This post will be short because I have done nothing interesting this week to study or get immersed in Japanese. I have only studied Anki and I have written a short text in Japanese every day (a little more than the half of an A6 page). I would like to say that I have been..
Book Review: 『コンビニ人間』by Sayaka Murata
"人間はさー、仕事か、家族か、どちらかで社会に所属するのが義務なんだよ。" (p66) In a society that constantly throws this kind of reminder to your face, how are you supposed to find your place when, at 36, you have neither one nor the other? Through the story of its protagonist Keiko FURUKURA,『コンビニ人間』describes the struggles of those who are "not normal" and won't fit in the society..
How to start writing in Japanese
One of my goals for November is to write in Japanese every day for a month. I have been thinking about how to write in a foreign language if you don't have a native to correct you, and I thought that I would write about it today. If you are like me, writing is not..
Japanese Immersion: October week 5
As I mentioned on Monday, I have finished watching the 10 episodes drama 『シグナル 長期未解決事件捜査班』and I have started a new one this week! I also continued reading the political magazine Sapio. Japanese drama シグナル: final thoughts I have watched maybe 4 or 5 Korean drama entirely in my life and started dozens of them without..
Book Review: 『日本語びいき』by Yumi Shimizu
Illustrations by ヨシタケシンスケ 『日本語びいき』 is definitely one of my best books of the year! The author, Yumi Shimizu (清水由美), is teaching Japanese to foreign students and wrote this book for her fellow native Japanese speakers. Through 21 short chapters, she invites her reader to rediscover the Japanese language and let oneself be amazed by patterns..
Monthly Review: October 2018
October has been a month for discovering new paths: I have started studying Japanese history and I have watched my very first Japanese drama. The two books I had ordered about Japanese History have finally arrived, but before that, I had started reading as many things as possible on the Internet. I am taking notes..
Japanese Immersion: October week 4
The more I write these Friday posts, the more I doubt whether "immersion" is the good term for them. Initially, I wanted to create a Japanese environment around me to be sure that I was absorbing as much Japanese as possible. I find this harder to achieve than I had imagined. The problem is not..
Currently Reading: 『手紙』by Keigo HIGASHINO
I will stick to my resolution to always be reading a book by Keigo HIGASHINO. I found that reading several books at the same time in Japanese is the best way to avoid loss of interest or discouragement. 『手紙』, 東野圭吾, 文春文庫 I am so sure that I will love any book by Higashino that I..
I am studying Japanese History!
Or at least, I will soon! I have been telling myself for a long time now that I should read about Japanese History in English or French. I have finally got down to looking at History books available in English and selected the one I wanted to read. The book I ordered turned out to..
Japanese Immersion: October week 3
This week, I mostly read magazines! I bought the autumn edition of the 趣味の文具箱 and a magazine called Sapio. 趣味の文具箱 This magazine is all about fountain pens and ink. The issue 47 is called 『万年筆インクの知りたいこと』and is all about ink. You will find in it interesting charts and analysis, as well as the new colours available..
Book Review: 『未来のミライ』by Mamoru Hosoda
I bought the novelisation of the film 『未来のミライ』by director Mamoru Hosoda to try the collection Tsubasa of the publisher Kadokawa. Tsubasa is a collection of books for children with full furigana and a wide range of genres classified in different levels of difficulty. 『未来のミライ』, which is novelised by Mamoru Hosoda himself, belongs to the level "小学上級から"...
Korean resources to learn Japanese: how to download audio files
A discussion I had recently in the comments of this blog made me think I should write more about the Korean publisher Darakwon. Darakwon publishes a lot of textbooks to learn foreign languages (including Korean as a foreign language), and Japanese is, with English and Chinese, one of the main languages studied in Korea. I..