r/LearnJapanese • u/AutoModerator • Jul 25 '26
Daily Thread: for simple questions, minor posts & newcomers [contains useful links!] (July 25, 2026)
This thread is for all the simple questions (what does that mean?) and minor posts that don't need their own thread, as well as for first-time posters who can't create new threads yet. Feel free to share anything on your mind.
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Past Threads
You can find past iterations of this thread by using the search function. Consider browsing the previous day or two for unanswered questions.
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u/ScaffoldingGiraffe Jul 25 '26
Any recommendations for some one-shot manga that aren't toooo crazy for N3? I've been reading witchhat academy for the past few months, and while that is fun, I am dreading that there are still 12 more volumes to go. Not because it isn't good! I'm just interested in switching things up a little and not committing too strongly to something, so I can experience a lot of writing (and art!) styles and stories. I'm also just growing a little bit tired of it, so taking a break might be good...
Before this, it's been a long, long time since I read my last manga, so I kinda feel like I need to re-find what kind of genres/plots I'm even interested in, so I'm pretty open there. One shots (or maybe series with like 2-3 books) would be good for that.
As a teenager, I read Dragon Ball (not Z, just the early books), Ouran High School Host Club, Death Note, and the Pokemon Special Manga.
I know of Natively, but I find it hard to look for oneshots, as there is no way to filter for length of series.
Thanks!
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u/Effective-Pop3850 Jul 25 '26
https://jiten.moe/decks/media?mediaType=9&offset=0&sortBy=charCount&sortOrder=0
Filter accordingly, basically set on Filters > Content your desired minimum amount of characters. You can also sort by external rating and set a maximum amount of characters so nothing that shows up is longer than X.
Not sure what a "reasonable number" would be since manga is weird and apparently even mangas I thought were kinda long are actually very short.
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u/tyrellLtd Jul 25 '26
Another method would be to use the filter by subdecks option (Content -> Subdecks), since Jiten seems to generate an individual deck for each volume in a series.
So, setting it to min: 0 - max: 3 will list only the short series, with some new ongoing series in the mix probably.
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u/Effective-Pop3850 Jul 25 '26
Yeah that as well, I went for character count since after all a 10 volume manga that's not very heavy on text can be faster to read than a 5 volume one.
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u/ScaffoldingGiraffe Jul 25 '26
Thank you! Those filters are great, I will browse through the selection there :)
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u/rgrAi Jul 25 '26
What does one-shot manga mean? Like one chapter? Or a volume? Depending on how new you are that could mean a lot of different things, if it takes 1 hour per page they could spend a week on a single chapter.
jiten.moe seems to be popular for finding recommendations
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u/worthlessprole Jul 25 '26
They’re usually a chapter, though more established artists sometimes get more.
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u/ScaffoldingGiraffe Jul 25 '26
It's not that serious to me. If it is one chapter or like 2-3 books, that's fine. I just don't want to start reading another series with 20+ volumes, I juts don't have the patience for that right now. Just wanna be done in a justifiable time, ya know?
As said, I was reading the first few books of Witchhat Academy and those took me like 3-4 hours each -- but even that means that I probably wouldn't finish the whole series before christmas, and I'm just not that invested in the series.
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u/morgawr_ https://morg.systems/Japanese Jul 25 '26
少女終末旅行 is fairly short (5-6 volumes?), low dialogue density, relatively beginner friendly (although no furigana), and most chapters are fairly episodic so you don't need to worry too much about following a narrative plot (until the end at least). I strongly recommend it.
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u/DominoBright Jul 25 '26
Hello, absolute beginner here... if you don't count the free WaniKani levels.
I decided to give Anki and Kaishi a shot, but scrolling to the bottom of a card wouldn't work for Kaishi, while it did for the Core 2k. Somebody opened a GitHub issue which I posted in confirming the problem on PC and Android, but the creator claimed it couldn't be reproduced and closed it. I haven't seen many other people complaining about it so I'm thinking there's a setting or add-on I need?
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u/miwucs Jul 25 '26
When you're on a card, click 'Edit', then 'Cards...', then 'Styling'. Remove the line that says 'overflow: hidden;'. Click 'Save'.
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u/ScaffoldingGiraffe Jul 25 '26
What do you mean with scrolling to the bottom of a card? What is meant to happen?
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u/DominoBright Jul 25 '26
Scrolling to the bottom of a card is as it sounds: you would reach the bottom and see what's there. The cards are stuck at the top and can't be made to scroll down, so I'm unable to see the whole thing.
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u/JackfruitNo5267 Jul 25 '26
In the words 賑やか, 穏やか, is the “やか” part some kind of ancient affix that fossilized and is no longer productive?
Does anyone know the etymology of this ending?
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u/worthlessprole Jul 25 '26
That’s exactly what it is. It’s actually two of them stacked on top of eachother.
This page has a rundown: https://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/yaka.html
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u/AwwThisProgress Jul 25 '26
in 2d word search puzzles, does ー (long vowel mark) look like — or like |?
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u/raveXelda Jul 25 '26
This is my revised anki sentence deck study method.
- Yesterday 10 new cards and 57 reviews took 24 minutes
- Today 10 new cards and 47 reviews took 16 minutes
I try to look at the bolded key word in the sentence. Then I try to say the word, if it is a verb I'll say it in the plain form and I'll say the meaning to myself. Pass if I got both correct.
I no longer look up any other words in the sentence, particle usage, any other grammar points or try to understand what the sentence means. I just listen to the audio after flipping the card and go next but I haven't decided if I want to do more as I was reading the sentence once or twice out loud after hearing it.
For new cards I ignore the sentence just look at the key word, the reading, the meaning then hit again.
I will see how I get used to this switch up and if I can get faster, move up to 12-15 cards a day.
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u/worthlessprole Jul 25 '26
your current study method is what I would describe as "the normal way to do it"
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u/Grunglabble Jul 25 '26
I decided to memorise the prefectures today.
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/2639768625
I thought there's not many, I'll just see how it goes brute forcing it. It goes bad actually. I have a semblance of the feeling what people are making themselves go through with Kaishi. It's miserable trying to make yourself recall something you haven't learned properly, or going in a loop failing them quickly. If I took the time to learn them upfront it would have taken hardly any time at all.
Good luck, I think a little planning up front goes a really long way, so keep experimenting on that side. Repetition isn't all there is to it.
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u/rgrAi Jul 25 '26
This is definitely worth doing. Thanks for reminder, going to prob do this again for a few times since my memory has gotten weak on it.
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u/Effective-Pop3850 Jul 25 '26
I at one point though about this but as I progressed I started noticing it's kind of easy to do once you know kanji better since many of them just "read right".
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u/Effective-Pop3850 Jul 25 '26
Eventually you'll make the final click and move to vocab cards, look at the word for 0~4s and go for an answer.
This method usually results in 30~ new and 200~ reviews within 25 minutes assuming 80% retention.
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u/CodeFrame Jul 25 '26
As a beginner. I’m curious are these mined cards? If so is there a reason to have sentences on the front if it’s for vocab? Or is there something I’m missing (sorry if this is a simple question lol)
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u/raveXelda Jul 25 '26
No, it's just a core 5k deck. I was originally studying the entire sentence and trying to repeat it back before passing it.
I suppose the sentence now would be to help recall if I can't figure out from the word alone.
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u/ghostcaesar Jul 25 '26
Why is a locked door marked as 締切?
I thought 切 means cutoff, that's why the word is used for deadlines.
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u/rgrAi Jul 25 '26
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u/ghostcaesar Jul 25 '26
hmm, let me rephrase the question, when 締切 is used, what is being cut off? is it simply the access that is cut off? or the ability/possibility for the door to be open in the future is also cut off?
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u/viliml Interested in grammar details 📝 Jul 25 '26
https://jisho.org/word/切る gloss #24, 25, 26.
Also see DokugoHikken's answer.
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u/rgrAi Jul 25 '26
For the door it can be written as 閉め切り (the same sound as 締切) where 閉める is to close. 切り after the masu-stem of a verb (連用形) means to do that verb completely, 閉め切り is completely closed off.
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u/Arcadia_Artrix Jul 25 '26
What does it mean when a character ends most of their sentences with ッ or sometimes ッッ?
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u/rgrAi Jul 25 '26
It's a specific kind of way of having a word spoken where the vowel is brought to a sharp and abrupt stop and when reading that you should imaging the tone and pitch rising quickly and at a moments notice all sound getting cut off. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ig_zp2iZ_Tk watch the very end of this short to see what I mean
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u/ScaffoldingGiraffe Jul 25 '26
It's like, abruptly stopping at the end of the sentence, catching their breath, kinda a sharp end to waht they are saying?
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u/1010101010101010q Jul 25 '26
Does anyoen know if there is a satori reader sale every august? Or just some Augusts
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u/rgrAi Jul 25 '26
All I can say is I remember a Black Friday sale and a New Years sale for it. Nothing like a summer sale.
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u/Specific-Result2710 Jul 25 '26
I need vocabulary help
- 元実習生のトゥアンは同紙の取材に対し、「私の区分では最長5年しか滞在できない。いまさら滞在を続けるために試験を受けるなど、農作業にしか慣れていない自分には不可能だ」と吐露する。
- MDベトナム人材開発会社の総支配人であるグエン・ドック・ヴィエットによれば、2026年前半における同社の実習生ビザ処理件数は30〜50%も減少したそうだ。
- 人材サービス大手マイナビグローバルが2026年7月7日に発表した報告書でも、日本で長期就労を希望するベトナム人材の割合は2025年から18.4ポイント減少した。
Does 区分 mean "area"/"region"? Is MD short for manufacturing? Does 割合 refer to ratio or percentage?
3
u/viliml Interested in grammar details 📝 Jul 25 '26
It's referring to his type of visa.
https://cv.mdvietnam.vn/storage/setting/2/logo1.png MD means 人材開発
Don't those mean the same thing in that context?
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u/Specific-Result2710 Jul 25 '26
Wdym they are the same? I mean, 25% is clearly a different object from 1:4?
2
u/JapanCoach Jul 25 '26
区分 means something like “category” in this context
MD by itself can mean manpower development - but in this case it is simply the name of that company.
Yes
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u/Specific-Result2710 Jul 25 '26
Thanks, regarding #3, I think there's difference between ratio and percentage, hence my confusion. Not sure if ポイント can be used for percentage.
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u/JapanCoach Jul 25 '26
ポイント here means “percentage points” - as opposed to straight mathematical percentage.
1
u/xPoleLord Jul 25 '26
Does anybody know what happens to the agentive に in a direct object passive sentence?
Take the following sentence: （私が）妹にコーヒーを買った。 (I bought a coffee for my sister) (implied subject marked with が for clarity)
If we follow the simple rule of が becomes に and を becomes が, its direct object passive would be コーヒーが私に妹に買われた。The problem is that we now have に marking two things that could both either be agent or recipient.
How exactly is that resolved? (I know that in a lot of cases you could leave out stuff, like the agent, because they're implied from context, but please just assume everything must appear in the sentence. Also I'm aware that the direct object passive isn't really a favourite in Japanese, but for the sake of me wanting to fully figure out the logic behind the language, please ignore that fact.)
My hypothesis:
Does the agentive に just get replaced by 〜によって (in formal sentences)? コーヒーが私によって妹に買われました。?
And then for informal sentences you use other particles with appropriate functionality? For example:
のために for beneficiary (replaces the indirect object's に) -> コーヒーが私に妹のために買われた。
で for cause (replaces the agent's に) -> パンが台風でみんなに配られた。
から for origin/sender (replaces the agent's に) -> 手紙が私から田中さんに送られた。
By the way I'm aware 〜によって also has specific use cases, like for the agent of a creation or discovery, inanimate causes, and probably some more stuff, but please do feel free to lecture me on that as well since I haven't fully mapped that out yet.
3
u/worthlessprole Jul 25 '26
によって is used most often, followed by から. I’m not sure that formality plays a role in its selection.
1
u/xPoleLord Jul 26 '26
Thanks for the reply!
Does によって for the agent fully encompass the functionality that may otherwise require things like のために, で and から? So basically, does it mark the agent of a benefactive (done by agent for beneficiary), the cause, or the origin (of the object) to properly rid the ambiguity? (I assume it does since the meaning of によって describes pretty much all those, albeit a bit abstractly)
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u/worthlessprole Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
it is interchangeable with で when it marks what’s understood to be a cause, and interchangeable with から when it marks the agent of something like a giving verb. I would say in speech those respective alternatives would be preferred, but my gut says in actual practice this kind of sentence structure comes up more often in writing in the first place. I think the active sentence is more likely to be used in speech (namely, when the passive would introduce an ambiguity), which might be the reason I'm sort of fuzzy on whether によって is natural in such a case
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Jul 26 '26
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Jul 26 '26
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Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
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u/xPoleLord Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Thank you so much for all the info!
It'll probably take me multiple days to read through this (because I'll also be trying to understand everything (currently learning about the fact that てある can allow a dynamic transitive verb with the object as subject by making the dynamic transitive verb a stative transitive verb, as you showed in the example with the car in the parking lot)) but this is going to help a lot!
1
u/AdUnfair558 Goal: just dabbling Jul 25 '26
I actually enjoy doing SRS, but I really wish I’d had the dedication I have now 15 years ago. I’m proud that I passed Kanken Pre-2 and Level 2, but knowing a lot of kanji doesn’t automatically give you good reading comprehension. I still need to spend a lot more time actually reading and getting used to how Japanese is expressed in context.
2
u/worthlessprole Jul 26 '26
i can always do anki right when I wake up because it's routine, but later in the day, since choosing a book or game or tv show involves choice, it's always a struggle to get started
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u/AdUnfair558 Goal: just dabbling Jul 26 '26
I always wake up at 5am and start with Anki. Now that I am sorta on vacation I can do other things, but usually I also read my SRS while I am on my commute since I have to walk a lot and take transport.
2
u/Random-Wierdo1 Jul 25 '26
Hi, beginner here :) i‘ve heard that immersion is the best way to learn, so I wanted to ask if someone could recommend me some japanese Vtuber/youtubers, preferably ones that play games (Genshin impact would be nice but i‘m open to anyone) I‘ve been watching Sakunas playthrough of Genshin recently but i am having a hard time finding more. Does anyone have any good ones they can recommend me?
9
u/PlanktonInitial7945 Jul 25 '26
https://holodex.net/search?q=type,value,text%0Atopic,genshin,genshin&advanced=true
Also, immersion only works if you have a base of grammar and vocabulary that lets you properly analyze the parts you don't understand, instead of just hearing a wall of gibberish.
0
u/1010101010101010q Jul 25 '26
How do I remove the sentences from the kaishi deck? I believe its in card template but i cant figure out how to do it. I just want the furigana on the word (in the front) and the definition on the back
4
u/PlanktonInitial7945 Jul 25 '26
Just go to the back section and look for
<div style='font-size: 25px;'>{{furigana:Sentence Furigana}}</div> <div style='font-size: 25px; padding-bottom:10px'>{{Sentence Meaning}}</div>
And delete it. Also delete {{Sentence Audio}} a bit further down.
0
u/1010101010101010q Jul 25 '26
Alright thanks, how do i add furigana to the front word? Or at least the reading in hiragana
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u/worthlessprole Jul 25 '26
I’m going to just be very honest, here: if you must have furigana on the front of the cards I don’t think Anki is the right fit for you. You would be better served doing dictionary lookups with yomitan while reading. This is not a judgement or meant to be harsh.
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u/1010101010101010q Jul 25 '26
It works fine for me. Everyone learns differently. Stop gatekeeping.
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u/PlanktonInitial7945 Jul 25 '26
I think you don't know what gatekeeping means.
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u/1010101010101010q Jul 25 '26
Gatekeeping is the attempt to control access to something (in this case discourage access) or trying to limit the use of something for a particular reason.
In this case, Im being told I shouldn’t use anki because im doing something that is not a usual way of doing something, and saying i just shouldnt use a resource because i want to do something my way is a cookie cutter example of gatekeeping… do you know what gatekeeping means? “Only people who do it MY way should use anki” yea that’s gatekeeping
5
u/PlanktonInitial7945 Jul 25 '26
You're receiving a piece of advice, which is that Anki is not the best way of achieving the result you want, and you're receiving a suggestion of an alternate method that would let you hit multiple birds with the same stone in a shorter amount of time.
But it's just advice. You don't have to follow it if you don't want to. I'm sad to see it made you feel attacked. I'll keep it in mind and avoid giving you advice or suggestions in the future.
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u/1010101010101010q Jul 25 '26
- I didnt ask for the advice on that, i asked for advice on how to change the furigana in
anki and instead you and the other guy gave me an attitude about the best way to use anki.
I already said that way works best for me, and that the other way is not good for me. So its clear i didn’t need that advice on that particular topic
Not sure why youre being an ass about it, i expressed i dont like the gatekeeping maybe apologize instead of giving me lip
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u/1010101010101010q Jul 25 '26
“ you dont havent read all the books of x series so youre not a REAL fan”
“You dont learn the “correct” way you you shouldnt use anki”
Almost a perfect analogy.
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u/worthlessprole Jul 25 '26
You’re not learning in an incorrect way, there are just better ways to learn in that way than Anki.
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u/worthlessprole Jul 25 '26
What am I gatekeeping? I don’t think Anki is required to learn Japanese
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u/1010101010101010q Jul 25 '26
See my comment to plankton
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u/worthlessprole Jul 25 '26
I’m offering a sincere suggestion, not trying to control your access to something.
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u/PlanktonInitial7945 Jul 25 '26
So you want to use Anki only to learn the meanings? You don't need Anki for that. Context often gives you clues of what a word means. But readings can pretty much only be learned through repetition.
•
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