Today’s Topic: 諺 / ことわざ / Proverb
Kanji: 徳利に口あり
Kana: とっくりにくちあり
Translation: The bottle has a mouth.

Today’s Topic: 諺 / ことわざ / Proverb
Kanji: 焼き餅焼くとて手を焼くな
Kana: やきもちやくとててをやくな
Translation: Don’t let jealousy get the best of you.

Today’s Topic: 諺 / ことわざ / Proverb
Kanji: 三人寄れば文殊の知恵
Kana: さんにんよればもんじゅのちえ
Translation: Three heads are better than one.

Today’s Topic: 諺 / ことわざ / Proverb
Kanji: 郷に入れば郷に従え
Kana: ごうにいればごうにしたがえ
Translation: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

By Greg Beck
Today’s Topic: 諺 / ことわざ / Proverb
Kanji: 能ある鷹爪隠す」
Kana: のうあるたかつめかくす
Translation: A skilled hawk hides its talons.
This Japanese proverb actually does come up in conversations from time to time, because it is so true and can be applied to so many situations.
Just like not giving away your hand in poker, by staying modest you give yourself an advantage in life. This is true for any culture, but especially in Japan. Showing off needlessly only annoys those around you. Even plainly stating your talents, you can still come across as aggressive, …

If you are like me, J-POP will not satiate your musical hunger. I have an eclectic taste in music and I enjoy many genres, but Top 40 Pop is not one of them. The bands I discuss here are not hugely popular here in Japan or overseas. These are simply bands that I enjoy listening to and, hopefully, some of them will become bands that you enjoy listening to as well. And, hey, maybe it will help you with your Japanese listening skills.

Today’s Topic: 諺 / ことわざ / Proverb

Kanji: 頭寒足熱腹八合

Kana: ずかんそくねつはらはちごう

Translation: Head cool, feet warm, stomach 80%.

Having come to Japan with the admittedly vague goal of one day being able to read Japanese literature, I still find it difficult to find relevant-seeming texts written at or near my Japanese ability level. Adding to that the often daunting chore of looking up all the unfamiliar kanji and vocabulary in the dictionary as I read, more often than not, I find that I am talking myself out of practicing reading the few interesting Japanese texts that I do find. One remedy I have found is reading online with the aid of Rikaichan (previously reviewed). But for longer trips away from the computer, or when I would just prefer not to stare at a monitor, one solution I’ve found is Kodansha’s Read Real Japanese Essays collection.

Flashcards are a fantastic device, particularly for those students who find themselves in the tactile/kinesthetic spectrum of learning styles. And the basic structure of flashcards—decks and stacks of linked information— is not only useful for learning, it is also a very efficient, mid-tech model of data organization, which finds expression in much more complex systems like the Internet

Hoping to learn to speak Japanese while you’re living in Japan? There are lots of methods you can use to help improve your abilities, but one thing’s for certain — one approach alone simply isn’t going to cut it. Hiroshima-ken JET Darren Carter weighs in on some of the methods that worked for him, and others that weren’t so helpful.