Japanese Language Resources

I’ve posted here some video clips I’ve made on Japanese language learning.  Some are my lectures, other are a combination of other videos with notations I’ve added to help with language learning. I hope they are helpful in your journey to learn the Japanese language!

In this video, I introduce some basic differences between the Japanese and American English language.  As an American, you need to understand how Japanese language can be different from your native language.  What are the areas you need to be aware of?  What will be easy?  What will be hard?  Watch my short introduction and find out!

A Short Japanese Lesson on Kanji. I gave a short Japanese lesson to a group of teachers at a local community college.  The first version is a little hard to follow so I’ve added shots of my powerpoint slides.  I introduce the Kanji system, the relationship between Japan and China, and the significance of the Japanese language in our information age.  Hope you enjoy it!

Hiragana Song – Listen to this song as often as possible to master the sounds of the Japanese language. You can look at the hiragana chart in Lesson 1 as you listen to learn to recognize the characters – have fun!

Hiragana Pronunciation Video

Music is a wonderful way to learn.  Watch this video to learn one of the most loved (by Americans and Japanese!) songs which will help you learn Japanese.  The “Sukiyaki Song” reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the United States in 1963, and remains the only Japanese-language song ever to have done so.  In Japan,  it topped the Popular Music Selling Record chart for three months, and was ranked as the number one song of 1961 in Japan. Once you learn to sing this song, your Japanese comprehension will improve!

A friend of mine is a teacher of Shodo – Japanese calligraphy.  She put together this short video posted on YouTube explaining the brush strokes.  Enjoy the artistic aspect of writing Japanese.  Notice how much attention is paid to form, not only that of the character itself but that of the writer!

Here is a copy of a video made of a Japanese House Tour.  This is a fairly typical home for three generations – the grandparents, the adult children, and the grandchildren.