〜ています: actions in progress and states
Use 〜ています for what is happening right now and for states that continue — すんでいます (live), けっこんしています (be married), しっています (know) and its negative しりません — and say where you work with 〜ではたらいています.
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Aowlad Hossain
88 articles
Articles and guides
Kanji review: numbers, days, dates and prices
Review the number and calendar kanji — 一 to 十, 百, 千, 万, 円, 日 月 火 水 木 金 土, 年, 時, 分, 半 and 何 — learn 週 and 曜, and practise reading calendars, dates, times and prices.
Kanji: people and places
Review the people and place kanji from earlier lessons, learn ten new ones — 山, 川, 外, 東, 西, 南, 北, 駅, 店 and 校 — and read real-style station and shop signs: station exits, 駅前, 本店 and more.
Invitations and offers: 〜ましょう, 〜ませんか and 〜ましょうか
Invite people politely with 〜ませんか, suggest doing something together with 〜ましょう, offer help with 〜ましょうか and say no without sounding cold — plus the kanji 花, 空 and 魚.
Comparisons and order: より, のほうが, いちばん, 〜てから and 〜前に
Compare two things with より and のほうが, ask which of two with どちら, say what is the best with いちばん, and put actions in order with 〜てから and 〜前に — at a company health check, with the kanji 目, 耳 and 足.
Plain forms: dictionary, ない, た and なかった
Make the dictionary, ない, た and なかった forms of every verb and the plain forms of adjectives and nouns (だ, じゃない, だった), read casual messages, and learn when casual speech is fine and when to stay with です and ます — with the kanji 文 and 字.
Reading practice: short notices
Read the short Japanese texts you meet every day — signs, a shop notice, a train announcement, a workplace memo and a short email — find the key information fast, and check yourself with comprehension questions.
N5 mock test: 30-question practice exam
A 30-question N5 practice test written by TalkToJapan, in three JLPT-style parts — vocabulary, grammar and reading — with explanations and a printable version. It is a practice test only, not official JLPT material.
Shopping conversation
Everything you need at the shop counter: understand いらっしゃいませ, ask for things with 〜をください and 〜はありますか, ask いくらですか, talk about sizes and colours, pay with カードでいいですか, ask for a receipt — with two full model dialogues.
Workplace basics: greetings, safety and reporting
Japanese for your first weeks at work as a Specified Skilled Worker or technical intern trainee: greetings through the day, asking for help (すみません、〜をおしえてください), safety words (あぶない, 気をつけて, とまって), reporting (おわりました, 分かりません) and ほうれんそう — with a model dialogue with a supervisor.
Cost of living in Japan: a realistic monthly budget for a single worker
Indicative, checked 7 November 2026 (official 2025 survey): single worker households under 35 spent ¥179,225 a month on living costs, plus ¥59,146 on taxes and social insurance. Rent decides most of the rest: in 2023 the average rent paid by renting households was ¥59,643 nationally and ¥93,579 in Tokyo's 23 wards.
Eating well on a budget in Japan: supermarkets, cooking at home, halal and vegetarian food
Indicative, checked 7 November 2026: young single workers spent ¥41,938 a month on food in 2025, and ¥17,996 of it was eating out. Cooking at home is the biggest saving. If you avoid pork or alcohol, read the full ingredient list: pork and gelatin are only "recommended" allergen labels in Japan, so the allergen box may not show them.