Hannah Stafford 
Legends of a great beast known as the dragon have been recorded from all corners of the world. Humans seem to be predisposed to the idea of dragons, as you will find stories about them from pretty much any ancient society, such as the Fáfnir from Scandinavian mythology, the Ninki Nanka from West Africa and the … Read more
As you may already know, sayonara (さよなら) is the Japanese word for ‘goodbye’. However, if you want to say ‘see you later’, sayonara would not be the most suitable term. Instead, a more natural way to say ‘see you later’ in Japanese would be mata ne (またね)! Even in English, you can feel the difference … Read more
The Japanese greeting hajimemashite (はじめまして) is a commonly used term in Japanese daily life that you may very well have come across before. It is often translated as ‘nice to meet you’, or ‘how do you do’ – and that’s not exactly wrong, as it is used in this way. However, hajimemashite is one of … Read more
Once you’ve got the basic greetings covered in Japanese you are ready to engage in conversations and make new friends! When meeting someone for the first time they may ask you: anata no namae wa nan desu ka? (あなたの名前はなんですか / あなたのなまえはなんですか) meaning ‘what is your name?’. In this post, you will learn just how to … Read more
One of the most useful phrases to learn when speaking any language is ‘how are you?’ After learning how to say ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’ or ‘thank you’, showing that you can say ‘how are you’ brings you one step further in impressing others with your language skills. It also allows for a conversation to grow where … Read more