english language
To coincide with Japan’s annual “Kanji of the Year” event, which reveals the mood of 2015 with a Chinese character, popular online dictionary site Weblio asked its Japanese users to nominate an “English vocabulary word of the Year”. The top ten results provide a unique insight into the hot topics of interest in Japan in 2015.
I’m addicted to following the Instagram and YouTube accounts of foreigners in Japan. Not only can it be really cool to see a different perspective on the country, you can also learn some great stuff, too. Take this video by Rachel of “Rachel & Jun” fame, together with “Texan in Tokyo” (aka Grace) as they explain five words you didn’t know were Japanese!
![Superhero Wasabi Woman debuts in hilarious video made by English-learning students [Video]](https://sociorocketnewsen.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/screen-shot-2015-04-06-at-23-06-50.png?w=640&h=340 "Superhero Wasabi Woman debuts in hilarious video made by English-learning students [Video]")
What do you get when you have a group of intermediate/advanced English language students make a video about adjectives? You get “Wassabi Woman,” that’s what.
A video recently surfaced on YouTube that is putting to shame all of the group project videos any of us have ever made and is making English teachers around the world smile.
Learning a foreign language is hard. Even if you master all the vocabulary and grammar, there’s still no guarantee that you’ll ever achieve a native-like accent. For Japanese learners of English, differentiating between the “l” and “r” sounds and pronouncing the “th” sound correctly can be tricky them no matter how many years they’ve been practicing.
But have you ever wondered what it’s like the other way around? What sounds do we English speakers make that sound strange when we speak Japanese? Well it turns out the sound that we mess up the most is one you might not have expected: “fu”.
MOST POPULAR
Now
Japanese women categorise male friends by levels of intimacy, from hugging to bathing
Man in China says he likes Pokémon’s Team Rocket on social media, company makes him issue apology
Japan’s craziest, most terrifying video game arcade is going out of business【Photos】
Japan Travel: Explore a hidden cave on a tiny monorail roller coaster thrill ride in Nara
Twitter user thinks he knows why blood drives use sexy anime artwork in Japan
Funeral undertaker takes departed father on one last trip to his beloved sea
Japanese boy knows the one thing he needs when evacuating from typhoon, and it melts our hearts
Starbucks Japan releases new limited-edition mugs, cards and travel bottles for Halloween
Rugby World Cup: Captain Michael Leitch melts hearts with the reason why he plays for Japan
What does “Konnichiwa” really mean? Understanding Japanese greetings
Weekly
Japanese Phantom Cheesecake: A sweet so popular 2,000 sold in ten minutes
Japanese Mame Shiba Inu banknote design pays homage to nation’s beloved dog
You can now turn your smartphone into a Pokémon Pokédex thanks to Bandai【Photos】
Typhoon warning from NHK Japan “to all foreigners” causes controversy online- Japanese women categorise male friends by levels of intimacy, from hugging to bathing
World’s #1 Smash Bros. player takes on random kid in Japan’s Narita Airport
Typhoon Hagibis turns skies in Japan purply pink, makes people fear the end is nigh
Shibuya rats scuttle along streets in the wake of Typhoon Hagibis【Video】
Japanese news agency under fire for announcing Nobel Prize goes “to foreigners”- Man in China says he likes Pokémon’s Team Rocket on social media, company makes him issue apology
Monthly
PewDiePie buys house in Japan, calls it “a dream come true”
Naruto’s author Kishimoto reveals what characters’ names would’ve been if editor didn’t intervene- Japanese Phantom Cheesecake: A sweet so popular 2,000 sold in ten minutes
- Japanese Mame Shiba Inu banknote design pays homage to nation’s beloved dog
- You can now turn your smartphone into a Pokémon Pokédex thanks to Bandai【Photos】
Uniqlo announces new line of awesome Dragon Ball T-shirts and hoodies【Photos】 
We took advantage of Burger King’s Whopper Jr. sale in an extreme way
Kyoto Animation will use none of its arson donations for business recovery, all of it for victims
Pakistani Japanese citizen is tired of the cops asking him for his foreign resident card
Hayao Miyazaki has turned down multiple offers from Hollywood to make live-action Nausicaa movie
Yearly
Which Pokémon are you? Official quiz reveals your Poké-personality, and how to take it in English- PewDiePie buys house in Japan, calls it “a dream come true”
- Naruto’s author Kishimoto reveals what characters’ names would’ve been if editor didn’t intervene
We asked a Niantic insider 30 questions about Pokémon Go, learned a lot of useful information
Japanese woman stumbles on the power of the infamous “gaijin seat” phenomenon during flight
Why do Japanese recycle bins have two openings but dump everything into the same compartment?
Tokyo public schools will stop forcing students with non-black hair to dye it, official promises- Japanese Phantom Cheesecake: A sweet so popular 2,000 sold in ten minutes
Japanese baseball teen refuses walk after getting hit by pitch, follows up with home run【Video】
50-year-old Japanese woman pulls off amazing Love Live! anime idol cosplay【Photos】
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Funeral undertaker takes departed father on one last trip to his beloved sea
Japanese boy knows the one thing he needs when evacuating from typhoon, and it melts our hearts
Starbucks Japan releases new limited-edition mugs, cards and travel bottles for Halloween
Rugby World Cup: Captain Michael Leitch melts hearts with the reason why he plays for Japan
What does “Konnichiwa” really mean? Understanding Japanese greetings
Japanese news agency under fire for announcing Nobel Prize goes “to foreigners”
Sleep next to the railroad tracks at the closest hotel to a train station platform in Japan
Fake schoolgirl prostitution extortion ring busted by Tokyo police
Japanese Phantom Cheesecake: A sweet so popular 2,000 sold in ten minutes
Canon shows off video-game-like replay tech for real games of Rugby World Cup in Japan
Elderly Japanese couple’s cute restaurant anecdote brings smiles and “d’aww”s to the table
Typhoon Hagibis turns skies in Japan purply pink, makes people fear the end is nigh
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