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Japanese Language Notes
Jisho.org Creator on Japanese Dictionaries (tofugu.com) A Tofugu article interviewing the creator of Jisho.org — one of the most popular English-Japanese dictionaries online — on the challenges of building a comprehensive Japanese dictionary resource, including handling kanji compounds, readings, and the unique data model of Japanese lexicography. https://www.tofugu.com/
2023 Duolingo Language Report Duolingo’s annual report on language learning trends — which languages are most studied in which countries, year-over-year growth, and demographic patterns. Of note: Japanese is consistently one of the top studied languages globally, while Indian regional languages including Kannada have lower but growing learner bases.
Most Recommended Resources for Learning Japanese (alllanguageresources.com) A curated guide to Japanese learning resources — textbooks (Genki, Tobira, Minna no Nihongo), online tools (WaniKani for kanji, Anki decks, bunpro for grammar), and media immersion approaches. The resource pyramid reflects the particular challenges of Japanese: three writing systems, agglutinative grammar (like Kannada), and a large vocabulary with Chinese loanwords. https://alllanguageresources.com/
6 Duolingo Learners on Why They Love Japanese A Duolingo community feature showcasing diverse reasons people learn Japanese: anime and gaming culture, business travel, family heritage, the aesthetic challenge of the writing systems, and appreciation for Japanese literature and cinema. A human-interest piece that contextualizes the language learning motivation landscape.
8 Phrases in Japanese Convenience Stores A practical guide to the standard phrases used in Japanese convenience stores (konbini) — irasshaimase (welcome), fukuro wa yoroshii desu ka? (do you need a bag?), o-point kādo wa? (do you have a points card?) — an example of the ritualized transactional language that makes Japanese service culture distinctive.
How to Count in Japanese (YouTube) A YouTube tutorial on the Japanese numeral system — covering the native Japanese numerals (hitotsu, futatsu…) alongside the Sino-Japanese system (ichi, ni, san…), and the rules governing when each system is used. Japanese number counting is more complex than most European languages due to this dual system.
Japanese Counter Words (YouTube) A tutorial on Japanese counter words — the grammatical classifiers (助数詞) that must accompany numerals when counting different categories of objects: hon for long thin objects, mai for flat things, hiki for animals, dai for machines, ken for buildings. A similar classifier system exists in other East and Southeast Asian languages and, interestingly, has partial parallels in Dravidian noun class systems.
About Japanese Names (YouTube) An explainer on the structure of Japanese personal names — family name first, the large inventory of kanji used in names and their multiple possible readings, the distinction between formal and informal name registers, and the cultural weight of name selection in Japan.
Dear Duolingo: What Are the Different Writing Systems? (6 Types) A Duolingo blog post explaining the typology of writing systems — abjads (consonants only, like Arabic), alphabets (consonants and vowels, like Latin), abugidas (consonant-vowel units with diacritic modification, like Kannada/Devanagari), syllabaries (one symbol per syllable, like Japanese kana), logographies (one symbol per morpheme, like Chinese), and featural scripts (systematic phonetic features, like Korean Hangul).
Duolingo Japanese from English — 121 Units Path A note on the extent of Duolingo’s Japanese course — 121 units covering vocabulary, grammar, and cultural knowledge — providing a reference for the depth of structured content available for Japanese compared to the more limited coverage of Kannada in language learning apps.
Japanese Sentence Practice Notes Personal Japanese language practice notes, including a sentence about not drinking on weekdays.
ノート
平日には午後六時... (not drinking on weekdays)