Tag Archives: Japan
DotW: Webster’s New Geographical Dictionary
The Webster’s New Geographical Dictionary has been on my shelf for years. I never use it. I write about places sometimes. The other day, I opened it so I could start thinking about writing an entry on it. Having spent … Continue reading
DotW: NTC’s New Japanese-English Character Dictionary
Well, here’s one distinction: NTC’s New Japanese-English Character Dictionary is definitely my largest dictionary. It weighs in at 3 lbs, 13 3/8 oz, and it made my life a lot easier in the late 1990s. I acquired this book my … Continue reading
How Baby Rays Breathe
Manta rays, like the majority of sharks and rays, give birth to live young but don’t have a placenta. How do they do it? In a study I wrote about for ScienceNOW, the researchers worked out part of the puzzle: … Continue reading
DotW: Jim Breen’s WWWJDIC
When I lived in Japan, in the late 90′s, the internet was still a relatively new thing. I actually had a kind of proto-blog, on Geocities, and I did something Skype-like to call home for free…but my dictionaries were on … Continue reading
DotW: Sanseido’s Concise English Dictionary
When I first got to Japan and started learning Japanese, I used a dictionary that wrote out all the Japanese words in roman letters. Loyal readers of Dictionary of the Week may remember it as one of the first dictionaries … Continue reading
DotW: Langenscheidt Japanese
This well-worn Langenscheidt’s Pocket Japanese Dictionary is one of my favorite dictionaries. After more than 10 years on various shelves, it’s recently started hitching rides in my purse again. Hello, adorable yellow Dictionary of the Week! This is different from … Continue reading
best sport ever
Oh, man. I can’t believe it took me until now to think to look for sumo videos on youtube. Yeah, that’s right, sumo. I lived in Japan for two years in the late 1990s and spent a substantial part of … Continue reading