I just finished adding all the parts (and sound files) for Akutagawa’s short story Hana. If you are around the intermediate stage, please check it out! It’s about a monk named Naigu with a very, very long nose.
One line caught my eye and thought I’d share it with you. The story starts [...]

I just added three new chapters with sound and downloadable PDFs of Rich VanHouten’s wonderful ゆきの物語 story. It is really made for intermediates, but upper beginners can get a lot out of it.

Choose your chapter, hit play, sit back, and enjoy!  Or you can print out the PDF to read it off line.
If you [...]

I’m adding new podcasts to the TJP beginning conversation series. To see all of them, please go here. Here is #4:

Beginning Japanese Conversational Phrases #4: Food
Reviewed Phrases:
何か食べたいですか。 nanika tabetai desu ka. Would you like something to eat?
はい、何か食べたいです。 hai nanika tabetai desu. Yes, I’d like something to eat.
Vocabulary:
Here are a few common food names.
ハンバーガー [...]

I’m adding new podcasts to the TJP beginning conversation series. To see all of them, please go here. Here is #3:

Beginning Japanese Conversational Phrases #3: Drinks
Reviewed Phrases:
何か飲みたいです。 nanika nomitai desu. I’d like something to drink.
何か食べたいです。 nanika tabetai desu. I’d like something to eat.
The focus is on the ーたい which adds the [...]

While waiting for Yumi to do some banking, Baba (grandma), Makoto, and I visited a park near the Kencho. The Kencho is 県庁 kenchou the Prefectural Headquarters and should not be confused with 浣腸—not at all.

虫
mushi
Bug

This was in front of the city hall in Fukui today.  It is too bad the bug was obscured by so many azalea flowers in full bloom.  It was a very lovely bug.

Beginners JLPT 4 Vocabulary
Instant Download
Part 1 (of 2)

I added this product on Friday, I think.  Saturday night I got an email from a customer who ordered it here on this blog saying I had messed up the link.  I quickly fixed the problem.  This morning, I got another email saying I had messed up the [...]

From time to time I get emails asking how to learn only the spoken language.  I really have never given it much thought and have simply said “kanji is a major key to fluency.”
Today I got an email from a nice guy who had just completed the Pimsleur audio series.  He also said this:

I do [...]

We all open things and from time to time, we all close things. It could be a door, a book, or the oft-difficult-to-close object—our own mouths.
Working on a different project I came to this sentence:
この店(みせ)は、夜(よる)１０時(じゅうじ)に閉(し)まります。
(This store closes at 10 at night.)
It reminded me of a mnemonic I created years ago when I was learning [...]

I just added four or five new freebies in the downloads section.
One PDF includes the first 1000 or so kanji (in JLPT order I believe) and the rest are kanji for the JLPT levels (Except level 1).  All PDFs have readings, meanings, and several example jukugo listed.  The only problem is these were made before [...]