A Look Back at Tofugu's 2021

Here's what we loved from 2021. I think you'll love it, too. [View this email in your browser]( こんにちは！How are you? It's been a while since we last emailed you. Anyone, actually. I hope you're doing well. I hope your Japanese studies are going well, too. Email us back if there's anything we can help with, there. It's the end of the year, so today I wanted to share my favorite Tofugu content from 2021. It's been a weird year, so I understand if you missed some (or all) of it! After all, most of the internet is way more fun than learning Japanese. I get it. Marble races are pretty neat. Anyways, here's what I loved. I think you'll love it, too. How To Use こそあど Words To Refer to Things You Can’t See You may know about using kore, sore, and are to point out "this" and "that" in Japanese. But what happens when you refer to things that aren't physically there? How do you refer to "that" ramen restaurant everyone's talking about, or "this" girl from my class, in Japanese? Mami wrote an in-depth guide on all of that, and more! [Read the article](. もったいない — The Japanese Virtue of Guilt-Tripping Over Wastefulness Mottainai is a word that expresses a sense of regret for wasting something. It's often translated to "wasteful" or "what a waste," but that translation never felt quite right to me. The word is deeply connected to the Japanese culture and way of thinking. So I wrote an article on the concept that goes way beyond what you'll find anywhere else. It wouldn't be a waste of time to [read the article.]( Uchi and Soto: Complementary Concepts That Will Help You Learn the Ins and Outs of the Japanese World Uchi and soto are a Japanese word set that means "in" and "out." They also indicate social relationships: "in-group" and "out-group." Mami wrote an article explaining what uchi and soto really mean—in a social sense—and more importantly, why they matter to Japanese learners. [Read the article](. Japanese Books for Upper Beginners Say you already know some basic Japanese vocabulary and grammar, and you feel you're ready to pick up a Japanese book to practice reading. I asked the book club members of the [WaniKani Community]( for book recommendations and put together a great list for upper beginners to practice their Japanese reading skills! [Read the article.]( は vs が: Podcast Mini-Series Last year, Jenny wrote [an amazing article]( about every Japanese learner's million dollar question: What’s the real difference between the particles は and が? This year, we recorded a mini-podcast series on the topic. We even addressed a few questions from the listeners. [Listen to the podcast series]( (you can also subscribe to the "Tofugu Podcast" wherever podcasts are distributed!). That's all, but that's not "all" we did in 2021 — I couldn't cover everything, so please check it out for yourself if you have time. This year, we welcomed quite a few people to the team so we can write more. We're looking forward to creating more high-quality content in 2022. I hope that all we have planned for 2022 will help you make even more progress in your Japanese studies next year! Please keep an eye on the [Tofugu Blog]( and our [Podcast](. There's a lot more coming! We're also still hiring. If you like what we do and want to be a part of it, you should check out the open positions on [our job page](. We might be a bit slow getting back to everyone right now, but we're working on it! Finally, I wanted to tell you that WaniKani—the system we made for learning kanji and Japanese vocabulary in record time — [is currently 33% off for the holidays](. We only put it on sale once a year, so this is it. If you've never used WaniKani, [try it out](. WaniKani is free for the first three levels (so maybe don't take advantage of this sale, save it for when you're really ready to commit). That's enough kanji, vocabulary, and time to see it working. It doesn't show its true value until you've put some time and effort into it. I want to wish you a great new year of Japanese learning. But because 2022 is the year of the tiger, instead of よいお年を, I'd like to say this: "go get 'em, tiger." Love, Kanae Copyright © 2021 Tofugu, All rights reserved. You are receiving this e-mail because you signed up to get Tofugu Newsletters. Our mailing address is: Tofugu 525 3rd St Suite 200Lake Oswego, OR 97034 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.