In the newsletter this month, I looked at 伺う (ukagau) a broadly useful "humble" keigo verb, and on the blog I looked at the other kanji that help ukagau expand its meanings. On the podcast, I talked about keigo more broadly. It's often overcomplicated and intimidating. Students need an easy way in, and I think there's a way to create a simple binary for many keigo verbs. Give the episode a listen and let me know what your own keigo experience has been like!

Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com.

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確か (tashika) and 確かに (tashika ni) seemed impenetrable to me when I first started studying; somehow they're nearly identical but meant the exact opposite? I found that I was able to crack the code by "brute forcing" this an other impossible pairs. Read more in the newsletter, and check out the blog for a link to the Kakuta Mitsuyo reading I mentioned and to find a link to my Japanese reading group.

Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com.

You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

確認 (kakunin, confirm/check) is one of the most flexible words in the language. This month I go over all the different usages. Check out the newsletter for the prefixes/suffixes it connects with and how it's an extremely effective tool in work chats. On the blog, I've got more in depth discussion of 確認 and how it can set a template for conversations.

Feel free to reach out with any questions or 悩み事 to howtojapanese@gmail.com.

You can also follow How to Japanese on Substack, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.