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This blog explores my life as a father, Buddhist and Japanophile among other things. I like to share information and help make the Internet a better place.
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Category Archives: Language
AJATT Hall of Fame
I’ve been following the website AllJapaneseAllTheTime.com (AJATT for short) for ideas and inspiration on learning Japanese and Korean. I also follow the site author, Khatzumoto, on Twitter as well. AJATT has been really helpful in keeping me motivated and not … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Language
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Politeness and Hierarchy
One of the lessons I learned from dating my wife is that in Japanese culture, it’s important to know your place among those around you. The rules are pretty simple, but I also realized that they apply to other cultures, … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Korean, Language, Vietnamese
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Intonation and Pitch-Accent
When people learn a new language, they often ignore pronunciation and intonation until it’s too late. That’s what happened with me with Japanese. I started learning Japanese when I was 16. My neighbor had lived there for a while, and … Continue reading
Posted in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Language
4 Comments
Understanding Roman Names
(Emperor Hadrian, whose real name was Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus) In Western culture, we have a lot of famous Romans from ancient history: Cicero, Julius Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, etc. Such men are famous enough that people can recognize their … Continue reading
Posted in Language, Latin
5 Comments
Holding a Piece of History: Roman Coins
I don’t usually write about this on the blog, but I am kind of fascinated with numismatics: the study of coins and money. Usually, I collect modern money from around the world, but lately, I decided to purchase coins from … Continue reading
Posted in Latin, Numismatics
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Halo 2: Japanese and English comparison
As an interesting exercise, I looked up videos on YouTube recently for both the Japanese and English versions of the futuristic, military game Halo 2. While watching both, I noticed subtle differences in language and voice-acting that I thought would … Continue reading
Contentment
94. He whose senses are mastered like horses well under the charioteer’s control, he who is purged of pride, free from passions, such a steadfast one even the gods envy (hold dear).1 –Dhammapada, trans. Walpola Rahula I wrote about this … Continue reading
Buddhist Compassion, explained
As mentioned in my last post, I’ve been reading an interesting Japanese manga about the life of Prince Shotoku, a famous semi-legendary figure in early Japanese history. Although the language is difficult (the dialogue uses ancient Japanese, not modern Japanese), … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Japanese, Language, Literature, Religion
2 Comments
An Introduction to Japanese Calligraphy
Hi everyone, My wife grew up learning Japanese calligraphy, often called either shodō (書道) or sometimes shūji (習字), and is certified to teach younger children. Since coming to the US and raising children, she hasn’t had much time to do … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Family, Japanese, Jodo Shinshu, Language
6 Comments
Good Words To Live By
This wasn’t a planned post, but something that came to mind just now and I wanted to share. This is from a Buddhist text called the Dhammapada, which is a collection of the words of Shakyamuni Buddha. I’ve posted Japanese … Continue reading
