The Business Japanese Proficiency Test (BJT) is both a great addition and an alternative to the JLPT, especially if you want to work in Japan. But should you take it?

You may be familiar with the JLPT, but have you heard of the BJT and TOPJ? While the JLPT is the most widely recognized proof of Japanese language proficiency, an increasing number of companies and foreigners are now opting for the JLPT test alternatives. But from JLPT, BJT, and TOPJ, which one should you take? […]

Although JLPT is the de facto standard, it’s only held twice a year. This got us thinking: what are the other alternatives to officially prove our Japanese?

A report claims that the Japanese government is considering changes to one of the most common work visas to include a Japanese language requirement.

Japanese casual and polite language varies greatly in relationships depending on how well people know each other and whether each party agrees to be treated in the way they are.

Ever wondered what real-life people inspired our favorite and most memorable anime characters? Every great character takes inspiration from somewhere, and often that inspiration comes from real-life icons we may have heard of. Writers frequently design their characters based on the image, life story, or even personality of real-life people, since sometimes facts can be […]

Want to learn Japanese hiragana? In this blog, we share our own PDF learning hiragana practice sheets and links to some popular apps for learning Japanese. Just started learning Japanese? Head to our main article about the Japanese writing system for a more comprehensive guide! What is hiragana? Hiragana (平仮名) is one of three writing […]

ながら (nagara) is used to describe two actions happening at the same time, performed by the same person. It connects to the first action and translates roughly as “while doing ~” or “as ~.”Eating breakfast while checking your phone. Listening to music while studying. Walking while talking — we do two things at once all […]