linguistics

Japan’s EF English Proficiency Index rank drops for 11th straight year, hits lowest ever

What’s behind Japan’s continuing slide down the list?

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This one delicious Japanese dessert has at least six different names

Survey creates map of what different parts of Japan call one of its favorite traditional desserts.

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Number of foreigners studying Japanese in Japan hits record high, but are there enough teachers?

Students studying Japanese as a second language in-country hits historic high, majority of teachers are unpaid volunteers.

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Japan’s buzzword of the year nominees: A great way to learn and be baffled by Japanese vocabulary

We need to tell you to take a look before the new slang of today outruns us all… eh ho eh ho…

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Duolingo to open first pop-up store Duomart in Japan for a very limited time next month

The store will be stylized after a typical Japanese convenience store and will feature goods of the beloved green owl mascot character and more.

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Top Japanese baby names for 2025 feature flowers, colors, and a first-time-ever favorite for girls

Annual survey finds the most popular names and kanji characters for new babies.

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Reports that using -chan in Japan constitutes sexual harassment are at least a little exaggerated

Sound-bite version of legal ruling is an imbalanced substitute for a proper meal/understanding of the situation.

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Majority of surveyed Japanese teens don’t call parents by standard Japanese words for mom and dad

Survey finds loanwords getting more use than okaa-san and otou-san.

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Adorable Totoro lamp is here to make us ooh, aah, and learn what honnori means【Photos】

The littlest Totoro gives a lesson on a subtle point of Japanese vocabulary.

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YouTube’s AI Japanese translation calls for Jimmy Kimmel’s death on his own show【Video】

Another bang-up job from AI translation!

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Sega’s Like a Dragon yakuza teaches “useless” English, let’s use it to learn some useful Japanese

Kiryu seems like the kind of guy who should know that effort is never meaningless, and this time is no exception.

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New English textbook published for anime industry’s Animator Skill Test

NAFCA text covers the skills, both in drawing and speaking Japanese, that you’ll need to start an anime artist career in Japan.

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World’s most popular emoji ranking shows something missing from Japan’s top picks

Multi-country study has one element in every nation’s top five emoji, but not Japan’s.

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Hachiji juppun mae – A Japanese phrase that even Japanese people can’t agree on the meaning of

Survey results show big gap in how younger and older respondents interpreted this seemingly simple phrase.

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All you need to know about Japan’s unasked-for restaurant appetizers that you have to pay for

Otoshi is a unique part of Japan’s restaurant culture that can feel like a scam if you’re not ready for it.

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With arrests of foreigners in Japan increasing, police no longer guarantee in-person translators

Getting arrested in Japan is never a good idea, but it’s about to become even more inadvisable for foreigners.

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Smash Bros. creator learns he can’t tweet carelessly, fans learn they can’t trust AI translations

Masahiro Sakurai’s quick comment turns into a hurdle for automated translation tools.

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American tourist arrested in Japan on charges of pushing sexual services worker down stairs

Senior citizen arrested at ski resort three hours away from fuzoku establishment where incident allegedly took place.

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Tokyo’s Sakeice O’Choco alcoholic hot chocolate both does and doesn’t contain “sake”

A lot of linguistics, and a lot of flavor, goes into each and every cup of this dessert drink (and there’s room for debate about the cup too).

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One of Japan’s biggest restaurant chains calls three different sauces all just “sauce” in English

Would you like Yakiniku Sauce, Yakiniku Sauce, or Yakiniku Sauce today?

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