Nihongo

Reference | EXPLAINER Nov 13, 2007

Dialect-rife Japan can be tongue-twisting

by Eric Johnston

The islands of Japan have many dialects, and students of the language often realize these variations are not taught in classrooms. Strong regional accents, and grammatical structures and vocabulary different from standard Japanese, are proof of the country's linguistic and regional diversity, a diversity often ...

Language | BILINGUAL Jun 12, 2007

It's a dog's life when you wear a cat on your head

by Kaori Shoji

Animals have always been prevalent in the Japanese language, perhaps more so than in other parts of the world, because Japanese people were for so long vegetarian, Buddhist or Shintoist. Even now, upon seeing a kitsune (fox), a Japanese person is more likely to pray ...