) or Sama (様), corresponding to Mr. or Ms. Click here to learn how to send out a Japanese postcard with our fun FREE video! P.S. Win a personal postcard all the way from Japan! Just click the link... Show more

How to Learn Japanese with Video Games?

Do you remember holding your first Game Boy? Do you remember the “Golden Age” of Japanese video games? I bet it was the reason to start learning Japanese in the first place for some of us. And you are here reading this article, so you probably have a keen interest in video games! If you are learning Japanese and you do like video games, this is perfect. By knowing how to read Hiragana and Katakana, and with a bit of foundation in Japanese grammar, I have the pleasure to announce that you unlocked a new achievement: Playing video games to practice Japanese! After a long day of work or school, sitting down at your desk with an other textbook might be the last thing you want to do. It is a way more fun to use our entertaining audio... Show more

3 Reasons Why Playing Games Helps You Learn Japanese Faster

Discover 3 ways that Japanese learning games and video games can help you learn and master Japanese faster, retain more, and enhance your language skills. Create Your Free Lifetime Account and Start Learning the whole Japanese Language from the Beginning! Can You Learn Japanese Using Games? Yes, Japanese learning games and even video games can help you learn and master Japanese faster and improve overall comprehension. Research studies have concluded that video games enhance traditional learning methods and make mastering a new language like Japanese fun and exciting. Without the firm foundation in grammar and vocabulary provided by conventional learning programs, however, you will not be able to learn Japanese with games... Show more