Anime

There is a pun in Japanese that doesn’t exist in English, and it’s related to the word “chinchin”. This word has two meanings.  The first is related to the action of a dog begging (“his chinchin is very cute”).  The second is a rather childish word for a male reproductive part (probably an abbreviation of “chinpo”). This is a pun that doesn’t translate well. It’s because there aren’t very good word choices that fit both meanings. There are two anime which use this pun that I know of.  The first… Read More »Chinchin: Why translations suck

I’ve been studying Japanese for years now.  Yes, I probably could get farther if I started studying much more seriously, and honestly, I really should.  But I’ve been studying long enough to become familiar with the language in the way beginners aren’t – even though my grammar and vocabulary are still fairly substandard.  There are some things you just pick up by exposure.  In this way, even though I’m only N5 level, I think I do have some advantages over beginners. One of the biggest advantages is that I have come… Read More »The Biggest Hang-Up in Learning Japanese (In My Opinion)