Adam Shaftoe
@adamshaftoe.bsky.social
Guy whose wife said that thing about Alien that one time. Retired Guardian. Occasional writer and critic. 日本語の学生
I've lost an hour to trying to figure out why たべられる and たべることができる aren't effectively the same answer in this scenario.
November 21, 2025 at 5:24 PM
I've lost an hour to trying to figure out why たべられる and たべることができる aren't effectively the same answer in this scenario.
Close second place.
November 17, 2025 at 4:54 AM
Close second place.
Today in JLPT Presents, "Really? Really!"
載る。
本当？本当！
お客様、これはN４でございます。
載る。
本当？本当！
お客様、これはN４でございます。
November 17, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Today in JLPT Presents, "Really? Really!"
載る。
本当？本当！
お客様、これはN４でございます。
載る。
本当？本当！
お客様、これはN４でございます。
JLPT, why are you like this?
November 12, 2025 at 2:45 AM
JLPT, why are you like this?
Another entry in what is now going to become a running series of google image results for Japanese words going in an unexpected direction.
The word: 頼る - to depend upon, to rely upon
The image
The word: 頼る - to depend upon, to rely upon
The image
November 9, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Another entry in what is now going to become a running series of google image results for Japanese words going in an unexpected direction.
The word: 頼る - to depend upon, to rely upon
The image
The word: 頼る - to depend upon, to rely upon
The image
When someone still has the nerve to ask me, "Why learn Japanese" I like pointing to things like this and saying, "To understand why"
November 9, 2025 at 6:46 PM
When someone still has the nerve to ask me, "Why learn Japanese" I like pointing to things like this and saying, "To understand why"
What am I missing where one can't use のに to say, "Despite studying a lot the exam was very difficult?"
I don't see why しても is more correct.
I don't see why しても is more correct.
November 9, 2025 at 1:19 AM
What am I missing where one can't use のに to say, "Despite studying a lot the exam was very difficult?"
I don't see why しても is more correct.
I don't see why しても is more correct.
In other monuments to failure, today's JLPT prep invites a genuinely painful composition question.
November 2, 2025 at 7:37 PM
In other monuments to failure, today's JLPT prep invites a genuinely painful composition question.
Granted, I worked on some of the questions in this practice exam with my tutor over the last couple of weeks, but also I never imagined seeing results like this.
What really surprised me was that the time management part of a fucking breeze compared to the last time I wrote N4.
What really surprised me was that the time management part of a fucking breeze compared to the last time I wrote N4.
October 26, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Granted, I worked on some of the questions in this practice exam with my tutor over the last couple of weeks, but also I never imagined seeing results like this.
What really surprised me was that the time management part of a fucking breeze compared to the last time I wrote N4.
What really surprised me was that the time management part of a fucking breeze compared to the last time I wrote N4.
One thing I would love to learn more about are the editorial standards on NHK Web Easy.
The headline here is roughly, "Heat is the reason fruits and vegetables aren't growing well."
First line: "This is fruit and vegetable news"
A lot of stories flow this way and I quite like it.
The headline here is roughly, "Heat is the reason fruits and vegetables aren't growing well."
First line: "This is fruit and vegetable news"
A lot of stories flow this way and I quite like it.
October 25, 2025 at 7:43 PM
One thing I would love to learn more about are the editorial standards on NHK Web Easy.
The headline here is roughly, "Heat is the reason fruits and vegetables aren't growing well."
First line: "This is fruit and vegetable news"
A lot of stories flow this way and I quite like it.
The headline here is roughly, "Heat is the reason fruits and vegetables aren't growing well."
First line: "This is fruit and vegetable news"
A lot of stories flow this way and I quite like it.
Sometimes I get way too proud of the anki cards I create.
This one brought to you by recent events.
This one brought to you by recent events.
October 23, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Sometimes I get way too proud of the anki cards I create.
This one brought to you by recent events.
This one brought to you by recent events.
I will never not love this kind of news reporting from the NHK.
The headline says, "A bear came into a nursery school garden in Iwate Prefecture"
The first line says, "This is bear news"
Just love it.
The headline says, "A bear came into a nursery school garden in Iwate Prefecture"
The first line says, "This is bear news"
Just love it.
October 18, 2025 at 10:30 PM
I will never not love this kind of news reporting from the NHK.
The headline says, "A bear came into a nursery school garden in Iwate Prefecture"
The first line says, "This is bear news"
Just love it.
The headline says, "A bear came into a nursery school garden in Iwate Prefecture"
The first line says, "This is bear news"
Just love it.
Some recent Japanese learning advice I received was, "Don't create an anki card for a word until you've done something to internalize the word."
Believe me when I say, 分かりました。
Believe me when I say, 分かりました。
September 23, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Some recent Japanese learning advice I received was, "Don't create an anki card for a word until you've done something to internalize the word."
Believe me when I say, 分かりました。
Believe me when I say, 分かりました。
Attempting to make better anki cards (generally sticking to vocabulary I've already internalized to some extent through reading) is not terrible.
September 17, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Attempting to make better anki cards (generally sticking to vocabulary I've already internalized to some extent through reading) is not terrible.
The only reason mentee became a thing is that the average grant writer in the early 2000s couldn't find the keyboard shortcut for accents in Microsoft Word and now it has stuck.
September 7, 2025 at 8:09 PM
The only reason mentee became a thing is that the average grant writer in the early 2000s couldn't find the keyboard shortcut for accents in Microsoft Word and now it has stuck.
Laughs in having soaked up way more radiation than literally any NASA astronaut.
Finally, I'm better at something than an astronaut.
Finally, I'm better at something than an astronaut.
September 6, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Laughs in having soaked up way more radiation than literally any NASA astronaut.
Finally, I'm better at something than an astronaut.
Finally, I'm better at something than an astronaut.
Recognizing that JLPT prep at 1:42am is not a great idea, I still think this is a poorly designed question.
Unless the gimmick on this one is to recognize です＋が as the more natural construction. Because if お兄さん usually goes with me as a favour we would probably want a のに to set up the contrast?
Unless the gimmick on this one is to recognize です＋が as the more natural construction. Because if お兄さん usually goes with me as a favour we would probably want a のに to set up the contrast?
August 5, 2025 at 5:47 AM
Recognizing that JLPT prep at 1:42am is not a great idea, I still think this is a poorly designed question.
Unless the gimmick on this one is to recognize です＋が as the more natural construction. Because if お兄さん usually goes with me as a favour we would probably want a のに to set up the contrast?
Unless the gimmick on this one is to recognize です＋が as the more natural construction. Because if お兄さん usually goes with me as a favour we would probably want a のに to set up the contrast?
What the hell did Sulu's daughter do that outshined her dad such that Hikaru Sulu isn't on the wall of fame?
July 30, 2025 at 7:23 PM
What the hell did Sulu's daughter do that outshined her dad such that Hikaru Sulu isn't on the wall of fame?
I was looking at a map of Scotland and some of the names made me think of 90s car dealership commercials on network affiliate stations.
"Hi folks, Newton Grange here from Craig Lockhart Chrysler Automotive Performance Centre. The 1995 Intrepids are here with lease rates that that won't be beat."
"Hi folks, Newton Grange here from Craig Lockhart Chrysler Automotive Performance Centre. The 1995 Intrepids are here with lease rates that that won't be beat."
May 30, 2025 at 9:35 PM
I was looking at a map of Scotland and some of the names made me think of 90s car dealership commercials on network affiliate stations.
"Hi folks, Newton Grange here from Craig Lockhart Chrysler Automotive Performance Centre. The 1995 Intrepids are here with lease rates that that won't be beat."
"Hi folks, Newton Grange here from Craig Lockhart Chrysler Automotive Performance Centre. The 1995 Intrepids are here with lease rates that that won't be beat."