Category: Quicktips

Are you looking for new simple vocabulary to learn but have a hard time finding ideas? Don’t think too far! Even a simple picture or photograph is a great way to find new vocabulary that is simple (ie: an object, not a concept) and that you might not know. And that goes for any learner of any language, regardless of their level of proficiency. Of course the more advanced you are, the more words you’ll already know, therefore you’ll probably be learning less than a beginner but there might still be things to learn! You’ll be surprised by the number of things you thought you knew the names of at first glance and yet you realize you can’t say them.

So here’s my advice in order to find new vocabulary easily with a picture…

Continue reading “Quicktip #7: Use pictures to find new vocabulary!”

I’ve found that reading blogs in Japanese is actually very efficient and beneficial compared to some other types of reading documents.

Blogs are mostly written in “simple” everyday language and are therefore quite easy to understand, so you can start reading blogs real soon during your learning experience. Of course you need significant knowledge of the language before being able to read anything, but compared to something like wikipedia in Japanese for instance, it’s much more easy.

And although blogs are rather easy to understand, they are extremely beneficial as you can learn plenty of vocabulary depending on the topic of the post you’re reading.

And most of all, given that you don’t spend too much time trying to understand the language in itself, you can really enjoy the topic of the post.

I personally really enjoy reading blogs in Japanese because the reading just flows and I learn plenty of vocabulary in addition to learning a lot about the topic of the post.

Continue reading “Quicktip #6: Reading Blogs In Japanese, A Great Way To Up Your Reading”

Stating the obvious again, it’s been widely known that you learn a WHOLE LOT faster when you’re enjoying what you’re learning. And I don’t only mean to state the obvious, but I also want to share something that I’ve come to realize by my own experience. I found that, although I was enjoying Japanese and learning it, it sometimes happened that trying too hard to understand came over actually understanding. An exemple of that was when I was first started to read the book Ring in Japanese. 

Continue reading “Quicktip #5: Don’t pressure yourself, enjoy Japanese”

Captain obvious is back: gotta add every new word to Anki (flashcard app). Everytime there’s a word you don’t know, look it up and add it to Anki.
As obvious as it may sound it’s really important to do so. Of course, when you’re a beginner or don’t have much vocabulary yet, you’ll end up adding pretty much every word you encounter and you’ll get bored just as fast. So at first I recommend to just add words that you encounter frequently and that make you think “man, I know I’ve seen this word, what does it mean already?”
That kind of stuff. Then I suggest adding words that attract your attention when you encounter them. And then obviously the best thing is to add every word you don’t know that you come across. I personally try to do this as often as possible, although I’m human and there are always times when I’m watching something and there’s a word I want to remember, but I’d rather keep watching the video while eating biscuits.

That’s a pretty simple advice (as usual with this series) but it’s true that singing along songs in the language that you want to learn is hugely beneficial. It helps a lot with pronunciation and getting a good grasp of the rhythms of the language; it’s also really good to practice reading a bit faster since you got to keep up with the song.

Continue reading “Quicktip #3: Sing songs!”