JAPANESE ONOMATOPOEIC WORDS 101!
1. イライラ (ira ira) - Irritated/Frustrated
ex: メッセージは送られない！イライラする！
(“Message not sent! Annoying!”)2. すやすや (suya suya) - sleeping soundly
ex: 猫はすやすやと寝た。
(“The cat slept peacefully”)3. ぺこぺこ (peko peko) - Hungry/Famished
ex: お腹がぺこぺこ！
(“My stomach is hungry!” or “I’m hungry!”)4. グルグル (guru guru) - turning motion/going around
ex: 頭がグルグル回る！
(“My head’s spinning and turning!”)5. ジリジリ (jiri jiri) - Impatience
ex: 急が！ジリジリになってるよ。
(“Hurry! I’m getting impatient!”)6. ドキドキ (doki doki) - Heart beat
ex: あいつだ！心がドキドキ！
(“It’s him! My heart’s pounding!”)7. さらさら (sara sara) - Silky/Glossy
ex: 彼女の髪はさらさら。
(“Her hair is silky”)8. ぴかぴか (pika pika) - Shine/Shining
ex: ぴかぴかなコイン
(“Shining coin.”)9. ワクワク (waku waku) - Uneasiness/Nervousness
ex: うわー！ワクワク！
(“Uwaa! I’m nervous!”)10. もやもや (moya moya) - gloomy/to be depressed
ex: 振られたんだ。もやもやする…
(“I got dumped. I’m feeling down…”)Photo from: nihonshock.com
Textbooks:
- An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese
- A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
- A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar
- Read Real Japanese Fiction
Dictionaries:
- ALC (I use this everyday)
→Expression encyclopaedia- Goo dictionary
- Weblio
- WWWJDIC (with audio clips)
- JWPce (downloadable dictionary for Windows)
- JEDict (downloadable for Mac users)
- Idiomatic Expressions
- Idioms dictionary [Japanese only]
- Counters dictionary
- Hovering dictionaries:
→Rikaikun for Chrome
→Rikaichan for Firefox
→Floating Dictionary for Mac- Current Affairs dictionary
For kanji.
- Jisho (I use this for spelling kanji for if I can’t read it)
- Yamasa (I use this for learning to write)
- A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters
- Associative Kanji Learning (stroke orders)
Online reading:
- Hukumusume Fairytales
- 竹取（Bamboo-Cutting） (vertical writing)
- 吉田秀幸の日記（Hideyuki Yoshida’s Diary） (recipes)
- Chokochoko’s reading texts to help with JLPT
- TED Talks (with Japanese subtitles and transcripts)
- Learning through Films [Japanese subtitles/scripts]
Manga.
- Free online manga
- Vomic (free online manga with voice actors)
- Sound Effects (in manga, etc)
Improving your speaking:
- Japanese pronunciation guide
- Interactive Hiragana Pronounciation table
- Topics for Language Exchanges.
- Bubbly (a Twitter-like app where you can record yourself)
- Audioboo (similar to Bubbly, but also a website)
Listening:
- “Real World” Japanese
- 泣きたいときのクスリ 2007 - ‘08 (radio drama)
Writing practice:
- Lang-8
- www.Japan-Guide.com
- 原稿用紙の使い方 (How to write an essay with Japanese writing paper)
- Shiritori (Japanese word-chain game)
News:
- NewsWeb Easy
- NHK News (audio news with speed controls)
- Mainichi Primary School student Newspaper
YouTube:
- Afternoon Hirusagari
- Jet Daisuke
- バイリンガール英会話
- Analog TV Forever (collections of adverts)
Japanese sign language.
TV:
- Japanese subtitles for anime
- KeyHole TV (to stream Japanese TV and radio)
- 風雲LIVE日本語（Feng Yun LIVE Japanese） (to stream TV)
- 映画で学ぶ実践英会話
Tumblr:
- Kanji-a-Day
- Holy crap Japanese
- Nihongo ga Suki
- Jumpstart Japanese
- Nihongolog
- Nadine Nihongo
- That Japan Addict
- ChilliMuffin
- Japanese through Fandom
- F-Yeah Native Japanese
- J-Vocab of the Day
- ぶらりめし [Japanese only]
- Peaceful Chef [Japanese only]
Those studying in Japan.
- Japanicking in Yamanashi (at Yamanashi University)
- Samxuel (at Kyushu Sangyo)
- Katy in Japan Town (at NUFS)
- Chocotastie (at Seinan Gakuin)
- Kim in Sapporo (at Hokkaido University)
Blogging:
Learning websites:
- JapaneseClass.jp
- The Japanese Page
- Tae Kim’s Guide to Learning Japanese
- Erin’s Challenge (with listening and reading practice)
- Maggie Sensei
Other resources:I’ve added more to the list since first creating it. As always, if anyone has anything they would like to add, let me know!
