I've heard different things from different people (native and non-native). Some learning programs (like Pimsleur) teach using "けっこうです。" as "no, thank you". I have heard some say it can be rude (this forum in old posts & by one native on YouTube), cold or overly formal/antiquated.

But other japanese told me it's fine as long as the tone is friendly or you add yo at the end. The YouTuber said it sounds rude and no japanese would ever use it. But I've literally heard "けっこう。" before in street interviews and it sounds natural and fine?

What about いい vs 大丈夫 for "no, thank you". "ふくろはほすいですか？" "いいよ。"

I've responded with all three, then read about the first and stopped. Then used the second a few times but was always responded to with "大丈夫" at the checkout in japan. I've also heard some natives say that 大丈夫 is overused by foreigners, but I hear it so much while visiting? So, I'm confused lol.

Would love to hear opinions primarily by natives and high-level japanese speakers, but all input is welcome. I'm coming along at a decent pace in my learning. Still wouldn't consider myself N5-ready yet. But I have a decent vocabulary and grammar understanding and practice listening quite often. My problem is mostly freezing up and suddenly forgetting words or they speak too fast/slur speak and my brain breaks for a second lol.

I’m a yr11 student who has been taking Japanese for 3 years. I’m currently on break and I want to study Japanese during my free time and become more advanced as I feel learning only in school is very slow and could be faster. How would I go about doing this?

I know that Japan was the country with the longest overtime hours in 2020. Has the overtime work situation improved now? Please tell me about your work and the number of overtime hours per month.

Thank you. I really want know it .

Can anyone recommend online source in usa for japanese origin sesame oil that is not toasted? Thanks

So these are some particles that I am confused why it is using に and は. In genki the book says these are correct.

金曜日に日本人のともだち。。。。

土曜日は一人でお寺へ行きました

日曜日はおそくおきました

Basically why is it using に for the Friday, and then は for Saturday and Sunday?

Also i assume へ and に mean the same in particle sense with いきま, so you can swap these in and out?

And that the で for location is used however if it is at the end of the sentence it changes to に orを depending the ending verb.

any help would be great thank you.

In response to user feedback, this is a recurring thread for general discussion about learning Japanese, and for asking your questions about grammar, learning resources, and so on. Let's come together and share our successes, what we've been reading or watching and chat about the ups and downs of Japanese learning.

The /r/Japanese rules (see here) still apply! Translation requests still belong in /r/translator and we ask that you be helpful and considerate of both your own level and the level of the person you're responding to. If you have a question, please check the subreddit's frequently asked questions, but we won't be as strict as usual on the rules here as we are for standalone threads.

As the title says, I just recently started learning Japanese. im starting simple with Katakana and Hiragana, but i've heard to not learn with Romaji, and just learn with the sounds, is this true?

In Gundam there exists an organization known as the Strategic Naval Research Institute (SNRI) and I was wondering about the proper pronunciation based off it's Japanese name of "サナリィ (海軍戦略研究所)".

I've heard conflicting pronunciations of it and some people just opt to pronounce the letters separately and others use "Sanrii", or "Sun-Ari". I've also heard others pronounce it as "Sun-Rai" which is the pronunciation I use since it sounds like the studio behind Gundam, Sunrise.

Thst being said, I'm not entirely sure if the proper Japanese pronunciation would be used in English since the official dub for Gundam Unicorn pronounces the group, ECOAS, in English as "Echo-Ahs", while Japanese uses "エコーズ".

I was also wondering about when someone speaking Japanese might use the American pronunciation of "Zii" since most Japanese works seem to use "Zetto".

Gundam calls the Gun-EZ "ガンイージ", and I was wondering if something like in the case of "EZ" or Kamen Rider Zi-O would be the only time the "Zii" sound is used in the language.

I study linguistics and there was a Japanese example sentence that looked a little weird to me. It was about how in different languages, there are different things that need to be expressed. So there was the contrast of the following English and Japanese sentence that I left in romaji so that it's exacly like in the slides:

Sumie goes to and from Osaka. (possible, but not ideal: goes to Osaka and from Osaka)

Sumie wa Oosaka ni to Oosaka kara iku. (not possible: Oosaka ni to kara iku)

Is this a a completeley fine Japanese sentence? I think it's weird that 行く is used for both directions (to AND from), or is it actually possible to say it like this?

My kid (6 y.o.) is learning japanese and asked to buy his favorite books in japanese. I googled in English (I don’t know japanese, sorry) but couldn’t find any clue on how to buy children’s book with international delivery.

He looks specifically for Dogman ドッグマン and I will highly appreciate any other recommendations for kids of his age. Could you please provide services where I could find such books, which also ships worldwide?

Jpbookstore.com seems to have manga only for kids, no Dogman or Captain Underpants for sure.

I’m just curious as I saw comments to this video (https://youtu.be/7M3oqIxuwDE?si=1d6fdIuuxKkoeytC) referring to the man as a pill bug and I was confused.

Is there a good way to look at standard typeface characters next to their seal script counterparts? Its hard to learn the different rules for radicales in different calligraphy traditions

I will be hosting an exchange student from Japan for a week as a high school freshman. I will be picking her up tomorrow and I can’t help but let the worries get to me.

Any advice on how to communicate with her without it being awkward especially with the language barrier?

My wife brought a super funny japanese children's book from Japan with the title "わたしのわごむはわたさない" - I won't give you my rubber band (I really recommend it for fun reading haha)

...but in my head I wanna use を instead of は. Why is that? Am I wrong or is there some nuance type of thing going on?

This is a pretty specific question but in my country you have to give a presentation for your finals. In this presentation you have to include an Interview. My topic is about historical revisionism in Japan and it would make most sense to interview natives that grew up there. But I have no idea where to find people to interview. With some vocabulary research I think I speak Japanese to be able to do the interview. Written answers or spoken answers in memos to my questions would also be good! Does anyone know how to go about this problem?

Unit 731 is infamous for its human experimentation during its existence during World War 2. At least 3,000 men, women, and children were subjected as "marutas" or as logs to experimentations conducted by Unit 731 division at Pingfang alone. Here is an article on why they were called "marutas". Dr. Harris Sheldon estimates that at least 10,000 to 12,000 prisoners died in the biological experiments. (Link to article I got this quote from - https://www.pacificatrocities.org/human-experimentation.html ).

Hello, everyone!

I started a youtube channel with the goal to teach Japanese as entertaining as possible, using color-coded flashcards and so on.

For example, my latest video is about learning Japanese with Japanese traditional sweets, and learning food related vocab: https://youtu.be/RiKhowSGGQM

Other topics are travel vlogs, Japanese video games, etc.

I'm trying to make these videos as high quality as I can, therefore new videos don't come out too often because they take a lot of time to make, but hopefully you will still enjoy them when they come out.

Thank you for reading this.

One of my new words today (線）had this example sentence:
赤あかい線を2本引いて下ください。
Translation on the card: "Please draw 2 lines". I tell you it took me 45 minutes staring at jisho.org like an unloved baby at an endless stream of cocomelon to realize 本, among it's many other overloaded uses, is the counter for "long straight things" because the Japanese language hates you. nihonsen means two lines but I stand not a chance of parsing that successfully from somebody's speech.

Post your favorite nasty counters or particles or the like.

Hello! I've been trying to learn japanese with help of Duolingo and it's going fairly well, tho as we all know, they suck at explaining grammar... Most I can Google, but I struggle with a few phrases/grammar that I haven't found an explanation for or just don't know what to Google to find it.

First one is desu vs. masu. I understand the difference fairly well, at least I assume that masu is used mainly when you're doing something, like listening to music etc, aka a verb

However, the part I struggle with rn is the difference between "I want" and "I have".

For "I have" it's "があります", but for "I want" it's suddenly "がほしいです".

Isn't "I want" also a verb? For me it would have made more sense saying "がほしいます". Why isn't it?

My other question is just about saying that you don't like stuff. I've learnt through duo that it's "はちょっと..." But my question is, can you also say something like "がすきじゃないです"?

And again... Why is it "がすきです" and not "がすきます"?

Hope my questions make sense!

Every source I find seems to differ, for example multiple sites I read on my laptop said orange was for academic success but on my phone it comes up with fertility, instead blue being for academic success. Even in picture diagrams the exact meaning changes for each color excluding the most common red one. Anyone know where I can get a definite and correct chart? Or should I just stick with red as its broad enough to cover most goals/wishes?

Due to the worsening of the demographic crisis and the associated shortage of skilled workers, traditional crafts in Japan, as well as cultural organizations in general, are increasingly having existential problems. I would like to find out whether there are initiatives or companies that want to take on these challenges and make cultural professions more attractive again.

Hello Reddit,

Do you know any websites/forums for Japanese living in Canada? Vancouver or Toronto. I am basically looking for the Japanese version of Reddit.

Thanks.

Hiii. I'm an artist and have a little question that could help me with a character design. Do you know of any more japanese trinkets, clothing aspects or charms similar to Omamori? Like things that have the symbolism of "protection", "luck" or "gods blessing". That would be incredibly helpful!

Thank you in advance in case you have any ideas

I’ve been studying Japanese for a while and even though I’m obsessed with a lot of the media I consume, I’ve had a hard time finding bands that sound similar to western musicians I like. If anybody has any recommendations for rock bands kind of in the vein of Linkin Park or other rock/alt bands, I would love to hear them!

I am working on a puff quilt idea I had last night. Where every tile/square of the puff quilt is kanji. But I am having trouble finding sewing, crochet, and/or cross stitch patterns for all the kanji. Most patterns I find are for hiragana/katakana. Then I had an idea that if I can just find a book of Pixel Kanji that is pretty much all I need to create my own Kanji cross stitch patterns. It would of course be best if they were all on the same grid size.

So I ask for your help, does anyone have any Pixel Kanji book recommendations? Or know any kanji crochet, sewing, and/or cross stitch patterns?

Hello!
My friend is currently conducting a linguistic research project about politeness and is also doing a survey but she is bummed because nobody responded for the Japanese perspective so far and I want to cheer her up and thought maybe i can find people this way i don't want to break any rules or send the link here because i really want serious answers for her research.

These are her questions:

1. What is your native language?
2. Which languages are you fluent in? (If other, please specify) Ukrainian, English, Japanese, German or Others.
3. Have you ever lived or worked in a country where a different language is spoken? Yes or No
4. If yes, please specify which country/countries and language(s) spoken Otherwise leave out.
5. How would you define politeness in your culture?
6. How do you show politeness when making a request?
7. How do you respond when someone apologizes to you?
8. In your opinion, how does politeness in your language differ from politeness in other languages you speak or are familiar with?
9. Imagine you need to ask a coworker for help with a task. How would you phrase your request in your native language? (Provide literal English translation if possible)
10. You accidentally spilled coffee on someone’s book. How do you apologize in your native language? (Provide literal English translation if possible)
11. You notice a friend has a new hairstyle that looks great. What do you say to compliment them in your native language? (Provide literal English translation if possible)
12. A colleague invites you to a dinner, but you’re unable to attend. How do you politely decline in your native language? (Provide literal English translation if possible)
13. Someone helped you carry a heavy bag. How do you thank them in your native language? (Provide literal English translation if possible)
14. You are meeting your professor or boss for the first time. How do you greet them in your native language? (Provide literal English translation if possible)
15. Do you feel your politeness strategies change when switching between different languages (e.g., from Ukrainian to English or from Japanese to English)?
16. If yes, in what way? 

THANK YOU FOR ANYBODY PARTICIPATING! AND IF YOU'RE NOT JAPANESE BUT WILLING YOUR ANSWER WOULD ALSO BE APPRECIATED.

Have a nice day! :)

I write sometimes on Quora about Japan related topic, and want to help you understand Japanese culture or any questions and resources you may find helpful.

https://www.quora.com/profile/Hiro-Kuwana

I am creating a Japanese conversation app, since I know how hard it is to practice (made it for my GF who was too afraid to practice with me.) Also, did help that I got a lot of interest from this subreddit and wanted to give back!

Will be running this for another 7 hours, but ask me anything about life in Japan, any cultural questions, or also a perspective you feel genuinely curious about

Created free website for myself for rapid kanji and vocabulary reviewing.

The idea is that you are already somewhat familiar with the kanji/vocabulary, this is just a quick way how to go through it with audio.

Vocabulary flip cards with audio and English translation:

https://hanabira.org/japanese/quick_vocab

I made cards with kanji that should have only one reading for given JLPT level and associated audio to it (used Nihongo So Matome books to find these kanji). So these will be kanji that I will learn first how to read. For some people this approach might be easier than remembering all the kanji readings.

https://hanabira.org/japanese/quick_kanji

I usually do these when I do not have a mood/time for my Anki reviews.

Now I review like 300-400 vocabulary daily with these cards (with Anki, that would be much slower for me).

I'm also using this YouTube immersion subtitle parser to inject furigana to my favorite podcasts.

It is a great way how to review lots of vocab effortlessly just watching my favorite content.

https://hanabira.org/text-parser?type=youtube

Site is free, open source, allows self hosting. No ads.

https://everydayisanewday.hatenablog.jp/entry/aru#:~:text=%E3%80%8C%E6%9C%89%E3%82%8B%E3%80%8D%E3%81%A8%E3%80%8C%E5%9C%A8%E3%82%8B%E3%80%8D%E3%81%AF%E3%81%9D%E3%81%AE%E4%BB%A3%E8%A1%A8%E4%BE%8B,%E8%A6%8B%E3%81%A6%E3%81%BF%E3%81%BE%E3%81%97%E3%82%87%E3%81%86%E3%80%82

I'm confusing now. Is this a misinformation?