Yesterday, before the store opened, there were people lined up in front of the store, and I was like, what do you call that? Is it called 'first in line'? It was such a long line that I was surprised.
'Sore tte nan tte iu no?' is a strategic expression used when asking for the name of something or a concept, especially when the speaker is unsure of the appropriate term or noun to use. This is a way to continue the conversation while asking questions on the spot, rather than stopping because you don't know something. Moreover, this is not just a strategy used by language learners; native Japanese speakers also use it commonly. 'Nan tte iu no?' means 'what is it called?'. The phrase 'ichiban nori' means 'first in line', referring to being at the front of a line. However, in many cases, being first in line does not necessarily mean getting a special discount, yet many people aim to be first in line. Additionally, sometimes people will join a line simply because there are many people already lined up, even if they don't know what is being offered.
2026.04.08 Wed #728: I would like you to...
...てほしいんですけど、
...te hoshii n desu kedo,
I would like you to...
A 「これ、手伝ってほしいんですけど」 B「今、ちょっと忙しいんで、後でいいですか？」
A: I would like you to help me with this. B: I'm a bit busy right now, can it wait until later?
'...te hoshii n desu kedo,' is a colloquial expression used when you want someone to do something for you. It is a polite form of request and can also be said as '...shite hoshii n desu ga,'.
2026.04.07 Tue #727: What did you just say?
今、何て言った？
Ima, nan te itta?
What did you just say?
A「この映画、面白かった！」 B「今、何て言った？本当にそう思うの？」
A: This movie was really good! B: What did you just say? Do you really think so?
'Ima, nan te itta?' is a colloquial expression used to express surprise or seek confirmation about what someone just said. 'Ima' means 'just now', and 'nan te itta?' means 'what did you say?'.
2026.04.06 Mon #726: That's a relief.
それはなにより
Sore wa nani yori.
That's a relief.
病気が治った。それはなにより。
You recovered from your illness. That's a relief.
'Sore wa nani yori.' is a colloquial expression used to convey a feeling of relief when someone's situation has improved or when something has ended well. 'Nani yori' means 'more than anything else', emphasizing that the outcome is more important than anything else.
A: How should we solve this problem? B: Well, let's do it this way. First, let's investigate the cause, and then we can think about the countermeasures.
'Ja, kou shiyou.' is a colloquial expression used to make a suggestion or share a decision. 'Ja' means 'well', and 'kou shiyou' means 'let's do it this way'.
Let's practice every day!
Let's learn Japanese through dictation practice!
PDF Workbook (volume 1 and 2) is available from
[here]!
It includes the notes of words, phrases and grammars.
This is the dictation practice site operated by Japanese Language Teaching Section, Tokyo Institute of Technology.
This practice involves a variety of natural expressions in daily conversation.
You can practice 10 sentences a day depending on your language ability.
It's a very simple exercise. You just follow the audio you hear and type in Roman letters.
Your comments and bug reports are very welcome. Please submit from here.
Zen and the Art of Dictation
Let's learn Japanese through drill and practice!
You will practice 10 sentences in an episode.
It's a very simple exercise.
You just follow the audio you hear and type in roman letters.
The first objective is to learn the basic Japanese sounds
and hiragana/katakana combinations.
You can practice as many times as possible.
The more you practice, the better you will get.
Please regularly contribute your time to this practice.
It is important to practice every day rather than to practice a lot at once.
The following is the psychological evidence of the importance of regular practice:
Figure 1: The forgetting curve described by Hermann Ebbinghaus.
Here, b represents 'Savings' expressed as a percentage, and t represents time in minutes, counting from one minute before end of learning. The constants c and k are 1.25 and 1.84 respectively. Savings is defined as the relative amount of time saved on the second learning trial as a result of having had the first. A savings of 100% would indicate that all items were still known from the first trial. A 75% savings would mean that relearning missed items required 25% as long as the original learning session (to learn all items). 'Savings' is thus, analogous to retention rate.
Drill for Every Day (D4E: V5)
