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Category: Language Study・語学

Shadey Sayings「悪戦苦闘」

22 June, 2009 (19:58) | Artwork, Language Study・語学


Artwork by: Shade

Here’s another 四字熟語, four-character idiom. Check out Shade’s artwork at the link above if you like it!

Shadey Sayings「善悪は友による」

9 June, 2009 (16:16) | Artwork, Language Study・語学


Artwork by: Shade

This time I tried out a 言い習わし, a type of kotowaza that provides some knowledge or pearl of wisdom. Think of it like a proverb.

Shadey Sayings:「一日千秋」

1 June, 2009 (12:52) | Artwork, Language Study・語学


Artwork by: Shade

Shadey Sayings is another collaborative effort with Shade, also known as shadeykris on DeviantArt and, of course, Seyonne on Gilgamesh.

She has recently begun making wonderful, all-new drawings for her ElForto Adventures page. I think these pieces provide a great opportunity to showcase her work and educate those interested about a unique and interesting aspect of the Japanese language: 四字熟語, four-character idiomatic phrases. I will try to present a new phrase every so often using Shade’s illustrations to convey its meaning, and adding an explanation to examine its construction.

To get a sneak peak at her latest strip, be sure to visit ElForto Adventures!

Mage vs. Wizard & Cursed Gear (from JP Button Radio)

27 March, 2009 (12:12) | Language Study・語学, Podcast・ポッドキャスト

During the course of the show this week, Fusionx mentioned the upgradable Job System in the original Final Fantasy. If you start out as a 白魔術士, you will upgrade into a 白魔道士.

This also lead into the difference between 呪われた gear and 祟られた gear.

So what’s the difference? After listening to the show, you can read on to get an explanation of what we were talking about.

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漢字検定 – Studying for the Kanji Proficiency Test

29 January, 2009 (20:34) | Language Study・語学, Life in Japan・日常生活

kjkt50

I don’t have work today, so I’m supposed to be studying for the upcoming test on Sunday. However, I stumbled upon (literally) this obscure Flash game online. There is no goal to the game, you simply redirect the course of free-falling sand. After 30 minutes of watching sand fall, I realized I needed help.

This post is to get my mind back on track, and teach you about kanji, study tools and preparing for the test.

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Mithrans, Elvaans, Adventurers, lend me your ears!

1 October, 2008 (00:08) | Language Study・語学

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, /shouts are part of everyday life in Vana’diel.  Players all over the globe use them to gather members for missions or quests, attempt to sell items, or annoy other people.

Have you ever wondered what is actually being said in all the kana and kanji that flies across your screen in /shouts?  Chances are it’s the same kind of things that players who speak English or other languages put in their /shouts but with a small twist.

They apologize a lot.

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The fog is so thick I can’t see the screen!

28 September, 2008 (15:06) | Language Study・語学



The following is an old story my LS mates and I have been laughing over lately. It almost seems too incredible to be real.

It was originally posted in 2004 in a Japanese thread about parties and leaders. The poster, a Beastmaster, met another Beastmaster and his unfortunate adventure took off from there. I’ve tried to localize it the best I could so hopefully some people out there get a few laughs from this as well. At the very least, you can see that there are crazy players in every culture.

“The fog is so thick I can’t see the screen!”

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