You probably recognize the kanji for woman/female, 女, but how do you say ‘girl’ in Japanese?  There are several words for ‘girl’ in Japanese and many of you know that this is because Japanese has formal and informal ways of describing people.  For example, even though the kanji just mentioned for ‘woman’ is onna / … Read more

Among the first few vocabulary we learn in any language is how to call our family members. A standard word for father in Japanese is otousan (お父さん / おとうさん). But did you know that there are many other ways to refer to your father in Japanese? Depending on who you are speaking to or talking … Read more

Unlike the English language, there is no single word for ‘brother’ in Japanese. In fact, it is hard to separate the importance of age and hierarchy in the family in learning about family members. Ani (兄 / あに) is the word for ‘older brother’ in Japanese while otouto (弟 / おとうと) means ‘younger brother’. But … Read more

Warning: This post contains language not appropriate for young readers.  Curious about curse words in Japanese? We swear we won’t tell! (no pun intended…)   It’s easy to get the impression when first learning Japanese that everything is ultra-polite and it’s impossible to sound offensive.  But just like any other language, Japanese comes with its fair … Read more

Learning about how to refer to family members can be a little tricky in Japanese! Generally, there are two standard Japanese words for sister: ane (姉 / あね) for ‘older sister’ and imouto (妹 / いもうと) for ‘younger sister’. These two words, however, have different variations depending on context, age, who you are speaking to, … Read more