Language Deep Dive

Language deep dive

Language Deep Dive

Oct 5, 2026

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3 min read

The Kana Blur Has a Grammar

ゆっくり, ちゃんと, しっかり and きちんと are filed in the same drawer as きらきら. The endings are a system, and you can read words you have never met.

Language Deep Dive

Sep 28, 2026

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4 min read

Fiction's わし Is a Costume. 広島's Is Not.

Why every professor and grandfather in Japanese fiction talks the same way, where the form genuinely lives today, and why that difference matters.

Language Deep Dive

Sep 21, 2026

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3 min read

See It, Hear It, Say の

Three questions, asked in order. Stop at the first yes.

Language Deep Dive

Sep 10, 2026

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3 min read

Sumo Names the Ending, Not the Move

Two verbs, one slot, and a reading trick that works on words you have never studied

Verbs

Aug 6, 2026

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6 min read

The Give-and-Receive Arrow

あげる・くれる・もらう — the two-question trick that finally makes sense of them

Mike Svensson

Language Deep Dive

Jul 30, 2026

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7 min read

The Feelings Family

Four words for "feeling," and the one question that sorts them

Language Deep Dive

The わけ Family: One Root, Four Meanings, Zero Reason to Keep Guessing

Jul 9, 2026

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6 min read

The わけ Family: One Root, Four Meanings, Zero Reason to Keep Guessing

One root, two questions, four forms sorted on sight.

Language Deep Dive

The 即時応答 Rescue: Why the Last Listening Section Ambushes Everyone (And the 3-Step Rule That Stops It)

Jun 11, 2026

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7 min read

The 即時応答 Rescue: Why the Last Listening Section Ambushes Everyone (And the 3-Step Rule That Stops It)

Eleven of thirty N1 listening questions ride on one sub-format almost nobody trains for. Here's the 3-step rule and the 10-minute drill that fixes it.

Mike Svensson

Verbs

開く or 開ける? Here's the rule nobody gave you 🍵

May 28, 2026

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6 min read

開く or 開ける? Here's the rule nobody gave you 🍵

Three patterns, one question: and the wall becomes a door

Mike Svensson

Language Deep Dive

May 7, 2026

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21 min read

Why You Can Read but Can't Listen

The wall isn't vocabulary. It's 15 patterns nobody told you about.

Mike Svensson

Verbs

Apr 23, 2026

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1 min read

Your ている is Lying to You

Why 知っている doesn't mean "is knowing"

Mike Svensson

Language Deep Dive

Kanji Radicals: Actually Useful or Just Busywork?

Apr 2, 2026

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1 min read

Kanji Radicals: Actually Useful or Just Busywork?

Kanji have a reading cheat code. Seriously. ☕

Mike Svensson

Language Deep Dive

Transitive vs. Intransitive Verb Pairs —The Pattern Nobody Teaches You

Mar 26, 2026

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1 min read

Transitive vs. Intransitive Verb Pairs —The Pattern Nobody Teaches You

Language Deep-Dive (Verbs / Grammar)

Mike Svensson

Language Deep Dive

They all mean 'seems like.' They're not the same.

Mar 12, 2026

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1 min read

They all mean 'seems like.' They're not the same.

One question. Four forms. Done guessing.

Mike Svensson

Language Deep Dive

Feb 26, 2026

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1 min read

たら works. Until it doesn't. ☕

One question. Four buckets. Done freezing.

Language Deep Dive

The は/が problem isn't you — it's the teaching

Jan 29, 2026

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1 min read

The は/が problem isn't you — it's the teaching

You know the は/が rules. Why do you still freeze? 🎯