有頂天

有頂天　うちょうてん　highest heaven (Buddhism)

有頂天外　うちょうてんがい　beside oneself with joy; in raptures; in an ecstasy of delight​ (四字熟語)

Similar Japanese Words

習慣　しゅうかん　habit; custom, cultural practice

瞬間　しゅんかん　moment, second, instant

These words are similar in pronunciation, and maybe it’s just me but they trip me up. The kanji and meanings are quite different though ^.^

Tips for Writing Sentences in a Foreign Language - for Beginners

Having studied 3 foreign languages at varying degrees of intensity and success - Japanese (I flatter myself to be fluent), Spanish (I can ask some simple questions and possibly crudely insult someone), French (I can say a few well-sounding phrases and then smile & nod when you respond). When beginning studies in languages, one of the most challenging things is to jump from the set beginner phrases from the textbook into creating your own sentences(gasp).

From my own language studies, plus experience TA'ing first year Japanese, I have a few tips for beginners on taking that leap into creating your own sentences. These will probably lean heavily on Japanese because that is the language I have the most experience with, but they are applicable to other languages too.

1. Just start making sentences!

It sounds simple, but it’s the best way to start. Writer’s block? Write about what you are doing, what you want to do, or write an introduction. Worried about speaking? Talk to yourself about what you are doing, what you want to do, or introduce yourself to yourself. You don’t have to write or say anything world-shaking, but getting started is the first step. You can start by modeling sentences you’ve already seen. If you have an example textbook sentence, try modifying it to make your own similar sentence.

PS. Your sentences don’t have to be perfect either. If you notice a mistake later, just go back and correct yourself!

2. Don’t try to translate the phrase from your native language EXACTLY into your target language.

Languages don’t always translate exactly, but also, sometimes your skill isn’t advanced enough to say the same things you can say in your native language. If you don’t yet know the appropriate grammar, vocabulary, or syntax of what you want to say, not being able to say exactly what you want can be frustrating and lead you to feel defeated (personal experience here). Instead, think of how to put the idea you have into a sentence using the knowledge you DO have.

If you have just started learning a language, it might be too much to directly translate “Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily” (thanks, Ockham’s Razor). Instead, why not try to translate “Simple is best”?

3. Avoid heading straight for the dictionary if possible when there is a word you don’t know in your target language.

If you don’t have the vocabulary word you need in a sentence, you might be tempted to go to the dictionary and look it up and throw it into your sentence. Whilst TA'ing first-year Japanese, this led to me puzzling and scratching my head over what the student was trying to say in their homework (hey, it’s not my first language either!).

While using the dictionary to learn new vocabulary is obviously a must, when you are just starting out with sentence building it can also be a roadblock. When conjugating verbs is new to you, try using the verbs you do know to explain your idea. If you don’t know a vocabulary word, selecting the right one for your context from a list of words with similar definitions can be difficult. If you don’t quite know how to explain what you want to say, try rephrasing it until you can compose a less complicated sentence. Or break it into several sentences - you can work on complicated sentences when you’re more comfortable with simpler ones!

Another bonus is that learning to explain what you want to say in your target language when you don’t know the vocabulary is a helpful lifelong skill (that I still use today in Japanese). It can be frustrating to not be able to say exactly what you want to say in your target language at first, but if you just keep practicing you will get there.

4. Practice making sentences on the fly.

Writing allows you more time to think out the sentence, go back and make changes, and work things out more slowly. Speaking, on the other hand, is more challenging because you have to make your mouth form the words you are thinking, and do your best to make the sentence make sense to your listener. While writing sentences helps me to remember how to write hiragana/katakana/kanji and reinforces grammar (I learn best by writing it out!), speaking out loud helps your brain and your mouth learn to work together in your target language.

Don’t have anyone to talk to? That’s ok! Talk to yourself. Talk to your imaginary friends. Talk to your pet or your houseplant or your favorite figurine or stuffed animal. Just practice putting sentences together out loud, in real time. I promise you will notice improvement if you practice daily!

5. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes!

But even if you do just throw in the dictionary word and your professor/study buddy/language exchange partner has to ask you what you were trying to say, that’s ok! Making mistakes is ok! That’s how you learn. Don’t be afraid to be wrong, to be mocked and ridiculed.. ok, you most likely won’t be mocked and ridiculed. (If you are, please find new language friends.)

Language learning is about making mistakes. Even now, after YEARS of studying and speaking and even doing interpretation/translation… I make mistakes (gasp). And it’s ok. Ok, sometimes I think about the mistakes I have made in conversation in the middle of the night, but I’m working on that too. One day, you’ll look back, and realize that agonizing over particles and which kanji to use and whether or not you would sound dumb when you were speaking to a native speaker is not the part you remember. You will remember when you could barely write your name in katakana, and realize that suddenly you can talk about your favorite hobby in exacting detail.

6. Don’t practice in a vacuum.

Practicing sentences, written or spoken, on your own is fine! It’s a great way to learn and improve your language skills. But I would recommend not spending all your time studying and practicing in a vacuum. There are lots of online ways to get your writing or speaking corrected (paid or not), and I would recommend taking advantage of them. I have gotten into the habit of using certain words that are too informal or that are not correct in the context I wanted to use them in, and it took a native speaker to point them out since I had become so used to using them (and so sure that I was right). So make sure to practice your language outside of your own head, and you will be able to improve even more.

So, what next?

Get out there and start making sentences! Write them, say them, and just practice. Don’t stress about being perfect or making sentences that will change the course of history… instead, just start making sentences!

頑張ってね！

ヲタ恋☆単語②

Continuing my ヲタクに恋は難しい vocabulary revision, here is another list!

JLPT N2 Vocabulary - Ep 0/1

余計　よけい　unnecessary, needless, uncalled for

量　りょう　quantity, amount, volume, capacity, portion (of food)

片付く　かたづく　to be put in order, to be disposed of, to be solved, to be finished

警備　けいび　defence, security

ひとまず　to now, for the time being, for the present

確率　かくりつ　probability, likelihood

勝負　しょうぶ　match, contest, game

複数　ふくすう　several, multiple, plural

低い　ひくい　low (rank, degree, value, content, quality, etc.)

丁寧語 - Polite Keigo

敬語 (けいご・keigo) is respectful speech in Japanese. 敬語 is based in the social hierarchy that has carried over into modern Japanese society from ancient times. There are three forms of 敬語 - teineigo,sonkeigo, and kenjougo.

丁寧語 (ていねいご・teineigo) is polite Japanese. This is the simplest form of 敬語, using regular grammar and with a structure similar to casual speech. Thus, this is the form of 敬語 first taught to Japanese language learners. This means using the です and ～ます forms rather than the dictionary forms.

です comes after nouns, adjectives, and adverbs at the end of a sentence.

ます is added to the stem of verbs.

Casual vs. Polite

ます系　ます form

Casual → Polite

する → します　to do

行く (いく) → 行きます (いきます)　to go

言う (いう) → 言います (いいます)　to say

です系　copula です

Casual → Polite

本だ (ほんだ) → 本です (ほんです)　(it is) a book

猫だった (ねこだった) → 猫でした (ねこでした)　(it was) a cat

暑い (あつい) → 暑いです (あついです)　it is hot

Example Sentences

I am going to buy a book.
Casual: 本を買いに行く。(ほん を かい に いく)
丁寧語: 本を買いに行きます。(ほん を かい に いきます)

The mobile phone is broken.
Casual: 携帯が壊れた。(けいたい が こわれた)
丁寧語: 携帯が壊れました。(けいたい が こわれました)

What is this?
Casual: これは何だ？(これ は なん だ)
丁寧語:こちらは何ですか？(こちら は なん です か)

See also: Basic Keigo

Chopstick Taboos

Like all utensils, chopsticks have their own set of etiquette. This is a list of the 10 main Japanese taboos for using chopsticks to help improve your table manners.

お箸　おはし　ohashi　chopsticks

箸置き　はしおき　hashioki　chopstick rest

1. 移り箸　うつりばし　utsuri-bashi
   Do not move your chopsticks back and forth above the food, trying to decide what to eat first. Decide what you want to eat before you move your chopsticks to the item.
2. 渡し箸　わたしばし　watashi-bashi
   Do not put down your chopsticks on bowls like a bridge to rest them. Instead, use a chopstick rest, or fold up your chopsticks paper package to make a rest.
3. 刺し箸　さしばし　sashi-bashi
   Do not stab your food with your chopsticks. Instead, pick it up or request different silverware if it is too difficult.
4. 寄せ箸　よせばし　yose-baishi
   Do not use your chopsticks to move the plates or bowls closer, because then you will be dragging the tableware along the table. Always use your hands to move the plate or bowl.
5. 探り箸　さぐりばし　saguri-bashi
   Do not use you chopsticks to dig in the food to look for something. Rather, eat the food in the shape that it comes in and from the top to the bottom of the bowl or plate.
6. もぎ箸　もぎばし　mogi-bashi
   Do not eat the small pieces of food off of your chopsticks. Instead, ignore it, or remove it with a paper towel.
7. かき込み箸　かきこみばし　kakikomi-bashi
   Do not put your mouth on the bowl and use chopsticks to shovel food into your mouth. Instead, pick up the item and carry it to your mouth with small bites.
8. 振り上げ箸　ふりあげばし　furiage-bashi
   Do not use chopsticks to point at people or at things. It’s best not to point with your finger either, but rather to explain using words. You can point at menus, but not at people or things far away.
9. 拾い箸　ひろいばし　hiroi-bashi
   Do not pass food from chopstick to chopstick. During funerals, the remaining bones of a loved one are collected with chopsticks and can be passed between chopsticks during collection. Thus, passing food between chopsticks is considered bad luck. If you would like to pass food to someone, put it on a plate or a bowl for the other person to pick up.
10. 立て箸　たてばし　tate-bashi
    Do not stand your chopsticks upright in your food. Chopsticks are stood upright in offerings (usually of rice) to those who have departed. Thus, doing so during a meal is considered bad luck. Instead, place your chopsticks on a chopstick rest.

Information from Let’s ask Shogo

ヲタ恋☆単語①

For book club on the Japanese language learning Discord server Seitokai’s Nihongo, we read the ヲタクに恋は難しい manga. Thanks to a few dedicated people (like @onigiriforears&@sienne-k) I have a huge vocab list to pull from. I am going to go through and revise the list, and as part of this process I will be posting mini vocab lists.

JLPT N3 Vocabulary - Ep 0/1

以来　いらい　since, henceforth

参加　さんか　participation, joining, entry

同僚　どうりょう　coworker, colleague, associate

隠す　かくす　to hide, to conceal

行動　こうどう　action, behavior, conduct

隠し通す　かくしとおす　to keep hidden, to keep a secret, to continue to conceal

理解　りかい　understanding, comprehension, sympathy

飽きる　あきる　to get tired of, to lose interest in

当てる　あてる　to hit, to expose, to guess (an answer)

支度　したく　preparation, arrangements

余裕　よゆう　surplus, margin, leeway

制限　せいげん　restriction, restraint, limit

燃える　もえる　to burn, to get fired up

黙る　だまる　to be silent, to say nothing

お互い　おたがい　each other, one another

対象　たいしょう　target, object (of worship, study, etc.), subject (of taxation, etc.)

失望　しつぼう　disappointment, despair

可能　かのう　possible, potential, feasible

交際　こうさい　(romantic) involvement, dating

嫁　よめ　bride

豊富　ほうふ　abundant, plentiful, rich

唯一　ゆいいつ　only, sole, unique

重視　じゅうし　regarding as important, attaching importance to

大砲

たいほう

cannon, gun, artillery

我々は敵に向かって大砲を撃った。

われわれ は てき に むかって たいほう を うった。

We fired the cannons at the enemy.

Natively - Japanese Book Tracking

What is Natively?

It’s like Goodreads, but for Japanese language learners reading books/manga/etc. in Japanese. You can track books you’ve read, and mark books that you want to read using Read and Want to Read lists. You can follow other users and select books to browse by level and type. This way you will know before you even pick it up if the book will be suitable for your own level. If you don’t know your level, find a book that you’ve already read and check it’s level, then find books with the same level. You can also find suggestions for books that you might never have heard of, and see a book’s ratings from other users (and sometimes a review).

Grading Books by Level

When you add books that you have read, you can grade them with a qualitative grading system. You compare two books that you have read at a time and assign them a relative difficulty. The system will then use these ratings from all users to give the book a relative level.

This is very useful because even as a relative system, you can get a feel for whether or not a book is going to suit your current level. And while there are many manga suggestions to choose from, there are also actual books, as well as light novels and even textbooks.

How I Use Natively

I have been trying to use it to keep track of my reading (like I do with Goodreads) as I have been reading more manga, and then grading the manga I read to help populate the level database on Natively. I also would like to use it to find a novel that suits my level that I can read when I have more time, and write reviews on books I’ve already read. If you would like you can follow me, and you can also follow your friends who have accounts.

Check it out!

ヲタ恋☆単語④

These ヲタクに恋は難しい vocabulary words are not listed for JLPT (or I couldn’t find which level they were).

Unlisted JLPT - Ep 0/1

切り上げる　きりあげる　to stop early, to cut short, to finish (at a convenient point)

言いふらす　いいふらす　to spread (a rumor), to circulate

生理的　せいりてき　visceral, instinctive

同類　どうるい　the same kind, accomplice

強面　こわもて　fierce look, tough look

俄然　がぜん　suddenly, all of a sudden, abruptly

腐れ縁　くされえん　undesirable but inseparable relationship

分岐　ぶんき　divergence, bifurcation, branching off

紅玉　こうぎょく　ruby (usu. written in katakana)

同伴　どうはん　accompanying, being accompanied by

斯くして　かくして　thus

一夫多妻　いっぷたさい　polygamy

取り繕う　とりつくろう　to keep up appearances

あざとい　cunning, sly

惚れっぽい　ほれっぽい　quick to fall in love

男運　おとこうん　luck with men

幼少期　ようしょうき　early childhood

そこそこ　reasonably, fairly

重度　じゅうど　severe, serious

自然体　しぜんたい　natural attitude, relaxed manner

開き直る　ひらきなおる　to become defiant, to fight back, to turn on

饒舌　じょうぜつ　talkativeness, loquaciousness

2022年5月31日

ただいま帰りました！I’m back from Japan, and just in time for the May Japanese goals update! As usual, my actual study time in May was limited, but thanks to spending two weeks using strictly Japanese, I think that there was some improvement. My son certainly learned a lot of new vocabulary, even if he didn’t learn how to share…

With my trip, last month’s study looked a bit different than normal, but I will to include the different ways I actively worked on improving my Japanese during my trip.

ただいま帰りました！日本から帰ってきたばかりので、丁度5月のアップデートに間に合いましたね。いつも通り、勉強の時間が少なかったけど、日本語しか使わなかった2週間のおかげで、なんとなく日本語の勉強を進んでいました。うちの息子は特に語彙力をアップしましたが、他の子どもと仲良く遊ぶのはまだまだ…

ALT

My Goals at the Beginning of the Month

• Intentionally speak more formally (since I usually only speak casually at home)
• Teach my 2-year-old more vocabulary
• Pick up pointers from Japanese moms for talking to kids in Japanese
• Watch as many movies inspired by shoujo manga as possible on Netflix

How I Studied This Month

• Speaking & Listening - Conversations with relatives, friends, other moms & children at the park, everyone (lol), with an emphasis on the proper level of formality
• More Listening - News, Netflix movies & anime
• Kanji - Reading all the signs

What Were My Strengths?

• Speaking & Listening - Able to keep up conversations with others with little trouble, generally able to keep up a formal conversation

What Were My Weaknesses?

• Kanji - I could always stand to learn more kanji
• Vocabulary - During conversations, having to have someone explain a word I didn’t understand in the context or not having the right word to explain something to someone else can interrupt the flow of conversation

Things to Try Next Month

• Grammar - Review N3 grammar points using YouTube videos
• Kanji & Vocabulary - Mine kanji and vocabulary from manga, articles, and other reading materials as I read them
• Listening practice - Listen to podcasts during my work commute
• italki lesson - If I can find the time (lol) I would like to try some italki lessons, to help with my deficiencies in speaking and listening

The rest of the year will be pretty boring compared to May, but I feel inspired by my time in Japan, and motivated to keep learning, for myself and my son.

How are your studies going? Wishing you the best of luck!

これから今年は5月と比べるとつまらなく感じるかもしれませんが、日本の旅行のおかげでモチベーションが上がって、これからも日本語の勉強を頑張って続きます。自分の為に、それとも息子の為にどんどん日本語の能力を上達したいと思います。

皆さんの勉強はどうですか？皆さんを応援しています！

助手席

じょしゅせき

passenger seat, shotgun

車の助手席に乗せてほしいキャラは？
くるま の じょしゅせき に のせて ほしい キャラ は？
Which character would you like to have ride shotgun?