Maggie Sensei's Job Hunting Vocab

It's been a while since we wrote about job hunting here, although it always seems a continuing point of consternation for some number of our readers. If you're like me, anyway, when you're out of a job or nearing the end of a contract, finding a new job is always on the mind.

Recently I happened across another resource that you may find useful. Maggie Sensei's short, but helpful guide to Job Hunting in Japan comes from a blog whose humor is just a little bit over the top for me, but nonetheless its info is solid, and I'd sincerely like to see it more widely circulated. Maggie has put together an excellent guide to common terminology you'll encounter in the Japanese job-searching world, as well as resume examples and a compendium of questions you're likely to hear from traditional Japanese interviewers. Don't miss this page. In fact, don't miss the entire blog. It's a new site (about the same age as AccessJ, in fact) filled with quality, detailed lessons on a wide variety of Japanese language subjects.

Furthermore, remember to check out the resources we've put together here at AccessJ. On the most basic level, we've prepared Japanese resume (履歴書) forms that you can download, and some of our own lists of job hunting vocabulary, including detailed explanations on meaning and usage of the terms. Take a look also at our Job Spotlight series; many of the jobs in the posts are relisted annually, so if one appears to be in season, we think it's certainly worth checking out.

Any good resources of your own to share? Let us know about them in the comments!

Virtual Travel in Japan

Earlier this year, NHK unveiled their "Michishiru" interactive map site, a virtual tour guide of places and events all over Japan, introduced through streaming video segments of NHK on-location footage. The site targets a Japanese audience, as a way to find out about different destinations to visit within Japan.

However, it also makes for good intermediate-to-advanced Japanese listening practice, and even travelers who don't read or speak Japanese well will find that the intuitive interface and videos speak quite well for themselves.

Just drag and zoom the map around to any part of Japan you're interested in and click on one of the "Play" icons for a virtual tour of it!

Check out the site here: NHK映像マップみちしる

AccessJ's JLPT Anki Decks

Due to a perceived lack of decent Anki decks for JLPT examinees that aren't riddled with mistakes, filled with ads, or home to controversial vocabulary choices, I have made some.

In this post, we give instructions for finding and installing our decks, one for each JLPT level.

In addition, we now have some incredibly thorough decks for every book of the Nihongo So-Matome N3 series.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Anki, it is a free flashcard application which stores progress and shows reviews at timed intervals (based on some complex psychology) for optimal recollection. It works. I use it every day. Check it out. It also has an online version, which is perfect for studying on the move. There's also has a nifty, if pricey, iOS version.

The AccessJ Anki decks use the JLPT vocabulary from http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/, which is the most widely referenced list.

The default display for my cards looks like this (note that the Nihongo So-Matome series decks are quite different, although the basics are the same):

Any one of these elements can be moved or removed. Should you wish, you can display no kanji, only kanji, no English translation, etc etc.

I have also included the kanji reading in two different fonts, which I've never seen anyone do before, but which is vitally important - the tendency to learn only one font's representation of a kanji leaves you ill-prepared for real life! You can of course change these fonts to harder/easier to read varieties. The closest font to the official JLPT one is 教科書体, which you can download near the bottom of this page. That's used in N5, N4 and N3. N2 and N1 use MS Mincho.


Downloading
Since the current incarnation of Anki doesn't allow external linking to online decks, you'll need our little guide to download them.

1. First, download and install Anki
2. Now, open Anki and select "File > Download > Shared Deck"
3. Use the keyword "accessj" or "JLPT N(your level)" and you will find our decks. Click download.
1. Now the decks will permanently be in your Anki window when you start it up. Your progress will be automatically saved.
4. To change the layout, select "Edit > Card Layout" during review

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Dialects in Japan (map)

Japanese learners beware: Japan has some vastly different dialects. This post features a map of where the most prominent variations apply. Yay!



This image came from an interesting thread on Reddit Japan. They didn't mention where they found it, so all credit to them for posting. Check out the thread for a discussion of some of the specific language differences.

Click to enlarge.

The New Kindle and Japanese eBooks and Manga

Well, the new Kindle has come out! In fact, three have. The original version with the keyboard has been replaced by one without a keyboard (still eInk), the same device with a touchscreen, and a new, full colour Kindle rival to the iPad.

How will this affect your manga and Japanese reading??? Let's find out.

Well, the good news is that nothing has really changed on the keyboard-less version (or the touchscreen version of that) except the price, which now starts at 79USD, so head to our guides for

Studying Japanese on the Kindle
Reading manga on the Kindle
and Japanese eBooks on the Kindle

for that info.

More good news is that they all ship to Japan, except the Fire, which would require a friend in the US to be a middleman.

The Kindle Fire, however, is totally different. It's basically an iPad for much less money (199USD). You can read manga in full colour as regular images, so no need to convert with our guide (although you still can, which will save a lot of the somewhat limited disc space). You can also now watch movies and TV shows. No need for a guide for that, as the Kindle Fire comes with one.

Although I don't have a Kindle Fire, I am sorely tempted to pre-order one. It seems pretty flashy for the very low price tag. check it out on Amazon.

Readers in the UK aren't lucky enough to have an announced date the Kindle Fire yet, but you can still get hold of the new keyboard-less device: Check out the Kindle on Amazon.co.uk. I bought one last year, and it genuinely changed the way I read both books and manga. Can't praise it enough.

In fact, check back on Monday for our guide on how to change your physical books into eBooks for only 100yen!

Japanese Language Online Radio Stations

Exposure to spoken Japanese is an important part of learning, of course. So, if you aren't actually in Japan, how about the radio? More portable than TV and film (that is, if you record it).

And so, here is a list of Japanese online radio stations:

The list comes from site tunein.com, which is, unsurprisingly, a radio streaming site.

For the freshest content, go straight to their site here.

You can filter by genre, so if you want talk radio, or just to listen to enka or J-pop, adjust search settings as appropriate.

Applying for the JLPT

It's that time of year again. Applications are now available in the bigger book stores in Japan.

For more information, see the entry posted earlier this year.

The Worst Thing You Can Do When Learning Japanese (or Any Language)

The very worst thing you can do, and which a lot of people will unfortunately find themselves doing in this age of the internet and downloading, is drowning in resources.

I've seen torrents and download packs of things like "120 Japanese Learning books" etc and had to wonder why anyone would doom themselves to failure before they've even begun.


If you get stuck on something difficult when studying, which most people do - frequently - then you may find yourself blaming yours tools in just the way we were all taught not to. You might think "oh, I guess this textbook/website just isn't that good. I'll try another one."

Not only will you backtrack and cover the same ground again if you change resource, but you will also enforce within yourself the idea that it's okay to quit, and doing so isn't your fault.

Learning Japanese is hard. Learning any language is hard. If you want to do it successfully then you need to do the following things:

1. Research and find what resource suits you best. If you're looking for a particular style/presentation of book, then do what you can to find it before you start. Read as many reviews/guides as you can before making your decision.


2. Stick with your chosen resource until you have mastered it.

That's it. If you hang in there, you will get it eventually. Even a terrible textbook can be used if need be. That doesn't mean that you absolutely can't change your book even if it doesn't work for you; different people respond to different teaching methods. Bear that in mind when choosing your resources and hopefully you won't have to revise your decision.

The most important thing is to trust your decision, and your resource. Keep your focus tight, and don't get distracted by new miracle solutions.

Like I said, not everyone will respond to the same materials, but we've put together some guides for the different aspects of learning Japanese:

• The Best Way to Learn Hiragana and Katakana


• The Best Way to Learn Kanji


• Why Kanji is the BEST Thing for Learning Japanese


• Learning Vocabulary


• Applying for the JLPT test


• Past JLPT test papers


• Using an Amazon Kindle to Study Japanese


• Browsing the Web in Japanese

Japanese Girlfriends and Better Japanese

A while back, Tofugu wrote an article about why having a Japanese girlfriend (or boyfriend) won't improve your Japanese. Some of the points there are pretty valid. I mean, laziness is the same reason that keeps Pimsleur CDs disappearing into living room shelves without any meteoric rise of polyglots in the English speaking world.

Anyway, in regards to the article, the only point I had any particular problem with was point number 2.

And yes, I did read reason 10. I do understand that the article is written tongue-in-cheek. But it'd be a shame for any readers to nonetheless be left with an impression that code switching is not a means through which significant language learning can occur.

Code switching is similar to the way bilingual children speak before they're aware of possessing two languages. (It just happens to be called "language mixing" when a child hasn't reached a stage of cognitive development in which he or she can discriminate between languages.) But, even after a child understands this difference, it is common for that child to continue a pattern of language switching when in the presence of other bilinguals.

As a language learner, this kind of linguistic playfulness helps you work on foreign vocab words and grammar patterns not present in your native language. You're practicing Japanese vocabulary when you put a word into the middle of an English sentence, and you're internalizing grammar when you rearrange your English words in Japanese order. Great!

After all, different languages have the ability to say certain things more efficiently or precisely than others. This difference between languages is what might cause you to break out into an explanatory paragraph every time someone asks you how to translate the phrase "懐かしい" or "甘える." It's often hard to find a common, simple translation for things we learn and identify with in Japanese--and the same is true for Japanese learners of English. (I mean, I don't buy the idea that any native English speaker is going to pick up an old favorite novel and naturally exclaim "How nostalgic!" into the open air.)

So, when you're with your Japanese girlfriend or whatever, and you feel like saying "懐かしい," then say "懐かしい!" Practice your Japanese! Take advantage of this kind of linguistic understanding. Be proud that you've found a shortcut to expressing some human emotion a little bit more accurately than your native language allows. Even if that word pops up in the middle of an otherwise all-English dialogue.

But, be careful who you code-switch with. Do it too much in public, and you risk looking like a tool:

Im looking for a bento box, it cant be pinku (thats japanese for pink) or any girl color. It has to be of 2 or more kotoba (thats japanese for 2 compartments) and has be be chibi (small) sized. And has to be really kawaii (cute). Also It has to be about 10-20 bux. And you have to post pics of it first (i want to make shure it's kawaii (cute)). And it would be nice if it came with matching chopstick holder (WITH chopsticks). OH! and it CANNOT have any cartoon pictures, or be made out of plastic. It has to be made of ceramic, or something like that. Also it would be nice if it was made in japan. and not in china or corea (korea) or whatever. I have found a bento box similar to the one im describing in e-bay, but it was 1 kotoba, and i dont want my gohan (rice) to touch my other things (it can get wet and i would not like that, plus 2 compartments looks more kawaii)

That's the same reason bilingual kids tend to only code-share with family members and close friends. When you're in an intimate relationship with someone, you talk with them in ways that you wouldn't with anyone else. Code-switching is more available as a tool when you have someone close to use it with. Having a Japanese girlfriend just happens to be one way to make code-switching available as a practice tool.

Now, the problem with code-switching is (and the article at Tofugu bashes on it precisely because of this risk) that it gives you, the language learner, an easy cop out when you encounter anything you don't know how to say in Japanese. I'd say this really boils down to a problem of laziness, though, not code-switching. It's like only wanting to review the ten flashcards you already know and immediately shuffling unknown cards to the back of the deck rather than learning them properly.

If there's an immediate need to communicate, by all means, do whatever necessary to get your point across. But when you're not rushed, get off your ass and look whatever you want to say up in a dictionary! There are so many quick, convenient tools out there, especially if you're anywhere near a computer. Once your point is across, ask the person you're talking with how to say it in natural Japanese. And then write it down. If you're really able to talk with your Japanese girlfriend and instantly remember new words that she tells you, there's no reason for you to be reading this article, and your Japanese is probably already amazing. The rest of us need memos. So keep a mini notebook and write down the new word you hear, or flip out your cellphone and type the word in once and e-mail it to yourself. Do anything to store it, so with any luck you'll find yourself glancing at that word again later and pushing it that much further into your long-term, usable memory.

So, what do you think? Do you agree? Am I way off the mark?
As always, please feel free to share your opinions and comments below.

Why Kanji is the Best Thing for Studying Japanese

It's natural to be scared of kanji at first. They're complicated collections of what look like random lines with various readings and meanings.

Over time, though, you will hopefully come to realise how useful the kanji are for learning new vocabulary. Read on for a full explanation.

As I mentioned in a past article, dumbly staring at a flashcard with one kanji character on one side, and a list of the various different readings on the back is virtually useless.

If you want to learn the appropriate way to read kanji you need to see them in context. And that's not hard, presuming you're studying vocabulary utilising those kanji. When you study a word, study it in kanji. Don't be scared, dive straight in. You'll be surprised that it isn't actually as hard as you thought. As I said, the best site for this is readthekanji, and the best programme is Anki.

And, once you have studied a few words with the same kanji, you have seen how and where different readings are used. More about this is the aforementioned article.

Next step: new words. You study some new vocab and find the same kanji cropping up again and again. If you have seen and studied those kanji in context, you know the sounds they are likely to make. Now, not only can you read the word even before being exposed to the hiragana reading, but often you can even work out the meaning itself.

As you become more advanced in your kanji learning, you'll begin to notice other patterns in individual characters, too. You'll see how different kanji elements go into constructing each character in a way that will often allow you to work out the meaning, and sometimes even the pronunciation. We'll cover that in a future entry here on AccessJ.

JLPT Past Test Downloads

For virtually every test (apart from medical, I guess), the best way to success is a lot of exam-condition practice.

The same applies for the JLPT, and not only can you buy past papers (see below), but you can also download them from various websites.

Let's find out where!!!!

Because of its 100% Japanese nature, the JLPT is the same for everyone taking it regardless of their native tongue. That's convenient for our purposes, and the main site people seem to go to for past tests is actually in Chinese. Navigating can be a little tricky, but their selection of tests is good. (See below for some other good sites)

The page houses a collection of other papers, plus study resources. It seems like they're trying to charge for newest papers. I can't comment on the legitimacy of the site, so tread carefully if you want to buy.

The resources are of little use in Chinese, but there are some practice questions, too.

In order to simplify matters, here are some direct links to some (free) past test papers. You can try to find more by exploring the site. It's possible the pages might move, in which case you'll have to navigate the page to find their new location.

JLPT level 1 (N1) 2010 July past test
JLPT level 1 (N1) 2009 September past test
JLPT level 1 (N1) 2009 July past test
JLPT level 1 (N1) 2007 past test
JLPT level 1 (N1) 2006 past test

JLPT level 2 (N2) 2010 July past test
JLPT level 2 (N2) 2007 past test
JLPT level 2 (N2) 2006 past test

JLPT level 3 (N4) 2004 past test
JLPT level 3 (N4) 2005 past test
JLPT level 3 (N4) 2006 past test
JLPT level 3 (N4) 2007 past test

JLPT level 4 (N5) 2004 past test
JLPT level 4 (N5) 2005 past test
JLPT level 4 (N5) 2006 past test
JLPT level 4 (N5) 2007 past test

There are also answers, and the site is updated quickly enough for you to check your score a couple of days after the test (at the latest).

Alternatives
Check out this site (also Chinese) which has much better quality scans of all the tests for all levels from 1991-2005. The trouble is, the site is a bit temperamental. If you keep trying every couple of minutes you can download your test, but don't be surprised if you get errors a few times. Weird.

You can also find a large collection of typed-up versions at this site.

Bear in mind that these pages can come and go, as you aren't supposed to take the papers out of the test sites: JLPT gets angry. They may force the sites to shut down.


NB: sometimes the scan quality of these tests is not that great. On fairly rare occasions it can be frustrating and almost unreadable.

In such cases you may just want to go ahead and...

Buy published past tests
JAAS sometimes publishes past papers. Here are some links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

Try not to get confused and buy what is known as the JLPT Guide Book. It looks like a test, and acts like one, but is much shorter. It's designed as an entry guide to see if you are ready for typical grade N4 and N5 level questions.

You can buy that here: Amazon America

The Best Way to Learn Kanji

My miracle solution to learning kanji may work for you, so why not give it a go.

There are two things I don't do when learning kanji: spend a lot of time writing them out, or use traditional flashcards.

There are two things I do do: use tool one and tool two below:


I don't spend a lot of time writing kanji, nor do I think it is an important part of learning it. The reason is simple: most of the time you are reading kanji, second typing on a keyboard. If you can distinguish one kanji from another, which comes a lot sooner than actually having learned it, then you can use it. Writing by hand takes a lot of time and practice which ultimately doesn't (or didn't in my case, anyway) speed up your overall aquisition or understanding of it. You may need that skill, but most likely not as soon as you will need to recognise and read.

Tool One.
You need visual aids, of which the best I've found is www.readthekanji.com. It isn't free (well, the lowest level JLPT is), and nor should it be, because it is made by one lonely guy and is thoroughly awesome. If you don't want to pay the 6USD every three months, maybe you aren't that serious about learning Japanese. It's a bargain.

The site works by presenting a kanji or kanji compound to you, and asking for the hiragana reading to be typed as an answer. It uses a spaced repetition algorithm from that point onwards to help you thoroughly memorise the reading. The best part about this system is that the kanji/compounds are presented within sentences. This means that not only do you practice reading in context, but you can also identify when certain readings will be necessary. This is much more effective than learning the different readings for each individual kanji out of context, don't you think?

Tool two.
I back up the foundations learned with readthekanji with Anki. You may have heard of Anki before. It's a free flashcard program with mostly user-generated content. You can download decks of cards on all manner of subjects. It seems that the most popular language is Japanese, which is good news for us. Even better news is that there are decks made by the AccessJ team on there. Just search for AccessJ through Anki and you'll find them.


Readthekanji falters in the amount of repetition of each word. It can be frustrating to study for an hour and only be exposed to three or four new words, and no new kanji. Anki can be set to show a defined number of new cards every day. This is good motivation for studying a minimum amount per day.


You will find that you can also change the appearance of cards, so that if you find it difficult memorising kanji words without first knowing the hiragana reading, you can learn with the reading displayed until you are confident enough to progress to kanji only. Likewise if you prefer to learn with only a Kanji-Hiragana translation, you can remove the English.


Another great feature is that you can use your Anki decks on your Smartphone or eReader via the online version, AnkiWeb. Awesome!


More

• Using these two tools, I learned a lot of kanji very quickly, and have managed to memorise them effectively. You may still have trouble telling very similar kanji apart, and for that problem I recommend creating your own Anki deck containing the problem characters. 
• Indeed, if you are following a particular course or textbook set, you might find it beneficial to create your own Anki decks for all your kanji as you go along.
• Another very popular tool is Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji", which is a series of books that teach the kanji in a systematic way - from the elements that make up different kanji and how they are created. It does so by first teaching the English meaning of over a thousand kanji, then (and only then) looking at the Japanese pronunciation. The method is very effective for remembering the characters. One downside is that because of the structured nature of "building" the kanji as the course progressed, you will find yourself learning very obscure symbols before some very basic ones. If you are in no rush at all to learn Japanese (not going to Japan any time soon / don't have a specific test to study for) then this is a good system. You can buy the RTK books through AccessJ to earn us a few cents (we'd really appreciate it!): Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk

Any other tips are more than welcome - stick them in the comments below.

Q&A: Dating Younger Men

Last time on Q&A, we talked about lecherous old men and how they will pay young women to do terrible things like write friendly e-mails for money in this country. Today let's turn the tables a bit and look at a self-help guide for Japanese women hoping to make it with a younger guy.

How to Skillfully Date a Younger Guy

1. Don't Hurt His Pride

Guys are prideful things, huh? And for a couple with an older woman, it seems like the woman is always taking the lead.

But at the same time, she'll accidentally say things like "I can't count on you," or "It's not like you'll be able to anyway, so just let me handle it" without thinking about it.

Especially in front of other people, be absolutely sure not to take an attitude that makes him feel unappreciated. If you look down on him, you'll deeply wound his pride.

2. Don't Overdo Anything

Younger boyfriends are cute because there's something helpless and uncertain about them. If he's troubled by something, most of us just want to give him a hand and help him out, right?

At first, he might smile, and you'll feel happy for making him feel that way. But if you continue helping him at every problem, he'll start to take it for granted that you'll do everything for him.

Then rather than being a couple, you'll be like his mom. No matter how overjoyed you were to be taking care of him at first, you'll find yourself dissatisfied and saying things like, "I'm not your mother! And I'm not your maid!"

This isn't a good relationship to be in. So, to make sure it doesn't happen, you need to be careful about lending him a hand or taking care of things for him too often.

3. Get Good at Depending on Him

In a couple with an older woman and a younger man, the woman always seems to be the stronger one in the relationship. And among those couples there are some where the woman is clumsy about finding ways for herself to depend on the man.

Guys like to be relied upon! They want you to let them take care of things! When they spend time with a woman that lets them do those things, they think you're cute and want to protect you.

So even if in daily life you're taking the lead in your relationship, you need to let yourself be coddled.

Conclusion

Not only for couples with an age difference but for all couples it's important to think about each other's wants and feelings. We all want to be in relationships that make both people feel good, right?

...
......

So there you have it: The #2 Google ranking and one-stop-font-of-knowledge for "How to Date Younger Guys" in Japanese. If you haven't encountered the Japanese in Point 3 before, this might be a good chance to take note of it:

The Japanese verb 甘える (amaeru), loosely meaning "to express dependence on another," is a cultural phenomenon discussed extensively by Japanese psychoanalyst Takeo Doi in his book The Anatomy of Dependence (甘えの構造). Among Doi's insights in the book is the idea that Japanese are born into then aspire to an ideal state in which they are indulgent in the goodwill of all those around them. Doi suggests that the Japanese language reflects this ideal with its customary use of keigo and teineigo used to address both infants and people in position of high social status, from grandparents to company executives.

Whether you think Doi has some good points or dismiss it as a bunch of bunk, 甘える remains a well-known and well-used word and concept in Japan that can be difficult to express concisely in English.

Have any thoughts about it? Screams of rage about the slanted views on older women babying oedipal boyfriends only to later scold them for acting like an actual child? As usual, we welcome you to share in the comments below. :)

More Cool Symbol Typing

Last week we showed you a bunch of words you can type and turn into cute symbols using the default Japanese IME dictionaries. Although a lot of symbols are programmed in to Windows and other operating systems' IMEs by default, there are still thousands upon thousands more symbols waiting to be used in the Unicode character set.

Today we'll take a look at how you can browse through all the available symbols.



Character Map

The usual way to access all symbols in a font is the character map (also called the character palette) for your operating system. In Japanese, it's called the 文字コード表.

The character map in Windows can be accessed from the Start menu. It's under "Accessories" then "System Tools."

You can also get to it quickly by pushing the Windows Key + R, then typing charmap into the box that appears.

Once the character map appears, select the font you use, then scroll to find the symbol you want to use. By pushing the "select" (選択) button then the "copy" (コピー) buttons in the bottom-right, you can copy any symbol to your clipboard and use the paste command to insert it anywhere else.

This method is more cumbersome than the default dictionary definitions we talked about last time, of course, but it allows access to every available symbol in a given font (including, coincidentally, every kanji).

The character palette in Mac, by the way, is apparently activated with command + option + T.

IME Symbol Catalog

As comprehensive as the character map, but slightly more organized, is the catalog of symbols contained within Windows' Japanese IME. To access this catalog, start typing something in Japanese, then without hitting enter, push the F5 key. The symbol catalog will pop-up and you can browse through the various categories of symbols and kanji conversions. The icons discussed above can generally be found under the folder called "その他の記号."

The same catalog can also be accessed from the IME toolbar, usually displayed at the bottom-right of the desktop on Japanese-enabled machines. With a text-input field selected, click on the icon that looks like a paint bucket to open up the IME Pad. The symbol catalog is the second icon on the left-hand side of the pad.

The drawback of these methods is the amount of effort required each time you want to find and insert a symbol. If there are certain symbols you want to be able to insert quickly at any time, but they aren't defined in the default IME dictionaries, you can use your IME's User Dictionary! A User Dictionary is used to register names, words, and symbols that you use often when typing Japanese but which aren't contained in a default conversion dictionary. We'll discuss editing the User Dictionary in a future post!

Type Cool Icons with the Japanese IME

If you've skimmed over many message boards or blogs in Japanese, you may notice some users adding cute little symbols to their sentences, like little stars (★), musical notes (♪), or umbrellas (☂). These symbols are part of the Unicode character set, and with the help of this guide, you'll be able to type them, too!


There are a few methods for writing these symbols. Today we'll start with the easiest method, which is learning the Japanese terms for symbols predefined in the default Windows conversion dictionary. (Was that a mouthful? I mean to say, "We'll tell you a bunch of the symbols you can write from your Japanese without having to do anything technical.")

This guide assumes you are using Windows as your operating system. However, the same icons should be available regardless of your operating system, as long as the font you are using supports them. Linux and Mac systems have character palettes, too, and their IMEs can be "taught" how to type these characters from defined keystrokes, too.

Anyway, on to the main course:

Predefined Symbols
For starters, some of these symbols are already programmed into the Japanese IME.
If you type the word for "star" in Japanese, ほし, then push spacebar to convert it, you'll find that not only is the kanji for star, 星, available, but so are the icons ★ and ☆, among others.

Here is a list of some simple predefined symbols in Windows' IME dictionary.
Just typing the hiragana on the left should create the symbol(s) on the right!

Type in:	To get these icons!
やじるし	↑　→　↓　←　⇔　⇒
ほし	☆　★　＊　※
まる	●　○　◎　㊥　㊨　①  etc.
しかく	■　◆　□　◇
さんかく	▲　▼　△　▽　∴　∵
おんぷ	♪
にょろ	～
ゆうびん	〒
あまり	…
おす	♂
めす	♀
おなじ	々　ゝ　ゞ　ヾ　〃
すうがく	＝　≠　±　∞　∑　√　etc.
かぶしきがいしゃ	㈱　㏍
へいせい	㍻
でんわ	℡
たんい	％　€　℃　㌔　㍍　㎡ etc.
きごう	hundreds of symbols

This list is not comprehensive, by the way. There are dozens of other words recorded into the default Windows IME dictionary and linked to symbols as well as kanji. This is just a taste of some interesting or useful commands. Here is one much more comprehensive (and overwhelming) list of symbols for those interested.

And, as mentioned before, if you aren't using Windows, or if you are using a different version of Windows (this list is current for Vista and 7, using the Office IME 2007), some of the words here may not produce the same symbols as shown above.

Next time, we'll talk about a couple ways to access all symbols in the Unicode character set, whether they've been programmed into the IME or not. Stay tuned!

The Best Way to Learn Hiragana and Katakana

If you've been put off learning Japanese by the complexity of the script, then here's some good news: it's not actually that hard! Well, the two basic alphabets aren't. Kanji will always be daunting due to the amount, but kana will get you most of the way through the language.

If you have the time and patience, both hiragana and katakana can be done in a day or two.

I don't believe in the slow and painful methods some people recommend for learning these Japanese characters. They aren't complicated enough to require pictorial stories to memorise.

My solution is simple: www.realkana.com (just to clarify: we get no money for you clicking this link)

It's an unbeatable flashcard-style site covering both alphabets. It requires the user to type a response to a kana syllable on screen. Very simple, but completely effective. You don't need to buy any books or other resources.

Here's how I learned hiragana and katakana in six and four hours respectively:

1. Select five characters to study.
2. Study them until you make no mistakes at all.
3. Deselect those five and select the next five.
4. Learn them.
5. Study the second set of five together with the first.
6. Deselect those ten and select the next five.
7. Study those three sets together.
8. Repeat until you're studying all the characters at once and not making any mistakes.

It sounds simple enough, and if you can concentrate for a long period of time it will work beautifully. Of course, you don't have to learn them all in a day, or a week. Even five minutes a day will get you there eventually, and the rewarding feeling of being able to read something so alien to your first language will keep you going.

And that's that. No need for geeky posters or flashcard sets. After you've memorised them it's just a matter of practising. Read things in kana (even if you don't understand the meaning) whenever you can, and always write in kana when you study. 

You'll find katakana more difficult to remember in the real world because it's used so much less, so put extra time into that.

The same people made a site called www.realkanji.com, but I can't recommend that as highly as the realkana. Kanji requires a whole game plan to study and memorise. Stay tuned for that guide soon.