Hello! Minasan! Welcome to "Dictation for Every Day" (D4E: version 5) a.k.a. Mainichi no Kikitori
Workbook
PDF Workbook (volume 1 and 2) is available from
[here]!
It includes the notes of words, phrases and grammars.
News and Story
A.E.A.D. (A Expression A Day)
2024.05.04 Sat: Japanese style pizza
お好み焼きを作る
okonomiyaki wo tsukuru
to make Japanese style pizza
The word "okonomiyaki" is a popular Japanese food that is similar to pizza. The word "okonomi" means "what you like" or "what you want." The word "yaki" means "grilled" or "cooked." The word "tsukuru" means "to make." The word "okonomiyaki" is made by mixing flour, eggs, cabbage, and other ingredients together and grilling them on a hot plate. There are several regional variations of okonomiyaki in Japan. The most famous ones are Hiroshima style and Osaka style. When I was a child, I loved eating okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki back then was not as glamorous as it is today. It was a simple thin pancake of flour with a pinch of cabbage and a slice of pork. When yakisoba was included, only a few well-to-do children could afford it. Okonomiyaki was cooked by housewives in a temporary garage.
2024.05.03 Fri: ketchup rice wrapped in an thin omelet
オムライスを作る
omuraisu wo tsukuru
to make ketchup rice wrapped in an thin omelet
The word "Omu-raisu" is a loanword from English. The word "omu" is a short form of the word "omelet." The word "raisu" is a loanword from English. The word "raisu" means "rice." The word "tsukuru" means "to make." When visiting to Japan first time, many international students would love an omuraisu. A hint of sweet thin egg wraps the ketchup rice. It is a very popular dish in Japan.
2024.05.02 Thu: A rice ball
おにぎりを握る
onigiri wo nigiru
to make a rice ball
The word "onigiri" means "rice ball." The word "nigiru" means "to make" or "to hold." The word "nigiru" is used to describe the action of making a rice ball. The word "onigiri" is a popular Japanese food that is made by shaping rice into a ball and wrapping it in seaweed.
2024.05.01 Wed: Fast talker
早口で聞き取れない
hayakuchi de kikitorenai
I cannot catch what you are saying because you are talking too fast.
The word "hayakuchi" means "fast talker." The word "kiku" means "to hear." The word "toru" means "to catch." The word "kikitorenai" is the negative potential form of the verb "kikitoreru" which means "to be able to catch what someone is saying." The word "kikitorenai" is used to indicate that you cannot catch what someone is saying. The word "hayakuchi de kikitorenai" is used to describe a situation in which you cannot catch what someone is saying because she is talking too fast.
2024.04.30 Tue: Thank you, my crocodile!
どうも、クロコダイル!
doumo kurokodairu!
Thank you, my crocodile!
This is a phrase that is used to express gratitude in a humorous way. The word "arigatou" means "thank you." The word "kurokodairu" means "crocodile." One day, someone could not remember how to say "thank you" in Japanese, so he had an idea to use the similar sound in English and he practiced to say the word, "alligator" when a chance came to him. When he thought it was when he should have said, he said "crocodile!" It was a mistake. He should have said the word "alligator" for "arigatou." Based on the fact that he selected the word, alligator as "arigatou," it is obvious that Japanese 'r' sound is very close to 'l' sound in English.
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.