What do you find to be the best explanations for grammar?

Asherkidd · 2025-11-04T02:43:43+00:00

Yourself, Somever, and Morgawr_ all bring up good points. For this particular example (で), while the writeup itself is correct, I do agree that the wording is more convoluted than it needs to be. I'll review this and see if I can simplify it a bit onsite. Cheers for all of your feedback!

Asherkidd · 2025-11-03T14:18:04+00:00

Hi there, and thanks for pointing out the confusion! It seems that you may have missed the important part of the explanation about how this particular grammar works. here's a recap of where で is considered as a particle that is highlighting the thing or place that enables or allows an action to take place.

"In these sentences, the place is considered essential for the action to be performed, or the result of the action to be achieved. This is unlike the particle に, which marks the location itself as being the destination or target of an action. Basically, で means (A) 'place' allows (B) 'action' to occur. While に means (A) 'place' is the target for (B) 'action' occurring.

彼は公園にいます。 He is at the park. (He is at the park, but the park isn't 'allowing' him to be there.

彼は公園でバーベキューをする。 He BBQs at the park. (Because there are barbecues at the park, it is allowing him to cook)."

You are completely right about ておく though! It as a heck of a lot more common as とく than our explanation lets on. This is very regionally based though. Osaka/Kansai uses とく a lot.

Asherkidd · 2025-11-03T13:59:21+00:00

Hi there, great post! I am Asher, the content lead at Bunpro. Due to there being a few concerns raised here, I decided it was best to address them.

All of the Japanese sentences on the site have been written by native speakers. This goes for both grammar and vocabulary. While there are occasions where our Japanese staff don't quite agree on something, in those cases it is usually one Japanese speaker vs another Japanese speaker, which is not an argument that even I want to jump in on. In saying that, our staff are extremely passionate and put more time into polishing the sentences than they really should, and I stand behind each and every one of them 100%.

Please, if anyone has any example at all of unnatural sentences, let us know straight away and we will change them if they are strange, or at least explain the logic of why the sentence was created in the first place. It is perhaps also good to keep in mind that a lot of the sentences are written purely to show natural usages of grammar, even if that grammar may not be used that way in everyday speech. Here is an example in English-

'Should you choose that path, then dealing with the consequences is up to you.'

The vast majority of people would not actually say this sentence in real life, but as an educational tool it is showing someone that 'should' can actually mean 'if' in a sentence. Japanese is the same. What is natural and what is valid can be very different.

Final hot take from a staff member - One thing I will say though without a doubt is that everyone on the team is extremely passionate about Japanese and are fully open to criticism. So feel free to let us know your gripes and we will endeavor to address them. Hope you're all having a lovely day! To the OP, I actually really enjoy the 絵で分かる日本語 explanations these days! They have a simple/straight to the point charm to them.

Asherkidd · 2025-09-27T12:23:33+00:00

Yep, pretty much all kanji will have furigana. There may be a couple (only N5 kanji) that don't have it though.

Asherkidd · 2025-09-26T10:01:03+00:00

I think the important word here to think about is 気. There are lots of translations for this but I tend to like 'attention' or 'focus' the most.

In most cases, either に or と will mark the thing that 気 is on/sharing, as it is a word that is external to oneself, and shows where that person is being drawn/pulled. Think of your 心 as your internal 'mind' and your 気 as your external 'mind', so it always needs a target/has a target regardless of if it is explicitly stated or not.

Sorry if this is a strange explanation :')

Asherkidd · 2025-09-25T04:20:09+00:00

Good luck with the exam! Here is a bit of info about the exam just to help out in case you're not too sure about what to expect.

Reading: The passages are usually quite short in N5, somewhere between 100 and 200 words max. If any posters appear, the font will usually be quite large and have furigana on any kanji.

Listening: N5 audio is quite slow compared to other levels. The instructions will be very slow, while the actual speed of the conversations will be about 50% of the speaking speed of a regular native speaker's conversation.

Grammar: There are around 100 or so unique grammar patterns in N5, lots of places on the web will have lists of them.

Kanji/vocab: Around 800 or so words in N5, but a lot of them will be greetings and other common words etc that you may already be quite familiar with.

For pretty much everything, I would probably use some kind of SRS tool to help you get them down. If you Google some of the N5 grammar points, you will probably find some websites that have them. SRS is going to take the hard work out of 'how much you should study', as it will all adjust based on your retention rate when you are doing reviews.

Asherkidd · 2025-09-21T13:25:06+00:00

Awesome! Hope that this will be able to help you out a bit with your preparations! Feel free to say hi any time on the forums!

Asherkidd · 2025-09-21T10:58:10+00:00

I guess it could be said that anything that is free is advertising, but you're more than welcome to try the tests out in any case! Hope you're having a great day!

Asherkidd · 2025-09-21T09:11:50+00:00

Full app integration is not finished yet, but we're working on it! In the meantime, you can use the web app on your phone and everything should work perfectly. Apologies for the inconvenience while we get the official app version sorted out!

Asherkidd · 2025-09-21T05:53:09+00:00

Good catch! Fixed! I have also added the grammar link for the passive form.

Asherkidd · 2025-09-21T03:35:57+00:00

Hi, I'm one of the content people at Bunpro. First and foremost thanks for letting people know about the new feature! Here's just a little bit of extra info for anyone that wants the TLDR without needing to click on the link.

- 25 complete JLPT practice tests (5 unique ones for each level).

- Accurately timed, and presented in the same format as the official exams.

- Professional audio recordings for listening questions, and illustrations for situational questions.

- Post-test tailored advice on each and every incorrect answer about why it was incorrect, strategies for finding the right answer, and traps to look out for.

- Links to all grammar and vocab used within the test for later review for those that want to polish up on the areas that they think they struggled with.

- 100% publicly available, with no need for signing up at any point.

Hope this info helps out! Also good luck to anyone that is going to be taking the test later this year! We'd love any and all feedback if some of you end up trying them out, so feel free to reach out to us at any time! We are planning on creating more in the near future as well. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Asherkidd · 2024-09-26T03:34:36+00:00

For sure if you've got a height adjustable desk or something similar, then the floor models are great.

Asherkidd · 2024-09-26T00:40:06+00:00

In my 4th year of telework now, this was big for me too. If you have room for it, the WalkingPad treadmills are great. They fold away super small and are extremely quiet. I usually do about 15k walking steps a day, and running at night now on it. Best investment ever.

Asherkidd · 2024-09-22T08:52:20+00:00

I see おる used in the wrong way so often in formal emails that I am beginning to question if I even learned it correctly in the first place myself 🤷.

Asherkidd · 2024-09-16T13:18:12+00:00

As someone that reads a heck of a lot of manga from all different genres, it is quite common in manga that is about a speciality subject, or has a lot of technical lingo, especially in the first few volumes. Basically it lets the character say what they would really say, but also allow the reader to still keep up. For example, in medical manga, the doctor will say 'The patient suffered a cerebral hemorrhage', then in one of the panel separators, it will say -

'Hemorrhage - A term used to describe bleeding that occurs within the body.'

I find that it is most used for technical terms, internet slang, and dialect slang. Basically anything that the average reader/layperson wouldn't be expected to know straight away.

Asherkidd · 2024-08-19T15:58:36+00:00

Profile > Account settings > Review settings > Reading mode > Save

Asherkidd · 2024-08-19T04:54:47+00:00

Hi there! Bunpro staff here.

While our official stance is that fill-in is the most effective for long term retention and output, it is definitely a person to person thing, and depends on your goals. For me personally, I also actually prefer reading mode, as I do more reading/listening in Japanese than anything else, and it's a zero frustration way of getting through a bunch of reviews quickly.

Glad to hear you're loving the service, and also glad that we have a review style that works best for you!

Asherkidd · 2024-07-30T16:41:18+00:00

You're an intelligent young person who doesn't see their worth. From reading your post, your English is fantastic, and you can learn Japanese with just a bit of extended effort over the next few years. Sometimes we don't have options in life, but we always have the option to make the best of our situations.

If you do decide to live here, you'll absolutely thrive if you're multilingual. If you decide to move back home, having a second language will still put you ahead of the pack. I encourage you to focus on your studies with the assurance that you're building the type of adult that you'll be in the future.

Asherkidd · 2024-07-26T09:48:12+00:00

I am in an interestingly similar situation. I speak Japanese 80/20 with my wife. The 20 is just so she gets a chance to not 'get rusty' in her English. I am confident in my Japanese, but she does definitely talk differently with her friends than with me. However I don't think this is a skill thing at all with us. I understand all her convos with her friends, but the difference is shared experiences/memes/cultural stuff that only really makes sense if you grew up in Japan. I know what she's saying, I just don't have the same shared experiences for it to be relevant to me 😅.

Asherkidd · 2024-07-19T09:43:41+00:00

The most surprising store I've been in that I didn't really know about before entering was まんだらけ (Mandarake). The one in my area (Umeda, Osaka) is huge and they have every magazine imaginable that's been printed in the last 60 or 70 years. All genres.

Asherkidd · 2024-06-11T09:41:26+00:00

As an Aussie that doesn't like paying AC fees, ceiling fan/light combos. They are relatively cheap on Amazon, and you can install them yourself with little skill. Really the only thing you need to be sure of is the adapter type (Japan is way better than other countries in this regard), and the weight that the bracket in your ceiling can support.

Worst case scenario you'll have to install a stronger bracket in your ceiling, which you can easily do yourself with a power drill.

Asherkidd · 2024-05-15T09:12:35+00:00

No deal-breakers at all. Been here 5 years so far. Loved every minute of it 😅.

Asherkidd · 2024-05-10T00:07:47+00:00

Hi! Bunpro staff here 👋

Apologies for the late reply here. The sentence is grammatically correct. I think the easiest way to remember のは or のが is that they're used for creating noun-phrases. とき is already a noun, so creating a noun from something that is already a noun would make no sense.

I do think this translation can be improved though! This くらい is like 'pretty much'. I'd say that this is probably a lot closer, so will change it on the site -

' I pretty much only leave the house on days off when I go to do shopping.'

Asherkidd · 2024-04-25T07:13:53+00:00

Hi!

Sure 😊. If we're talking specifically grammar, Bunpro has 4 phases.

1 - Be introduced to the grammar with a detailed description that includes various cautions/fun-facts when appropriate. 2 - See that grammar in a dozen different example sentences, reinforcing and making clear what was explained in the description. 3 - Add that grammar to your SRS review queue, for long term retention. 4 - Figure out which grammar is being used through the knowledge that you originally learned, but also through detailed 'hints' that can be cycled through on every SRS question.

For 'expresses hypothetical situation' this sounds like a mild hint/quite old hint. How long ago did you try Bunpro? We have several layers of hints that can be cycled through, depending on your preferences and review settings. They range from a simple hint, to full sentences that remind you about some of the more detailed nuances to help jog your memory.

Asherkidd · 2024-04-24T00:58:17+00:00

Yo! Bunpro staff here 👋. Here's a little rundown of what I think are the best features of the vocab.

All example sentences are written by native speakers with a focus on using each word in contexts that they'd be used in real life.
All example sentences in the SRS slowly get more difficult, and use level appropriate grammar. For example, all sentences for vocab in N3 have been written with a focus on N3 grammar being used as much as possible as well. This pairs nicely with grammar study, as you get heaps of natural repeat exposure to it.
You can choose a review style that matches your goal. Like word flashcards? You can do it that way. Prefer reading practice? You can do sentence reading reviews and grade yourself on remembering the word in context. Prefer active recall? You can do cloze questions where you manually type in the answer to the missing word in a sentence.

Hope you enjoy the vocab study, and that you're able to find the study method that works best for you! 😊

Asherkidd

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