The Enduring Exploits of Super Sake Boy and Nihonshu Girl

A pergola and side garden with Japanese ferns, maple trees and hanging baskets. There are hops trailing to the pergola and hanging baskets on the pergola. This is a Japanese inspired garden in Ferny Creek, Melbourne.

It has been nearly a year since COVID put a big, fat STOP sign on nearly all international travel. Being obsessed Japanophiles, Super Sake Boy and I have tried to take the travel ban graciously, while feeding our need for Japanese food, sake, culture and connection with the language. We were last in Japan in … Continue reading The Enduring Exploits of Super Sake Boy and Nihonshu Girl

Climbing Mt. Fuji… Metaphorically

snow covered mount fuji with suburban image in foreground

If I had have seen the info graphic on how long different languages take to master before embarking on my language journey, would I have chosen the language which takes longer than any other, by far? Maybe... I like a challenge. I could have become fluent in French, German, Spanish and Italian in the time … Continue reading Climbing Mt. Fuji… Metaphorically

Uniquely Japanese- Tsundoku

Some Japanese words have no English equivalent. This is the case for many languages, where there is no literal translation, or if there was, it would not make sense. Many of the Japanese words, that are not in the English language are beautiful, some tragically so. Today, I am going to talk about my favourite … Continue reading Uniquely Japanese- Tsundoku

Kanji, how does it make sense?

A page of kanji practice

When I first started learning Japanese, I was very intimidated by the concept of learning so many Kanji. A basic knowledge is about 2000 characters, but there are loads more!!! I am reading a book about learning Japanese, which is written by a man whose father was a newspaper editor. He believes his father's repertoire … Continue reading Kanji, how does it make sense?

日本語ーok? On learning Japanese

A Japanese classroom with pictures on the walls and a white board

My first time in Japan, I totally fell in love. With the country, with the culture, with the food, with the people. The language barrier was not a major issue, we never went hungry or got lost, however I felt that I was unable to understand many subtle, and many not so subtle, aspects of … Continue reading 日本語ーok? On learning Japanese