We are just heading out of the cherry blossom season here in Japan. This is where everyone gets to cure their cabin fever by going out to the park to have a few drinks. I personally am starting to love the spring weather and the fact that I don’t have to bundle up to go outside or wake up to a cold room. If you are in Japan I hope you got to go out and celebrate the beautiful weather.
For my studies, I’m maintaining the same routine, although to tell you the truth I’d like to move on to something a little more with a story than ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞の本. There has been more than a few times that I’ve caught myself nodding off while trying to read that book. I think with a novel at least there is a story that you can follow and you want to know the ending to. But, with Mr. Itoi’s book it almost sometimes seems to be random thoughts that he writes about.
I have found myself getting really competitive over at memrise.com. It is really fun to try to rack up as many points as you can as you play against other learners. It’s crazy, but I’m nearing the 1 million points mark soon. I wonder if I can ever make the top 100. Anyway, it is definitely a motivating way to keep studying.
N4 Grammar – The Japanese Particle ka
My last podcast on the grammar particle kurai/gurai was a roaring success. I got an incredible amount of readers and the guide for that episode got a ton of downloads, so I figured I’d continue the series this week with some N4 level grammar. This week I’m going over the Japanese particle ka and specifically how it is used in embedded questions. I’ll also be going over かどうか and some things to look out for with that particle grammar point.
Don’t miss out on the guide though! If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for my newsletter to get the full guide delivered right to you. It’s packed with examples, explanations and a few sample questions to help you prepare for the exam.
Give the Japanese Particle ka a Try!
Can you write a sentence with an embedded question? or one using かどうか? Give it a try in the comments below and I’ll double check it for you.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:49 — 14.5MB)
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dear sir,
my name is hari, i am going to write the exam coming July N4 level, please give the tips for exam successfully complete.
Note: i am very weak side N4 grammar please give the tips or easily understood materials for N4 grammar.
Thanks & Regards,
Hari
The Minna no Nihongo series is pretty good for the N4 level:
Minna no nihongo
That’s what I used to pass the test. Very clear and practical Japanese.
Thanks for your reply,
May I now which level you have doing?
Studying for N1 at the moment.
Hey Mac
Thank you for your page I’ve found it really useful. I suscribed for the Premiun Section is really a value for money!
Your podcasts are great! I’m not an English native speaker but I can understand you really clearly, so I’m learning Japanese by improving my English
Greetings from Italy.
MAx
That’s good to hear. I’m used to teaching non-English speakers here in Japan, so I guess my English and speaking speed have adjusted. It is a useful skill to have.
Thanks for the comment!
Hello, I am taking N4 exam in December and I would wish to get guidelines from you on what areas to cover especially kanji and grammar. your response will be higly appreciated.
Tanos has a couple of great lists of what is covered on the test:
https://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/jlpt4/