Learning guides
Understand readings and expressions, then put them into practice with review and mock tests.
習慣, 癖, and 日課: Customs, habits, and daily routines
Compare a personal or regional custom, a characteristic habit, and a daily routine through walks, a spring festival, and watering flowers.
未熟: Immature skills and unripe fruit
Read the target of 未熟 to distinguish skills that are not yet sufficiently developed from fruit that is not ripe, preserving basic practice and fruit left unharvested.
慣れ and 油断: Familiarity and a lapse of caution
Compare familiarity that helps detailed work with letting one’s guard down. Preserve the possibility of accidents and the actor’s assessment of an opponent.
怠る and 怠慢: Neglecting a duty and judging negligence
Compare neglecting inspections and keeping up reports with assessments of managerial or professional negligence. Distinguish the inspection condition from the actual cause of equipment failure.
努力 and 工夫: Effort and ingenuity in a method
Compare daily or continuing effort with ingenuity in arranging furniture and the design of an easy-to-open box. Read the activity receiving effort and the method being devised.
試行 and 試行錯誤: A trial and a process of trial and error
Compare repeated trials or a limited trial implementation with the process that produced fluffy bread or a new procedure. The distinction is not simply one attempt versus many.
模索 and 検索: Seeking a method and searching for an item
Compare seeking uses for vacant houses or a suitable study method with searching by title or through a list. Read the different targets and the stated progress or result.
応用 and 実用: Applying a method and suitability for use
Compare applying a learned method to another problem with a prototype’s practical suitability and a bag chosen for practicality.
模倣 and 模範: Imitating and serving as a model
Compare imitating an expert’s movements with a model composition or exemplary punctual behavior. A model being presented does not establish that someone has already imitated it.
協力 and 分担: Helping together and dividing the work
Compare joint help in making a map or finishing preparations with sharing housework and assigning regional survey roles. Equal workloads are not implied.
役割 and 担当: A function, assigned work, and the person in charge
Compare a moderator’s or forest’s function with assigned venue guidance and the new person in charge. Read the target of each role or responsibility.
自主 and 独立: Self-initiated action and independence
Compare student-led or resident-run activities with leaving a family home and devices operating independently. Autonomy can describe a group activity.
経験 and 経歴: Lived experience and a presented history
Compare experience applied to work, including the possible value of failure, with a history summarized in an application or presented in a guidebook.
初心者 and 素人: Beginning to learn and lacking expertise
Compare a beginner at cooking with a layperson in repairs, then read who the tools and illustrated instructions are intended for. The two descriptions can overlap.
指導 and 指示: Teaching a skill and directing an action
Compare guidance about posture or machine use with instructions to begin an experiment or proceed in a direction. Read the content taught and the action directed.
教授: The act of teaching and the professor consulted
Compare 言語学を教授している with 研究室の教授に to distinguish ongoing teaching from the professor consulted about a thesis.
講座 and 講演: A learning course and a lecture event
Compare a photography or writing course with a lecture about environmental issues and the question period afterward. Preserve registration and learnable content without adding course completion.
検定 and 認定: Testing and recognition
Compare preparing for a proficiency test and posting its results with a product being certified as meeting a standard and the experience required for certification.
検討 and 検証: Considering alternatives and checking evidence
Compare reviewing options or costs with checking experimental results and recorded footage. Verification can reveal a time error rather than guarantee the original record’s accuracy.
知識 and 知恵: Known information and practical judgment
Compare knowledge of local culture and a condition for calm judgment with ingenuity in using limited ingredients and solving a problem together.
反省 and 復習: reviewing behavior and revisiting learned material
Compare reflection on lateness or a game with reviewing learned grammar or mistaken questions. Identify the object of each activity, the next-practice purpose, and the proposal to review only mistakes.
振り返る: turning around and reflecting on the day
Distinguish turning around when one's name is called from making time to reflect on the day's events. Read the direction or object without adding backward travel, regret, or perfect recall.
持続 and 維持: continuing an activity and maintaining a condition
Compare exercise or effects that continue with health or a bridge that is maintained. Preserve the exercise plan, the open question about duration, and the inspections required for maintenance.
根気 and 集中: perseverance and attention to a task
Compare perseverance in detailed work or practice with concentrating on reading or work. Read their shared role in careful performance without treating distraction as a lack of perseverance or willingness.
養う: supporting a family and nurturing the ability to think
Read 養う through its object: supporting a family's livelihood or nurturing the ability to think. Compare work that supports the family with reading as a means of developing that ability.
磨く: polishing shoes and wanting to hone language skills
Compare polishing leather shoes with a cloth and wanting to hone language skills while working abroad. Read the object alongside the difference between a past action and a wish for development.
伸ばす: extending meeting time and developing one's strengths
Distinguish extending a meeting by thirty minutes from practising to develop one's strongest skills. Read the added time, the object of development, and the difference between an action and a purpose.
励む and 励ます: working at an activity and encouraging someone
Compare effort in pronunciation or competition practice with encouragement of a friend or runner. Identify the activity with に, the recipient with を, and the crowd's cheers as the subject.
一貫 and 一律: a consistent direction and uniform conditions
Compare a consistent stance or use of color with uniform treatment or a flat participation fee. Read the direction maintained across a period or work separately from a condition applied across people.
段取り and 即興: planned arrangements and improvised performance
Compare arranging work and tools with improvising music or acting in response to applause or a forgotten line. Read preparation and performance together without assuming that improvisation means a lack of skill or planning.