Most fail. You don’t need to.
Self-learning A.I. android Cure Dolly reveals the reason why most foreign learners of Japanese end up non-competent in the language – and what you can do to make sure you aren’t one of them.
Category Archives: Video
3 facts make “Japanese transitive and intransitive verbs” easy
Japanese transitive and intransitive verbs can seem like a massive learning job.
“Transitivity pairs” seem to have no rhyme or reason to their apparently random forms.
Fortunately, if we take them as they really are and understand the simple facts behind them, both the concepts and the words themselves become amazingly easy.
Let the android guide you once again.
NOTES:
Self-move verbs vs the passive voice: Why there is no confusion
1) It is well known that students can get confused between some self-move verbs and the Japanese receptive.
This is now completely avoidable because it hinges on the belief that the Japanese receptive is a “passive voice” and I think we have clearly established, that it isn’t. It is further complicated by the idea that self-move verbs are exactly the same thing as English intransitive verbs, which again I think we have disposed of in the video on this page.
2) However, the point that Electric Dragonfly-sama raised is that there is still an area of apparent near-identity between some self-move verbs and the actual passive voice (as found in English but not Japanese). Is this really the case? And if not, what is going on?
3) The answer here lies in the fact that Japanese self-move verbs run a gamut between those that are very “active” and those that are completely “static” (I am using “static” bearing in mind its etymological sense – i.e. expressing a state or condition rather than an action).
The self-move verbs on the active end of the scale closely resemble regular English intransitive verbs and denote actions like running, walking, entering, leaving, sleeping, crying etc.
The verbs on the static end of the scale do not represent actions in the sense that English understands actions at all. They represent states or conditions, but express them as ongoing actions performed by whatever exists in the given state.
These words (I haven’t done an exhaustive survey here, but from experience and a cursory survey) have a strong tendency to actually end in “aru” (あ-stem +る) and thus, perhaps historically but certainly “feelingly” to contain the idea of “existing” – which, of course is also a verb in English.
Examples of such words are:
包まる (くるまる) exist in state of being-wrapped)
重なる (かさなる) exist in state of being-piled-up)
English has no direct way of expressing these verbs and has to use phrasal workaround definitions that include the word “be”, such as “be wrapped” or “be piled up”. This is natural since, I would argue, the Japanese words contain an implied existence-verb-element because of the ある-like nature of self-move words that I explained in the video).
However, because English does not possess this kind of exist-in-a-state verb, the definitions are somewhat ambiguous and sound like instances of the English passive – because the same expressions could be used to make a passive construction, even though that is not the present intention of the definer.
So we might say (using the past tense of “be” = “was”):
“The present was wrapped (e.g. by Sakura)” – a passive construction indicating an action with a stated or implied actor.
But we also say:
“The present was wrapped (e.g. in tissue paper)” – not implying any actor or even action, but simply indicating the state in which the present existed (was).
English has very limited means for distinguishing between these two with economical grammar (and speakers do not necessarily draw a clear distinction in their minds), but Japanese has a whole class of verbs – which we can call “static self-move verbs”, or we could even cheekily coin the term “self-stand verbs” as a sub-class of self-move verbs.
These are not in any sense (grammatically) passive. It is the ways we are forced to translate them into English (which does not possess such verbs) that makes them appear so.
We may also note that the English workaround definitions have to put the verb into the past tense (even if the verb of existence is in the present, e.g. “be wrapped“), implying that an action happened and its result is now governing the subject.
Japanese actually does this quite often:
疲れた (つかれた)
Loose translation “I’m tired”
Literally “(I) became (and therefore am) tired”
お腹が空いた (おなかがすいた)
Loose translation “I’m hungry”
Literally: “(my) tummy became (and therefore is) empty”
These are temporary states that must have come about by the process indicated. However, this is not what our “self-stand verbs” are doing. They express states with no necessary implications as to how they arose.
Interestingly, I would see this as being of a piece with Japanese not allowing us to speak directly of another person’s subjective states. While some people complain that Japanese is vague, I would say that it is very precise in saying only what it actually knows to be true.
English, on the other hand, is often grammatically over-specific, which is not the opposite of “vague” or the same thing as being precise. I would say that English often has jumping to conclusions built into the grammar. We are encouraged and often near-forced to specify things that we do not know to be true.
One of the differences between Japanese and English is that Japanese tries to keep specificity (the feelings of another, the gender of an unknown person, the way in which a state arose etc.) out of statements where we are not in a position – or don’t particularly want – to specify.
So, static self-move verbs have no exact equivalent in English. The distinction is a subtle one but is worth taking note of because not realizing this can lead to a confusion between static self-move verbs and the English passive.
(This note first appeared on my Patreon feed)
“Japanese Conjugation” Myth Busted! Never Conjugate Again! Potential form unlocked too in one fell swoop!
What do “Japanese conjugation” and “flat earth” have in common?
They are both names for something that should have been consigned to the dustbin of human ignorance long, long ago.
“Flat earth” has. “Japanese conjugation” unfortunately hasn’t.
Until now.
Click the “play” button and see history in the making.
And make Japanese a lot easier at the same time!
Notes:
It took me quite a while to work out the best order to tackle things. I think the potential is the right choice for introducing the entire “Japanese conjugation” concept because it doesn’t involve any new “complications”.
The “complications” of the whole “Japanese conjugation” system only exist if you have absorbed confusing ideas in the first place – but most of us have, since they are the only ones you can find.
The only real “complication” of the potential is identical to the “complication” explained in the last lesson – concerning 好き and adjectives of emotion.
That is, the unbelievably destructive insistence that the grammatical subject must be the human agent of transitive potential verbs (and therefore that the が particle has no fixed value and can randomly perform the function of the を particle).
Since this is in fact identical to the previous (gratuitously created by Western prejudices) “problem”, I think it makes sense to tackle this one in the following lesson. It is easier to understand while the general principle is fresh in our minds and it reinforces the previous knowledge.
Also, by seeing what a wide range of language is affected by this problem, it sets us up to understand the somewhat different problem of the receptive (so-called “passive”) – which is based on exactly the same prejudice but has to shoehorn the same Western model into a different Japanese box.
There is a delicate balancing act as to how much to refer to the misconceptions.
Ideally we would be simply explaining from scratch and ignoring problems that wouldn’t be problems at all if you never even knew about them.
There’s nothing confusing about the Japanese that isn’t clarified the instant you realize that
こわい can mean “scared” or “scary” depending on whether it is pointing at “me” or the thing that scares me.
The same principle is at work in all the “problem” cases we have discussed in this lesson and the last one. It is one little difference between languages that should take five minutes or less to clear up.
(わたしが) うらやましい
I’m envious
おねえちゃんが うらやましい
my sister is envy-inducing
(natural English: I’m envious of my sister)
and you can also say:
おねえちゃんの ドレスが うらやましい
my sister’s dress is envy-inducing
(natural English: I’m envious of my sister’s dress)
Note that the last two examples show that even English allows a certain adaptability of (what in English is) the object in some cases.
This absolutely isn’t difficult. It takes a very brief adaptation to the fact that these words work slightly differently (more adaptably) in Japanese.
What makes it a problem is that, rather than simply explaining this, Western “Japanese grammar” has invented a whole elaborate system that has nothing to do with how the Japanese works and everything to do with how it might have worked if it had been a Western language.
So – how much to refer back to the mare’s-nest that is Eihongo grammar is always a slight conundrum. The ideal, I think, is:
Enough to make it clear to people who have learned a bit (or a lot) of Eihongo grammar that we are referring to the same grammar areas and signalling that it is re-think time.
But…
Little enough not to distract those who are learning from scratch, or to give the old misdescriptions an undue prominence that will end up with us falling in the briar patch.
Because we all know what happens when you fall in the briar patch.
I hope I am achieving that balance.
How Textbooks DESTROY Your Japanese: Dolly’s longest and most controversial video
Today’s video is my longest so far, clocking in at nearly 20 minutes. Possibly also my most controversial, though honestly I don’t see how anyone can seriously try to refute what I am saying.
I think a long video was in order because I am tackling one of the really key issues in Japanese structure and one of the core misconceptions that spreads its tentacles over many areas of Japanese…
…and makes what is in fact clear and simple into an absurd tangle in the minds of most students.
I am dealing here with a core problem of Western “Japanese grammar” and showing how simple and understandable real Japanese grammar is.
It affects many areas of Japanese, but by way of example, I decided to focus on desire/emotion expressions because they throw up this problem very extensively.
And this kills two birds with one stone by allowing me to introduce these structures at the same time (and clarify them for those who already know them).
A piece of semi-trivia here is that I deliberately chose the crepes example because it is the one used by Tae Kim-sensei in his “proof” that there is no grammatical subject in Japanese. I have the utmost respect for Tai Kim-sensei. And as I have said before, he makes this assertion not because he is illogical but because he is much more logical than the usual explicator of conventional Eihongo Japanese.
If you accept the premise of Eihongo grammar then it logically leads to conclusions that eat away the entire structure, ending up – quite logically – with denying the grammatical subject altogether.
So Tae Kim-sensei’s logic is impeccable, but unfortunately a false premise can only lead to a false conclusion. The textbooks continue to talk about the existence of a grammatical subject while saying things incompatible with it, because they fudge the logic.
If you are interested in this “controversy” I wrote an article about it here.
I have great respect for Tae Kim-sensei and more rather than less because he relentlessly thought out the logic of his position where everyone else shied off and fudged it.
I had hesitated over linking to Tae Kim-sensei’s article because it really can tie one’s logic-circuits in knots about how Japanese works.
However, I think it is worth doing. Please don’t read it until you are comfortable with the logic of this video. Because if you aren’t, it will make the confusion worse than ever.
If you have absorbed the video, however, I think you will gasp and roll on the floor in paroxysms of amazement (well, perhaps not actually on the floor, but I wanted to show off that I can spell paroxysms).
Seriously, I think you will be astonished that a mind as fine as Tae Kim-sensei’s can produce quite such an all-fired mess of the whole structure of Japanese.
And I say this with no disrespect at all. It is precisely because his mind is so fine that he is worth referring to at all. This is what the inside-out illogical premises of Eihongo grammar will do to the very best.
So be glad you got the Magic Talisman from some odd-looking android!
Japanese Adjectives: the inside secrets that make the whole thing easy
My whole enterprise of unlocking Japanese started with Japanese adjectives!
My short explanation of the so-called i- and na- adjectives proved so popular that I turned it into a video. It tells you four facts that you need to know about Japanese adjectives – not one of which the standard textbooks and Japanese learning sites ever tell you.
It’s kind of amazing. These are the basic things you have to know in order to use Japanese adjectives properly and the standard teaching methods just leave you to half-intuit them. If you’re lucky you do, and if you’re not lucky – well hard luck.
So we cleared that up a few years ago. Made the video last year. Why a new Japanese adjectives video now?
Well the last one starts off from the “i-adjectives and na-adjectives” notion of the standard textbook explanations. And it finally makes them clear and understandable.
But what if we start from scratch? What if we explain how the whole adjectival concept is different in Japanese than in English? What if we show how not just “adjectives” (i-adjectives) and adjectival nouns (na-adjectives) but also verbs work as adjectives all the time in Japanese?
And how this is essential to the most basic structure of how Japanese works all the time.
Can we do all that in one short video? Yes we can.
Isn’t it terribly complicated? Not at all! It’s looking at them in the wrong way (the way the textbooks do) that makes it complicated.
Just sit back and let the whole thing become crystal clear!
You will find the worksheet to go along with this lesson right here. This will help you to consolidate the information and really understand it. It’s on my Patreon, but you don’t need to be a patron to access this worksheet.
The answer sheet is here but please don’t peep at it until you’ve completed the worksheet!
Using these tools you can cement your understanding of Japanese Adjectives.
Japanese Verb Groups and the Te-form, Ta-form
Japanese verb groups are very simple to understand, but I have found various people confused about them.
Calling them “u-verbs” and “ru-verbs” certainly doesn’t help! It’s one of the sillier things the textbooks have come up with. All verbs end in the u-sound but only a small number actually end in う. And more る (ru)-ending godan (so-called u-verbs) than there are る (ru)-ending ichidan (so called ru-verbs)!
Go-dan figure! So let’s take a simple, rational look at Japanese verb groups. You’ll be using them a lot, so it’s a good idea to get them right from the start.
And it’s not nearly as hard as the textbooks make it!
The Secret of the WA Particle! What it REALLY does
The WA particle is the most basic part of Japanese and the most misunderstood.
And because it is so fundamental, misunderstanding the wa particle means misunderstanding a large proportion of Japanese sentence structure itself.
The textbooks don’t help here. In fact they are responsible for much of the problem.
In this video Cure Dolly uses her celebrated train metaphor for Japanese sentence structure to show exactly how the wa particle really works.
What part of the train it is may well surprise you!
But once you understand that you will be able to see exactly what the wa particle really is.
Japanese Grammar Structure – the Core Secret
Japanese Grammar structure can seem confusing and complicated – but it isn’t!
It’s just the way it’s taught.
Right from the start there are some basic secrets you need to know that the textbooks and websites never tell you.
That’s why this course teaches Japanese xxx structure from scratch. It’s not just for beginners. It’s because in order to explain how Japanese really works we have to sweep away all the mental fuzz of textbook “Japanese grammar” and start again with the real thing.
If you’ve already learned some Japanese this course will open your eyes. If you haven’t, it’s the very best way to start.
In this second lesson we are able to get deeper into the Japanese Core Sentence, see how it really works and explain one vital secret that unlocks the real simplicity and regularity of Japanese grammar structure.
This lesson builds on the train metaphor and introduces the all-important “invisible Car” – the mysterious vehicle that takes the mystery out of Japanese grammar structure – because once you know it’s there it isn’t a mystery any more.
If you want to submit exercises, please post them on the comments section at YouTube.
Format for Japanese grammar structure exercises
1. The practice sentence (can be in full Japanese, hiragana or romaji)
If you use romaji you should place a hyphen between a particle and its noun to show that they are part of the same carriage.
歌を歌う
or うたをうたう
or uta-wo utau
2. If there is an invisible carriage, please write the sentence a second time showing the zero pronoun and its particle (you can copy-paste the zero symbol from here).
∅が歌を歌う
or ∅がうたをうたう
or ∅-ga uta-wo utau
3. Give the English meaning (you can put the zero pronoun part in brackets)
(I) sing a song
Note: since there is no singular/plural distinction in Japanese grammar structure, “(I) sing songs” would also be correct.
Learn Japanese made easy! The Game-Changer! [Organic Japanese from Scratch]
This really is the game-changer in learning Japanese.
After a few centuries of antiquated methods – finally a rational, organic approach to Japanese structure.
I don’t know why no schools or textbooks or websites ever explain Japanese in all its beautiful simplicity and logical clarity.
It doesn’t matter any more because their day is over.
Finally, the great red sun rises over the first Japanese lesson of the New Dawn!
Now you can learn Japanese from scratch the organic way.
What used to be “complicated Japanese” is now “Japanese made easy” and understandable to anyone.
Notes
If you want to do the exercise you should post it in the comment section linked here. (Not on this page).
If you need the super-basic vocabulary list, you’ll find it here.
Japanese NA NO sentence ending – what it really means
This is the last in my nano-series (heh heh) on all those sentences that end in various na, no, ni, combinations.
It can really feel like kana-soup at first can’t it?
Actually they are very easy and self-explanatory once you understand how they really work. The real problem is that because the standard “Western Japanese grammar” texts never explain a few basic facts about Japanese structure they can seem difficult and confusing when they really aren’t.
This should clear up the problem completely, but if you still have questions, please post them in the comments section of the video on YouTube.
And…