Coto Japanese Academy

Are you learning Japanese?  Are you looking for ways to help you learn?  In this blog we will share some of our tried and true strategies for helping you to learn Japanese.
Here are our 10 tips for learning Japanese:

  1. Create goals and stick to them
  2. Speak, Speak, Speak
  3. Learn to Conjugate Verbs
  4. Develop a study plan
  5. Challenge yourself

Create goals and stick to them

Learning Japanese is a long process – and it can often seem like you’re just “stuck” in your learning. What we recommend is to think about small goals that you would like to accomplish in your learning.
Having a measurable goal will help you to see progress and keep a positive outlook.
So what should a Japanese learning Goal look like?
The best way to explain it would be to give you some examples:

  • Make a restaurant reservation over the phone in Japanese
  • Take a taxi and give the driver directions in Japanese
  • Express opinions in Japanese (I don’t like this – I do like that)
  • Read a restaurant menu
  • Finish coursework on a textbook
  • Complete an Intensive Japanese learning course

A measurable goal is something that you can verify.
Examples of bad goals (non-measurable):

  • Watch anime without subtitles
  • Watch TV without subtitles
  • Be fluent in Japanese

These are not really goals – they are more examples of objectives.  An objective is a really large thing that you want to do – and goals are the steps that you need to take to get there.
So make sure to make your goal both achievable and fun!

Speak, Speak, Speak

The Japanese Language is beautiful – and to really enjoy and understand in grow in the language – you must experience speaking it.
If you live in Japan – this means doing things like:

  • Visiting meet-up groups and language exchanges
  • Attending Japanese language courses
  • Joining social clubs (Soccer Team, Book Club)
  • Making Japanese friends online and finding language exchange partners (Language exchange platforms)

For learners who live outside of Japan – it can be more of a challenge to find opportunities.  Japan is unique among the world’s more popular languages.  The majority of Japanese speakers actually live in Japan.
But with the internet – it has never been easier to find opportunities to practice speaking Japanese.
There are many websites that you can use to find language partners – as well as to take online Japanese lessons.
If you are interested in taking Japanese lessons online with Coto – we also offer private lessons check out https://online.cotoacademy.com

Learn to Conjugate Verbs

In Japanese – one of the biggest milestones is learning how to conjugate verb forms – conjugating verbs unlocks a large amount of grammar that you can use to fully express yourself in Japanese.
With Japanese – there are several rules that you will need to learn about the different verb groups and how they conjugate based on how they fall within the language.
If you would like to learn more about Japanese verbs – you can check out these articles

Best Free Japanese Verb Dictionaries – Links and List

Japanese Basic Grammar Guide Part IV – Verbs


 

Develop a Study Plan

Another important aspect of learning Japanese is having a study plan that you can stick to.  A study plan – just like a learning goal should we be well defined and easy to follow – Below is an example of what a study plan could look like:
Milestones:

  • 1 month – learn hiragana and katakana
  • 3 months – learn verb groups
  • 6 months – finish Genki 1 textbook
  • 1 Year – Pass JLPT N3

Daily Tasks:

  • 3 Kanji per day
  • 1 Hour of Listening Practice
  • 10 Vocabulary words per day

With a clear plan – and daily tasks that you can accomplish – you will be able to obtain your long term goals.
 

Challenge Yourself

Challenge yourself with regular study exercises.  Testing is an important part of learning – and a self-paced learning method can be really beneficial.
We recommend that you regularly have a way to test and challenge yourself.
Coto even creates its own challenges that you can participate in with a mobile device!
You can see our latest quizzes and challenges here:

Hiragana Chart & Quiz – Japanese Resources


Want to get our free Japanese learning challenges?  Check out https://www.coto-language.com/coto-challenges

Free Japanese Learning Challenges
Click on the Photo to go to our FREE Challenges page
 
If you are interested in Studying Japanese with us – check out https://www.cotoacademy.com/course or https://www.cotoacademy.com/course/online

Do you want to know how to pass the JLPT N5? Are you starting Japanese from zero as a complete beginner?

This guide will give you information about:

  • What is the JLPT N5?
  • Scoring sections for the JLPT N5 – What Sections is it divided into?
  • Registering for the JLPT N5
  • How to study to for the N5 Kanji and Vocabulary Section
  • How to study to for the N5 Grammar and Reading Section

What is the JLPT N5

The JLPT N5 is the first level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test ( also known as the 日本語能力試験)

It is the standardized examination used by universities and employers inside and outside of Japan to test a persons Japanese language ability.

Recently – the JLPT N5 has become more necessary when applying for certain types of student visas to Japan – and in some cases it is actually required that you have a JLPT N5 passing certificate before you can apply.

As you can see from the graphic below (students who self reported their study hours) – it takes about 460 hours of study for a person to go from 0 – to passing the Jlpt N5 comfortably.

This should not scare you – that’s just around 2-3 hours a day of study for 6 months.

Important note: You should also keep in mind that studying for the N5 level includes learning the Japanese written alphabets of katakana and hiragana for the first time.

So it really depends whether or not you’re learning to actually write those characters by hand – or simply you just want to be able to read them for the purposes of passing the exam.

We definitely recommend that you learn to write them – as it also makes learning to read much easier – but if you have limited time before you need to pass the exam, you can consider that as a way to shorten the time it takes.

how many hours to pass jlpt study hours N5

How is the JLPT N5 Scored? What sections appear on the JLPT N5

Scoring for JLPT is divided into 2 sections, vocabulary,grammar,reading and listening.

When you take the JLPT N5 – the test will be divided into two testing sections. This means that you will have a cumulative score for the Kanji, Vocabulary, Reading and Grammar. And you will be tested separately with a listening section.

During this listening section you will listen to audio segments that they play and have to answer questions given to you in those audio segments.

How to Register for the JLPT N5

Registering for the JLPT will depend on your country of residence – to find out where you can take the JLPT and where you can register for it – you can consult our registration guide.

Learning the JLPT N5 Kanji & Vocabulary

The N5 Contains roughly 100 or so Kanji that you need to memorize and around 800 vocabulary words.

(Of course you can pass without fully knowing all of these – but there are no guarantees which words will be appearing on your exam.)

We have created a handy JLPT Mega list that you can download and track your progress with – it has all of the Kanji and Vocabulary that you will need to pass the exam.

We would also recommend you check out our list of the top 100 japanese words.

We also have a JLPT N5 Kanji writing workbook that you can buy online and print at home.

This workbook contains stroke order diagrams that will teach you the strokes that you need in order to learn how to write the characters properly.

We have also provided several of the worksheets free of charge at the below links!

These are very useful as they cover many of the Kanji that you will be tested on during the N5 exam.

Unit 1. JLPT N5 Kanji – Numbers
Unit 2. JLPT N5 Kanji – Time
Unit 3. JLPT N5 Kanji – People and Body
Unit 4. JLPT N5 Kanji – Nature
Unit 5. JLPT N5 Kanji – Direction

Learning Grammar for the JLPT N5

Although there is no separation between the points scoring for the vocabulary and the grammar section – we would recommend that you study for them differently.

A good way to get a head start on this grammar is to check out some of our handy basic grammar guides – as well as our te form conjugation guide.

How to conjugate te form
Basic Grammar Guides (1-4)

Feeling up for a challenge?  Check out our 30 Day JLPT N5 Grammar Listening Challenge!  It’s available here for free, and you are drilled on 2 phrases a day with flashcards and videos. 

JLPT Sensei also provides a handy n5 grammar list that you can use in your studies.

If you are studying for the JLPT N5 – we have online lessons that will help you to prepare!

Do not hesitate to get in touch and good luck with your learning.

Start taking Japanese lessons and pass JLPT N5!

This cheat sheet PDF guide is the ultimate resource for beginners. It covers numbers, time, verb conjugation, and even includes a handy hiragana and katakana chart. This one-sheet PDF has all that you need to be familiar with the basics of most Japanese Concepts.Get the free download of our learning cheat sheet below.

Verb conjugation

The cheat sheet covered 12 conjugation forms for both formal and informal verbs.
For example, the Te-form is the first challenge for many Japanese beginners. In the cheat sheet, we list the rules to help you remember the conjugation.

te form cheat sheet
U-verb -う/つ/る ex: 買う って ex: 買って
-む/ぶ/ぬ ex: 読む んで ex: 読んで
-す ex: 話す して ex: 話して
-く/ぐ ex: 泳ぐ いていで ex: 泳いで
行く 行って
Ru- verb -る ex: 食べる て ex: 食べて

Japanese calendar

Day of the week-

The easiest thing to remember is that each day of the week ends with the kanji “曜日” and each day is represented by a different element of nature.
The first kanji of the days comes from the five visible planets, which are named after the five Chinese elements (metal 金, wood 木, water水, fire火, earth土), and also the moon 月 and sun 日.

Monday 月曜日 げつようび
Tuesday 火曜日 かようび
Wednesday 水曜日 すいようび
Thursday 木曜日 もくようび
Friday 金曜日 きにょうび
Saturday 土曜日 どようび
Sunday 日曜日 にちようび

Days of the month-

The counter is にち (日) and you can simply add the number of the day. The first 10 days have special readings that you should pay attention to.

ついたち: 1st
ふつか: 2nd
みっか: 3rd
よっか: 4th
いつか: 5th
むいか: 6th
なのか: 7th
ようか: 8th
ここのか: 9th
とうか: 10th

Start taking Japanese lessons at Coto Academy!

Coto Academy is one of Japan’s leading language schools, with campuses in Shibuya, Yokohama, Iidabashi, Minato, and a fully online school. We offer flexible Japanese lessons, whether you’re looking for intensive, part-time, or online courses, so you can reach your language goals faster. 

Trying to figure out how to type in Japanese on a Mac?

Maybe you’ve already read our article on How to Type Japanese on Windows 10, but the installation process looks quite different for Mac and iOS Apple devices.

In this article, we will take you through the Step-by-step process of setting up the Japanese keyboard on your Mac computer, or your iOS device.

How to Type in Japanese on an Apple Device

Typing in Japanese on a Mac Computer

Most Apple Computers and Laptops in Japan come standard with both keyboards already installed and ready to go.

However if you own a Mac computer bought in an English speaking or Western country, you will need take a few extra steps to install and set up the Japanese keyboard on your computer. But don’t sweat it – it’s a simple process with only a few steps!

Installing the Japanese Keyboard

Installing the Japanese keyboard on your Mac takes only a couple steps. First direct yourself to the System Preferences either from the dropdown menu or from the Launchpad. Alternatively, you can select “Open Keyboard Preferences” from the dropdown keyboard menu in the top right menu bar.

From there simply select “Keyboard” from the list.

how to type japanese mac - keyboard

Under “Keyboard” you will see 5 tabs: “Keyboard”, “Text”, “Shortcuts”, “Input Sources”, “Dictation”. Click on “Input Sources”, and you will notice in the right hand bar a list of keyboards. At the bottom click the “+” button.

type japanese mac - add keyboard

An alphabetized language list will appear, and you can scroll down to find Japanese and select it. The Japanese Keyboard is now installed, and you should have access to the keyboard preferences:

type japanese mac - keyboard input sources

You can adjust the preferences as you see fit, but we recommend just using it as is until you familiarize yourself with the keyboard. Then later you can divert from the default settings according to your own personal preferences.

Voila! Now you can begin to type in Japanese on your Mac Computer!

Typing in Japanese on Your Mac Computer

The Japanese keyboard on Mac will have 3 settings: Romaji, Hiragana, and Katakana, and you can toggle between them depending on what you are trying to type.

type japanese mac - keyboards
Shortcuts:
  • Romaji → *control* + *shift* + *;*
  • Hiragana → *control* + *shift* + *j*
  • Katakana → *control* + *shift* + *k*

The Romaji keyboard functions like your normal alphabetical keyboard, with a few exceptions such as the ¥ symbol. You can view/adjust the specifics in the Keyboard Settings.

So let’s type with Hiragana to start. You can open up “Notes” (or any other Apple word processor such as Pages) and toggle the keyboard over to Hiragana by either clicking it from the drop down menu or using the shortcut *control* + *shift* + *j*.

You are now ready to start typing. Type out the Japanese word phonetically, and it will automatically convert to hiragana. So if you wanted to type べんきょうします you would type out “b e n n k y o u s h i m a s u.”

Notice that the punctuation keys are a bit different, so you’ll want to play around with them to familiarize yourself with their new functions.

Press enter when you are done typing the word or phrase and it will output it onto the word processor.

Using Kanji

You will notice right away that the default setting for the Mac computer’s Japanese keyboard automatically converts the hiragana into kanji. This is a convenient feature that will help streamline your Japanese typing process.

It’s a given, however, that you must be able to understand Japanese Kanji well enough to differentiate between 2 words with similar pronounciation and different kanji. Observe the following:

Type japanese mac - ijou kanji

Notice how even though I have typed the word “ijou” / いじょう, there are multiple possible kanji that appear with the same pronounciation. There are dictionary definitions that appear alongside them, but unfourtunately those are all in Japanese.

Thankfully you don’t need to be able to read all of them, however, you just need to recognize the kanji that you are trying to use. You can navigate the suggested characters with either the arrowkeys, the spacebar, or the mouse.

Hitting “enter/return” will finalize the selection and the keyboard will move on to process the next word or phrase. The Katakana keyboard does not convert to Kanji.

To learn more Kanji, check out our Online Classes!

Typing in Japanese on an iOS Device

We have looked at how to install and type with a Japanese keyboard on Mac, but what about on your iPhone or iPad?

The Japanese keyboard on iOS devices is a little bit different to install and use, but it’s just as easy to do as on a Mac computer.

Installing the Japanese Keyboard

Installing the Japense Keyboard on iOS devices is a similar process to the Mac computer. It’s also how you install emoji keyboards, so you may be familiar with the process. Go to Settings → General → Keyboard

At the top you should see an option for “Keyboards” so tap again to go into that, and tap “Add New Keyboard…” at the bottom.

type japanese iphone - keyboard settings

Now just scroll to find the Japanese Keyboard. You will notice that there are 2: Kana and Romaji. You can tap both enable both or just one or the other. We recommend starting with the Romaji keyboard as the Kana keyboard layout can be confusing.

If you use the emoji keyboard, then you already know how to switch between keyboards. But just in case you don’t know, all you have to do is press and hold down the globe image key on the bottom left hand side of your keyboard, and a list should appear.

Just scroll down to 日本語ローマ字 (Japanese Romaji) and you will be able to type Japanese on your iPhone or iOS device just like on a computer.

Typing in Japanese on Your iOS Device

So once you’ve switched your keyboard over to Japanese Romaji, you can now start typing in Japanese on your iOS device.

The iOS Romaji Keyboard is functionally the same as the Mac one. So to spell out words and phrases, tap out their phonetics in roman letters. For example:

すし → sushi
げんき → genki
こんにちは → konnnichiha

And so on. Often times, you need to hit “n” twice for the ん character, so just be wary of that.

Using Kanji

One thing to bear in mind is that while the Japanese Romaji Keyboard will automatically suggest kanji for you to use, it will not automatically convert them like on Mac.

Instead, you will see suggestions above the keyboard of kanji and word predictions. This also utilizes word prediction based on your recent typing, so if you are typing the same things in Japanes multiple times, your iPhone or iPad will try to predict the Japanese words and kanji just as it does in English. Convenient!

As with typing on the computer, you will need to at least be able to recognize the kanji you are wanting to use. Otherwise you will run the risk of using wrong kanji and therefore making some rather confusing Japanese sentences!

Additionally, we have Online JLPT Prep Courses available with Always Open Enrollment! →

Coto Japanese Academy offers Online Japanese Lessons taught by professional Japanese teachers, available 24/7!

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (あつまれ　動物の森) is one of the hottest games to hit the shelves in 2020 – And it’s making people’s self-isolation period a lot more enjoyable.

Animal Crossing has quickly taken the gaming world by storm, selling out in many stores across North America. Now that most people are not in a hurry to leave their homes in the real world, they instead choose to do so on their Nintendo Switches.

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you can collect bugs and fossils, try your hand at interior decoration, go fishing, pay your bills to Tom Nook, or even…

Practice your Japanese With Animal Crossing!

Due to the game’s layout, playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons (あつまれ　動物の森) in Japanese is a fantastic way to study the language. The game’s use of kana, kanji, colloquial form – and more – make studying Japanese while playing easy.

In this article we will cover some ways in which you can advance your Japanese study just by playing あつまれ　動物の森!

Study Japanese by Playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Contents:

The Premise of Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (あつまれ　動物の森) is a life sim where you get your own island to build on and customize. You start out by coming to the island and getting land from Tom Nook.

Tom Nook, although presented in the English version of the game as a raccoon, is actually a Tanuki. His name in the Japanese edition is たぬきち.
(the Tanuki are a kind of rare Japanese raccoon-dog animal)

Tom Nook Animal Crossing Japanese
Image can be viewed at 4gamer.net

Tom Nook is the antagonist, sort of…

Unfourtunately, Tom Nook is more or less the antagonist of the game. He takes advantage of your lack of resources and slugs you with a mountainload of debt at the very beginnning of the game! Much of the beginning of the game is spent doing fun activities and tasks for him to repay your debt.

Once you have established your home a bit on the island, you can build upon what you have. You can decorate your home and customize the layout, as well as across the whole island. You can collect insects, fish, and fossils to give to the museum, and trade with friends online!

You’re basically just living island life on your own terms! Well, except for paying back that たぬきち…

Image can be viewed at animeanime.jp

How to Learn Japanese with Animal Crossing: Kana, Kanji, and Vocab

One of the big ways in which you can study Japanese by playing Animal Crossing is with Kana

As you probably know, studying written Japanese begins with the Kana. That is: Hiragana (ひらがな) and Katakana (カタカナ). It is the basis for written Japanese – and without it, it is very hard to master vocabulary and grammar, even for spoken Japanese.

Animal Crossing makes frequent use of kana, both Hiragana and Katakana. If you can already read these, great! Now you can practice reading them to get your reading speed up.

If you aren’t quite there yet, that’s ok too! You can try getting through it and refer to this chart anytime you get stuck.

Image can be viewed at menmano.net

The more you read through Hiragana and Katakana, the more you will be familiarizing yourself with Japanese vocabulary. You will be building up your internal Japanese vocabulary list without fully realizing it!

The names the game uses for insects, plants, fossils, and fishes are all their real world Japanese names. This means that you will be reading, re-reading, and memorizing the Japanese names for all of these items!

But mostly, you can learn from the dialogue

More than that, you will be picking up vocabulary, nouns, and verbs from reading the Japanese game dialogue flashing across your screen.

All of these names, words and terms you will pick up with Hiragana, Katakana, or Kanji. Just like in this screenshot.

Image can be viewed on https://dengekionline.com/articles/31945/

Yes there’s Kanji! As you can see, the game features Kanji with the furigana readings

All of the Kanji in the game has furigana. Because of this, you will not only be building upon your vocabulary, but you will also familiarize yourself with Kanji readings and their meanings.

Practice associating the Kanji with its reading, and the reading with its meaning. And you will be well on your way! That plus the frequent use of kana will ensure that your Japanese list is building – Even if you aren’t aware of it.

How to Study Japanese with Animal Crossing: Reading Comprehension

This is directly connected to the point above about practicing Kana, Vocab, and Kanji. By getting in all those hours playing Animal Crossing in Japanese, you will be building up Japanese comprehension – especially reading.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a rather slow paced game. You can take your time doing tasks and building out your island. This means you can also take your time reading the Japanese text as it pops up on your screen.

Animal Crossing Japanese Conversation with talking dog
Image can be viewed at denfamiwiki

Even if you don’t understand certain words or phrases right away, the visual association will help you figure it out. As long as you keep actively reading through the Japanese, you will be improving your reading comprehension!

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a very visual game. Your brain will absorb the words together with the images, and your reading comprehension will level up. All while playing a super fun game!

The other thing about playing Animal Crossing in Japanese is the Grammar.

This is especially good for if you are preparing for the JLPT!

Since Animal Crossing: New Horizons in Japanese is made for a native Japanese audience, it exposes you to natural ways the Japanese language uses its grammar.

Japanese grammar can be complicated and overwhelming. That’s why interacting with it in a fun setting like Animal Crossing is a good way to get Japanese grammar stuck inside your brain.

Animal Crossing Japanese talking pig
Image can be viewed at dengekionline.com

By reading over the gameplay text, you will be able to gain a deeper understanding of the use of Japanese grammar. Which you will be able to use for reading, listening, writing or speaking. Animal Crossing is a fantastic resource for building Japanese comprehension by exposure to native interactive Japanese.

In short, the simplistic gameplay style and slow pacing of Animal Crossing: New Horizons make it a great resource for Japanese reading comprehension.

How to Study Japanese with Animal Crossing: Colloquial Form Japanese and Accents

If you want to advance your conversational Japanese, Animal Crossing can help here as well. It features a variety of different “accents” and forms of colloquial Japanese.

Because the Japanese in Animal Crossing is mainly interactive dialogue, most of the Japanese is casual. To get the most Japanese study out of this, it might be a good idea to practice reading the game dialogue out loud to yourself.

This way you are hearing yourself say it while reading it. You are practicing Japanese pronunciation and training your ears to hear Japanese.

Animal Crossing is mostly casual Japanese

In other words, if you are especially keen on studying spoken Japanese for conversation and daily life, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has you covered.

What’s more is that some of the NPC’s that you interact with will use different accents. Pay attention to how they use different slang and speech patterns to identify what purpose the vocabulary serves!

Just like in real life Japan, some people might have little language quirks or attributes that make their speaking style unique. Animal Crossing is a great way to train your brain to understanding this type of Japanese in a natural way.

Talking Robot duck in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Image can be viewed here

Advance Your Japanese With Animal Crossing: New Horizons!

If you are interested in studying Japanese in Tokyo, find out more about our school by filling out the form below. Courses can be found here

This year due to COVID-19 we will be offering several online special intensive courses.

With a variety of different levels – you can take the opportunity to improve your Japanese conversation.

And for those that are already working in Japan – you can polish your Japanese business writing.

Learn more about the available intensives below

Dates and Pricing

Click here to Apply

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1o_52Xazga3rkEoWEecq98AMEIOInjYlqeF_TIPlYTp0/
5-Day Course to improve Japanese conversation or business writing – conversation courses available for a variety of levels.

(All offered online and conducted through zoom meetings)

Dates:
May 4th  – May 8th 

Time:
Morning course: 9:30 am – 12:20 pm　 (Tokyo Time – GMT＋９）
Afternoon course: 13:10 pm -16:00 pm 　(Tokyo Time – GMT＋９）

Tuition:
35,000 yen(inclusive of course material fee)

＊Only for news students – Initial registration fee: 5,000 yen (50% discount from the regular price)

Available Courses

1. Beginner Conversation Course (Only in available for the morning schedule)

This class will help students build the foundation to be able to communicate in Japanese. The goal is that you’ll be able to use basic conjugated forms and speak naturally.

-Best for people who are studying with  the Genki 1 textbook

Before joining, students should:
Know basic verbs and adjectives
Be able to read all hiragana and katakana fluently
Sign Up

2. Upper-Beginner Conversation Course(Afternoon – 6 seats left!)

While quickly reviewing basic conjugations as well as sentence patterns that use them, we’ll train you to use them with everyday vocabulary.

-Best for people who are now studying with the Genki 2 textbook

Before joining, students should:
 Know Te-forms and short forms(present and past tense)
 Be able to make simple sentences using proper particles
Sign Up

3. Bridge to Intermediate Course(Only in the morning)

This course focuses on the core basic sentence patterns, improving vocabulary for a variety of daily situations, and building longer sentences through combinations.

-Best for people who have finished the Genki 2 textbook

Before joining, students should:
 Know all the basic conjugations
 Be able to make a basic conversation only in Japanese

Sign Up

4. Business E-mail Writing Course (Upper-Intermediate)

(Morning-2 seats available  Afternoon-7 seats available)

For students with N3 and above who want to improve their business e-mails, this course is for you!
-Best for people who is N3 or above level

-Before joining students should:
 Know basic keigo
 Be able to read at least 600 kanji characters
Sign Up

Click Here to join our 30 day challenge to learn Hiragana

Are you homeschooling your child and looking for language learning resources? Japanese is a good fit for homeschoolers due to its unique visual writing systems.

Below we have laid out several apps that would be good for homeschoolers learning Japanese.

 Dr. Moku’s Hiragana and Katakana
Cover art

Doctor Moku’s Hiragana and Katakana:  With a fun and friendly visual interface – this app teaches the basics of two of the Japanese writing systems.  It is family-friendly and a great way to learn – appropriate for younger students.  It is also very friendly to absolute beginners – and should spark an interest in the continued study.

Screenshot ImageScreenshot Image

 

Ios Link – Dr Moku
Android Link – Dr Moku

 

Mind Snacks: Japanese

Mindsnacks is a visually stunning and fun Game-based learning app.  With different quiz and challenge modes you can learn many nouns and expressions in Japanese as well as the basics of the writing systems.  It’s quite fun!

Mindsnacks – IOS link
SORRY NO ANDROID

Duolingo – Japanese

 

Duolingo Japanese Review Summary

The most comprehensive of the learning apps we will suggest – this may not be age-appropriate for the little ones – but can serve 11 years and up quite nicely.

duolingo Japanese translation screenshot

Duo-lingo comes close to being a comprehensive textbook for Japanese learning – and its visual style and gammification make it a natural choice for students who easily get distracted.  They will have fun trying to get points and collect badges.

You even get an avatar and can spend the virtual currency that you get on your owl avatar to dress them up.

duolingo -- bag in Japanese

 

Duolingo  – Android Link
Duolingo – IOS Link

Human Japanese Lite

For high-school aged homeschoolers that are looking for a digital Japanese textbook – we recommend human Japanese – as it is the most comprehensive digital textbook and you can download the lite version for free.

See some screenshots below:

Screenshot Image

 

Human Japanese Lite – IOS Link

Human Japanese Lite – Android Link

Live Online 1-1 Lessons for Homeschooling

In light of the Covid-19 situation affecting Schools across the world – Coto has decided to start offering its online lessons to homeschoolers and their families that are looking for a supportive language program.

Are you a parent that is trying to teach a language through e-learning?

At Coto Japanese academy we offer a free consultation to help plan a study plan for your homeschool student.

We offer supportive and friendly teachers that will help your children learn Japanese face to face via video chat in an engaging way.

Benefits of Coto Online Lessons for Homeschoolers

  • Flexible Scheduling
  • Speaking practice or learning practice
  • Study on a set / regular schedule with the same teacher
  • Study with different teachers as little or as much as you want!

If you are interested in signing up your child for homeschool lessons – please fill out the contact form below:

[contact-form-7 id=”12634″ title=”Inquiry Form_copy”]

How to Use Microsoft IME on Windows 10 to Type in Japanese

For Mac, iPhone, iOS click here.
Looking to type in Japanese?
In our modern age, typing has become an essential and integrated part of daily life. From emails to Facebook comments to Google searches, we type almost without thinking on a regular basis.
But what if you want to practice typing in Japanese? Isn’t it exciting that for us in 2020, it’s super easy to do so? Back before Windows came out if you wanted to type in Japanese you had to buy a keyboard with kana. Even now most Japanese keyboards come still standard with kana on them, but not many young people use the kana keys because typing in romaji has become more popular.
In recent years, Windows has come out with a Japanese IME – Japanese typing software that utilizes Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji using an English keyboard. What’s more: it’s super simple to install and easy to use!

Installing the Japanese IME on Windows 10

Just in case you don’t already have the IME installed on your computer, let’s run through how to do that real quick! (if you already have the IME installed, skip to Typing in Japanese)
First, click on the start button in the bottom left-hand corner and open “Settings”.
Windows settings
Second, navigate to “Time & language” and click to go into that.
Windows Language Settings
Next, open “Region & language” and select the “Add a language” button listed under Languages.
Microsoft IME - add language
Select “日本語 – Japanese” and voila! “Japanese is added” means that the Microsoft IME is now installed and ready to go. Confirm by checking the language bar on the bottom right side of the display, which is probably still set to ENG (English). So go ahead and switch that to “Japanese Microsoft IME” to try it out!
Settings Microsoft IME Japanese toolbar
You will notice that the keyboard still types English characters because it is set to [ A ]. This mode is used for typing English words with a Japanese keyboard, so click [ A ] and the typing mode will change to [ あ ]. Now you can type in Japanese Kana and Kanji on an English keyboard!
Now that we have installed the Microsoft IME, let’s try it out!

Romanization Systems for Typing in Japanese

The first thing you need to know is that there are 3 systems of romanization for Japanese: nihon-shiki (日本式), the Hepburn system, and kunrei-shiki (訓令式).
In short, the nihon-shiki is a transliteration of the Japanese writing system, the Hepburn system was historically the nihon-shiki’s competing system, and the kunrei-shiki is a modernized variation of the Hepburn system. The main difference is that the nihon-shiki directly transliterates the kana into English, whereas the Hepburn and kunrei systems convert into roman words with clear pronunciation. For example, nihon-shiki converts ち into “ti”, even though ち is actually pronounced “chi”.
These are generalizations because the distinctions are more complicated. The main thing to keep in mind is that the Hepburn system uses more punctuation than the others, making it a bit more difficult to type with. I recommend sticking with the kunrei-shiki, but if typing on the IME using the nihon-shiki works better for you then you can use that instead. 

Using the Microsoft IME to Type Japanese

Alright, now you are all set to give it a shot! Open up Microsoft Word (or any other word processing app you use) and switch your keyboard mode. It will be in the default mode (Half-width alphanumeric) where you can type in English like normal. The only exception is that some of the punctuation keys will have different values.
Let’s say you wanted to type in Hiragana to start. You can switch the keyboard by right-clicking the language bar on the bottom right-hand side and selecting “Hiragana”.
Typing Japanese with MS-IME keyboard - hiragana
When you type, it will first appear as alpha-numeric (romaji) until you enter a valid kana. Try typing a Japanese word like hajimemashite and it should convert into はじめまして. Then hit “enter” and the IME will leave the kana word as it is, and is ready for you to input the next word.

What About Typing Kanji?

But what about selecting kanji? Let’s say you want to type sushi, for example, and want to use its kanji: 寿司. Type in sushi and it will convert to すし, but instead of pressing “enter”, tap the space bar instead. A list will pop up and you can use the arrow keys and space bar to go through the options available, so go to 寿司 and hit enter.
Sushi Typing Japanese MS IME
Since many Japanese kanji share common readings, multiple kanji options will appear for you to select from. However, this means you need to be able to recognize the kanji you are trying to use.
When you are all done, shortcut easily back to English typing mode with “alt” + “shift”.
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Have you been practicing your U-verbs regularly? Did you enjoy this series?

All good things need to come to an end, but don’t worry! We would be releasing other conjugations such as Ru-verbs, irregular verbs and adjectives as well! Stay tuned!

U-verb ー Verb Conjugation List with illustrations Part 3
Enter・入ります

Verb 1: Enter

 

きのう、わたしはおんせんにはいりました。
Kinou, watashi wa onsen ni hairimashita.
Yesterday, I entered the Onsen.

U-verb ー Verb Conjugation List with illustrations Part 3
Speak・話します

Verb 2: Speak

 

かぞくのもんだいについてはなしません。
Kazoku no mondai ni tsuite hanashimasen.
We do not speak/talk about family problems.

U-verb ー Verb Conjugation List with illustrations Part 3
Pay・払います

Verb 3: Pay

 

ともだちですから、わたしがかのじょのぶんをはらってもかまいません。
Tomodachi desukara, watashi ga kanojyo no bun o haratte mo kamaimasen.
Since she is my friend, I don’t mind paying for her.

U-verb ー Verb Conjugation List with illustrations Part 3
Turn・曲がります

Verb 4: Turn

 

まっすぐいって、みぎにまがります。
Massugu itte , migi ni magarimasu.
After you walk straight, turn right.

U-verb ー Verb Conjugation List with illustrations Part 3
Wait・待ちます

Verb 5: Wait

 

ここでともだちを１じかんまちました。
Kokode tomodachi o ichi jikan machimashita.
I have waited here for my friend for 1 hour.

U-verb ー Verb Conjugation List with illustrations Part 3
Receive/Get・貰います

Verb 6: Receive/Get

 

ことしのたんじょうびにははからあたらしいくつをもらいました。
Kotoshi no tanjyoubi ni haha kara atarashii kutsu o moraimashita.
I received a pair of new shoes from my mother for my birthday this year.

U-verb ー Verb Conjugation List with illustrations Part 3
Be Absent/Get Rest・休みます

Verb 7: Be Absent/Get Rest

 

きぶんがわるいので、うちでやすんでいます。
Kibun ga waruinode, uchi de yasundeimasu.
I don’t feel well, so I am resting at home.

U-verb ー Verb Conjugation List with illustrations Part 3
Read・読みます

Verb 8: Read

 

わたしはこのほんをよみたくないです。こわいですから。
Watashi wa kono hon wo yomitakunai desu. kowaidesu kara.
I don’t want to read this book. It is scary.

U-verb ー Verb Conjugation List with illustrations Part 3
Understand/Know・分かります

 

Verb 9: Understand/Know

 

このもんだいが わかりますか？
kono mondai ga wakarimasuka?
Do you understand this question?

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Did you miss out on our Part 1 or Part 2 of this series? No worries! Click below for our previous parts!

U-verb ー Verb Conjugation List with illustrations Part 1

U-verb ー Verb Conjugation List with illustrations Part ２

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Did you enjoy part 1 of this series? Have you used any of the verbs in your daily conversation?

In the last series, we have learned how to use a variety of U-verbs and we would be taking a look at more of these U-verbs!

Here we have our second part in this series!

U-Verbs Conjugation List, picture, photo, image, illustration
Lend・貸します

Verb 1: Lend

 

わたしは　あしを　いためてしまったので　かたを　かしてもらえますか？
Watashi wa ashi wo itametesimatta node , kata wo kashitemoraemasuka?
Because I hurt my leg, can I lend your shoulder?

U-verb conjugation list, photo, picture, illustration, image, do one's best
Do One’s Best・頑張ります

Verb 2: Do one’s best

 

ことしのぶんかさいはがんばってね。
Kotoshi no bunkasai wa ganbatte ne.
This year’s culture day, do you best.

U-verbs conjugation list, image, photo, picture, illustration, listen, hear
Listen/Hear・聞きます

Verb 3: Listen/Hear

 

どんなおんがくをききますか？
Donna ongaku wo kikimasu ka?
What kind of music do you listen to?

U-verbs conjugation list, image, photo, picture, illustration, live
Live・住みます

Verb 4: Live

 

いま、かぞくごにんですんでいます。
ima, kazoku gonin de sundeimasu.
Now, im living with 5 family members.

U-verbs conjugation list, image, photo, picture, illustration, Sit
Sit・座ります

Verb 5: Sit

 

あしがいたいから、すわりません。
Ashi ga itai kara, suwarimasen.
Because my leg hurts, I would not sit.

U-verbs conjugation list, image, photo, picture, illustration, Smoke (cigarettes
Smoke (cigarettes)・タバコを吸います

Verb 6: Smoke (cigarettes)

 

まえは、タバコをすっていました。
Mae wa tabako o sutte imashita.
I smoke cigarettes last time.

U-verbs conjugation list, image, photo, picture, illustration, Use
Use・使います

Verb 7: Use

 

このパソコンをつかっていますか？
Kono pasokon o tsukatteimasuka?
Are you using the computer?

U-verbs conjugation list, image, photo, picture, illustration, Make
Make・作ります

Verb 8: Make

 

きのう、おかあさんといっしょにすしをつくりました。
kinou, okaasan to issyoni sushi o tsukurimashita.
I made sushi with my mother yesterday.

U-verbs conjugation list, image, photo, picture, illustration, Give one's help
Give one’s Help・手伝います

Verb 9: Give One’s Help

 

このはこをはこぶのをてつだってもらえますか？
Kono hako o　hakobuno wo tetsudatte moraemasuka?
Can I help you carry this box?

U-verbs conjugation list, image, photo, picture, illustration, Stop, Stay (at a hotel)
Stop/Stay (at a hotel)・止まります/泊まります

Verb 10: Stop/Stay (at a hotel)

 

ブレーキがおかしい！くるまがとまらない！
Bure-ki ga okashii! Kuruma ga tomaranai!
The break is broken! The car would not stop!

U-verbs conjugation list, image, photo, picture, illustration, Take a picture
Take a Picture・撮ります

Verb 11: Take (a Picture)

 

ほっかいどうはけしきがきれいだったから、たくさんしゃしんをとったんです！
Hokkaidou wa keshiki ga kirei datta kara, takusan Syashin o tottandesu !
Because the Hokkaido’s scenery was beautiful , I took a lot of picture .

U-verbs conjugation list, image, photo, picture, illustration, Drink
Drink・飲みます

Verb 12: Drink

みせいねんなので、おさけはのみません。
Miseinenna node, osake wa nomimasen.
As I am underage, I don’t drink sake.

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Missed out on our first part? Click below for information!

U-verb ー Verb Conjugation List with illustrations Part 1

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