The Inku Blog

Keep the question and its purpose visible when answering a negative question. A reply that confirms a negative report differs from accepting an invitation, so practise the full intended fact or action rather than an isolated yes/no rule.

A family word depends on the scene as well as whose relative it names. Compare formal reference to your father, familiar direct address and a respectful reference to someone else's father, without treating one word pair as a rule for every household.

A changed verb needs a checked dictionary candidate, not just a removed ending. Follow the reading verb through two encountered forms, then confirm its group, meaning and fit in the original sentence.

A contraction shortens a longer form. Learn to connect two complete casual sentence shapes with their full versions, while keeping recognition separate from the decision to use casual speech yourself.

A sound can lead to more than one dictionary entry. Work through hot tea and hot weather, use the scene to choose the intended sense, and keep an ambiguity unresolved when the available information is not enough.

The fact in a sentence can stay the same while its ending changes the speaker's purpose. Use two checked examples to distinguish confirmation from pointing something out, without treating either ending as a fixed English tag.

An unspoken participant is not automatically I. Follow three checked examples, keep a third person through a short reply, and restore a name or ask for context when the intended person is unclear.

Knowing the day words is only the first step. Follow one plan across a day change, distinguish a new statement from an old message, and attach a calendar date before you reuse a relative time word.

Choose what kind of expression you need before choosing its position: an object, a place, or a word that goes before a noun. A clear physical scene makes the basic ko-so-a-do map easier to apply.

For basic existence sentences, objects and trees use arimasu, while people and animals use imasu. Choose what exists before adding its location, and treat this beginner pattern as a guide rather than an absolute biology rule.

The adjective class tells you how a word behaves, not just what its English translation means. Compare two noun phrases, avoid guessing from the last letter, and keep one checked phrase beside each new adjective.

A compound can sound different from its separate parts. Follow the change from medicine to eye medicine, locate the consonant that changes, and keep the checked whole-word reading instead of applying voicing everywhere.

For a starting model of voiced Japanese u, relax the lips without pushing them forward or stretching them sideways. Practise it in a checked word. Vowel quality, vowel length and whether the vowel is voiced are separate questions.

Basic Japanese fu uses the upper and lower lips close together. It does not use the upper-teeth/lower-lip contact of a typical English f. Keep the following vowel and practise the whole sound in a checked word, rather than copying the roman letter alone.

A useful starting model for Japanese r is a light, brief tongue-tip contact near the ridge behind the upper teeth. Use a checked Japanese model, then practise the sound inside a word. The letter r in romaji does not tell you to copy an English r.

Read an unspaced Japanese sentence by combining word recognition, grammar and context. Script changes are useful clues, but they are not automatic word boundaries. Make a possible grouping, check the unfamiliar part, then read the complete sentence again.

The kanji repetition mark tells you that the previous character is repeated. Its pronunciation comes from the complete word, so copying the first sound mechanically can give the wrong reading. Look up the word with its reading and meaning.

Japanese punctuation helps you find sentence endings, pauses and quoted text. Start with full stops, commas and corner quotation brackets. Read the marks as instructions for understanding the text, rather than as extra syllables in a word.

Small ke-shaped and ka-shaped signs often appear in counting expressions, where they can stand for ka. In a place name, the reading belongs to that name. Identify the whole expression before applying a sound from the katakana chart.

A hiragana character can have several familiar printed and handwritten forms. A joined curve or a different stroke ending does not automatically make it a new kana. Practise recognizing variants while keeping one clear model for your own writing.

Kanji have on'yomi, readings borrowed from Chinese, and kun'yomi, native Japanese words written with the kanji. See how the official kanji list marks them, the usual patterns and their exceptions, and a word-first way for beginners to learn readings.

In Japanese, i and u are often devoiced between voiceless consonants, or after a voiceless consonant at the end of a sentence, so です sounds like dess and すき like ski. Learn the two conditions, word pairs where it does and does not happen, and how to use the pattern for listening and speaking.

Japanese ん is a nasal sound that fills one beat. It sounds like m before m, b and p, n before t, d and n, ng before k and g, close to a nasal vowel before vowels, y and w, and often further back than ng at the end of a word. Learn each case with examples and why romaji writes n'.

The particles は, へ and を are read wa, e and o. Modern kana spelling follows today's sound but keeps these three particles in their older spelling. Learn where the rule comes from, how to spot a particle, why charts label を as wo, and how romaji writes them.

A review backlog after a break often includes many cards you can still recall. Pause new cards, cap the daily amount, let the most at-risk cards go first and grade honestly, then restart new cards when the daily count fits a normal session.

Most confusable kana separate on one of four checks: which way the long stroke moves, how many strokes there are, how the last stroke ends, or the surrounding word. Includes katakana that look like kanji, such as ロ and 口.

Extended katakana such as ファ, ティ, ウィ and ヴ write loanword sounds the basic chart lacks. Learn the one reading rule, the two official tables, why many words have two spellings, and where the long vowel mark ー fits.

Small ゃ, ゅ and ょ turn an i-column kana into one combined syllable, called yōon. Learn the 11 common rows, why small versus full size changes the word, how the 2025 romaji rules spell them, and how they work in katakana.

Pronunciation sticks when you practice it: listen to a clear model, say the word aloud, count morae, and test yourself on the reading as well as the meaning.

Two small marks add 25 hiragana. Dakuten turns k, s, t and h rows into g, z, d and b; handakuten turns the h row into p. Learn the base row first, then the mark.

Count beats, not letters. Small っ/ッ is one silent beat that doubles the next consonant; long vowels add one beat, written with an extra kana in hiragana and ー in katakana.

Decide what counts as a correct answer before you flip, then grade honestly: blanks, partial readings, guesses and hinted answers are Again. Slow but complete recall can pass.

A repeatedly forgotten card is a signal to inspect the card, not a reason to press Again forever. Use this short repair sequence before you add more reviews.

A Japanese vocabulary card works best when it asks one clear question. Use a short answer, a natural example, and only the support needed for the recall job.

Five new cards a day is a sensible starting point. Keep that pace only while you can finish due reviews and recall the answers honestly.

Shinobi Japanese combines graded illustrated stories with native audio, lookup, quizzes, and review. Use it when you need a manageable bridge from vocabulary cards to connected Japanese.

Moji puts Japanese kanji into phone widgets and pairs that exposure with readings, examples, guided writing, and spaced review. Consider it when keeping a character in view helps you return to focused practice.

Mugi combines native Japanese videos matched to a learner level with word and sentence explanations and spaced review. Consider it when textbook study is progressing but real Japanese speech still feels hard to follow.

Kiku uses short Japanese video clips with word lookup, contextual explanations, and vocabulary review. Consider it if an enjoyable clip makes it easier to begin listening, then give the session a clear stopping point.

Gravity connects native Japanese media with synced transcripts, word lookup, and review that keeps the original source context. Consider it when you want words from what you watch to return as study material.