Thursday, June 9, 2016

A great website and Youtube channels to practice Japanese

Do you remember me? It's been a while since I have announced the birth of my first child. My life has changed a lot. Frankly, I've been exhausted and I didn't have time (and energy) to write something on this blog. :/

Now my little monster is asleep, it's time to update my blog!


First of all, I'd like to introduce you a nice website where you can practice Japanese particles. I got a comment from Ben Cann, who developped it. (Thank you Ben!)


There're many quizez for Japanese learners. It contains not only quizez of particles, but also contains quizez of other grammar rules, letters, vocabulary, words and phrases you need if you're living in Japan. Also, you can prepare for the JLPT exam.



And, I want to share you guys this video from Chika's Youtube channel "Japanagos".
 

Wow, she came to Kanazawa! I didn't know that. She is a popular Youtuber, many Japanese people who's learning English subscribe her another channel "Bilingirl Chika".

You know, Kanazawa is my hometown. Check it out if you're interested. ;)



Well well well, my little monster woke up! I must go now. Thank you for visit my blog! Hopefully I can write again soon...!

Thursday, January 21, 2016

OH BOY!!

I'm proud to announce my most precious gift, a bouncing boy! XD


Friday, January 15, 2016

What's the difference between らしい, そうだ, ぽい, ようだ and みたいだ??

First post of 2016! How did you spend your winter holiday?


In my previous post, I wrote about らしい and そうだ, which follows after information and indicates that the speaker is not sure about the truth. And らしい also means "just like as something" or "typical" when it follows a noun.

(1) [Information] + らしい (=そうだ)
- The speaker heard it from others and he is not certain about the truth

(2) [Person/Things] + らしい
- It is just like what it is, or usual for someone

We also say ~っぽい/...ppoi/ in casual conversations. It has the same meaning as らしい and そうだ, but it sounds very casual.

らしい and そうだ is usually used when the speaker got information from others, while っぽい is also used when the speaker just came to the conclusion.


山田(やまだ)さん、体調(たいちょう)が悪(わる)いらしいよ。
/Yamada san, taichou ga warui rashii yo/
山田(やまだ)さん、体調(たいちょう)が悪(わる)いそうだよ。
/Yamada san, taichou ga warui souda yo/
I've heard that Mr.Yamada is sick.

山田(やまだ)さん、体調(たいちょう)が悪(わる)いっぽいよ。
/Yamada san, taichou ga warui ppoi yo/
I've heard/It seems that Mr.Yamada is sick. (Perhaps the speaker heard about it, or just thought Mr.Yamada is sick because he saw Mr.Yamada coughing or something.)


しい and ぽい can also be translated as "-ish" or "-like".

なんだか風邪(かぜ)っぽいな。
/nandaka kaze ppoi na/
I think I'm coming down with a cold.
*風邪(かぜ)っぽい:feel sick

熱(ねつ)っぽい時(とき)は休(やす)んだ方(ほう)がいい。
/netsu ppoi toki wa yasunda hou ga ii/
You'd better get some rest if you feel feverish.


女(おんな)らしい/女(おんな)っぽい both mean "feminine". 女らしい is usually used to describe a woman who has ideal feminine traits, so it won't be used for men. 男らしい(manly, masculine) is used for men, not for women.
On the other hand, 女っぽい/男っぽい can be used for both men and women who are feminine/masculine.

So ねこらしい describes the typical and common traits of ねこ(cats), and ねこっぽい describes something that is like cats. For example, my dog sometimes behaves like a cat. We say he has ねこっぽい性格(せいかく) "cat-like personality". We don't say ねこらしい性格 because he actually is a dog, not a cat. If I had a cat which has a typical cat's characteristics, then I would say she has ねこらしい性格.



It might be confusing but let me add two more words, ようだ and みたいだ. They also indicate the speaker got information from others. I've written about them before, but let me introduce them again.


(1) 今晩(こんばん)雪(ゆき)が降(ふ)るらしい
/konban yuki ga furu rashii/

(2) 今晩(こんばん)雪(ゆき)が降(ふ)るそうだ
/konban yuki ga furu souda/

(3) 今晩(こんばん)雪(ゆき)が降(ふ)るようだ
/konban yuki ga furu youda/

(4) 今晩(こんばん)雪(ゆき)が降(ふ)るみたいだ
/konban yuki ga furu mitaida/

※今晩(こんばん)/konban/ tonight
※雪(ゆき)/yuki/ snow
※降(ふ)る/furu/ to fall


So, what's the difference? I've already told you about (1)らしい and (2)そうだ. You've heard about it from someone else. To be specific, (2)そうだ sounds that the speaker is sure about the information, but (1)らしい sounds unsure.

(3)ようだ and (4)みたいだ are the same. (4)みたいだ is often used in a conversation. They are used to show the speaker's conclusion drawn from his experience or his sence.


あの二人(ふたり)はケンカ(けんか)したそうだ(=らしい)
/ano futari wa kenka shita souda(rashii)/
I've heard that they had a falling out.

あの二人(ふたり)はケンカ(けんか)したようだ(=みたいだ)
/ano futari wa kenka shita youda(mitaida)/
It seems that they had a falling out.



I just remembered another meaning of そうだ, but it would be too long, so I'll write about it next time! ;)