The Osaka prefectural government requested to stay at home.

The governor said that the supply-demand balance for medical services in Osaka is becoming tight .

大阪府で外出自粛要請がいしゅつじしゅくようせいが出ています。

外出（がいしゅつ）going out

自粛（じしゅく）self-restraint

要請（ようせい）request

感染者かんせんしゃが増えているようです。気をつけないといけませんね。

日曜日はJLPTがあります。試験に行くみなさんは気をつけてくださいね。

There are many textbooks for JLPT N2 and N1.

New Kanzen Master is one of the popular series. 

JLPTのテキストで「新完全マスター」シリーズは人気がありますね。

I have been using this series quite often, especially with my students who like studying Japanese in depth.

Since the explanations are all in Japanese, they require a lot of patience and time.

文法の説明は全て日本語で書かれているのでかなり大変ですが、この説明で理解できればかなりのレベルアップになると思います。

I wouldn’t recommend them for people who found N3 or N2 a struggle, but if you enjoy learning grammatical structures, they are very useful.

特に細かい文法を学ぶのが好きな学習者の方ならこのシリーズはおすすめです。N3やN2にギリギリ合格した、という場合はちょっと難しいかもしれません。

It is very important to understand Japanese grammar points as expressed in Japanese.

With only the English explanations, it is difficult to understand the different nuances between similar grammar points.

細かい表現のちがいは英語には訳せないものが多く、日本語で理解することが必要です。JLPTを受けないという人でも、日本語で小説を読みたい、など特に書き言葉を学ぶにはいいかなと思います。

If you don’t have enough time to prepare for the JLPT, or you have a different learning style, I can recommend different textbooks.

Watch this space.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic most of my lessons are online. I liked teaching in person very much and back in April I wasn’t sure if I could keep teaching. Thanks to the internet I have been able to continue and even though I have fewer lessons compared to the last year I have more overseas students studying Japanese.

I have been working on improving my teaching materials for online lessons and adjusting to new techniques. Now I realize I can enjoy both styles so I would like to keep giving online lessons after things get back to normal.

オンラインレッスンを始めてから、海外から日本語を学ぶ方が増えました。4月に緊急事態宣言きんきゅうじたいせんげんが出たときは対面のレッスンが大好きなので、レッスンを続けることができるか不安でした。今は、オンラインレッスンのための教材を増やしながらどちらのスタイルも楽しんでいます。これからもスカイプでのレッスンを続けていく予定です。

緊急事態宣言（きんきゅうじたいせんげん）→declaration of a state of emergency

大阪関西おおさかかんさい万博ばんぱくのロゴが発表はっぴょうされました。　

It represents the “brilliance of life”, the designer said that he was inspired by Taro Okamoto who is my favorite artist. This surreal looking logo definitely catches our eyes.

Expo 2025

おもしろいデザインだと思います。万博が楽しみです。

万博（ばんぱく）→expo 　　　 ロゴ→logo

発表（はっぴょう）→ announcement 　発表される→be announced

Many students ask me if there are any books they can read when they complete the beginner level.

Some students try to read Japanese books for children because they have more hiragana and furigana, but sometimes the vocabulary and expressions in these books are much too difficult, or their stories are not interesting enough for adult students.

I use 「小説ミラーさん」for reading practice.

I recommend this novel because it is about Miller’s daily life in Japan, using basic vocabulary and grammar points for those who have finished elementary study. This book is based on the series of「みんなの日本語 Minna no Nihongo」textbooks , but even though you have never used this series it is still good to read when you finished elementary level.

I cannot deny that there are some stereotypical terms related to “being in Japan as a foreigner” in this book, but it is still good for reading practice and creates a certain sense of accomplishment at having read a whole novel in Japanese.

The Japanese language is not so strict about pluralization as English is.

Normally the word ねこ which means cat , can be a cat, some cats or cats in general. There are some specific words and suffixes to pluralize nouns, but when you are a beginner please don’t worry too much about whether they are singular or plural.

ねこが好きすです。　 I like cats ( in general )

あそこにねこがいます。can be “there is a cat over there” or “there are some cats over there”.

友だちと学校へ行きます。　can be ” I go to school with my friend ” or ” I go to school with my friends.”