The Tofugu Podcast: Japan and Japanese Language

This is the finale of our "First-Person Pronouns" series. In this episode, Kanae welcomes new co-hosts Cameron and Javi to discuss the use of traditionally male first-person pronouns such as 僕 or 俺 b...

6 Jan 20201h

This is the fifth episode in our "First-Person Pronouns" series. In this episode, we talk about using your own name as a first-person pronoun (and the anatomy of Anpanman). After you’ve listened to ...

17 Des 201953min

This is the fourth episode in our "First-Person Pronouns" series. In this episode, we talk about 俺 (おれ) and why it is so tricky for Japanese learners to master. After you’ve listened to this episod...

9 Sep 201920min

This is the third episode in our "First-Person Pronouns" series. In this episode, Koichi, Michael, and Kanae discuss their own personal experiences with 僕 (ぼく), as well as how to sound more hip when ...

2 Sep 201925min

This is the second episode in our "First-Person Pronouns" series. In this episode, we talk about うち. Though rarely taught in textbooks, うち is used fairly commonly in real life, especially in Kansai a...

26 Aug 201914min

In this, the first episode in our "First-Person Pronouns" series, we talk about わたし, わたくし and あたし. Despite all coming from the kanji 私, each of these three pronouns carries a different level of formal...

19 Aug 201934min

We talk about the counters that count living things (頭, 匹, 人, and 羽) and how they overlap with each other. We also answer the hard Japanese counter questions like: can you count a robot with 人? What...

8 Jan 201952min

We talk about the counters 〜個 and 〜つ, the two counters that can count just about... anything! But, there are always going to be better counters out there for more specific things so we talk about thos...

20 Des 20181h 13min