Benny Lewis's Blog, page 38

How to Learn and Memorize Simplified Chinese Characters: A Guide for Beginners

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Would you like to learn Chinese characters?

They’re actually pretty interesting to learn, as well as useful if you want to speak and read Chinese.

Chinese characters have been around for over 5,000 years, so we can be sure they’re not going to disappear any time soon.

They’ve become an inseparable part of Chinese language and culture, but they can seem confusing and hard to learn for a foreign learner, at first.

Don’t worry though, Chinese characters are not impossible to learn. In fact, you might realize they can be quite easy.

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How Many Characters are in the Chinese Alphabet and How Many Do I Need to Learn?
First things first: You probably already know this, but if you want to learn Mandarin Chinese, you need to learn the Chinese characters. There’s no way around this.

You don’t need them for a casual conversation, or even for your daily life (if you don’t live in China). But if you’re serious about learning this language and visiting China, you will need to be confident reading and writing them.

You’re probably asking: “So how many Chinese characters are there and how many do I need to learn?”

Written Chinese language contains more than 50,000 characters, and more and more are added all the time.

But you don’t need to learn all of them (just like you wouldn’t need to learn all the words in the dictionary to speak English). A fluent Chinese speaking person typically knows around 2,000 characters, and if you want to be at a solid conversational level, it’s probably less than half of that for you -- so you’ll need to learn fewer than 1,000 characters.
An Easy Way to Read the Chinese Alphabet
The Chinese language doesn’t have an alphabet like the English alphabet, so enter pinyin.

Pinyin takes Chinese characters and transliterates them into the Latin alphabet (the same alphabet that’s used for English and many other languages spoken in the western hemisphere).

For example 中国 - “China” would be transcribed into pinyin like this: Zhōngguó.

Pinyin will help you a lot when learning Chinese because it means you can start reading without learning Chinese characters.
The 6 Types of Chinese Characters
Chinese characters are often referred to as “Chinese symbols”, and you’ll find out that a lot of times they actually symbolize the word they mean.

But more often than not, you’ll just have to memorize them, as over time, and through simplification, most of them look different to how they originally did.

Before having a look into Chinese writing and learning how to write and read Chinese characters, let’s have a look at a quick overview of six types of Chinese characters:

Pictograms - for example 山 (shān) - “mountain”
Ideograms - e.g.下 (xià) - “down”
Phonetic compounds - 红 (hóng) - “red”
Combined ideographs - 果 (guǒ) - “fruit”
Loan characters - 来 (lái) - “to come” from 莱 (lái) - “cereal” or “cereal plant”
Transfer characters - 考 (kǎo) - “to test” and 老 (lǎo) - “old”

It’s always good to know the basics about each type. But to learn them quickly, don’t worry too much about terminology. Rather, start learning straight away.

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How to Write and Read in Chinese - Quickly
You’ve probably seen 汉字 (hànzì) before. That’s what “Chinese characters” are called. You might find the word “hanzi” even in materials written in English, as it became widely used in educational materials.

So how to learn writing and reading hanzi quickly and effectively?

Break it down into steps and have a piece of paper and a pen ready - actually, many pieces of paper.
Start with the Basics
You won’t master the language if you don’t know its basics. To start you off with Chinese characters, learn the easiest ones first.

Here’s a list of some of the simplest characters in the Chinese language:

一 (yī) - “one”
二 (èr) - “two”
三 (sān) - “three”
四 (sì) - “four”
五 (wǔ) - “five”
六 (liù) - “six”
七 (qī) - “seven
八 (bā) - “eight”
九 (jiǔ) - “nine”
十 (shí) - “ten”
月 (yuè) - “month”
大 (dà) - “big”
水 (shuǐ) - “water”
人 (rén) - “people” or “person”
口 (kǒu) - “mouth”

These are only a few of the easy Chinese characters, but if you practice these, the more complicated ones will become easier and quicker to learn. That’s especially the case if you master these stroke order of these simple characters.
Write, Write, Write
Learning to write Chinese characters becomes much easier when you become an expert in the order of strokes. I dare say, you can’t learn how to write if you don’t know stroke order.

The essential guidelines are:

Write left to right, for example: 一 (yī) - “one”
Write top to bottom: 人 (rén) - “people” or “person”
Horizontal strokes before vertical strokes: 十 (shí) - “ten”
Diagonal strokes are left to right before right to left: 门 (mén) - “door”
Outside strokes before inside ones: 回 (huí) - “return”, “go back”

Stroke order guidelines for more complicated characters are easier to grasp, once you’re familiar with the easiest ones that have only a couple of strokes.

When you’re ready to practice writing, look up “stroke order” and you’ll find many websites with extremely helpful animations of Chinese characters being written based on these guidelines.
You can replay them and practice as many times as you want.

Also, have many sheets of paper ready - it’s best if you have characters worksheets.

The best way to learn Chinese characters is to write. And write. And write a lot.

You just need to write so much, until it becomes natural to you and you don’t even think about stroke order.

Practice with worksheets first, and then test yourself.

Online dictionaries or dictionaries you can download to your smartphone or tablet are also a great help. These usually have a handwriting option, but be careful, because most times they are not sensitive to the order of strokes.
Break the Characters Down and Visualize
It’s not a coincidence that Chinese characters are often called ideograms.

The term “Chinese ideograms” has its roots in history, when the traditional characters used to represent what they meant.

Traditional characters looked (and often still look) like the “idea” behind them - the meaning; hence “ideograms”.

Nowadays, it’s not as easy to recognize characters this way.
Chinese writing has become more simple, but reading Chinese has not for many.

Simplification of Chinese characters caused the resemblance between them and their meaning more or less disappearing, but often, you are actually able to guess the meaning, and that’s mostly thanks to radicals.

Radicals are components of Chinese characters that not only help you find a character in a Chinese dictionary (where they are listed under radicals), but can also help you guess the meaning.

For example, the character 水 (shuǐ) - “water” changes to a form of radical: 氵and keeps its meaning.

You can find this radical in almost every character that has something to do with water, for example: 海 (hǎi, “sea”) or 汁 (zhī, “juice”). In this case, the knowledge of the pronunciation of 十 (shí, “ten”) comes in handy, as 汁 (zhī, “juice”) sounds similar.

Even though simplified characters don’t look much like the meaning behind them anymore, you can find some that are still similar. Especially if you’re willing to try to look very hard.

For example:

女 (nǚ) - “woman”
鸟 (niǎo) - “bird”
口 (kǒu) - “mouth”
雨 (yǔ) - “rain”

Some Tips for Using Chinese Dictionaries
If you’re already using Chinese online dictionaries and know about the handwriting function, you know how much it can help not only to learn and practice, but also as a quick help to read and recognize.

Chinese book dictionaries are something else, and even though they are usually big, heavy and it might take longer to find what you need, I couldn’t recommend them more.

Learning the Mandarin alphabet (its characters) requires you to be familiar with its radicals.

Practice and test yourself with different dictionaries. You can find ones that organize their characters based on radicals, some do it alphabetically based on pinyin and some based on English alphabetical order.

Either way, it’ll broaden your knowledge and vocabulary, as most of these dictionaries contain additional words and phrases for each character.
Read Children’s Books and Parallel Texts in Chinese
The best literature to read when learning a new language are kids’ books and parallel texts.

The language in children’s books is simple, easy and most likely contains a lot of characters you are already familiar with.

You can also get a beginner’s conversation book; these are usually very helpful with their pinyin transcription and English translation.

After writing, reading Chinese characters is the second most important thing to learn.
So if you can, be sure to spend big amounts of time on both of them.

If your book contains audio, read and repeat out loud whenever you can. Chinese is a tonal language, and so catching the right pronunciation is crucial.

Check out some of these books to get you started with reading Chinese:

Contemporary Chinese Short-Short Stories: A Parallel Text by Aili Mu and Mike Smith
Mandarin Chinese for Beginners: Mastering Conversational Chinese by Yi Ren and Xiayuan Liang
Chinese Conversation in Everyday Life 1: Sentences Phrases Words by Hongyang

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Self-Discipline and Loads of Worksheets - You’re Ready to Start!
To start you off with Chinese characters, you’ll need to invest time and energy into writing and reading. But if you’re good at self-discipline, you can learn the basics pretty quickly.

Accepting the fact that Chinese characters are an inseparable part of the language, printing out your worksheets and opening a parallel textbook are your first steps to mastering Chinese characters.

It might not be the easiest thing you’ve ever done, but you’ll be extremely proud of yourself once you start noticing how natural the order of strokes and reading are becoming to you.

The beginnings are the hardest, but don’t give up and guaranteed, you’ll soon be an expert in Chinese characters.

The post How to Learn and Memorize Simplified Chinese Characters: A Guide for Beginners appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

Japanese Uncovered Review: Is the Force Strong with This One?

Looking for a Japanese Uncovered review?

Does this “story learning” method for learning Japanese, created by Olly Richards, really work?

I tried it out for myself and I’m excited to share what I found.

First, so you know where I’m coming from, here’s a bit about me and my experience as a Japanese learner (and Star Wars fan!).

Note: Want to get straight to my opinion of Japanese Uncovered? Scroll on down.

If you’ve read one of the Japanese articles that I’ve written for Fluent in 3 Months, then you’ll know I’m very passionate about the Japanese language. I took the *Fluent in 3 Months Challenge!

So, while Olly’s course is aimed at beginner Japanese learners, I was intrigued by his approach. I’ve been working my way through his Spanish Uncovered course (which you can read Elizabeth’s review of here, by the way).

I love learning Spanish through story but I was still pretty skeptical that it could work for Japanese. After all, Japanese has a completely different writing system! Three writing systems, in fact.

But I also know that Olly is a fantastic teacher, so I was excited to try out his Japanese story course. No, I didn’t start this course from the perspective of a beginner. But I can still give a good account of how it would feel to learn from scratch — and what I loved and learned from it myself!

Also as a note: I’m a huge Star Wars fan, and can’t be out-Star-Wars’d by Elizabeth’s Spanish Uncovered review. So, I hope you’re up for this wild ride because I’m going to give you the review faster than Han’s Kessel Run!

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuJ-tn23GAU

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If Elizabeth is the “Han Solo of Language Learning,” then I’m the Leia

“There are things that you cannot solve by jumping in an X-wing and blowing something up.” – General Leia Organa, The Last Jedi

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While Elizabeth says she’s the “Han Solo of language learning” because she doesn’t like taking orders or preparing for lessons… I’m the opposite. I like being extra prepared and strategic. So I guess that makes me a bit more like Leia — I take charge, I follow through with a well-executed plan, and I always have hope.

Japanese is a tough language, and you have to be a bit of a Rebel to take it on. And even after several failures to learn Japanese well, I stuck with it, came up with a better battle plan, and defeated my Death Star. That is… I reached my goal of speaking conversational Japanese.

So, when it comes to language learning resources, I like them to be quick, efficient, to the point, and well-organized.

So is the Force strong with Japanese Uncovered?

Japanese Uncovered Review: Olly’s Method of Teaching Through Story

Japanese Uncovered teaches you Japanese by having you read through a story.

But it’s much more than that — it’s 20 chapters of in-depth lessons in which you learn through reading immersion.

Each lesson, broken up by chapters, has many well-thought-out components:

An introduction of what you’ll learn in that chapter
An audio recording in normal and slow speed Japanese
PDFs of each chapter written in romaji (English letters for Japanese words), full Japanese, and the English translations
Vocabulary video lesson and worksheet
Grammar video lesson and worksheet
A keigo (honorific speech) lesson
A Japanese pronunciation lesson with Ai-sensei, Olly’s Japanese co-author of the course
Japanese writing lesson with Ai-sensei
A culture video lesson
Speaking activities worksheet
A review quiz
Progress report

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First Olly has you listen to the story. Next, you read along as you listen again. Then you read the English translation. After that, he breaks down the important points in the story and builds on what you’re learning.

With each chapter of the story, Olly walks you through a crucial learning step of the language. It never feels overwhelming.

Olly has a deep grasp of what it takes to learn Japanese and leaves nothing out. He not only spends time teaching you vocab and grammar, but goes into the culture, pronunciation, and Japanese writing systems. By the end, you can even read some complex kanji!

I’ve always said you can’t learn Japanese without understanding Japanese culture. I was thrilled to see Olly put such an emphasis on culture in the course. Those with more understanding and experience with Japanese culture will always have a deeper grasp of the language.

“In my book, experience outranks everything.”

“Then I definitely outrank you.” – Captain Rex and Ahsoka Tano

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Japanese Uncovered is a go-at-your-own-pace type of course. And although it’s long, it’s engaging and interesting. Besides his Spanish Uncovered story learning course, Olly also teaches French, Italian, and German through story.

Japanese Uncovered: The Light Side of the Force (AKA, the Pros)

So can you really level up from a Padawan learner to a Jedi Knight by learning Japanese through story?

I’d give this one a solid, big YES.

I was pleasantly surprised and excited by Olly’s method of teaching Japanese*.

I’m someone who thinks that Japanese kana is best learned fast in only a week or so. But Olly spreads out the Japanese writing system over several chapters. He introduces the characters at a steady pace. And as he teaches you new ones, he starts adding them in place of romaji. This way, you get plenty of practice reading them.

What I liked about this method is that it reduces overwhelm for beginners. Learning all the Japanese characters can be intimidating to some. But Olly breaks it down in a way that makes sense through immersive practice. This is a pro and con to me, which I’ll get to more in a minute. But it works well for jumping into the story, and for absolute beginners.

The highlight of the course for me is how Olly teaches grammar. He integrates new grammar into the reading, building upon it each chapter. You jump from basic grammar to quite complex conjugations fast. Things that took me a whole semester and textbook in college to learn is taught in the first few chapters with ease.

What this means is you can express yourself well… and fast. This course is a fast track to actually speaking Japanese, and using it in the real world.

By the end of the course, you’d be a solid upper beginner/intermediate level speaker. While there would be a few gaps, like in the level of kanji, you’ll understand plenty to get by in the average conversation. And, it really prepares you for a trip to Japan — no fluff.

This course helps you become comfortable with engaging in natural Japanese and native resources. Textbooks often put too much of a focus on the classroom setting, and not even on real-life Japanese. But since you’re learning through story, it feels less intimidating to pick up Japanese media and relax into it. The foreign text doesn’t seem so scary anymore. So, you get comfortable reading Japanese.

Japanese Uncovered Uses Real Japanese Speech

I can’t stress this one enough. Except for the first three chapters, where Olly uses the subjects of sentences more than is natural (for learning purposes), the Japanese dialogue is refreshingly… normal.

What I mean by that is so many textbooks, podcasts, and more teach you stiff Japanese. They teach a lot of fluff you won’t use. And they leave out a lot of common phrases that aren’t translatable but used every single day in Japan.

Olly gets right down to business. You’ll be speaking real Japanese from day one. So you don’t have to worry about an awkward faux pas you may otherwise pick up in a classroom setting.

For example, his use of integrating culture and keigo into his teaching right from the start. Both are integral parts of the Japanese language but are often left out in beginner teachings. That makes it more confusing to learn keigo (honorific speech) later, and you need it immediately anyway to be polite.

Ai-sensei, who accompanies Olly in teaching the course, is a wonderful teacher as well. She’s so cute and well-spoken. Her pronunciation tips were brilliant, and I even learned several things I didn’t know. Her bonus video on chopstick etiquette, for instance, taught me quite a bit!

Japanese Uncovered Makes Learning Japanese Enjoyable!

I love listening to Olly talk. He’s brilliant as a speaker and teacher and offers so many insights and tips to help you learn. He speaks Japanese well and helps the language stick with you. I found his own Japanese tips to be helpful in overcoming some basic grammar problems I always run into.

You’re also introduced to so many new words in Japanese. While I could read most of the lessons with ease, there were quite a few words I didn’t know or had forgotten. Seeing them several times helped me remember them, and most of the time I was able to learn from context. I also felt like my reading speed increased significantly.

Oh, that’s another pro: PDFs in romaji, as well as kana, kana + kanji, and English translations. So if you already learned the kana, you can still learn and improve by downloading the PDF at your level.

The speaking activities and worksheets offer a lot of active practice to use what you learn. I was worried I’d find these boring, but they’re not at all. They help you remember the vocab, and he offers different exercises to work your memory muscles in several different ways. The speaking activities sheet includes a handout for a tutor or language exchange partner. This is such a nice feature because then your tutor or partner can help you review the material and practice using it.

Japanese Uncovered: The Dark Side of the Force (AKA, the Cons)

For my tastes, I would rather see the kana introduced more in the beginning rather than rely on so much romaji throughout the course. That’s because if you were to pair the course with other resources or textbooks — say, Genki I, Remembering the Kanji, or even Drops — you’d need to know the kana already.

Plus, you can dive into native resources faster if you learn the kana fast. While the story is written in kana in a bonus PDF, I think it would be more effective to knock out the kana early. Switch to it completely rather than over the first 10 chapters and still have the romaji PDF as the primary one in the lessons. (The kana and kanji PDF options are under “Additional Resources” at the end of each chapter section.)

That’s honestly my only con! Because this was one of the most effective, best Japanese resources I’ve ever used. I wish I would’ve had this when I got started — I would’ve learned Japanese SO much faster.

I do recommend you find yourself a language exchange partner, though, to grasp what you’re learning. While the course is complete on its own, it’s best used in tandem with language exchange. italki is a great resource for this.

You could also pair Japanese Uncovered with more daily immersion into the language. I enjoyed watching Japanese dramas while going through the course. It gave me a chance to see what new things I could pick out while watching! It helped reinforce the material even more.

So is Japanese Uncovered “The Chosen One”?

I’d have to dub Japanese Uncovered the hope the galaxy has been looking for when it comes to Japanese. And I would LOVE to see Olly release an intermediate Japanese story course like he has for his other languages. Because it was brilliant.

I loved learning through story and felt like it was the best method I’ve used to learn Japanese to date. I’m remembering Japanese vocabulary and grammar as well as C3P0 remembers all six million languages he’s fluent in. I may be no Jedi, but this course is definitely the way.

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Even though the course was marked for beginners, I found it insightful and helpful with some of my weak spots in my Japanese foundation. And I think it would be the perfect tool for anyone looking to start speaking Japanese. Especially if you plan to travel to Japan and use it in everyday life.

So if you’re thinking about taking Japanese Uncovered, don’t miss your shot (like a Stormtrooper). Go ahead… Do it.

Find out more about Japanese Uncovered and register for the course here.

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The post Japanese Uncovered Review: Is the Force Strong with This One? appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

How to Say “Student” in Japanese – And 70+ More Japanese Words to Help You Follow the Path of the Sensei

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Are you a new student in Japanese class? Or looking to find a Mr. Miyagi to your Karate Kid?

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Maybe you want to study abroad in Japan or apply for the JET program soon and you’re looking for a way to start learning the Japanese language. Well then, tie on your hachimaki, and let’s get to work!

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Let’s look at today’s lesson plan:

Learn how to talk about being a student in Japanese
Talk to your classmates -- the senpai and kouhai at your school
How to talk to your sensei with respect
What it’s like in a Japanese classroom
Japanese school vocabulary you need to know before studying abroad

By the end of this, you’ll be on the path to Japanese mastery!
“Student” in Japanese - Gakusei
The Japanese word for “student” is 学生 (gakusei). So you, right now, are officially a 学生 of the Japanese language!

But gakusei is a bit of a generic term for “student.” It’s used to talk about any kind of student. Depending on your school level, the word changes:

大学生 (daigakusei) - “College student”
高校生 (koukousei) - “High school student”
中学生 (chuugakusei) - “Middle school student”
小学生 (shougakusei) - “Elementary school student”

If you want to say “I’m a student in Japanese class” you can say 日本語のクラスの学生です。(Nihongo no kurasu no gakusei desu) Or, you can tell somewhere where you go to school: 東京大学の学生です (Toukyou daigaku no gakusei desu). Just change Toukyou daigaku to your school name.

Trying to explain which class you’re in? You use this phrase: クラス_にいます (kurasu _ ni imasu). For instance, クラス3の2にいます. “I’m in class 3-2.”

If you want to ask someone else if they’re a student, you attach the question particle か to make it a question. 学生ですか (gakusei desu ka) means “Are you a student?” in Japanese.
Senpai and Kouhai
So, what is “senpai”? The definition of senpai is anyone who is in a class above your own. So, if you’re in 10th grade, and you’re talking to someone in the 11th grade, they’re your senpai.

The meaning of senpai also takes on a whole new life in anime, where it’s most often heard. It’s usually used in anime by girls talking about their crush on an older boy in a class or two above them. It’s a very common trope in anime and manga and has inspired tons of memes about girls trying to get their senpai to notice them.

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Now… Is it sempai or senpai? You’ll sometimes see it romanized both ways. That’s because it’s pronounced more like “m” but there is no single letter “m” in the romanization system of Japanese, called romaji. It’s a bit confusing, but basically, there is no difference. In Japanese, it’s written 先輩 (kanji) or せんぱい (hiragana). The character ん is romanized as either “n” or “m”, but usually takes on more of an “m” sound, like in senpai and ganbatte (“good luck”).

As for kouhai, that’s the term for an underclassman. So you, as the 10th grader in our example, would be a kouhai to your senpai in 11th grade. Likewise, a 9th grader is your kouhai.

The term kouhai isn’t used often though because it can come across a bit condescending. You never want to portray yourself as superior in Japanese, and the use of kouhai gives off that vibe.

When talking to your classmates in school, you can talk to those in your class with casual speech. But that changes in the senpai-kouhai dynamic. The level of formality changes depending on your relationship with the other person. You may be expected to use 敬語　 (keigo, honorific language) with your senpai.

It also affects how you interact because your place in society and your relationship to others is extremely important to Japanese people. So, if you’re a kouhai, you would want to talk more formally to your senpai. But you might also have extra classroom or after-school club (called 部活, bukatsu) duties as the kouhai. And you’ll typically be expected to follow the example of your senpai. Kouhai are not the leaders here.

This dynamic usually begins around junior high, though. Before that, in elementary school, it’s common to be on more friendly terms with older students. You’ll often hear -ちゃん (-chan) or -くん (-kun) used with the person’s first name.

But this type of dynamic continues on into college, work, and other life situations where someone has more “experience” than you. Tofugu has a whole in-depth article about how the nature of senpai changes through life.
“Master” in Japanese - Sensei
The word for “teacher” in Japanese is 先生 (sensei). It also means “master.” The sensei kanji breaks to down mean “The one who comes before.” So, they’re a “master” or “teacher” because they have more life experience than you.

That means that sensei can also be used in more ways than addressing your teacher. It’s for anyone you respect, who has more experience or is teaching you something outside of a classroom. It’s also used for tutors, doctors, politicians, or even artists and writers.

When you get into sports and fitness, the dynamic can sometimes change. For instance, in sports, you may use コーチ (kouchi) like you would call someone “coach” in English. Martial art teachers are still 先生 though, as are yoga teachers.

Essentially, sensei is used for anyone you respect for their knowledge or talent, whether they’re a “teacher” or not.

You can call someone sensei or attach it to their last name, like 田中先生 (Tanaka-sensei).

Sometimes, you’ll hear sensei used sarcastically or in a casual, funny way. For instance, Google is sometimes called グーグル先生 (gu-guru-sensei) because… Well, Google knows all.

When talking to your teacher, it’s important to show proper respect. You’ll address your sensei with honorific speech, and talk about yourself with humble speech. And when leaving the classroom, you’d bow facing the inside of the classroom and tell your teacher 失礼いたしました (shitsure itashimashita), which is past tense keigo speech for “Thank you for your hard work today.”
What’s a Japanese School Like?
Elementary - High School in Japan
Japanese kids in school have quite a different experience from other parts of the world. For instance, school buses aren’t a thing. Most kids walk or bike to school if they live close. If they don’t live close by, they take public transport like a train. This means many kids -- especially high schoolers -- have quite the commute to and from school.

Plus, kids in Japan have a ton of pressure to pass entrance exams. Because mandatory schooling is only up to 9th grade in Japan, high schools are like colleges. They require students to pass an entrance exam to be admitted into the high school of their choice. The same is true for universities -- but you can only apply to certain universities based on which high school you attend. So the pressure to get a good education and job starts in junior high, and many attend cram schools to prepare.

The way they break up the school years is a bit different, too. Elementary school is grades 1 - 6, junior high is 7 - 9, and high school is 10 - 12. Most junior and high school students have to wear the famous Japanese school uniform, although elementary school kids may not.

And the school year is different, too! The Japanese school year actually begins in April and ends in March. But even though Japan follows a year-round system, they have three breaks throughout the year.

The biggest difference? Kids stay in one classroom for most everything. So, they have one homeroom, which they’re in charge of keeping clean. Every day at the end of the day, students pitch in to clean the room -- including scrubbing the floors. They store all their belongings with them in their desk or room, so they don’t have lockers except for shoes. (They still take off their shoes and switch to house slippers called 上履き, uwabaki, like they would at home!)

They also eat in their homeroom, so there’s no cafeteria setting here. The teachers for different subjects come and go, and have their own teacher’s room where all the teachers can work in peace between classes.

Last up, there’s also big school festivals like Sports Day (運動会, undoukai). If you watch any school-age anime, you’ve seen this celebration for sure. You’ll also find Japanese-style floor toilets in most school bathrooms, and no A/C -- yes, really.
College Life in Japan
University is when Japanese students finally get some freedom. They don’t have to wear school uniforms anymore. The senpai-kouhai dynamic lightens. And most college students live on their own in an apartment. And while it’s hard to get into college because of the intense entrance exams, there’s actually less academic pressure once you’re in. You may not even have to show up for class, and most classes don’t have students do many projects or participate.

So for many, college is actually the one true time Japanese students can take it easy. Many spend their time engaging in school activities, or drinking and playing video games. Because after college, the Japanese workforce life gets intense again.
A List of Japanese School Vocabulary
Now, here’s a list of Japanese vocabulary and phrases used in the classroom. If you plan on attending a Japanese school, teach abroad, or start going to a Japanese class, these are important to know.
In Your Backpack

Ransel (a type of school backpack) - ランドセル (randoseru)
Pen - ぺん (pen)
Pencil - えんぴつ (enpitsu)
Eraser - 消しゴム (keshigomu)
Paper - 紙 (kami)
Homework - 宿題 (shukudai)
Bento - 弁当 (bento)
Scissors - 鋏 (hasami)
Calculator - 電卓 (dentaku)
Pencil case - 筆箱 (fudebako)
Notebook - ノート (no-to)
Page - ページ (pe-ji)
Textbook - 教科書 (kyoukasho)
Dictionary - 辞書 (jisho)

At School and In the Classroom

Class - クラス (kurasu)
Classroom - 教室 (kyoushitsu)
Morning meeting - 朝礼 (chourei)
Uniform - 制服 (seifuku)
Lunch - ランチ (ranchi)
School lunch - 給食 (kyuushoku)
Recess - 昼休み (hiruyasumi)
Cleaning time - お掃除 (o-souji)
Teacher / Lecturer - 教室 (kyoushitsu)
Supervisor / Homeroom teacher - 担任 (tannin)
Principal - 校長先生 (kouchou-sensei)
School nurse - 看護師 (kankoshi)
On-duty (The teacher who, that day, has to maintain the school, unlock and lock up, etc) - 当番 (Touban)
Ceremony - 式 (shiki)
Graduation - 卒業 (sotsugyou)
Desk - 机 (tsukue)
Chair - 椅子 (isu)
Practice - 練習 (renshuu)
Blackboard - 黒板 (kokuban)
Ruler - 定規 (jougi)
Cram school - 塾 (juku)
Library - 図書館 (toshokan)
Bathroom - トイレ (toire)
Exams - 試験 (shiken)
Tests - テスト (tesuto)
Grade - 成績 (seiseki)
Vacation - 休み (yasumi)

Japanese School Classes

Japanese (“Language Arts”) - 国語 (kokugo)
Japanese (language) - 日本語 (nihongo)
English - 英語 (eigo)
Math - 算数 (sansuu)
Science - 科学 (kagaku)
P.E. - 体育 (taiiku)
History - 歴史 (rekishi)
Art - 美術 (bijutsu)
Social Studies - 社会科 (shakaika)
Music - 音楽 (ongaku)

Japanese School Phrases

Good morning - おはようございます (ohayou gozaimasu)
Bon appetit - いただきます (itadakimasu)
Thank you for this meal - ごちそうさまでした (gochisousama deshita)
Have a nice day - いってらっしゃい (itterasshai)
Be careful - 気を付けて (ki wo tsukete)
Please read - 読んでください (yonde kudasai)
Please write - 書いてください (kaite kudasai)
Please say - 言ってください (itte kudasai)
Please listen - 聞いてください (kiite kudasai)
Please repeat - もう一度お願いします (mou ichido onegai shimasu)
Do your best / Good luck - 頑張ってください (gambatte kudasai)

From Student to Sensei!
The student in Japanese has grown to become the master! Since you now know about school life in Japan, you’re prepared to study abroad or start applying for a program like JET to teach in Japan.

Ready to learn more about Japanese life? Why not try binging the best Japanese shows to see more of the culture and mannerisms. Or learn Japanese slang to sound like a local.

What other classroom vocab or details did I miss? Share with me in the comments!

The post How to Say “Student” in Japanese – And 70+ More Japanese Words to Help You Follow the Path of the Sensei appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

Learn to Speak Hungarian Online for Free! 44 Hungarian Lessons for Learners on a Budget

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Can you learn to speak Hungarian online, for free?

Yes, you can!

Hungarian is a unique language, there’s no other language like it in the world!

It’s the official language of Hungary and it’s spoken by around 13 million native speakers.

I decided to learn Hungarian because it’s the native language of many of my teammates over at Drops, and I’ve been learning for two years now.

You can read the story of how I learned Hungarian in 60 days here.

If you’re learning Hungarian like me, you may have encountered a similar problem to mine… Finding affordable, current, and helpful Hungarian courses can be tough. But finding good Hungarian language resources isn’t impossible, and it doesn’t have to be expensive either.

If you’re ready to learn Hungarian, look no further!

I’ve searched high and low for Hungarian resources to put together this list of not only the best Hungarian learning materials, but also the most fun, and more importantly -- free -- resources.

Hungarian gets a bad rap for being a difficult language to learn. It has loads of cases and not a whole lot in common with other European languages, but with the right tools, learning Hungarian can be easy -- and enjoyable!

So if you’re up to the challenge of learning Hungarian both fast and free, here are 44 free Hungarian resources.
Free Online Audio and Podcasts to Help You Learn Hungarian
Listen to Hungarian audio in bite-sized podcasts. Or even dive straight into native-speaking radio stations.

Here’s where to start with Hungarian language audio:

HungarianPod101 is free to sign up for. It has an impressive amount of Hungarian content available at every level from complete beginner to advanced. These podcasts are a favorite of the Fluent in 3 Months team and it’s one of the first resources I went through when I started my Hungarian language project. You get a one-week free trial to test out lessons at all skill levels. After that, you do have to pay for the more advanced lessons and premium material, although it’s very much worth it.
Glossika is an audio language course and the first 1,000 repetitions are free.
Let’s Learn Hungarian!: This podcast stopped releasing new lessons in 2016, but there are still about 18 past episodes you can enjoy.
TuneIn Hungary: You can listen to radio from Hungarian on TuneIn. Try out a few stations, see what catches your attention, and enjoy.
Forvo: If you come across a new word, especially with Hungarian that has a lot of silent letter combinations, Forvo is a great place to listen to words spoken by a native speaker. It has a large database and is a good reference for pronunciation.

YouTube: Free Video Hungarian Lessons
YouTube is a great place to find free Hungarian language classes and resources.

The following channels give you hours of Hungarian lessons in an engaging medium. Plus, videos give you extra insight into how the language is spoken because you can see facial expressions, body language, and other non-verbal aspects of the Hungarian language.
Hungarian Language Youtube Channels

HungarianPod101: In addition to their free podcast lessons, HungarianPod101 also has a helpful YouTube channel with hours upon hours of free content.
Easy Languages: I love the Easy Languages Youtube channel because it doesn’t just teach you the language, but you also get an insight to the local culture. In the Easy Language series, the hosts go out into the streets of Hungary and interview the people they meet there. It’s a great way to hear the way the Hungarian language is actually spoken, pick up useful conversational language, and practice your listening comprehension.
Hungarian Lesson with Zsuzsi will help you learn the basics of Hungarian with short, helpful videos.

Free Online Hungarian Courses and Systems
If you’re interested in guided lessons or courses, there is a decent selection of free online Hungarian courses and systems available online. Here are just a few websites that offer online Hungarian lessons at no cost:

Surface Languages Hungarian: Surface Languages offers several topical vocabulary lists with various exercises. You can study everything from food to small talk in Hungarian.
Catch Budapest: I love the Catch Budapest website. There’s such a wealth of information available to Hungarian learners both about the Hungarian language and travel in Budapest. It includes several tips for learning the Hungarian language as well as a word of the day.
Live Lingua has two free coursebooks and a graded reader with audio for Hungarian. These include the FSI coursebooks which have a lot of useful phrases and vocabulary, plus audio.
Loecsen has around twenty beginner lessons available to Hungarian learners. They cover everything from basic greetings to phrases you can use if you find yourself in need of help.
Goethe Verlag: On this site, you’ll find several free resources including lessons for Hungarian.
BBC Languages is another great resource with introductions to Hungarian.
Tatoeba: Seeing example sentences in Hungarian can help you get started with forming your own very first phrases in the language. And Tatoeba is a great place to look because it has thousands of example sentences to help you get started.
Learn 101 offers fantastic introductions to many languages, including Hungarian. It’s a short, digestible grammar guide and in essence, a free digital coursebook.

Free Hungarian Language Apps
Apps are ideal for those who don’t have the time to sit down and study a language, or who like to study on the go.

Drops: I would be remiss not to include the language learning app that got me started with learning Hungarian! Drops is a free language learning app where you can learn thousands of new words in Hungarian. You get 5 minutes a day to build your vocabulary through engaging interactions and memorable visuals (Full disclosure: I work for Drops as well as Fluent in 3 Months).
Memrise or Anki: Anki(for iOS, for Android, and for everyone else) and Memrise are flashcard systems that you can use to create your own Hungarian vocabulary decks or download those already created by other users. The desktop version of Anki is free as are both the app and browser versions of Memrise.
Clozemaster is a language learning app the uses fill-in-the-blank, known as “cloze”, to help you master new vocabulary in Hungarian through context.
Duolingo: Duolingo is one of the most popular language learning apps -- even if the sentences are known for being a little quirky. Perhaps that’s what makes it so memorable! Duolingo introduces you to both Hungarian vocabulary and grammar through its gamified platform, so it’s fun to learn and easy to maintain your daily streaks.
Mondly: Mondly is yet another flashcard app with learning material available for Hungarian. It teaches the basics of the language including essential Hungarian phrases and verb conjugation.

Free Online Hungarian Language Resources for Advanced Hungarian Learners
Take a Free Online Course in Hungarian
Online courses and educational videos are an effective way to learn about new topics in Hungarian. If you’d like to learn more about something you’re passionate about in Hungarian, one of these resources could be a useful way to do two things at once.
Take a Free Online Course in Hungarian
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) not only offer Hungarian language courses, but they also offer courses on other subjects in Hungarian. If you’d like to learn more about something while improving your Hungarian at the same time, taking an online course in the language can be a useful way to do two things at once.

Coursera: Interested in learning more about excel or project management? Or maybe memory strategies or learning how to learn are more your thing? Whatever your interest is, there’s a good chance you can find a course taught in Hungarian on Coursera -- they currently have 15 to choose from!
EdX: Much like Coursera, EdX also has courses where Hungarian is the language of instruction. Currently, there is just one Hungarian language course, and you can use it to learn about Nitrogen in Hungarian.
Class Central: Class Central is an online portal that indexes free online courses from a variety of sites (including Coursera and EdX). Currently, they have two courses taught in Hungarian listed on their site.

TED Talks in Hungarian
TED Talks are a powerful way to learn new things in bite-sized chunks. Most talks are between 10-20 minutes long and are presented so that they keep your attention from start to finish.

Hungarian TED Talks

Watch Hungarian Vloggers on YouTube
If you’re looking for native and relevant material for your Hungarian language learning, YouTubers are a great source. Hungarian vloggers discuss everything from comedy to beauty to food, so you’re sure to find a YouTube personality who covers a topic that you’re interested in.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Tanulom Magam is a fun, quirky learning channel. The host teaches you about a variety of topics, using scientific evidence and humor to explain them.
Rita Kinábon: Literally “Rita in China”, this channel documents the life of one Hungarian vlogger living in China and learning the Chinese language. What better to do to learn Hungarian than by watching videos about a fellow language learner?
Lina és Panni are lifestyle bloggers from Hungary who document their lives, do video challenges, and offer style tips.
Li Taiwan: This channel is yet another Hungarian vlogger living abroad, this time in Taiwan. She shares videos about her life, travels, and language learning.
Fiona Bones Magyarul: Fiona Bones is a lifestyle vlogger who shares a bit about her life and language learning projects. She’s currently based in California, but vlogs in Hungarian.
Finom Szakács: If you like food and think you might be ready to try out a new recipe in your new language, Finom Szakács is a video recipe channel in Hungarian with recipes for several traditional Hungarian dishes.
Ízletes TV: If you enjoy sweets, this one is for you. Ízletes teaches you how to make a variety of desserts (and other recipes) on this channel.
Nosalty is probably my favorite Hungarian food channel. The videos are gorgeous, there are a few videos where you learn cooking from Hungarian grandmothers, and the dishes made are so, so finom.
Videojáték Zsoltival is a popular gamer with more than two hundred thousand subscribers. He posts gameplay videos and reviews different video games in Hungarian.
Tusnádi Roland is a vlogger who talks about his own life and shares the success stories of others in their 20s.
Gábor Simkó: Gábor Simkó is kind of like the Hungarian Scott Young in that he documents his language learning projects and other personal and learning experiments. He has learned French and Spanish, fasted for 100 hours, does other dietary experiments, did a juggling learning project, and shares other personal development tips.
Eszter Gottschall is a language, lifestyle, and travel vlogger who releases a variety of videos about her progress learning English, her travels, and she even has a few basic Hungarian lessons on her channel.

Free Hungarian Language Reading Materials
Finding material appropriate for your level in the language can be a challenge. Here are several ways you can practice reading in Hungarian online for free!

Wikipedia: Use Wikipedia to read short articles in Hungarian. You can switch back to your native language to check your comprehension.
LingQ: LingQ is a popular online learning system that helps you acquire new vocabulary through its reading interface. It’s free to sign up, though if you want to use it long-term you’ll need to opt for a paid plan.
LanguageGuide.org: LanguageGuide.org is a well-curated collection of reading materials with audio accompaniment.
Paralleltext.io: This excellent website lets you read classics such as Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland with the Hungarian and English texts side-by-side on the screen. Click a sentence to hear it pronounced by a computer voice. Tap the circle next to a sentence to change it from Hungarian to English and back. Switch from a side-by-side English/Hungarian view to Hungarian-only if your reading skills are more advanced.

What Free Online Hungarian Resources Do You Use?
There are many useful resources available to learn Hungarian at no cost online. Though I’ve featured 44 places you can learn Hungarian for free, I don’t doubt there are countless more. Let me know which ones you like!

The post Learn to Speak Hungarian Online for Free! 44 Hungarian Lessons for Learners on a Budget appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

500 Core Italian Words for Everyday Conversations (Top 500 Most Used Italian Words)

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What if you could understand Italian conversations by only learning 500 of the most used Italian words?

The Italian language is made up of hundreds of thousands of words -- while it is hard to pin down a specific number, some linguists have estimated it to be between 160,000 and 260,000!

For us Italian learners, a number like this one is daunting. How is someone supposed to learn 260,000 words in a foreign language?

But don’t worry! Italians themselves generally use only around 7,000 of these words throughout their lifetimes, and usually only about 1,000 in their daily routine. So who said that with 500 words and some enthusiasm, you couldn’t understand what’s going on in conversations? Even better, you’d be able to participate in them!

In this post, I’m going to introduce you to 500 of the most important Italian words to know if you want to make your Italian learning more effective.

These 500 words are based on frequency of use. That means they’re the most frequently used words in Italian, and the words you’re most likely to come across if you’re listening to or reading Italian or having a conversation in Italian.

It goes without saying that the most important Italian words you should learn depend on your interests and the reasons that push you to learn Italian, for which creating your own script is a good idea.

But it’s also vital to have a strong base of Italian words that you know.

Use this post as a guideline and feel free to include as many listed Italian words as you want in your personalized list!

Let’s get started!
The 100 Most Used Italian Nouns (+ 20 More Nouns You Need to Know)
Along with verbs (which I’ll come to in a moment), nouns are the most important words to learn in a foreign language. Saying “eat” or “apple” if you are hungry will make your point come across much better than saying “this” or “red”. You might not make Italian teachers proud, but at least you’ll get to fill your stomach.

The most used Italian word is arguably cosa, which translates in many ways in English -- including “what”, “thing”, and “matter” -- depending on its inflection, grammatical function, or the overall context of the sentence.

Examples:

Dammi la cosa rossa. - “Give me the red thing.” In this sentence, cosa is a feminine, singular noun translated as “thing”.
Cosa vuoi? - “What do you want?” Here, cosa is the pronoun “what”.
Me ne ha parlato coso. - “What’s-his-name told me about it.” Even if it is highly informal and somewhat disdainful, you can use coso to replace a man’s name when you don’t remember it.
Spiegami come funziona questo coso. - “Teach me how this thing works.” Coso as a masculine, singular noun also means “thing”, however, it is much more informal than cosa. Being able to differentiate between when to use coso or cosa is mainly a matter of practice. In the meantime, try to avoid coso as much as possible.
Hai troppe cose. - “You have too many things.” Cose can mean both “things” and “matters”, and in this sentence, it’s the former.
In Eros Ramazzotti’s song Cose Della Vita, cose means “matters”, so the full title translates as “Matters of Life”.

Knowing these are only a few ways to use cosa/o/e in a conversation, you can understand why it comes first in the list of most frequently used Italian nouns. By learning it, you would be able to vaguely say at least half of what you want. But let’s put jokes aside: even if it is tempting to handle a whole language with only a word, it’s not very realistic.

Here are the 99 nouns that pop up the most frequently in Italian conversations besides cosa. I also included some words that do not figure among the most frequently used Italian words in lists, but which are important to learn nonetheless.
The 10 Most Used Italian Nouns Related to Places (+ An Additional One)

casa - “house” or ”home”
paese - “country” or “town”
mondo - “world”
città - “city”
strada - “road”
piazza - “square”
sala - “room”
ufficio - “office”
zona - “zone”
isola - “island”

Additional word: posto - “place”
The 10 Most Used Italian Nouns Related to Time (+ Four Bonus Words)

anno - “year”
giorno - “day”
volta - “time” in the sense of “occasion”
tempo - “time”
ora - “hour”
momento - “moment”
notte - “night”
sera - “evening”
mese - “month”
periodo - “period” or “interval”

Additional words:

ieri - “yesterday”
oggi - “today”
domani - “tomorrow”
minuto - “minute”

The 11 Most Used Italian Nouns Related to People (+ An Additional One)

uomo - “man”
donna - “woman”
signore/a - “sir”/“madam” or “man”/“woman”. Signore with a capital ‘s’ is used as another way to say “Dio” (“God”).
padre - “father”
figlio/a - “son”/“daughter”
persona - “person”
gente - “people”
amico/a - “friend”
famiglia - “family”
nemico/a - “enemy”
sorella - “sister”

Additional word: madre - “mother”
The 10 Most Used Italian Nouns Related to Nature (+ Two Bonus Words)

acqua - “water”
aria - “air”
mare - “sea”
luce - “light”
sole - “sun”
albero - “tree”
fiore - “flower”
natura - “nature”
fuoco - “fire”
campagna - “(the) country”

Additional words:

terra - “land” or “ground”, “Earth” when it is written with a capital “T”.
vento - “wind”

The 8 Most Used Italian Nouns Related to Anatomy (+ Three Bonus Words)

vita - “life”
mano - “hand”
occhio - “eye”
parte - “part”
voce - “voice”
piede - “foot”
testa - “head”
mente - “mind”

Additional words:

bocca - “mouth”
gamba - “leg”
braccio - “arm”

50 Other Frequently Used Italian Nouns (+ Ten Additional Italian Nouns)

modo - “manner” or “way”
parola - “word”
punto - “dot”, “period”, or “moment”
lavoro - “job” or “work”
stato - “state”
caso - “case” or “coincidence”
guerra - “war”
nome - “name”
fatto - “fact”
amore - “love”
storia - “story” or “history”, occasionally “lies”, “fuss”, and “business” in informal conversations
forza - “strength”
ragione - “reason”
via - “street” or “road”
capo - “boss” or “head”
specie - “species” or “kind”
governo - “government”
senso - “sense”
opera - “work” or “opera”
prodotto - “product”
festa - “party”
gioco - “game”
prova - “test” or “trial”
misura - “measure”
posizione - “position”
successo - “success”
vista - “sight”
libertà - “freedom”
risultato - “result”
importanza - “importance”
dubbio - “doubt”
ricerca - “research”
figura - “figure” or “image”
questione - “matter” or “issue”
pena - “pain”, “sentence”, or “pity”
motivo - “motive”
esperienza - “experience”
ricordo - “memory” or “souvenir”
politica - “politics”
processo - “process”
vino - “wine”
porta - “door”
sud - “south”
sogno - “dream”
cane - “dog”
movimento - “movement”
occasione - “occasion”
prezzo - “price”
causa - “cause”
sviluppo - “development”

Additional words:

fame - “hunger”
sete - “thirst”
niente - “nothing”
qualcosa - “something”
aiuto - “help”
errore - “mistake”
domanda - “question”
risposta - “answer”
macchina - “car”
aereo - “plane”

The 100 Most Used Italian Verbs
Verbs are all about action -- doing things. That could be running, cooking, sleeping, whatever. If you (or someone else, or something else) is doing something, there’s a verb involved. You’ll find a verb in every Italian sentence, so it’s important that you know them.

Learning 100 of the most used Italian verbs will allow you to understand way more conversations that you might think.
The 2 Italian Auxiliaries
Before we dive into the full list of most common Italian verbs, let’s take a good look at the Italian auxiliaries, essere (“to be”) and avere (“to have”). I’ll come to why these matter in just a moment.

Essere

(io) sono - “I am”
(tu) sei - “you are”
(egli/essa/esso) è - “he/she/it is”
(noi) siamo - “we are”
(voi) siete - “you (all) are”
(essi/esse) sono - “they are”

Avere

(io) ho - “I have”
(tu) hai - “you have”
(egli/essa/esso) ha - “he/she/it has”
(noi) abbiamo - “we have”
(voi) avete - “you (all)” have”
(essi/esse) hanno - “they have”

Not only are the verbi ausiliari (“auxiliaries”) useful for making up composed tenses, but many verbal phrases that in English start with “to be” use avere as their core.

Examples:

avere sonno - “to be sleepy”
avere fame - “to be hungry”
avere ragione - “to be right”

By using avere + noun, you can even sometimes replace other verbs: avere voglia can replace volere (“to want”).
Top 10 Most Frequently Used Italian Verbs
Besides the auxiliaries, there are 10 other most frequently used Italian verbs:

fare - “to do”
dire - “to say”
potere - “to can” or “to be able to”
volere - “to want”
sapere - “to know”
stare - “to stay”
dovere - “to must” or “to have to”
vedere - “to see”
andare - “to go”
venire - “to come”

I’ve divided the next 88 most used Italian verbs into three lists, depending on the group of verbs they belong to.
The 34 Most Used Italian Verbs in the First Group: -are

dare - “to give”
parlare - “to speak”
trovare - “to find”
lasciare - “to let go” or “to leave”
guardare - “to watch”
pensare - “to think”
passare - “to pass”, “to move”, or “to hand”
portare - “to bring”
tornare - “to come back”
sembrare - “to seem” or “to look like”
chiamare - “to call”
cercare - “to look for” or “to search for”
entrare - “to enter”
ricordare - “to remember”
aspettare - “to wait”
arrivare - “to arrive”
diventare - “to become”
mangiare - “to eat”
camminare - “to walk”
toccare - “to touch”
considerare - “to consider”
mandare - “to send”
domandare - “to ask”
ascoltare - “to listen”
osservare - “to observe”
spiegare - “to explain”
mostrare - “to show”
significare - “to mean”
desiderare - “to wish”
giudicare - “to judge”
avvicinare - “to move closer” or “to approach”
ordinare - “to organize”, “to tidy up”, or “to order”
invitare - “to invite”
sbagliare - “to make a mistake”, “to miss”, or “to be mistaken”

The 33 Most Used Italian Verbs in the Second Group: -ere, -arre, -orre, or -urre

prendere - “to take”
mettere - “to put”
credere - “to believe”
vivere - “to live”
parere - “to seem”, “to appear”, “to believe” or “to think”
tenere - “to keep” or “to grip”
rispondere - “to answer”
chiudere - “to close” or “to end”
bere - “to drink”
raggiungere - “to reach”
comprendere - “to understand” or “to comprehend”
scendere - “to get off” or “to go down”
compiere - “to accomplish”, “to complete”, or “to carry out”
muovere - “to move”
conoscere - “to know”
chiedere - “to ask”
stringere - “to tighten”
decidere - “to decide”
ricevere - “to receive”
permettere - “to allow”
raccogliere - “to pick up”
ottenere - “to obtain”
ammettere - “to admit”
vendere - “to sell”
distinguere - “to distinguish” or “to recognize”
offendere - “to offend”
rimettere - “to replace” or “to refer”. When it is written as a
rompere - “to break”
godere - “to enjoy”
imporre - “to impose”
produrre - “to produce”
discutere - “to discuss” or “to argue” spegnere
prevedere - “to foresee”
spegnere - “to turn off” or “to put out”

The 21 Most Used Italian Verbs in the Third Group -ire

sentire - “to feel” or “to hear”
capire - “to understand”
morire - “to die”
aprire - “to open”
uscire - “to go out”
riuscire - “to succeed”
finire - “to end” or “to finish”
scrivere - “to write”
dormire - “to sleep”
avvenire - “to happen” or “to take place”
offrire - “to offer”
fuggire - “to flee”
riferire - “to refer”
impedire - “to prevent” or “to forbid”
divertire - “to entertain” or “to amuse”
fornire - “to provide”
riempire - “to fill”
scoprire - “to discover”
partire - “to leave” or “to depart”
unire - “to unite”
colpire - “to hit”

198 Frequently Used Italian Adjectives and Adverbs
Sometimes nouns and verbs on their own can’t convey a message clearly enough, and that’s when adjectives and adverbs come in handy.

These 198 frequently used Italian adjectives and adverbs will make your Italian much more colourful and bring your Italian to life.
The 8 Italian Possessive Adjectives

mio (mia/miei/mie) - “mine”
tuo (tua/tuoi/tue) - “yours” (singular second person)
suo (sua/suoi/sue) - “his” or “hers”
nostro (nostra/nostri/nostre) - “ours”
vostro (vostra/vostri/vostre) - “yours” (plural second person)
loro - “theirs”

Unlike in English, possessive adjectives in Italian have to agree with the noun that is possessed, and not the possessor, in genre and number.

Examples:

Il mio albero - “my tree”
La tua famiglia - “your family”
I suoi amici - “his friends”
Le nostre mani - “our hands”

Note: Loro is an exception as it always remains the same, no matter the noun to which it refers.

Examples:

i loro piedi - “their feet”
la loro vita - “their life”
le loro parole - “their words”

There are two additional Italian possessive adjectives which don’t have evident equivalents in English:

proprio (a/i/e) - “his own”/“her own”/“their own”

When proprio is a possessive adjective, it is used instead of suo/a and loro and only when it refers to something that belongs to the subject of the sentence: Ognuno porta il proprio cuaderno (“Everyone brings their own notebook.”)

altrui - “of others”/“of someone else”

Altrui is used when the noun to which it refers belongs to an indefinite person: le cose altrui (“other people’s things”).

Unlike proprio, altrui does not change depending on the genre and number of the noun it refers to.
8 Italian Indefinite Adjectives
Words we use on a daily basis like tutto/a/i/e (“all”), troppo/a/i/e (“too much/many”), and altro/a/i/e (“other”) are indefinite adjectives. They describe nouns in a non-specific sense: Devo parlare ad altre persone (“I need to talk to other people”).

tutto/a - “all”
poco/a - “little”
alcuno/a - “not any”, “no”, or “some”
ogni - “each”
qualsiasi - “any”
qualche - “some” or “a few”
altro/a - “other” or “different”

62 Italian Adjectives of Number
In Italian, the principal types of adjectives of number include the numeri cardinali (“cardinal numbers”), numeri ordinali (“ordinal numbers”), numeri moltiplicativi (“multiplicative numbers”) and numeri frazionari (“fractional numbers”).

The terms might sound intimidating, but they are actually very simple.

31 Italian Cardinal Numbers:

uno/a - “one”
due - “two”
tre - “three”
quattro - “four”
cinque - “five”
sei - “six”
sette - “seven”
otto - “eight”
nove - “nine”
dieci - “ten”
undici - “eleven”
dodici - “twelve”
tredici - “thirteen”
quattordici - “fourteen”
quindici - “fifteen”
sedici - “sixteen”
diciassette - “seventeen”
diciotto - “eighteen”
diciannove - “nineteen”
venti - “twenti”
trenta - “thirty”
quaranta - “fourty”
cinquanta - “fifty”
sessanta - “sixty”
settanta - “seventy”
ottanta - “eighty”
novanta - “ninety”
cento - “hundred” or “a hundred”
mille - “thousand” or “a thousand”
millione - “million”
milliardo - “billion”

You can form other cardinal numbers by combining some of these 31 words, such as trentuno (“thirty-one”) or duecentocinquantotto (“two hundred fifty-eight”).

The 13 Main Italian Ordinal Numbers:

primo/a - “first”
secondo/a - “second”
terzo/a - “third”
quarto/a - “fourth”
quinto/a - “fifth”
sesto/a - “sixth”
ottavo - “eighth”
nono - “ninth”
decimo - “tenth”
centesimo - “hundredth”
millesimo - “thousandth”

Note: ultimo is “last”.

The 6 Main Italian Multiplicative Numbers:

doppio/a - “double”
triplo/a/triplice - “triple”
quadruplo/a/quadruplice - “quadruple”
quintuplo/a/quintuplice - “quintuple”
decuplo/a/decuplice - “tenfold”
centuplo/a/centuplice - “a hundred times as much”

The 12 Main Italian Fractional Numbers:

mezzo/a/metà - “half”
un terzo - “one third”
un quarto - “one fourth”
un quinto - “one fifth”
un sesto - “one sixth”
un settimo - “one seventh”
un ottavo - “one eighth”
un nono - “one ninth”
un decimo - “one tenth”
un centesimo - “one hundredth”
un millesimo - “one thousandth”

50 of the Most Frequently Used Italian Adjectives
Some adjectives make it possible to describe the way something appears, where it is from, or the feelings it inspires. Here are 50 of the most frequently used Italian adjectives to help you do just so.

grande - “big”
stesso/a - “same”
bello/a - “beautiful” or “gorgeous”
nuovo/a - “new”
certo/a - “sure” or “certain”
vero/a - “true”
buono/a - “good”
italiano/a - “Italian”
vecchio/a - “old”
piccolo/a - “small”
giovane - “young”
alto/a - “tall”
diverso/a - “different”
lungo/a - “long”
povero/a - “poor”
maggiore- “greater”, “elder”, or “older
possibile - “possible”
caro/a - “expensive” or “dear”
pieno/a - “full”
nero/a - “black”
particolare - “specific” or “unique”
bianco/a - “white”
attuale - “current”
latino/a - “Latin”
impossibile - “impossible”
sereno/a - “serene” or “sunny”
puro/a - “pure”
normale - “normal”
perfetto/a - “perfect”
caratteristico/a - “characteristic”
russo/a - “Russian”
continuo/a - “continuous”
stupido/a - “stupid”
estremo/a - “extreme”
grigio/a - “gray”
reale - “real”
interessante - “interesting”
medesimo/a - “same”
religioso/a - “religious”
ampio/a - “wide”
biondo/a - “blonde”
ufficiale - “official”
attento - “attentive” or “alert”
enorme - “enormous”
sottile - “thin”
triste - “sad”
minimo - “smallest”, “slightest”, or “minimal”
privato/a - “private”
rapido/a - “fast”
diretto/a - “direct”

23 Italian Adverbs Derived from Adjectives
While adjectives mainly describe nouns, adverbs tend to modify, well… verbs. If you need an adverb but know only the adjective that explains the concept, chances are you will be able to build the adverb following the following rules.

In English, we sometimes add the suffix -ly to an adjective to turn it into an adverb. In Italian, the process is similar.

With adjectives that end in -o: Add -mente to the feminine form of the adjective.

Examples:

veramente - “truly”, “really”, or “actually”
francamente - “frankly”
esattamente - “exactly”
sinceramente - “sincerely”
profondamente - “deeply” or “profoundly”
certamente - “certainly”
improvvisamente - “suddenly”
chiaramente - “clearly”
direttamente - “directly”
raramente - “rarely”
altamente - “highly”

With adjectives that end in -e: Sometimes, you have to remove the -e and add -mente

Examples:

specialmente - “especially”
particolarmente - “particularly”
talmente - “so much” or “to such an extent”
cordialmente - “cordially”
abitualmente - “usually”
finalmente - “finally”
probabilmente - “probably”
eventualmente - “possibly”

Other times, you simply add -mente at the end of the word.

Examples:

velocemente - “quickly”
semplicemente - “simply”
recentemente - “recently”
fortemente - “strongly”

Practice is your best ally to differentiate when to do what with adjectives ending in -e.

Now let’s explore the realm of Italian adverbs that do not derive from adjectives.
12 Italian Adverbs of Place

fuori - “outside”
dentro - “inside”
sotto - “under” or “below”
davanti - “in front”
dietro - “behind” or “back”
qui - “here”, precise location
qua - “here”, imprecise location
lì - “there”, precise location
là - “there”, imprecise location
via - “away”
lontano - “far”
vicino - “close”

11 Italian Adverbs of Quantity

più - “more”
meno - “less”
solo - “only”
tanto - “more” or “very much”
quasi - “almost”
poco - “little”
parecchio - “quite a lot” or “much”
abbastanza - “quite” or “enough”
almeno - “at least”
circa - “about” or “around”
per nulla - “at all”

11 Italian Adverbs of Time

poi - “then”
adesso - “now”
sempre - “always” or “forever”
mai - “never” or “never”
prima - “before”
subito - “immediately”
dopo - “after”
durante - “during”
ancora - “again” or “still”
presto - “soon”, “early”, or “rapidly”
già - “before” or “already”

8 Italian Adverbs of Manner

bene/ben - “well”
male - “bad”
forte - “heavily”
piano - “slowly” or “quietly”
appena - “just” or “only”
insieme - “together”
volentieri - “gladly” or “willingly”
meglio - “better”
peggio - “worse”

5 Miscellaneous Italian Adverbs

pure - “even”, “also”, or “too”
forse - “maybe”
piuttosto - “instead” or “rather”
inoltre - “moreover”
oltretutto - “besides”

The 10 Italian Subject Pronouns
Although these pronouns aren’t usually used in spoken Italian, it’s important to learn the 10 Italian subject pronouns to be able to study Italian conjugation.

io - “I”
tu - “you” (singular second person)
egli, ella, esso, Lei - “he”, “she”, “it”, “you” (formal singular)
noi - “us”
voi - “you” (plural)
essi, esse - “they” masculine, “they” feminine

Note: Egli, ella, esso, essi, esse are even less used than io, tu, Lei, noi, and voi in verbal communcation as they sound very formal. Often, they are replaced by lui (for egli), lei (for essa), and loro (for essi, esse), but only colloquially. Using lui, lei, and loro as subject pronouns is grammatically incorrect, but is done more and more often.
The 10 Italian Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are useful in sentences such as mi lavo (“I wash myself”). They indicate that the person who’s doing the action is also the recipient of the action.

In Italian, the reflexive pronouns are:

mi - “myself”
ti - “yourself”
si - “himself”/“herself”/“itself”/“yourself” (formal)
ci - “ourselves”
vi - “yourselves”
si - “themselves”

20 Core Italian Conjunctions and Connectors
Conjunctions and connectors are, you guessed it, words that help us tie together two parts of a sentence.

In Italian, the most used conjunctions and connectors are:

e - “and”
anche - “as well”, “also”, or “even”
dunque - “so”
allora - “so” or “therefore”
però - “but”, “yet”, or “however”
ma - “but”
perché - “because”
mentre - “while” or “whereas”
contro - “against”
invece - “instead”
o - “or”
né - “neither” or “nor”
cioè - “that is (to say)” or “namely”
anzi - “instead”, “actually”, or “rather”
quindi - “therefore”
così - “thus”
perciò - “so” or “for this reason”
finché - “as long as”
nonostante - “although” or “even though”
a meno che or a meno che non - “unless”

The 10 Core Italian Prepositions
Prepositions show the relationship between two elements of a sentence. In Italian, the most common ones are:

tra - “between”
fra - “among”
di - “of” or “from”
a - “at”, “in”, or “on”
da/dal/dalla - “from” or “to”
in - “at”, “in”, “to”, or “into”
su - “on”, “up”, or “over”
per - “for”
con - “with”
senza - “without”

The 7 Italian Question Words
Learning a new language conveys a lot of question-asking, which you will be able to face much better by knowing the seven question words in Italian:

chi - “who”
che - “what” (note: cosa? is also used to ask, “what?”)
dove - “where”
quando - “when”
come - “how”
perché - “why” (note: when not used as a question word but as a conjunction, perché means “because”)
quale (quali) - “which”

7 Popular Italian Interjections
Italians are fans of interjections, those little words that reveal the emotions of the speaker in a spontaneous reaction.

Here are some of the most popular Italian interjections:

sì - “yes”
no - “no” (mind-blowing, I know)
toh - “here, have it” or “look” → Example: Toh, chi si vede! (“Look who’s here!”)
peccato - “what a shame” (literally “sin”)
dai - “come on” (literally “give”)
ciao - “hello” and “goodbye”
ecco - “here”, “there”, or used to express comprehension → Ecco, lo sapevo! (“There, I knew it!”)

The 7 Italian Definite Articles
Unlike in English, gli articoli determinativi (“definite articles”) agree with the noun they refer to. Therefore, instead of being just one definite article like in English (“the”), there are six of them:

il or lo - “the” (masculine singular versions)
i or gli - “the” (masculine plural versions)
la - “the” (feminine singular version)
le - “the” (feminine plural version)
l’ - singular “the” placed in front of both masculine and feminine nouns that start with a vowel. It essentially is a contraction of lo and la.

Why are there two versions for the masculine “the”, both plural and singular? The default masculine definite articles are il and i, but they don’t sound good in front of certain combinations of letters. Therefore, lo and gli sometimes replace them.

You can learn the difference through practice, but I’m still leaving the rules here in case you’d like to give them a try (they’re quite easy!)

Lo and gli are used before words that start with:

pn-
*ps- *
gn-
z-
x-
y-
s- followed by a consonant
i- followed by a voyel

*Gli* precedes words that start with a vowel.
The 4 Italian Indefinite Articles
Unlike their definite cousins, gli articoli indeterminativi (“indefinite articles”) in Italian only exist in singular form. They are the equivalent of the English “a” and “an”.

un - “a” or “an” (standard masculine version)
uno - “a” (masculine version used in front of words starting z or s followed by a consonant)
una - “a” (feminine version in front of consonants)
un’ - “an” (feminine version in front of vowels)

The 7 Italian Partitive Articles
Gli articoli partitivi (“partitive articles”) are essential in Italian because they introduce unknown amounts. You could consider them the translation of “some” in sentences such as voglio dell’acqua (“I want some water”) or dammi dei prodotti (“give me some products”).

del - “some” (standard masculine singular version)
dello - “some” (masculine singular version)
della - “some” (feminine singular version in front of consonants)
dell’ - “some” (feminine and masculine singular version in front of vowels)
dei’ - “some” (masculine plural version)
degli’ - “some” (masculine plural version)
delle - “some” (feminine plural version)

The same rules that apply to the use of il, lo, i, gli apply to del, dello, dei, degli.
Strengthen Your Italian with the Most Used Italian Words
How do you feel about discovering the 500 core Italian words?

What if, by learning only five words every day, you’d ended up being able to have Italian interactions in around three months? Maybe you could participate in the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge to keep you motivated. By the end of the 90 days, you’d get to have a 15-minute conversation in Italian and use those 500 words!

You can also enrich your vocabulary by checking out these resources for learning Italian.

What are some English words you use most often? Do you know their Italian translation? What are the Italian words you use the most? Let me know in the comments!

The post 500 Core Italian Words for Everyday Conversations (Top 500 Most Used Italian Words) appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

Japanese Question Words: “What”, “Where”, When”, “Who”, “How” and “Why” in Japanese

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Sooner or later, you’re going to have to master how to ask a question in Japanese. After all, knowing how to ask “What” in Japanese -- as in “What’s this?” -- is a lifesaver when you first start learning the language.

Besides that, questions are how you develop meaningful conversations with others. If you can’t ask questions about them, how can you get to know them?

So not only am I going to cover the basic Who/What/When/Where/Why/How words in Japanese, but I’m also going to give you examples of how to use them in common sentences. Plus, I’ll share some of the most common Japanese question phrases you’ll need to know.

So, let’s work on building your conversation skills together with this list of Japanese question words!
Asking a Question in Japanese
First, let’s understand how to ask and form a question in Japanese.

“Question” in Japanese is 質問 (shitsumon). You can say 質問があります (shitsumon ga arimasu), which means “I have a question.” Or, politely ask “May I ask a question” with: 質問していいですか？ (Shitsumon shite ii desu ka?).

The verb, “to ask” can be said a few different ways. You can use 質問する (shitsumon suru), 尋ねる (tazuneru), or 聞く (kiku). These are used in slightly different ways, though.

質問する is used more like “to make a question.” 尋ねる means “to ask” and it’s more on the formal side. 聞く, on the other hand, is the one you’ll hear the most for “to ask.”

But any sentence can be turned into a question simply by adding the particle か to the end!

勉強していますか。
Benkyou shite imasu ka
“Are you studying?”

A quick note here. Because か is the “?” at the end of the sentence, you don’t actually need a question mark. You can still use one, but it’s much more common and correct to use the Japanese maru 。

You use the question mark in writing when you are talking casually, and it’s normally a word you would say on its own with a raised intonation to mark the question.

Here’s the last thing to know when forming a sentence in Japanese. Most question words are connected with the particle が (ga) before them. So the grammar structure is (noun or noun phrase) + が + (question word) + (verb) + か.

An example: スマホがどこですか。(Sumaho ga doko desu ka) That means “Where is my smartphone?” Sumaho is the noun + particle ga + question word doko + verb desu + question particle ka.
Japanese Question Words: The Basics
Here are the basic and most common Japanese question words you’ll hear. These will be invaluable to memorize, so you can ask how to say things, where something is, and when to meet someone.
What in Japanese - 何
“What” in Japanese is 何, read both “nan” and “nani.” Here are some examples:

お名前は何ですか。
Onamae wa nan desu ka.
“What’s your name?”

何？聞けなった。
Nani? Kikenatta.
“What? I didn’t hear you.”

You can also attach particles to 何 to make other common, helpful terms. 何か (nanika) means “something” while 何も (nanimo) means “nothing.” You can also use でも to make 何でも for “anything.” Super useful!
Who in Japanese - 誰
To ask “who,” you use the question word 誰 (dare). You can also just say 誰？ to ask “Who are you?” in Japanese… But that’s informal and not very polite.

Here are some ways to use it:

誰ですか。
Dare desu ka
“Who is it?”

誰と話していたの？
Dare to hanashite ita no?
“Who were you talking to?”

Like 何, you can also combine 誰 with the particles も, でも, and か to make new words:

誰も (daremo) - “everybody”, or “nobody” when used with a negative statement
誰でも (daredemo) - “anybody”
誰か (dareka) - “somebody”

Why in Japanese - どうして
There are actually three ways to ask “why” in Japanese, but they all mean almost the same thing.

First, どうして (doushite). This means “why” and is the most standard. It’s neither formal or informal, so it’s perfect for most situations.

なぜ means “why” or “how come.” The nuance here is it’s used in more formal situations, or in writing.

なんで is the most casual and used between friends and family. It means “why” or “for what reason.” It’s also used as a conversation filler for when you forget the word, kind of like “Ah, what is it again…”

Here are some examples with each:
どうしてとても眠いですか。
Doushite totemo nemui desu ka
“Why are you so sleepy?”

なんでめっちゃ可愛いの❣
Nande meccha kawaii no
“Why is it so cute??”

なぜですか。
Naze desu ka
“Why is that?” (Polite)

There are also some variations of どうして with particles, but it changes the meaning quite a bit. They are:

どうしても (doushitemo) - “No matter what”
どうしてか (doushiteka) - “For some reason”
どうしてかな (doushite kana) - “I wonder why”

When in Japanese - いつ
いつ (itsu) is “when” in Japanese. When you attach the particle も, it becomes いつも (itsumo), meaning “always.”

You can also use いつでも (itsudemo) for “anytime” and いつか (itsuka) for “sometimes.”

誕生日はいつですか。
Tanjoubi wa itsu desu ka
“When is your birthday?”
Where in Japanese - どこ
Need directions? Lost something and wondering where it went? Use どこ (doko) to ask "where" in Japanese.

Let's take a look at the question word + particle combos here:

どこも (dokomo) - “everywhere”, or “nowhere” when used in a negative sentence
どこでも (dokodemo) - “anywhere”
どこか (dokoka) - “somewhere”

駅がどこですか。
Eki ga doko desu ka
“Where is the train station?”
How in Japanese - どう
どう (dou) is “how” in Japanese.

You can add on to this one, too. どうか (douka) is “somehow” and どうでも is “anyhow” or “no matter what.” But since there’s no such thing as “everyhow”, adding the も particle to this one would turn it into “thanks” -- どうも (doumo).

どうすればよいですか。
Dou sureba yoi desu ka
“How do I do this?”
Which in Japanese - どちら
You can use どちら (dochira) to ask “which” or “which way” to go. But, to ask “which one”, you would use the word どれ (dore).

And with the particles:

どちらも (dochiramo) - “both”
どちらでも (dochirademo) - “either”
どちらか (dochiraka) - “which one” or "one way” when choosing between two options

どちらを選びますか。
Dochira wo erabimasu ka
“Which will you choose?”

Hopefully, you see how the particles change each question word. Adding -も makes it the extreme - “every” or “always.” -でも makes it “any.” And -か turns it into “some.”
Japanese Questions Words List with Common Questions
Now let’s cover some common questions you may be wondering how to ask!
“What is this?” In Japanese
これは何ですか (kore wa nan desu ka) is one of the most useful phrases you could learn. If you don’t know how to say something in Japanese, ask using that phrase to ask what it is.

Similarly, you can say それは何ですか (sore wa nan desu ka) to ask “What’s that?” or “What is it?” in Japanese. The only difference is これ means “this” and それ means "that."

These two phrases are also useful:
これは日本語で何と言いますか。
Kore wa nihongo de nan to iimasu ka
“How do you say this in Japanese?”

日本語で は何ですか。
*Nihongo de _ wa nan desu ka*
“What is __ in Japanese?”
“How much?” in Japanese
To ask the price of something, you can use いくら (ikura) for “how much?” For “how many” you use いくつ (ikutsu).

いくら必要ですか。
Ikura hitsuyou desu ka
“How much do you need?”

いくつ持っていますか。
Ikutsu motte imasu ka
“How many do you have?”
“Where are you?” in Japanese
Looking for someone in a crowd? Call them on their スマホ (sumaho, “smartphone”) and ask どこにいますか (doko ni imasu ka). Which means, “Where are you?”

You could also ask questions like:

どこに住んでいますか (doko ni sunde imasu ka) - “Where do you live?”
どこで働いていますか (doko de hataraite imasu ka) - “Where do you work?”
トイレがどこですか (toire ga doko desu ka) - “Where is the bathroom?”

“Where are you from?” in Japanese
出身がどちらですか (shusshin ga dochira desu ka) means “Where are you from?” in Japanese, or “Which is your hometown?” It sounds a bit odd translated directly into English, but many people often ask where you’re originally from. Even in Japan, since so many people move to Tokyo from all over the country.

Some other questions you can ask to get to know others:

趣味は何ですか (Shumi wa nan desu ka) - “What are your hobbies?”
何歳ですか (Nansai desu ka) - “How old are you?”
仕事は何ですか (Shigoto wa nan desu ka) - “Where do you work?”

“How are you?” In Japanese
“How are you?” in Japanese is お元気ですか (o-genki desu ka). It literally means “Are you well?” There’s another phrase you’ll sometimes hear, too: いかがですか (ikaga desu ka). It still means “How are you?” but can also mean “How’s it going?” and be applied to other topics, like a work project. Both phrases are on the formal side.

You can ask “How was your day” with the phrase 今日はどうでしたか (kyou wa dou deshita ka).

One thing to note, though, is that it’s not common to ask お元気ですか like it is in English. Japanese people use this phrase only when it’s been a while since they’ve seen the other person. And in that case, they say it in past tense: お元気でしたか (o-genki deshita ka).
“Are you…” in Japanese
A basic sentence pattern for asking questions is _ ですか (_ desu ka). You can ask “Are you…” in Japanese with this phrase. Like:

日本人ですか (Nihonjin desu ka) - “Are you Japanese?”
大丈夫ですか (Daijoubu desu ka) - “Are you okay?”
作家ですか (Sakka desu ka) - “Are you a writer?”

This only works with nouns, because verbs conjugate on their own. But it’s a very helpful, simple pattern!
Ask All the Questions in Japanese!
Now you’ve learned a lot of ways to ask questions, as well as the grammar and basic Japanese questions words. So go out, meet some new Japanese friends, and start asking away!

Make sure to also learn all the core Japanese words to kick off your vocabulary skills. And, the essential Japanese phrases to start speaking right now.

Got a question about this post? Drop it in the comments below!

The post Japanese Question Words: “What”, “Where”, When”, “Who”, “How” and “Why” in Japanese appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

French Uncovered Review — Does “Story Learning” Really Work for French?

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So, I’m guessing you're reading this article because you want a French Uncovered review, and you’re wondering “is French Uncovered any good?”

In this article, I’ll be reviewing French Uncovered. I will walk through the basics of the course, some of my favorite things and what didn’t work for me. Keep reading to see insider screenshots and a video of me walking you through the material.

But first, so you can decide whether the course is a good fit for you based on my experience, here are a couple of lines about me and my experience as a French learner and French speaker.
How I Learned French (After 10 Language Fails!)
I remember my first “Aha!” moment in French. It was just days after reading an article by Fluent in 3 Months’ Benny Lewis. In the article, he promised it was possible to learn a language on your own.

I was looking for a realistic method that would help me finally learn French after 10 language fails.

Through his website -- the very one you are reading now -- I discovered the art of self-taught language learning. And no, it does not mean that I sat in a dark room nine hours a day and taught myself French from the ether. Learning by osmosis would have made for a very interesting article. But that was not the case.

Learning a language took courage, routine and a solid resource. I read a mess of Fluent In 3 Month articles about the best language learning products. So, I’m happy to continue the tradition by trying products for you, my wonderful language buddies!

I’m sure you’re as excited as I was to learn a language. Without further ado, let’s examine French Uncovered. We’ve got a lot of exciting material to cover.
French Uncovered Review: What Is French Uncovered?
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French Uncovered is a creative online course that teaches you French through story. You are immersed in the language by reading and listening to a tale completely in French!

There are currently five languages available in the Uncovered series: German, French, Spanish, Japanese and Italian.

Olly Richards created this course by first writing a short story in French. He then breaks down each chapter into a course section.

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The sections consist of a diverse offering of tools. You can see some of them in this video I made. In it, I show you some of my favorite pieces:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvF8_qv6Eo8

For all you list-lovers out there, here’s a breakdown of the individual sections.
Every Section of French Uncovered Includes:

Chapter of Olly’s story written completely in French with an English translation
Audio file of the chapter read by a native speaker
Video lesson on cognates and how to work with them
Discussion area where you can ask questions, receive answers and learn from others
Video lesson focusing on the vocabulary in that chapter
Another discussion area for vocabulary questions
Printable workbook with vocabulary exercises and additional course material
Video lesson explaining key grammar concepts
Third discussion area for grammar
Workbook with grammar exercises and additional grammar explanations
Practice document to share with your tutor or language exchange partner
Video lesson on pronunciation with a native speaker
Discussion area for pronunciation help
Chapter quiz to measure your progress

All lectures are shown with an electronic whiteboard. This allows you to see each sentence discussed.

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The material takes you from zero French to international spy in 20 sections. Okay, maybe not spy but you will be able to order coffee and chat with the waiter, including sharing that you’ve read a short story in French.

True story - I once told a Parisian waiter that I was learning French. I hadn’t yet discovered this marvelous course. Because of this, I have no idea what the waiter replied. He did however hand my camera to my husband, plunk himself beside me and insist Chris take a picture of us.

I may or may not have accepted a marriage proposal on that day. If I did, Chris (my darling husband) is definitely invited to the reception. You think I’m kidding? Here’s the pic!

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With a solid main resource for learning French, this won’t happen to you. Unless, of course, that’s what you want. In which case, you’ll be able to flat out ask for it. Voulez-vous me proposer le mariage? “Would you like to propose marriage to me?”
How I Explored French Uncovered Before Writing This Review
Before examining this course, I used its sister course, Spanish Uncovered for over a year. I also spent five hours meandering through German Uncovered. Yes, this is my idea of nerd heaven. Don’t judge. You could end up just like me after you try it.

If you’re curious, peek at my article reviewing the Spanish version. You’ll see videos of where I began and what I was able to do after 90 days of using this product. Spanish Uncovered was my number one resource while learning Spanish.

In my German Uncovered review, I share a video discussion I had with another German learner. Both of these articles will give you more information about the Uncovered series.

For this review, I spent five hours learning with French Uncovered. As an intermediate French learner, it was a nice review for me. I harkened back to my days as a monolingual and tried to see this course through the eyes of a beginner.

During my involvement, I pushed all the buttons. I tried all the bells and whistles and I took notes for you. Were there differences between French Uncovered and my beloved Spanish Uncovered? Would I be sad that the tutor for this course wasn’t as engaging at German Uncovered? Could Olly use his formula to produce another winning course?

I’m happy to say he did not disappoint. The strength of this course is its structure. And Olly was smart to keep it the same.

French Uncovered highlights five touchstones of language acquisition.

You learn how to read in a foreign language without a searing headache.
You gain insight into French grammar as well as France’s addiction to apostrophes.
You learn how to pronounce words in French with a native speaker.
You are taught how to think like a successful polyglot.
You develop a deep well of useful vocabulary.

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French Uncovered: My Perspective
As I mentioned before, my level of French is that of an intermediate French speaker. However, I clearly remember how lost I felt as a first-time language learner. I kept the panicked, dry-mouth memory clear in my mind as I worked through the course.

My repeat questions were, “How would this course have helped me? How would this course have hindered my progress?” I bet you’re wondering what the answers were. If I could shout from the rooftops, “Try this course!” I most definitely would.

Alas, I live in the suburbs of Southern California where shouting is frowned upon. Surfing is okay. I could surf with a banner attached to my body. But it’s not always warm enough to surf and I don’t own a wetsuit. I digress. What did I think of French Uncovered?
French Uncovered is Well Worth the Investment
My opinion is prejudiced. I used Spanish Uncovered as my main resource for learning Spanish. I also spent five glorious hours playing with German Uncovered.

I’m looking at French Uncovered with the memory of being an absolute beginner. The pain of many failed attempts makes that hard to forget. I’m biased in that I have the positive experience of learning rapidly with Spanish Uncovered.

The diversity of this course is like none other. Olly created a fun maze of exercises. He seamlessly touched the four pillars of language learning; speaking, reading, listening & writing. He managed to keep my attention every step of the way.

I don’t know where this guy learned how to teach languages but he’s gifted. Not once did I feel like throwing the resource out the window. Now that’s saying something!

In every subsection, I found myself doing something different. He organized the course in a way that keeps the student coming back for more. There are lectures followed by exercises that help you practice the points discussed. Some exercises are challenging. Others feel more like a game.

And if you detest grammar exercises, Olly suggests you listen to the lectures. Save the grammar exercises for later. As a serious hater of homework, it’s nice to know there’s more than one way to enjoy this course.

If you want to speak a language well, you have to know what the other person is saying. I recommend listening to the audio of the chapters on your phone. Listen while walking the dog. Listen while commuting to work. Listen while waiting in line at the dry cleaners. I make a goal of listening to each chapter twenty times. It makes a huge difference in my ability to understand native speakers.

Lectures are a little more tricky, right? Well, French Uncovered makes that doable by keeping most of their videos to less than 25 minutes. And if you can’t sit still for 25 minutes, just watch half and come back for more. Or use a treadmill desk. They are all the rage now.

Even as an intermediate learner, I found the lectures fascinating. I enjoy learning about cognates and language patterns. You might be surprised to find out you like it, too.

This course gives you a balanced start in French which is more than I had when I started out. Do yourself a favor! Don’t do as I did and go at it alone 10 times. Find a main learning resource that you appreciate and a few good tutors. Your French will soar.

And if you decide on French Uncovered, you’ll be supporting a small business. It’s a great way to vote with your dollars. I’m all about supporting polyglots who generously share what they have discovered.
French Uncovered Review: The Best Parts
As you’ve guessed, I have a crush on French Uncovered. There are a few aspects of the course that really shine.
1. French Uncovered Is Your One-Stop Français Shop
A lot of the learners suffer from Too Many Choices Syndrome (TMCS). It’s a serious condition. Side effects of TMCS include facial tics, overwhelm, mumbling to oneself and sighing every time you walk by your bookshelf. Why? Because the 17 French grammar books you bought are sneering at you.

My advice is to pick one resource and ignore all the other shiny objects in your field of vision. And French Uncovered is a solid option.

If I were learning French for the first time, I would have clung to this course like a lifeboat. You don’t have to worry about whether you are getting enough exposure. With reading, listening and dissecting the story, you are.

My absolute favorite part of this course is the way it’s laid out. The activities change often and are varied. So, you feel energized after each task you accomplish.
2. Speaking Practice Activities for Language Exchange Partners and Tutors
The course provides a PDF file with speaking practice activities for each chapter. This is a brilliant idea. I have lost count of how many times a language exchange partner has asked me, “What do you want to talk about today?” My response is usually a staring contest with the ceiling.

These documents take the guesswork out of tutor sessions and language exchanges. Simply share a copy with the native speaker. Give them a few seconds to read the instructions and you’re all set.

The instructions are in both French and English. The French instructions tell the native speaker what you do and don’t understand yet. The English instructions give you exercises to practice with your speaking partner.
3. Nifty Bonus Lectures
Who doesn’t love surprises? I was happy to find little extra gifts when I started French Uncovered. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you about it. Would that spoil the fun? Nah, I’ll let you in on the secret.

Diane (who co-tutors the course with Olly) offers three interesting lectures. There's French Food Etiquette, A Word on French Grammar and French Pronunciation Primer. Even as an intermediate learner, I learned something new in each one.

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French Uncovered: What Needs Improvement
As you can tell, I’m a big fan of the Uncovered series. From my perspective, there's not much negative stuff to report. I did speak with one learner who is two chapters into the course. So, it’s an early opinion but it will give you another point of view.

She told me that she would have liked more grammar exercises. She loves big thick grammar books. There are over 400 pages of grammar and vocabulary exercises included in this course. When printed, that’s enough to fill a three-inch binder but she’s a grammar-loving kinda gal.

Hey, different strokes for different folks. I love learning about how to learn a language without getting stuck in the muck of minutia.

Do you enjoy intense descriptions of grammar? I recommend working with a tutor from the very beginning of this course. I find it helpful to share the speaking practice documents with my professors from day one.

If you are a detail-loving learner, it’s a good idea to have someone there to answer your questions. Your tutor can also give you additional grammar exercises on the points you’ve learned thus far.

Ok, I shuddered while writing that. I’m the type of learner that loathes homework of any kind. But there are many types of learners. This is why I’m sharing her insight with you.

I also suggest you make full use of the chatbox below each lecture and document. Olly has a teacher on hand to answer your questions about all things French. Make good use of this tool. It’s a helpful part of the course.
How Do I Rate French Uncovered?
French Uncovered ranks five stars with me, as a course for beginner and upper beginner learners. If only I had known about this course when I first started learning languages! My French journey would have been a lot more cohesive and a lot less stressful.

If you’re curious about giving your French a jump start or bringing your high school French back to life, try it out.

The post French Uncovered Review — Does “Story Learning” Really Work for French? appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

How to Learn a Language While Living Abroad

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Hey language learner!

Living abroad is a dream for many people, and if you’re doing it right at this moment, hearty congratulations! I’ve done it, and it’s not easy.

Did you arrive in your host country with the goal of perfecting your target language? Kudos to you! But, if you’ve been in your host country for a little while now and you’re still feeling stuck at an intermediate level with no wiggle room, then keep reading.

Before arriving in my host country with the goal of chatting with natives, I found it imperative to get some hours of conversation practice under my belt. If you’re unsure of how to arrange a language exchange, check out this step-by-step post on online language exchanges from Fluent in 3 Months team member Shannon Kennedy.

Conversing with strangers, in general, let alone in a foreign language, can be daunting and it takes getting used to. I know, I get it. I teach English for a living and I see how my students react when they’re first placed in a space where they’re forced to speak in English. But I’m also a language learner, and I’ve already had to overcome some mental blocks to start talking to people. Like everything in life, confidence and competence come hand-in-hand with practice.

I can share with you my tried and tested tips for increasing conversation skills and expanding vocabulary while living in your target country. This is a non-exhaustive list to include in your daily speaking. Learning my first foreign language has been one of the hardest things in my life yet also one of the most fulfilling. If you’re lucky enough to be living in your target language, it’s time to seize the opportunity! Use these techniques and I’m positive you’ll be improving day by day.

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Tip 1: Jot down the vocabulary you are exposed to in situations throughout your day
Be constantly on the prowl for new vocabulary and expressions to expand your lexical range.

For instance, is it your first time visiting the dentist in your host country? Carry along a pen and paper and write down the context-relevant terms you hear used.

This tip works just as well for speaking to the plumber who comes to fix your sink, or perhaps the local administrator at a government building. All professions have their jargon and it’s advantageous to learn vocabulary that could serve you in the future.

If carrying around a pen and paper makes you feel too much like an old school reporter, opt for writing a notes document on your phone, which you can pull out more casually.

Any way you do it, by writing a list as you speak to people especially in professional contexts, you will undoubtedly come across new material to learn.
Tip 2: Aim to spend time with individuals who possess a mastery of the spoken word
Not everyone harnesses language to the same degree. Certain individuals are less verbose than others, some tend to overuse clichés. We all know the pleasure of a fascinating conversation, dotted with linguistic idiosyncrasies and humorous turns-of-phrase.

Anyone could possess this quality, I would argue, it’s not a matter of social class or education. I’ve had these kinds of chats with particularly witty bartenders or heard a funny quip from the lady who trims our dog! When you find those rare individuals with the gift of the gab - hang out with them! I even secretly prepare a handful of quick and relatable topics to whip up in conversation, if only to hear how this person responds.

Combine this with Tip 1 and tap into others’ lexical mastery to find inspiration for your own language learning.

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Tip 3: Speak to People of All Ages
Seek out interlocutors that run the gamut from youthful to elderly. How?

This has often happened to me after befriending a local who then introduced me to a family member. Why should we aim to speak with these people?

Children are great because they’re incredibly non-judgemental, as writer Emily discusses when she gained more confidence in German by speaking to children when she lived in Switzerland.

Teenagers tend to be on the forefront of new terminology and slang - often extremely useful for getting closer to the hallowed-ground of ‘sounding native’.

At the other end of the spectrum, the elderly are conservative with their language use and are therefore inclined to utilize well-worn structures and idioms. However, it is always important to note particular terms that have not aged well and which now may be considered old-fashioned or even offensive. Also note that if one of your goals is to hone in on the dialect of a particular place, older speakers will often possess these dialectical nuances. Old folks are often keen on a chat, too!
Tip 4: Do not limit yourself only to native speakers
Natives should be a jumping-off point for conversing but don’t rule out non-native speakers. It’s no foregone conclusion that others who have learnt your target language aren’t as capable.

Remember that natives also make mistakes, get lazy with grammar structures, and at times they use terms erroneously. For example, in Italy, where I live and work, I am surrounded by especially younger people who leave out the subjunctive tense willy-nilly as though it were optional.

Now, I’m not going to harp on about the importance of every grammar rule, but the biggest offenders of grammar laziness tendencies are normally the mother-tongue speakers. Non-natives can often be hyper-aware of grammar. And yes, they will make mistakes, too. But if you speak with non-natives who have spoken your target language for a long time, they’ll also be potential wells of knowledge that can be tapped for your benefit.

Keep a critical but open mind when speaking to native and non-native speakers alike.

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Tip 5: Penetrate beyond the superficial - listen to people
With the aim of mastering a language clearly in the forefront of our minds, sometimes we can fall into the habit of taking advantage of people just to practice our target language. We focus on how they’re speaking but not what they’re saying.

If you are speaking to someone who is divulging a personal story to you, and all you’re doing is picking out vocabulary items, then you’re doing it wrong! Penetrate below the surface and parse out the substance of what the person is trying to tell you just as much as their method of communicating it.

Why? First, you’ll be a better conversationalist and you’ll connect to people on a more profound level. Second, being detached from the language you’re using is detrimental to its acquisition.

You’ll never come close to mastering a language if all you’re doing is repeating phrases you’ve heard, void of their emotional nuance and significance. Really listen to people!
Tip 6: Ask for feedback from a friend
When I think about learning the language of the country, the person who comes to mind is my nonna, who arrived in Australia from Italy in the 1950s.

My nonna spent most of her adult life Down Under, and yet always struggled to communicate in English. Why? In part, for the ways migrants were treated back then, and in part, for her own lack of education, but also because native speakers wouldn’t correct her mistakes.

In most countries, it’s considered rude to pick people up on the way they speak. Native speakers tend to gloss over non-natives’ grammatical errors if the language is still understandable. But as language learners we don’t want to be merely understandable, we want to communicate correctly and articulately in our target language.

So, find a friend who you’re comfortable with and ask them to alert you to any mistakes. Even if they can’t explain the reason why it’s incorrect, they can point you in the right direction.
Tip 7: Know when to be a self-critic and when to take the win
Being a good conversationalist in any language takes practices and will require you to make mistakes. A lot of mistakes. When you speak to natives especially, understand when it’s appropriate to be self-aware of your errors.

Maybe you use a word incorrectly, maybe you mis-conjugate the verb, maybe you get halfway through a sentence and realize you have no idea which construction to use in order to get your point out. It’s all normal and necessary. I do it and it sometimes hurts my pride.

As language learners, we need to just move on. Work out what went wrong and fix it for the next time.

Conversely, aim to also focus on the times you did something right. Be it a time you made someone laugh, or perhaps a meaningful piece of advice given to a friend. Take stock of the times in which you successfully applied your target language and relish in your gradual improvement.

The post How to Learn a Language While Living Abroad appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

7 Lessons about Language Learning from 6 Years Teaching English

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There are days in your life that change you forever. Mine was the day I swapped life in a leafy corner of southern England for a year teaching English in the bustling city of Moscow.

I thought the move would give me a chance to improve my Russian and get a break from the 9-5 lifestyle.

I ended up learning so much more and got so enamoured with my new vocation that one year quickly became six.
I Learned So Much from Teaching Others
It was fascinating to coach the same groups of adults over time, following their language learning journey from day one to a point where they felt they had achieved their respective goals, which is essentially what I ended up doing for most of my time in Russia, including a bonus year spent teaching kindergarten (which was also enlightening on the learning front, but from a very different angle).

Language learners are able to draw inspiration from their favourite YouTube polyglots, Facebook friends, or perhaps classmates if following a structured in-person course.

All of these offer the chance to swap tips with others, and seeing my students succeed in the challenge of language learning really got me thinking about which approaches to language study work the best.

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Lesson 1: The (Boring!) “Secret” of My Best Language Students
One of the most privileged parts of teaching a language is seeing your students get results, and some of my students really knocked it out of the park.

I remember one student coming in at beginner level only to get hired by the company I worked for as a teacher the next year, and another who managed to amass what I saw as being a fairly close-to-native vocabulary after around two years of study.

There were also hundreds of students who didn’t really improve a lot, so what made the difference? It might seem obvious, but those two I mentioned above gave it their all. They just had a hunger to learn. They attended as many classes as they could, did their homework, and even waited around for the teachers at the end of the night so they could get an extra ten minutes of conversation in on the metro home.

There were others that didn’t get the star-studded results above but still improved their English enough to get the promotion they wanted at work or be able to converse with locals while travelling.

Their secret? They kept to a regular schedule.

You’d be surprised where ten hours a month of study time can get you if you keep it up over three years, and the takeaway for language learners is that having an achievable but long term study pattern you manage to stick to might serve you better than trying to learn 1000 kanji in a month or going without sleep to try to make it to the top of the Memrise leaderboards.
Lesson 2: Students Who Would “Speak from Day One” Got the Best Results
Teaching gave me the opportunity to view Benny’s “Speak from Day One” mentality in action.

The school that I worked for tried as much as possible to enforce an “English only” policy, even with students that were total beginners.

Those just starting out in English soon divided themselves into two categories when asked welcomingly in English when they’d like to book their next lesson - those who were ready to interact with receptionist using the few words they’d learnt in their first hour of English, even if just answering with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’, and those that would just refuse and revert back to their native language. Guess which group generally got the best long term results?

It was those learners who tried in English of course, but why does speaking from day one work so well? The answer to that is in the next lesson…
Lesson 3: Fear of Mistakes is Crippling for Language Learners
I think the answer lies in overcoming anxiety. Fear of making a mistake might be one of the most crippling fears for aspiring linguists, as it hinders the most important function of language - communication.

I was always impressed by students that found creative solutions to gaps in their knowledge, getting stuck for a word mid-sentence and communicating the word they were looking for by miming or drawing.
Lesson 4: Stop Speaking Your Mother Tongue
Making a resolution to not use your mother tongue in learning (as in James’s month without English) is a terrifying prospect, but my observation in the classroom is that it can only make you flourish.

It forces you to devise your own coping strategies, which start as pointing and botched explanations but lead to deep immersion in the language, rather than learning theory and then worrying about whether you’re doing it right.

One shining example of this is going abroad alone. When you’re buying a train ticket in a foreign language, there’s no time to check your grammar or pronunciation, your priority is getting the job done.

Going abroad means facing hundreds of live conversational situations where your focus is survival rather than linguistic accuracy. It also does wonders for your confidence, and I’d often meet loud versions of formerly introverted students proudly declaring that they’d spent the summer in Malta or London immersed in English.
Lesson 5: Watch How Children Succeed at Languages
Children know nothing about the so-called “language barrier”.

Put a group of kids that don’t speak the same language in a room and you’ll soon wonder what happened to that infamous language barrier. Granted, communication might not take the same form, but you’ll soon notice that they don’t really have the same hangups you and I might experience if we were dropped into the centre of Tokyo for the afternoon with no means of communication.

It’s almost as if young children don’t really notice that another language is present - they just get on with interacting as usual and start slowly assimilating the second language into their own speech.

While it’s true that the brain plasticity of children in relation to language acquisition is both something that linguists don’t yet fully understand and a superpower that we as adults have long since had fade, there’s still a lot that can be borrowed from children’s approach to language learning.

To learn a language as kids do, don’t avoid interaction. Don’t get embarrassed about your accent or about your potential failure to get your message across.

Know that each period of time spent in the company of those that speak your language of study is an experience that will get you closer to your goal.

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Lesson 6: Find an Approach that Works for You
I had a private student who would print out the lyrics from her favourite songs and bring them to class, and we’d usually end up using most of the lesson time dissecting Eminem verses rather than polishing grammar.

I realised a few lessons in that this approach really worked for the simple reason that the student’s engagement levels were sky-high. She just wanted to unlock the meaning of songs that she’d been a fan of for years, and that intrigue was enough to keep her focus razor-sharp lesson after lesson.

That’s why tricking your brain into learning by watching Netflix in Spanish or reading news in the language you’re studying is such a good ruse, as your chances of distraction and discouragement are overridden by your enjoyment of the task.

It’s true that sometimes you need to crunch verbs or work on your Czech case endings, but peppering your language routine with activities you really enjoy can save you from boredom and giving up altogether, so make sure you’re taking care of your motivation by leveraging hobbies and success won’t be far behind.
Lesson 7: Community Will Get You a Long Way
There was one more success factor that I really saw come into play while working in a language school, which was the simple power of community.

Those students who built friendships with others really seemed to have an advantage. They were less likely to skip lessons and seemed to invest more time in the learning process.

The power of community is probably linked to the previous point on tricking your brain by doing something you enjoy - for these students going to lessons or dropping in to finish homework was also an excuse to see friends and to socialise.

Maybe for you it’s just a case of finding a language meetup in your area, getting more involved in an online community for your language or starting a language exchange.
What’s Your Takeaway?
So what can you take away from this article to supercharge your language learning efforts?

Develop a hunger to learn your language of choice, swap perfection for interaction, don’t be afraid to speak, find language activities that match your hobbies and harness the power of community.

The post 7 Lessons about Language Learning from 6 Years Teaching English appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

Learn Hiragana Fast! Master the Basics of the Most Common Japanese Writing System

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If you’re new to learning Japanese, then I know what you’re probably thinking. “How on earth am I supposed to learn hiragana?? It looks like a bunch of squiggly lines.”

I mean, you’re not wrong. But so does English cursive... and you still read that!

In fact, I’d say hiragana is one of the easiest writing systems to learn to read. I may be a bit biased, but there are plenty of tricks to master Japanese hiragana fast.

The hiragana alphabet -- more accurately called a “syllabary” -- is the basic foundation to learning Japanese.

By learning how to read hiragana, you’re learning proper Japanese pronunciation. And you’re learning how to read almost anything, including kanji! Because kanji are often written with furigana, small hiragana characters that tell you how to read the kanji.

Learning hiragana also allows you to use better learning resources. Because let me be frank, if a Japanese resource or textbook is not using at least hiragana… well, then it’s not a very good resource to be using. That’s because they use poor pronunciations when writing Japanese with English characters. And the very best Japanese resources come from Japan. Even if they’re for foreigners, they expect you to learn hiragana, and quickly. They transition to exclusive hiragana after only a week or so of textbook study.

I remember back when I was in first-year Japanese class in college. We used the Genki textbooks, which are considered the best. The first chapter is in romaji, or English characters. Chapter 2? All hiragana and katakana. My classmates were so overwhelmed and felt they couldn’t learn the kana in only one week -- many dropped the class.

But the truth is, you could learn the hiragana in a few hours if you put your mind to it.

I’ve included a full hiragana chart, resources for hiragana practice, and more below.

I’m also sharing with you my best tips for mastering all the hiragana in a matter of hours. These are tips I used myself to memorize them one evening while I was in high school, and never have forgotten them since.
Learn Hiragana -- The Basics
Hiragana is called a “syllabary” because instead of each character representing one “letter” it corresponds to a whole syllable. These syllables are usually a consonant and a vowel or just a vowel, with some exceptions. For instance, the character for “n” is a lone consonant.

So, what does that mean exactly?

Well, let’s look at the word てんき. Each of those characters represents a sound: て = te, ん = n, き = ki. So てんき reads as “tenki.” That means “weather” in Japanese, by the way.

Hiragana characters represent every possible sound in the Japanese language in this way.

While I know that learning to write Hiragana can take time, and we spend most of our time typing nowadays… It’s still very crucial to learn how to write hiragana and the proper stroke order. If you only learn one Japanese writing system, let it be hiragana.

Stroke order may seem strange, but we have stroke order in English, too. When we teach kids how to write, we teach them the correct order of strokes. It helps make the characters look more legible and consistent so everyone can read handwriting. The same is true with Japanese hiragana.

The general stroke order for hiragana is top to bottom, left to right.
Hiragana Pronunciation
Since most syllable sounds in Japanese are a consonant + vowel combo, the easiest way to learn how to pronounce them is to start with vowels.

Unlike English, vowel sounds never change in Japanese. Each of the vowels have only one sound. So, once you learn them, you connect them with consonants and you always know how to pronounce the sound!

The Japanese vowels are:

あ - a, pronounced “ah” like “car”
い - i, pronounced “ee” like “bee”
う - u, pronounced “oo” like “shoo”
え - e, pronounced “eh” like “egg”
お - o, pronounced “oh” like the exclamation, “Oh!”

From there, you’ll combine the vowels with consonants to form syllable sounds. You can combine “a” with “k” to make “ka,” which is pronounced “kah.” You can put “e” with “t” to make “te” -- said “teh.”

The vowel sound never changes. It only gets added to other sounds!

Now, let’s talk about memorizing these first few hiragana.
Hiragana Practice: Vowels
Memorizing the hiragana quickly takes mnemonics and writing practice. The first step is to create an association between the hiragana and something in English.

For instance, あ looks like someone yawning with closed eyes. When they yawn, they make a loud sound, “yAHHHHHHHwn.”

い looks like two こい (koi) fish swimming in a Japanese pond. (“Koi” has the “i” sound.)

う looks like the letter U tipped over. When it fell over, it said “ShOOt, how うるさい (urusai, “annoying”).”

え looks like someone running to catch the えき (eki), the “train.” They sure are getting their Exercise.

お looks like a baby crying. See the baby’s eyes are closed with a tear coming out, and his mouth is so big from crying loudly. He’s crying for his おかあさん (okaasan, or “mom”), going “OH WAAAAAH.”

I like to tie together both how the hiragana look with something I can picture, as well as tying the sound to both an English and Japanese word. With え, I tied the look of the hiragana to a person running. I then associated the “eh” sound with “exercise” (an English word) and えき (eki), a Japanese word.

Does this take a bit of time? Yes. But, there aren’t that many characters. And I promise, if you put in the time and do this once, you’ll never forget them again.
Hiragana Alphabet -- Japan’s Hiragana Chart
Now let’s take a look at the entire Japanese hiragana chart so we can get an idea for how things look.




 
 
k
s
t
n
h
m
y
r
w
 




a
あ (a)
か (ka)
さ (sa)
た (ta)
な (na)
は (ha)
ま (ma)
や (ya)
ら (ra)
わ (wa)
ん (n)


i
い (i)
き (ki)
し (shi)
ち (chi)
に (ni)
ひ (hi)
み (mi)
 
り (ri)
 
 


u
う (u)
く (ku)
す (su)
つ (tsu)
ぬ (nu)
ふ (fu)
む (mu)
ゆ (yu)
る (ru)
 
 


e
え (e)
け (ke)
せ (se)
て (te)
ね (ne)
へ (he)
め (me)
 
れ (re)
 
 


o
お (o)
こ (ko)
そ (so)
と (to)
の (no)
ほ (ho)
も (mo)
よ (yo)
ろ (ro)
を (wo)
 




Like we talked about, one of the writing systems for the Japanese alphabet, Hiragana, is actually a “syllabary” system. If you look at the chart, you see that it goes like a-i-u-e-o, then ka-ki-ku-ke-ko, and so on.

For the most part, the syllables follow the same pattern throughout the chart. That’s why memorizing the vowel sounds is so important. While some sounds do change a bit - like し (“shi”) and つ (“tsu”) - they still follow the “i” row and “u” row for vowels. Meanwhile, the “y” row only has three vowel sounds.

I encourage you to come up with your own mnemonics because that’s the best way for them to stick in your mind forever. But to get you started and give you some ideas, here are some of mine:

き looks like an old-fashioned skeleton key
こ is a coin
ま looks like a mama holding her baby
み looks like the cursive script for “21” -- I remember this one, “As for me (“mi”), I’m 21”
む is a cow’s face -- “moo”
め is an Olympic goal MEdal
も is a fish hook to catch MOre fish
そ looks like a sewing machine stitch (SEw - “so”)
つ is a TSUnami wave
と looks like a big TOe
ら is a cheerleader jumping in the air, going “ra ra ra!”
れ is Shaggy and Scooby running away, going “REt’s get out of here!”
に looks like a KNEE (“ni”)
ぬ is a ramen NOOdle.
ひ looks like a smile, “hee hee”
ん looks a lot like the letter “n”
や looks like a YAk, horns an all.

What other mnemonics can you come up with for the characters? Make sure it’s something you can remember, that reminds you of something in English and the Japanese sound! Bonus points if you can tie it with a Japanese word, too.
Special Hiragana Characters -- Dakuten, Handakuten, and More
Next, let’s look at the full hiragana chart.




 
 
k
s
t
n
h
m
y
r
w
 




a
あ (a)
か (ka)
さ (sa)
た (ta)
な (na)
は (ha)
ま (ma)
や (ya)
ら (ra)
わ (wa)
ん (n)


i
い (i)
き (ki)
し (shi)
ち (chi)
に (ni)
ひ (hi)
み (mi)
 
り (ri)
 
 


u
う (u)
く (ku)
す (su)
つ (tsu)
ぬ (nu)
ふ (fu)
む (mu)
ゆ (yu)
る (ru)
 
 


e
え (e)
け (ke)
せ (se)
て (te)
ね (ne)
へ (he)
め (me)
 
れ (re)
 
 


o
お (o)
こ (ko)
そ (so)
と (to)
の (no)
ほ (ho)
も (mo)
よ (yo)
ろ (ro)
を (wo)
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Additional sounds:
k ► g
s ► z
t ► d
n ► b
h ► p
 
 
 
 
 


a
 
が (ga)
ざ (za)
だ (da)
ば (ba)
ぱ (pa)
 
 
 
 
 


i
 
ぎ (gi)
じ (ji)
ぢ (ji)*
び (bi)
ぴ (pi)
 
 
 
 
 


u
 
ぐ (gu)
ず (zu)
づ (zu)*
ぶ (bu)
ぷ (pu)
 
 
 
 
 


e
 
げ (ge)
ぜ (ze)
で (de)
べ (be)
ぺ (pe)
 
 
 
 
 


o
 
ご (go)
ぞ (zo)
ど (do)
ぼ (bo)
ぽ (po)
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
k
s
ch
n
h
m
r
 
 
 


ya
 
きゃ (kya)
しゃ (sha)
ちゃ (cha)
にゃ (nya)
ひゃ (hya)
みゃ (mya)
りゃ (rya)
 
 
 


yu
 
きゅ (kyu)
しゅ (shu)
ちゅ (chu)
にゅ (nyu)
ひゅ (hyu)
みゅ (myu)
りゅ (ryu)
 
 
 


yo
 
きょ (kyo)
しょ (sho)
ちょ (cho)
にょ (nyo)
ひょ (hyo)
みょ (myo)
りょ (ryo)
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
g
j
j/d
b
p
 
 
 
 
 


ya
 
ぎゃ (gya)
じゃ (ja)
ぢゃ (ja)*
びゃ (bya)
ぴゃ (pya)
 
 
 
 
 


yu
 
ぎゅ (gyu)
じゅ (ju)
ぢゅ (ju)*
びゅ (byu)
ぴゅ (pyu)
 
 
 
 
 


yo
 
ぎょ (gyo)
じょ (jo)
ぢょ (jo)*
びょ (byo)
ぴょ (pyo)
 
 
 
 
 





.table-mod tr:nth-child(7) td,

.table-mod tr:nth-child(14) td,

.table-mod tr:nth-child(19) td {

background-color: #134b68;

}



* These characters are not commonly used.

This hiragana table shows you all the traditional Japanese sounds. (There are a few exceptions where the Japanese have basically created a character to make it fit an English word or sound, but don’t worry about that for now.) It includes the special characters, created with tiny markings or smaller hiragana characters.

This chart can look overwhelming. But I promise it’s much easier than it looks. All these special characters are made up of the basic characters we already covered. And there’s a pattern to these characters. Once you learn it, it’s simple to remember. And best of all, you don’t need mnemonics to memorize these because they just build on what you already know.

First, let’s start with the dakuten. Dakuten are the tiny marks that look like quote marks (“). They attach themselves to the top right of the characters, but only the K, S, T, and H row characters. When you add dakuten, only the consonant sound changes. It goes like this:

K → G
S → Z (except “shi” becomes “ji”)
T → D (except “chi” and “tsu” become “ji” and “zu”)
H → B

So か, “ka,” becomes が, “ga.” さ (“sa”) becomes ざ (“za”). し, “shi,” changes to じ, “ji.” て (“te”) becomes で (“de”). And ほ, “ho,” changes to ぼ, “bo.”

Handakuten is a small circle that goes in the same place as the dakuten would. But handakuten only attach to H-row characters. So this one is super simple! It changes the H-row characters to “P.”

H → P

So, ほ (“ho”) becomes ぽ (“po”).

Now check out those hiragana that combine with small Y-row characters. These hiragana are called yoon characters. If you notice, the Y-row characters only attach to the I-row characters. So, や can attach to き, し, に, and み, but not, for instance, か or さ. You write these Y-row characters small and to the bottom right of the I-row characters.

We use the Y-row characters to create a “squished” syllable. The most common example is ときょう. In English, we often mispronounce it as “Toh-kee-yoh” with three syllables. But it’s actually two syllables: “toh-kyoh.” That’s because the small “yo” attached to the “ki” character “smushes” the sound of “ki” and “yo” to make “kyo.”

You can use this to create a lot of new sounds. き could also combine with ゆ or や to make “kyu” or “kya”. You could combine it with handakuten or dakuten characters as well, like じゃ for “ja” and ぴょ for “pyo.”

Last, there’s sokuon, or the small つ character. These characters create a double consonant when placed between two hiragana. The doubled consonant is whatever consonant is from the second syllable. For example, いらっしゃいませ is read “irasshaimase”. The double character comes from the し (“shi”) that follows the small つ. When you say this out loud, it makes a small “stop” sound in the middle of the word. “Irasshaimase”, by the way, means “welcome.”
Hiragana Quiz
Time to test your knowledge! If you want some hiragana practice, here are some resources to help you out and a hiragana test to see how you’re doing.

Use Anki to download a hiragana flashcard deck for practice
Write out the hiragana chart on a piece of paper. Outline the table, and mark the sides with the vowels, and then the consonants. Fill in each square with the hiragana -- no peaking. Leave any squares you don’t know blank. Then, double-check your work. Do this for writing and memorizing practice!
Download a helpful hiragana app, like Bunpo, Dr. Moku’s Hiragana and Katakana, or Scripts by Drops.
Check out these hiragana practice sheets, which help you learn stroke order.
Learn hiragana with JapanesePod101
Test your knowledge using this hiragana quiz from Real Kana
Check out Hiragana Quiz, where you can test your knowledge on the special hiragana characters as well.
Make learning hiragana fun with a hiragana quiz game from Dr. Lingua.
Check out Genki’s self-study resources, including a Hiragana chart with stroke orders and pronunciation, flashcards, a listening quiz, and a hiragana test game.

You CAN Learn Hiragana Fast!
Use these tips, resources, and quizzes to help you memorize the hiragana characters in a matter of hours -- not weeks. There’s no need for the Japanese writing systems to hold you back and slow down your progress. With a few hours of focused efforts and the right study aids, you CAN do this!!

What other tips do you have for learning Hiragana? Would you like to learn how to read Katakana fast as well? Leave a comment let me know!

The post Learn Hiragana Fast! Master the Basics of the Most Common Japanese Writing System appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.