今日は、日本語を勉強[べんきょう]している人たち、特[とく]に(= in particular)初級[しょきゅう](= beginners)から中級[ちゅうきゅう](= intermediate)の人たちにアドバイスです。Here is an advice for Japanese language learners today! 日本語を勉強している人は、たくさん読[よ]んだほうがいいです。このような勉強を多読[たどく]と(= extensive reading)いいます。「多」は ‘many’、「読」は ‘reading’です。 今、インターネットがありますから、いろいろな読み物にアクセスできます。NHKの「News Web Easy」というウェブサイトはとてもいいと思[おも]います:https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/ このウェブサイトに、難[むずか]しい文法(= grammar)があまりないです。ことばは時々[ときどき]難しいかもしれません。例[たと]えば(= for example)、今、コロナウイルスのニュースがたくさんあります。コロナウイルスのニュースに、感染者[かんせんしゃ]、緊急事態宣言[きんきゅうじたいせんげん]ということばがあります。ちょっと難しいですよね。でも、漢字[かんじ]にひらがながありますから、意味[いみ](= meaning)を自分[じぶん]で調[しら]べてみてください。 NHKのNews Web Easyは、ニュースのウェブサイトですから、いろいろな新[あたら]しいニュースを知ることができます。おもしろいニュース、興味[きょうみ]深[ぶか]いニュースがたくさんありますよ。 がんばってください????。
Continue readingMonth: October 2021
Being fluent in a non-fluent manner…
I believe most of language learners would like to speak fluently. They hope one day they will speak like a native speaker. So… does a native speaker always speak fluently??? Let’s think about the definition of ‘fluency’ here. What words pop up in your mind now to define ‘fluency’? We might think that a fluent […]
Continue readingWe will remain in Level 3 a little longer… (´;ω;`)
The New Zealand government had a cabinet meeting this afternoon and announced that Hamilton and the nearby towns in the Waikato region would remain in the COVID Alert Level 3 for a few more days. In case you might not be familiar with our alert level system; Level 3 is a sort of lockdown. The […]
Continue readingSuper Saturday is happening on campus!
It is Super Saturday here, in New Zealand, today; yes, the whole nation gets together against COVID-19. Are you thinking of getting vaccinated in Hamilton today? – You can do it on our university campus today (16 October 2021). No booking required ☺????! You can see the details here: https://covid19.govt.nz/covid-19-vaccines/how-to-get-a-covid-19-vaccination/super-saturday/
Continue readingKatakori (stiff shoulders)?
Many areas in New Zealand are at the COVID Alert Level 3. This means people in those areas should stay at home and work from home if it’s possible. We, lecturers/teachers, naturally tend to spend so much time in front of a computer and… as a result, I have experienced massive KATAKORI!!! Have you heard […]
Continue readingHow could we translate ‘vaccine’ to Japanese…
When a new item/concept is brought in from another country, we need to come up with an idea – how to call it in our language. There are mainly two ways to do so in Japanese. ‘Telephone,’ for example, is called ‘denwa‘ in Japanese. ‘Den’ means electric and ‘wa’ means talk. This is a case […]
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