Words that trip learners up, and why
Notes on learning Japanese vocabulary: words that trip learners up, how review schedules behave, and what it means to know a word.
まんしょん · manshon
マンション
a condominium, not a mansion
Loan words · 8 min
Katakana false friends: 20 Japanese loanwords that don't mean what you think
A plain guide to 20 common katakana words, from マンション to コンセント, that look like English but mean something else, grouped by how they drifted.
Compound verbs · 9 min
Japanese compound verbs: what 〜出す, 〜込む and 〜合う add to a verb
Onomatopoeia · 8 min
Japanese onomatopoeia: a learner's field guide to giongo and gitaigo
How learning works · 10 min
Why your Anki reviews keep piling up, and what actually shrinks them
How learning works · 9 min
You understand far more Japanese than you can say. That's normal.
How many of these words do you know?
Tangoya measures your vocabulary in each kind of word, from katakana to compound verbs. Free, in your browser, no sign-up.