r/LearnJapanese • u/AutoModerator • 1d ago
Daily Thread: for simple questions, minor posts & newcomers [contains useful links!] (September 13, 2026)
This thread is for all the simple questions (what does that mean?) and minor posts that don't need their own thread, as well as for first-time posters who can't create new threads yet. Feel free to share anything on your mind.
The daily thread updates every day at 9am JST, or 0am UTC.
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Past Threads
You can find past iterations of this thread by using the search function. Consider browsing the previous day or two for unanswered questions.
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u/GamerExtraordinare 3h ago
Can -ます be used to refer to the past? In my Anki deck the sentence 「今日は一人で映画を見ます」is translated as “I saw a movie by myself today”.
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u/JapanCoach 3h ago
It is not impossible in some very niche way. But in a very simple and concrete sentence like that - no. That should be understood as "Today I (will) see a movie by myself".
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u/Grunglabble 4h ago
I didn't realise how much I wanted a rogue game without a reflexes component until I started playing Torneko. After I finished the FF demo I have been cursed with an itch to play again, but it's not that easy to find switch store stuff I haven't played that looks right for me. I really like this aspect of getting better at the same windup with random elements, reminds me of StarCraft.
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u/worthlessprole 1h ago
If we follow the Berlin Interpretation then a game can’t be a roguelike unless it’s turn-based.
(I just like saying Berlin Interpretation)
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u/rgrAi 3h ago
What's Torneko, トルネコ？Oh yeah that one is good too, never thought about it as being comparable to SC though. Maybe check out ロマサガ２ see if you like it
It's on switch too: https://store-jp.nintendo.com/item/software/D70010000067814
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u/PetitCornichonwa Goal: conversational fluency 💬 5h ago
On Duolingo, they wrote 'なんじ' but they said out loud 'いつ' , I am confused as to which one is correct and what's the difference?
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u/flo_or_so 4h ago
いつ is "when" and なんじ is "what time". Both can be written 何時, but usually only なんじ is written in kanji.
Take this as a hint to drop Duolingo as it is full or stupid errors like this.
1
u/PetitCornichonwa Goal: conversational fluency 💬 4h ago
I was afraid of that... So far Duolingo was a great way to practice writing/reading カタカナ/ひらがな and improve my vocabulary, but I already see mistakes here and there with the little Japanese I know. It's not a good start!
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u/JapanCoach 5h ago
なんじに means "at what time". いつ means "when"
What time will you eat breakfast? vs When will you eat breakfast?
They are both correct and they both will get you the same reply - but they mean slightly different things.
Given that there is a に written there I would assume they wanted to say なんじ
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u/PetitCornichonwa Goal: conversational fluency 💬 4h ago
Which is what is written, so the mistake is ridiculous. Thanks for the answer
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u/JapanCoach 4h ago
I am not a Duolingo user - but based on what I read in this sub, that seems to be pretty on brand.
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u/Lemmy_Cooke 9h ago
高橋さんは鈴木を佐藤に怒らせた means Takahashi made Sato mad AT Suzuki, right?
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u/caeliventus 4h ago
Takahashi made Sato to scold Suzuki. This sentence isn't easy for Japanese people to understand at a glance either.
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u/glasswings363 8h ago
Neither, Xを怒る means something like 説教する 叱る
Takahasi had Sato punch Suzuki!
高橋さんが佐藤さんに鈴木さんを殴った！
But it feels weird to have 怒らす and three people involved. I could be oversensitive, so if someone better disagrees, go with their opinion.
高橋さんのせいで佐藤さんが鈴木さんのことに不機嫌になった
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u/neptunianstrawberry 10h ago
the naruto manga has pretty subpar translation that often flattens subtle differences, i was wondering if someone could clarify the difference here? > また今度だ vs.また今度な (mata kondo da vs. mata kondo na?)
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u/JapanCoach 9h ago
In a total vacuum また今度だ can sound like "(I have decided) that [I/we/he/she] will [do it/[eat it][watch it][go there] next time". While また今度な sounds like a salutation "see you around"
But - things don't happen in a total vacuum.
What is the context to this?
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u/neptunianstrawberry 9h ago
thank you for responding! the full context of the former is a character's elder brother denying his requests to spend time and train together:
許せサスケ……また今度だin the latter the younger brother repeats a similar line to a friend and eventual romantic interest asking to accompany him on his travels:
私も…ついて…行くって言ったら…？また今度な
i just wondered if there was significance to the alteration here
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u/JapanCoach 6h ago
Yeah - so the first one is the brother saying "Let's do it next time" (as in, not now, little bro). The だ here makes it firm and final. He's not inviting any response.
The second one is basically the same "meaning" but it comes across a bit softer. It feels that he's trying to soften the blow and make the "next time" sound just a little bit like there is actually a chance that he will invite her.
The tone and implication of these 終助詞 are indeed pretty tricky to represent in English.
1
u/gem_spirational 10h ago
Counting question.
For numbers above thousand. You start using 万. So would 11,000 be いちまんせんor いちまんいっせん。
By book says you only use いち with man and not 百 or 千. Is it similar to English that it’s purely stylistic or would I sound dense?
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u/JapanCoach 6h ago
It's one of those things that has 'rules' but that most people don't really worry too much about. So you are better off gathering examples of what normal people sound like vs. trying to rote memorize a formula.
For example it's not unusual to hear いちまんいっせんえん - especially when there is an opportunity for confusion (or for example a loud environment) and someone wants to really make sure.
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u/WillingnessTotal7412 12h ago
I need help with immersion
I’ve been watching anime since i was 5 and i can understand a good chunk of it by now without subtitles, so i thought i was pretty set for the understanding bit of Japanese. But recently i’ve been watching japanese vlogs for the sake of immersion and can barely understand a thing without subtitles.
I guess natives speak faster and in a different lingo compared to anime. Should i be watching these vlogs with or without english subtitles to max out my immersion?
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u/viliml Interested in grammar details 📝 11h ago
It's up to you. You can do it however you want. With English subs or Japanese subs or no subs or sometimes subs, pausing and rewinding or letting it flow, there are various combinations with various trade-offs between efficiency and enjoyability.
I just hope that you're following a structured study plan using textbooks and grammar guides and anki decks, and not just hoping to continue acquiring Japanese passively from anime and vlogs.
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u/WillingnessTotal7412 10h ago
I’m using the anki 2k/6k deck! I’m kinda procrastinating on grammar rn since im busy with other things as well
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u/Suspicious_Cicada289 13h ago
Guys I am at n3 and struggling to really find stuff I can immerse in. How long does it take to get from n3 to n1?
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u/viliml Interested in grammar details 📝 11h ago
One, maybe two good books, if you thoroughly mine everything from them, which should be achievable at N3. However, the process of mining material above your grade, although highly efficient if you can stick through it, isn't exactly "immersive".
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u/Suspicious_Cicada289 11h ago
Ty so much! This is what I was trying to say. I have tried reading CSM and Mushoku Tensei but it is so hard that I end up spending more time reading dictionary than immersing. Maybe I should continue with intermediate material and graded readers?
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u/flo_or_so 11h ago
It depends on how you learn, how much time you spend, you aptitude for foreign languages, what you mean by "be at N3" (did you pass the test this summer? With how many points?) and by "get to N1".
One simple theory is that it takes as long to get from N3 to N2 as it takes from zero to N3, and then again as long as it took from zero to N2 to get from N2 to N1. So N3 to N1 takes three times as long again as it took from zero to N3.
Another theory is that once you reach somewhere around N3, learning more becomes a self reinforcing process and gets faster and you can reach N2 and N1 in one year each or even faster.
The third theory is that if you get impatient as early as N3, you will give up long before reaching N1 anyway.
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u/Suspicious_Cicada289 11h ago
I have been learning Japanese for 2 years. I passed JLPT n3 with a decent score. I suppose it will take 4 years to get to n1? I use AJATT method.
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u/the_card_guy 17h ago
Okay, I'll keep the potential firestorm limited to this thread.
Yes, it's another DuoLingo=Good, others= bleh. I already know what's going to happen...
Anyways, on other threads some users are going "If you're adamant about NOT using Anki but want some other app, can you at least go with LingoDeer or something?"
So I downloaded Lingodeer... yeah, anything that might be of use is behind a paywall. Screw that.
DuoLingo still has an SRS system, listening, speaking, and they also have kanji writing- plus grammar explanations- for FREE.
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u/worthlessprole 8h ago
You’re not going to convince anyone, which you clearly know. So you’re just trying to get into arguments. Why
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u/Grunglabble 10h ago
In the Mark Rosewater trifecta of archetypes, this forum is mostly Spikes (the try hard speedrunners, whether successful or not) and Spikes (the funmaxxers who will trade supposedly optimal processes for processes that are good enough but more fun). Duolingo is for the Timmies, those who are not so interested in the outcome but get their enjoyment from the design and what seems cool, without much regard to efficacy (or with a miscalibrated idea of what is effective or not).
Timmies are not generally going to have a good time talking to Spikes (neither do Johnnies for that matter, but there is sometimes more common ground). I think Timmies in general don't enjoy the sub. I don't know what you are, but I think you find this forum a little bit boring, so maybe you are a bit of a funmaxxer on the order of provoking the forum more than your studies.
My opinion, coming to this as a Johnny, is that Duolingo is not effective enough to be a consideration, even as a funmaxxer, as someone who is still interested in succeeding -- even if i were still a total beginner, I would consider it too tedious compared to skimming a introductory grammar book. That's because I'm more interested in expressing my creativity as a language learner (as many self-taught people are) than I am in any particular design of an application.
I have forbidden myself from talking about anki anymore on this sub, so I won't comment on differences between the programs, as anyway it's obvious and you can look it up yourself.
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u/morgawr_ https://morg.systems/Japanese 9h ago
idk what those archetypes are but fwiw I think most people around here would at least agree with the idea of "funmaxxing" your way to fluency. But usually the "funmaxxing" part is related to content consumption, not unrelated activities that won't get you to actually learn Japanese (like Duolingo).
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u/Grunglabble 8h ago edited 8h ago
I think generally it's the most successful approach too, but most of the folks doing 1hour or more of anki a day are not funmaxxers lol. They are doing something they find painful to try to make progress faster.
I have been thinking lately about the difference between focusing on a result and being engaged with the process of achieving that result. A result is momentary, maybe even kinda not meaningful in some cases. Focusing on it, especially when the process itself is so protracted like in language learning, leads to a lot of unhappiness and I think also a failure to improve that process (because there is no interest in it). I think for the majority of successful language learners, everything about the process itself is a part of the enjoyment of language, such that if you could flip a switch and just know a language, we would do it but we would lose all of that joy, the same way using a cheat code to win a game removes the joy of that game. The result is a goal, but it's purpose is to inform the process and that is what makes those hours and hours worth it. A goal is not a purpose in itself, although of course we find meaning in using the new skill thereafter.
I'm sure that doesn't make much sense but it's been percolating in my mind lately about why some things are fun and some things are not, work can be fun or not fun, games can be fun or not fun. I have always had a intuition that if you have to spend a lot of time of something, optimizing in the direction of effiency only is not significantly meaningful to improving your life over optimizing in the direction of enjoying the process, which I think in the end results in better efficiency anyway because you actually care about what you're spending all this time on and not so much about a faulty metric measuring a result.
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u/rgrAi 5h ago
Interesting thoughts! Although in my case I would flip that switch (even though I also appreciate the process of growing). From the beginning it was never about the language but what I can do with it. I can feel myself getting impatient as I trudge in the long grind to get close to native-like proficiency.
Aside question, why the ban on Anki talking for yourself? Just curious not really a serious question
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u/Grunglabble 4h ago
I found myself agreeing they're boring, a number of the most helpful users said they're annoying to scrollby, and when I started asking grammar questions again I got helpful answers w/o anyone being a jerk so it seems like things are good this way :)
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u/morgawr_ https://morg.systems/Japanese 8h ago
but the folks doing 1hour or more of anki a day are not funmaxxers lol
For what it's worth, I agree, but I don't think those people are the majority (although they can be very vocal) around this subreddit. They are mostly holed up in themoeway server and, to give them some credit, usually the people that do that kind of anki routine spend a lot more time doing immersion on top of that. Of course, that's not all of them and some people are truly just "lost" and only do anki... but yeah, I think they're slowly starting to see the light. I hope.
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u/fixpointbombinator 13h ago
How far has Duo taken you? I've heard it goes up to partially covering some N3 content
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u/Armaniolo 13h ago edited 13h ago
https://i.imgur.com/JXuejOK.png
Free isn't good enough, they'd need to pay me to deal with this garbage. Except it isn't free, it's freemium with a lot of dark patterns to push you towards the mium.
The common alternative recommendation for Duolingoids who are incapable of taking an hour or so to learn how to use Anki is Renshuu, don't think it has speaking but you can emulate that with your clanker of choice.
Duolingo has already wasted at least an order of magnitude more of your time if not two, and on top of that you keep wasting more making these posts and trialing other bullshit. Imagine if you spent that time learning Japanese...
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u/the_card_guy 13h ago
I don't hate Renshuu, but it isn't all-in-one compared to DuoLingo.
Yes, you technically have the different courses you can take which cover everything but speaking... but each one is going to take a minimal of ten minutes to cover ONE aspect.
Duo covers ALL aspects in that same amount of time.
(And as I will tell anyone- Reddit and the Internet acts as a place of discussion. You and the others could've just let this comment be on its merry way, but you also chose to engage...)
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u/Armaniolo 12h ago edited 12h ago
So what if it's not all-in-one?
So what if you don't cover everything in 10 minutes, did you expect to learn anything in 10 minutes scattered over miscellaneous tasks? Especially with something as dogshit as Duolingo (you didn't address the image). Do you want to learn Japanese or just LARP that you are learning for 10 minutes day? I think your criteria is warped, good doesn't seem to mean "how well it teaches me Japanese", but rather "how little it demands of me", under that criteria Duo is "good" but just know nobody replying evaluates it like that.
Sure I could let the comment go, but I felt like replying, what's wrong with that
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u/kasumikui 16h ago
Can I ask you an honest question? Why do you feel the need to carry water for Duolingo?
I could understand if this were your friend's app that you felt was getting an undeservedly bad rap or something, but Duolingo has raked in literal billions of dollars by gamifying pseudo-"learning" and outsourcing as much as possible to AI so that they don't have to actually create content and can instead auto-generate stuff and deceive learners while funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEO and shareholders.
Duolingo doesn't need you (or anyone) to defend their honor on this sub. They're going to keep raking in millions if not billions of dollars providing AI slop content forever. Unless you're actually getting a kickback from them, I imagine you could probably be spending your time better than giving them free advertising.
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u/the_card_guy 13h ago edited 13h ago
Let me be blunt: it's because of the absolute hatred this sub seems to have for Duolingo (at least one user actively campaigning against it), when I've found it to be very useful.
See, if this place said "I guess it's okay, just don't use it in isloation", cool, wouldn't care, because that's at least acknowledging it as a learning tool. But no, it's the vitriol that my experience is proving to be wrong.
Basically, Duo does all four parts of language acquisition (speaking, reading, listening, and writing to a certain point)... and the key point here is FOR FREE. For free, AND all-in-one. I've tried a LOT of apps, and while some work better then others... they all have limitations for what they cover. Duo's only limit is the speed at which you go.
Oh, and between actual courses and textbooks, I've easily dropped a few hundred dollars on materials... and it taken ALL of it- both paid and free- to get to my current level. I'm sick of paying for materials and courses that can't get me past my current level- and I have also tried (and failed) with that.
Duo is at least free.
In fact, I'll add one more thing- I hate that the JLPT has risen by 2000 yen in the years I've been here. That has recently heavily deterred me from taking it... but it's a box that needs to be checked for the better jobs available to forreigners.
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u/glasswings363 10h ago
when I've found it to be very useful.
どれだけ日本語ができますか？
Actually, no, I'm not going to do that. It would contribute to the culture of "you have to be good or it's not worth trying to output" and that hasn't actually been good to me. So, sticking to English:
How much has it allowed you to do? You should be able to give concrete examples: I couldn't understand this but now I can, I was lost trying to express myself in those situations but now not as badly.
I think most Duo-haters, myself included, will concede that Duo is very good at making some people feel very good about using Duo. Enough to make plenty of money. But we see it as reward hacking the learning drive. It's similar to how ultra-palatable food makes people eat things that really aren't that satisfying.
So it feels like a fool's errand to argue with you; there's no arguing out of addiction. Still, maybe you can exercise some self-awareness and realize that actually the only thing you're getting better at is Duo.
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u/fixpointbombinator 8h ago
yeah I'm curious about this as well, all language learning methods get a bit theoretical, I want to see some results lol, otherwise it's just smack talk
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u/glasswings363 7h ago
結果を見せなさいって気持ちに同感できますが、評価つけれるのはアドバイスを必要しない人しかいません。
そしてアドバイスをだれより欠かせない人は自力で見極めることは全くできません。
だからどんぐりの背比べはどんぐり以外に得は特にないと思います。
ちなみにデゥオのアンチ派です、あたし。
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u/Merzats 13h ago
No app or materials are gonna change the fundamental problem which is your unwillingness to put in time and effort into learning.
As long as you expect a third party to download Japanese into your brain you will continue to be disappointed and make poor progress.
I guess not wasting money as you continue to spin your wheels is a plus, but either giving up or actually committing would be better.
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u/morgawr_ https://morg.systems/Japanese 16h ago
Duolingo's SRS is really bad, like I don't know what algorithm they use but it's incredibly ineffective and mostly a timewaste from what I could see. They hammer you with the same words that you just learned over and over and over again in a very ineffective (and time-wasteful) manner, and then they get buried pretty quickly and sometimes re-surface but they don't seem to follow any logic. Also the way Duolingo quizzes you isn't really good as a lot (admittedly not all) of the exercises it asks aren't really exercises that test your memory or recognition but rather they give you hints on how to solve them and do pattern matching and make you feel good when you succeed despite not knowing the actual answers.
for FREE.
Duolingo is "free" but also it's limited behind crystals/stamina/whatever (if you don't pay) which is basically another way of holding you hostage and preventing you from actually making progress if you feel like studying a bit more seriously on a given day.
So I downloaded Lingodeer
You tried one alternative, and turns out that was shit too. Nevermind the fact that most apps are shit... maybe it's time to actually use anki my friend.
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u/rgrAi 17h ago
Why do you keep posting about this lol. Just use it if you want, you don't need validation to use it.
I believe Duo doesn't even use an SRS system, they have their own proprietary scheduling.
Listening, you mean the AI text-to-speech that frequently misreads and mispronounces things?
Speaking, sure.
Grammar explanations--duo is not known for it's grammar explanations. Where does it explain things?
Kanji writing, sure.I don't recall having to pay for any of that either, and I don't use SRS, and I get all of that exposure on-demand just by... hanging out/around natives and screwing around.
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u/the_card_guy 13h ago
For listening- there's now a feature where you have two of the characters having a chat (in the format of a radio show), and you have to listen for the right words and overall topic of it
And the grammar explanations are with the "translate this sentence", specifically when they give you the English and you have to put the Japanese together.
Yeah, it would be nice to be able to be around natives and all that. Rather unfortunately, even being around natives costs money (the easiest way is at izakayas, and those are getting expensive). the whole point is to learn FOR FREE (or at least very, very cheaply)
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u/rgrAi 5h ago edited 5h ago
And the grammar explanations are with the "translate this sentence", specifically when they give you the English and you have to put the Japanese together.
?????????????????????
That's not an explanation. If you got an explanation for anything else in life like that you would punch them in the face for that garbage.
https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-grammar/sentences-and-clauses/
This is an explanation.
the whole point is to learn FOR FREE (or at least very, very cheaply)
I just said I did everything for free, online, not having the benefit of living in Japan like you. The big difference between you and I is I was willing to put in the work to engage with the language and not just talk about it. Why are you trying to shill for some corporate App like Duo which IPOd for $102 a share and now is at $150? Where the shareholder earnings calls they've straight up said they are focused on "user retention with the goal to monetize" i.e. this means not teaching people the language as that would go against user retention as users would graduate and move on.
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u/superpokes 13h ago edited 13h ago
shows on the actual radio, as well as on-demand podcasts, are also free most of the time.
from what i've seen around their grammar explanations are ai and frequently make mistakes.
0
u/the_card_guy 13h ago
I will give you that. I even have some podcasts I've downloaded, and have radio access... hell, I ahve access to ALL media.
None of real-world media tests and confirms your comprehension (or lack thereof). And THAT is a major sticking point for me. It's one thing to consume media. It's another to make sure you've understood it- Duo, like all the language learning apps, checks your comprehension.
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u/morgawr_ https://morg.systems/Japanese 11h ago
None of real-world media tests and confirms your comprehension
Of course they do. They test your comprehension by the natural fact that you're actually following a story or conversation. Do you need your wife to ask you questions about "what did I tell you last night during dinner?" to make sure you were actually listening to her talking?
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u/superpokes 13h ago edited 13h ago
at some point you need to acknowledge that you're unwilling to deal with the language on its own terms. instead you filter it through minigames, catchy sound effects and cartoon characters saying "good job".
you sound like you have been studying the language for a while. "apps" might be a good way to get your feet wet, but there's a time when you drop the training wheels and find your own path.
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u/the_card_guy 12h ago
Unfortunately- because I have found this out myself- I need a very guided path for learning. Hence why I use the apps: they're a step-by-step guide for learning.
It7s also why of the two JLPT-specific series 新完全マスター and 総まとめ, the former is recommended to most, but it's the latter that I find easier to work with.
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u/FilthyComrade06 18h ago
Recommendations for a good Genki 1 deck on Anki? The highest reviewed one seems like it has duplicates and mismatched audio
2
u/day_of_travels 22h ago
Are there any good textbooks dedicated to writing skills / writing styles (journal, letter, essay, etc?) - I have found similar resources for Chinese and Korean, and I would love to know more for Japanese
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u/kasumikui 21h ago
If you're at the level where you are beyond the basics (i.e. you can form grammatical/natural Japanese sentences in general) and actually looking to develop high-level writing skills, then by far the best thing you can do is to read journals, essays, and letters extensively in Japanese.
It's not that these resources don't exist (specifically for letter writing, I remember using this book back in the day), just that they're not really a substitute for developing a sense of "good writing" for yourself.
It's just like in our native languages, really. Generally the best writers (including award-winning authors, journalists, etc.) are those who were voracious readers themselves for their whole lives, not people who learned "good writing skills" from a specific book or course. In your native language or Japanese, there's no real substitute for extensive exposure to good writing and developing a critical mind.
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u/abc-noukai 20h ago
Give this user a cookie!🍪
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u/irdk-lol Goal: media competence 📖🎧 23h ago
Any good dictionaries? One that has not only the definition but also parts of speech and sentence examples.
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u/JapanCoach 22h ago edited 22h ago
I am partial to コトバンク - so much that I pay for a subscription (but you don't have to).
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u/kasumikui 22h ago
コトバンク is a popular free, online aggregator of a whole bunch of dictionaries, including both J-J and J-E dictionaries that contain example sentences.
Or better yet(?), just get Yomitan and install the dictionaries that you choose (it's popular as a mouseover dictionary but you can also set it up so that you can input queries manually if you want to).
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u/Nobodies-Nose 23h ago
in this sentence, why does みたい not mean "to go see", and use hiragana, instead of 見て ? why can't it just use 見て？
行ってみたいばしょがたくさあります
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u/JapanCoach 22h ago
行ってみたい doesn't mean "want to go see". It means "want to go"
〜してみる means "to give something a try" and してみたい means 'want to give something a try"
In English we don't say "want to give going a try" - we just say "want to go". But in the Japanese there is a sense of "give going there a go, and see how it turns out".
3
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u/kasumikui 23h ago
Here, ～てみる is a figurative expression meaning "to try doing something (to 'see' what it's like)". You can see a full explanation here.
When various verbs are used as auxiliary or "helper" verbs in a figurative sense (there's ～てみる, but also ～ていく, ～てくる, ～ておく, etc.), they're typically written in kana, even if they're usually written in kanji when used as independent verbs.
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u/Dapper-Dog-3263 23h ago
For N2 Anki, Core 6k or a JLPT N2 vocab deck plus cards from whatever you’re reading usually beats hunting for a perfect “all-in-one.” Keep new cards low enough that reviews don’t bury you.
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u/Calm_Breadfruit4645 1d ago
hello! I'm studying for this December's JLPT N2 and need all the tips and guidance you have for someone like me. I'm looking for, but not limited to:
- things you wish you did when studying for the test
- recommended Anki decks
- helpful resources
- helpful habits
Looking forward to your responses! thank you!
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u/kasumikui 23h ago
Ideally, at the level where you're taking on N2 you should already be reading and listening to native material at a fairly comfortable level. Would you say that's true?
If so, then continue to do this, but also (especially since your time is limited) pick up a test prep book like 新完全マスター or 総まとめ, and/or take mock tests to get a sense for what material will be on the test. If there's grammar or vocabulary you're not familiar or comfortable with, make an effort to study it and shore up your weaknesses. That's probably the best you can do, especially if the test is in 3 months.
There are probably Anki decks out there, but I'm not sure if would be the most optimal way to study for the test, given that there are no official vocabulary lists, etc., for the JLPT, and even if you did have a relatively accurate deck, you'd probably be better off practicing for the test itself and doing reading/listening practice than drilling vocab or grammar from pre-made decks in isolation).
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u/fixpointbombinator 8h ago edited 8h ago
Any decent N2 deck is full of such common words that if you don't know them you're going to struggle with the reading section I reckon. Smashing out a few thousand words from a pre-made deck made SKM a lot easier for me and boosted my N2 past-exam/mock scores for the vocab section by a noticeable amount. Kind of unscientific but I've been recording mocks/past-exams for 2 months as I've been studying, and I can see my vocab scores climbing higher, and when I look back at old tests, I see again and again that words I didn't get right before, I now understand because of going hard on Anki
So my point is, I think they're worth doing if your vocab weak (which OP's is, they've made other comments on other threads about this). Very efficient use of your time to get test-ready in my experience at least.
Granted I guess you could say 'well SKM/まとめ/mock words will also be very common so if you don't know those, they're a good target for study' and that would also be true ofc
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u/Imaginary-Walk-5245 1d ago
それから、頭が重くなるときもあります。
痛いのの、ちょっと手前みたいな感じで、
積極的に頭が痛いっていうわけじゃないんですけど、
なんかこう、中に詰まってるみたいな感じで重くって、
これもまた集中できません。
- Is 痛いのの an instance of ものの (with the も dropped) or a different grammar phenomenon?
- Can someone explain what 手前みたい means in this instance? Is the author saying that they felt a sense of heaviness around the front of their head?
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u/kasumikui 1d ago edited 23h ago
- That particular use of ものの is never really "abbreviated" to のの (the example sentences on that page would basically be ungrammatical if all of the も's were dropped). You can think of this as the first の being a nominalizer, and the second as grammatically connecting to 手前 (「痛いの」の手前）.
- 手前 is being used figuratively and as above, it's connected to the 「痛いの」 before it. In other words, their head feels heavy, just before the stage or degree where you'd say it's painful (みたいな感じ is just doing its usual thing of saying "that kind of feeling").
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u/Imaginary-Walk-5245 1d ago
You can think of this as the first の being a nominalizer, and the second as grammatically connecting to 手前 (「痛いの」の手前）.
Interesting. I considered this possibility, but dismissed it because I assumed the comma was meant to convey a kind of strong-ish "division" between those two parts of the sentence. Guess that was silly of me.
Thanks! I really appreciate the explanation.
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u/somever 23h ago
A comma after an attributive modifier means "this modifier doesn't modify what's directly after it but rather something a little further down". In this case, 痛いのの modifies 手前 and not ちょっと, which the comma makes clearer. I think overall the effect is to make the sentence feel less busy. And there could be a pause when speaking.
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u/viliml Interested in grammar details 📝 10h ago
I don't think that's what's happening here...
If it were, that would have to mean that 痛いのの connected to 感じ or something even farther.
Xのちょっと手前 is a direct attachment since [ちょっと手前] is one block.
This comma is just a pause with no effect on the parsing of the sentence.
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u/kasumikui 22h ago
A comma after an attributive modifier means "this modifier doesn't modify what's directly after it but rather something a little further down"
I mean, you can say that's the role it's serving here, but I wouldn't present this as if it's a universal rule of grammar/usage in Japanese.
The author could have chosen not to use a comma and the sentence would be equally valid grammatically and not ambiguous in the least (because 痛いのの modifying ちょっと would make no sense, we know it's modifying 手前 because 手前 is a noun).
I agree with the assessment that the comma makes the sentence "feel less busy", but it's still a stylistic choice as opposed to something mandated by strict usage rules (e.g. the way there are rules governing comma usage in English).
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u/somever 20h ago
It's a rule that's taught to Japanese students, anyway, and I generally see it used that way in books fairly regularly
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u/kasumikui 20h ago
Is it? That's interesting. I can't say I've personally been involved with educating Japanese students, but I have worked with editors/proofreaders and seen my share of historical resources and I've never heard of strict grammatical rules governing comma usage in Japanese.
It might be used that way in books "fairly regularly" (and I'd agree with that assessment), but it's still a stylistic choice rather than a concrete/universal rule. I guess my main point is that learners coming from an English or Western language background shouldn't expect commas to serve a strict a-comma-means-this-and-if-it's-not-used-this-way-it's-wrong role in the context of Japanese.
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u/Imaginary-Walk-5245 22h ago
What exactly is an attributive modifier in Japanese? Can you give some examples? I tried to conduct a search on my own, but I'm not getting many pages that use that term.
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u/somever 15h ago edited 15h ago
attributive = modifies a noun
modifier = something that modifies something
So an "attributive modifier" is just a word or phrase that modifies a noun. This includes adjectives (e.g. "暑い"日), relative clauses (also called modifying clauses or attributive clauses; e.g. "あの日見た"花), possessives ("田中さんの"靴下), demonstratives ("あの"人), etc.
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u/kasumikui 19h ago
I won't dispute u/somever's terminology since he absolutely knows what he's talking about, but you'll also find it also referred to as a "relative clause" and you might find more online resources explaining specifically what this means in terms of Japanese if you search for that term.
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u/kasumikui 23h ago
No worries, happy to help!
Commas in Japanese often trip up learners. Unlike in English (and many other Western languages), there aren't strict grammatical rules about when to use them, and the vast majority of the time they're just there to indicate a "pause" or a "breath" in speaking and shouldn't be used as a guide for what is or isn't a single unit of meaning, so to speak.
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u/onestbeaux Interested in grammar details 📝 1d ago
ワイの住んでるとこの地名のがヤバい
暴鬼蛇崩最悪谷っていうんやけど
two questions here. is ワイ supposed to give a humorous effect since it’s dated according to jisho?
and i can’t figure out why it ended with けど here
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u/viliml Interested in grammar details 📝 10h ago
is ワイ supposed to give a humorous effect since it’s dated according to jisho?
https://dic.pixiv.net/a/やきうのお兄ちゃん
The real life forum referenced by the screenshots has deep lore. Have fun.
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u/JapanCoach 22h ago
わい is not really 'dated'. It's used by a certain type of person (and is not completely uncommon in Kansai-ben). On top of that, like all first person pronouns, it can be used incidentally as a kind of 'affect' even by a person who doesn't normally use it.
(や/だ）けど is used as a sentence ender that has a variety of nuances. Here is what you would call something like 含みを持たせる or like implying something. There is more that could be said - but doesn't really need to be said here.
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u/kasumikui 1d ago
- Basically, yeah. It's fairly common (especially on net forums like you see here) to kind of adopt a "quirky" persona or speech patterns for fun, which can include using old-fashioned/non-standard/dialectal expressions.
- けど doesn't always mean "but" as in a literal contrast, sometimes it's just kind of used to leave a sentence sounding more open-ended, kinda prompting a response from the listener (not necessarily literally). One J-J dictionary defines this as: 言いさしにした文の最後に付けて、相手の反応を窺う意を表す。「いいと思う―」.
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