Learning guides
Understand readings and expressions, then put them into practice with review and mock tests.
世話: care requested and help received
Compare asking a younger sister to care for a cat with receiving help from senior colleagues. Read the care target and the recipient of help, while keeping a request separate from completed care.
面倒: troublesome tasks and caring for someone
Read 面倒 through a little troublesome paperwork and a friend caring for a dog. The constructions 面倒だ and 面倒を見る distinguish an evaluation of a task from an act of care.
看護 and 介護: practice, care, support and consultation
Compare nursing practice and family care with the need for caregiving support and a professional consultation. Read the actions and their overlap without assigning exclusive workplaces or qualifications to 看護 and 介護.
保護 and 見守る: protection and watching over
Compare a lost dog's protection and needed equipment for paintings with watching over a child and a cherry tree. Read targets and actions while preserving the overlap between watching over and protecting.
恩, 恩人 and 恩返し: kindness, a benefactor and repayment
Distinguish received kindness, a benefactor and the wish to return kindness. Read the desire to help the next generation separately from completed repayment, and keep the crane's return of a favor within the folktale.
恩恵: benefits from nature and communication technology
Read 恩恵 through benefits from nature and the ability to talk with distant family. Identify what provides the benefit and what it enables, without treating every benefit as a financial debt.
手伝う: helping with dinner and rain contributing to growth
Compare a person helping prepare dinner with warm rain contributing to crop growth. Read intentional help and a contributing condition separately, retaining the ‘also’ expressed by 雨も.
助け合う, 支援 and 援助: mutual help and support received
Compare neighbors helping one another, an award established to support writers and tuition assistance received. Track reciprocity and the direction of support without treating every scene as an equal exchange.
交際: a couple's relationship and wider social interaction
Compare the couple who decided to marry after a long relationship with interactions expanded through work. Read romantic and social contexts separately, preserving the difference between a marriage decision and a completed wedding.
疎遠, 不仲 and 絶交: distance, conflict and ending a friendship
Compare growing distant, an untrue rumor of conflict and a wish not to end a friendship. Keep relationship states, a negated rumor and a story's declaration distinct from one confirmed breakup.
任せる: leaving the menu or a repair to someone
Compare deciding to leave the dinner menu to the mother with entrusting a difficult repair to an artisan. Identify the delegated task and person without extending the menu decision to all household work.
懐く and 慕う: growing attached, admiration and longing
Compare a dog or child becoming attached with students admiring a teacher and a poem about longing for home. Read targets and changes without making attachment obedience or every use of 慕う romantic.
親しい, 親密 and 仲良し: closeness and becoming closer
Compare established friendships with becoming closer through conversation or joint work. Keep the wish to value courtesy distinct from a completed action, without ranking the three words by a fixed degree of intimacy.
付き添う: the person attending and the person examined
Read the mother accompanying the grandfather and the speaker staying beside an anxious-looking friend. Distinguish an escort from the person examined, and accompaniment from a medical diagnosis.
身元 and 身分: identity at reception and concealed status
Compare identification at reception with a traveler's unrevealed identity and a character's concealed status. Preserve the overlap in identity meanings without restricting 身分 to social rank.
本人 and 他人: the relevant person and other people
Read the applicant, the person asked about a rumor, someone else's letter and the wish to help others. 本人 need not be the speaker, and 他人 does not always identify a completely unknown person.
性格 and 人柄: traits, character and reactions to warmth
Compare a cheerful personality, character appearing in unguarded actions and people drawn to warmth. Preserve overlapping meanings without treating 人柄 as an automatically positive judgment.
共存: considering coexistence and describing it
Compare considering an environment for people and wildlife with different cultures coexisting in a village. Read possibility, consideration and a stated situation without adding a merger or perfect agreement.
関係 and 関連: trust, related books and connections studied
Compare a relationship of trust, a question about growth, three related books and a study of sleep and concentration. Read the connection's targets without turning a question or study into proven causation.
縁: a continuing connection and an opportunity to visit
Compare a connection continuing after a chance meeting with a workshop tour enabled by the father's connections. Read the relationship and opportunity without adding destiny, marriage or ownership.
仲直り and 和解: reconciliation and settlement drafts
Compare making up in 仲直り and reconciliation in 和解. Distinguish a completed reconciliation from seeking an opportunity to make up or drafting a settlement proposal.
仲介 and 仲裁: brokerage, intervention, and stated outcomes
Compare 仲介 in lease brokerage and resumed peace talks with 仲裁 in an argument and a discussion. Identify who intervenes and distinguish requests, renewed talks, and organized views from final agreements.
携わる: involvement in bridge design and a local festival
Learn 携わる through long-term work in bridge design and involvement in a local festival. Distinguish involvement from mere attendance, sole responsibility, or a completed project.
親睦 and 交流: friendship as an aim and exchange as an activity
Compare lunches and festivals intended for 親睦 with students interacting and a river supporting 交流. Separate an event's aim, actual interaction, and the conditions supporting exchange.
隣人, 近所, and 町内: neighbors, nearby areas, and neighborhood people
Distinguish the person named by 隣人 from the areas named by 近所 and 町内. Read plant care, a new bakery, park cleaning, and a festival float, including people identified with の人.
住民 and 市民: residents, citizens, and the city's role
Read 住民 and 市民 as participants, recipients of a city explanation, and an audience for courses. Distinguish the city from the people without adding nationality, eligibility rules, or universal participation.
集団 and 群衆: a student group and a human crowd
Compare students and instructions for group movement in 集団 with applause and exit guidance in 群衆. Read the human crowd's spelling and distinguish requests from completed actions.
連帯 and 協調: solidarity, shared responsibility, and harmony
Compare recovery work and shared contractual responsibility in 連帯 with cooperation and harmony in 協調. Preserve personal opinions without adding equal liability amounts or a completed recovery.
共同 and 共有: joint activity and the scope of sharing
Compare joint garden management and material development in 共同 with meeting materials and family photos in 共有. Identify the activity, shared object, and participants without assuming completion or public access.
迎える, 出迎える, and 見送る: arrivals, departures, and deferral
Compare welcoming guests, picking up a mother, and greeting arrivals with seeing a friend off and postponing a purchase. Read direction, preparation, and what is deferred without adding a completed arrival or purchase.