How To Japonese - Locali Links

Be it games, manga, fashion, anime, or martial arts, Japanese culture enjoys great popularity among young people around the world. I think the prominence of these cultural exports is one of the main reasons why many people have the idea of trying to learn Japanese, and why there are many sites (such as Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese, and Maggie Sensei) that cater to this desire. These sites are great for beginners and intermediates. Moreover, I am sure the continuing popularity of Japanese culture is constantly creating new people interested in learning Japanese. However, I'd wager that the majority of these people are unable to commit the time Japanese demands, and so never progress beyond an intermediate level. It thus makes sense for the aforementioned sites to give more focus to beginners, and ensure a low barrier of entry for the site's content. However, this has led to a dearth of sites with content tailored towards experienced Japanese speakers who are looking to deepen their proficient understanding of Japanese.

JapanesePod101, another popular site for learning Japanese, advertises itself with the slogan, "Learn Japanese in the fastest, easiest and most fun way." However, the kind of slogan an experienced Japanese speaker looks for in a Japanese learning site would be something more along the lines of, "Refine your Japanese in the most detailed, nuanced, and interesting way." There are precious few sites that fit such a tagline line, so it is my truly pleasure to introduce one such site...

The site in question is Daniel Morales' How To Japonese (the misspelling is intentional). The Japan Times once profiled Morales, so let me quote their neat summary of his site.

How To Japonese should appeal to anyone studying intermediate and advanced Japanese, but don't expect structured step-by-step courses. Launched in 2008 by Daniel Morales, a New Orleanian who first came to Japan in 2002 and currently works as a translation coordinator in Tokyo, the blog pretty much comprises whatever crosses Morales’ radar. What ties it all together is his fascination with the curiosities, idiosyncrasies and beauty of nihongo. While he excels in deconstructing unusual kanji or pointing out common mistakes made by native English-speakers, one post-category in particular neatly sums up his advice on learning Japanese: “Get used to it!” In between tips, Morales weaves in topics such as his latest favorite Japanese beer or his admiration for best-selling author Haruki Murakami.

Given that the site has been going for many years, there is a wealth of interesting content to comb through. Many of the posts focus on detailed descriptions of a particular kanji or word that give a better insight into its usage. Some personal highlights include this post that taught me the interesting term やけ酒, and this post about the kanji 閂 that furnished me with a cool nugget of kanji information that I have used as a random conversation starter on many occasions. As a freelance translator Morales does localisation work too, so there is an interesting series of Game Lingo posts related to terms specifically found in videogames. Finally, akin to how I analyse the localisation of videogames, the site has a number of posts that discuss the translation of Haruki Murakami novels. In particular, Morales' "close read" of Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World features insightful chapter by chapter commentary on the book's translation.

How To Japonese is an interesting and educational website about the Japanese language. I sincerely recommend it to any experienced Japanese speaker who wishes to strengthen their existing Japanese knowledge base. It has definitely helped me out, so check it out!