Ben Rosenthal

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Ben Rosenthal

(1) [Scene from Real Life]An office worker asks her teammates about their lunch plans:みんなご飯どうするの？Minna gohan dou suru no? “What’s everyone doing for lunch?”(2) [Chiebukuro Post]A high school student (let’s call him 加藤 Katou) messages one of his classmates via the Line app:明日学校行く？Ashita gakkou iku? “Are you going to school tomorrow?”His classmate replies:行かない。加藤君は？Ikanai. Katou-kun wa? “I’m not.

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Ben Rosenthal

(1) [Chiebukuro Post]Two friends, J & K, at a restaurant. J tries a new dish. K asks:どう？美味しい？Dou? Oishii? “How is it? Does it taste good?”(2) [Scene from Real Life]I’ve just learned that a Japanese acquaintance of mine doesn’t like sushi. She tells me:美味しくない。Oishiku nai. “It doesn’t taste good.”(3) [Scene from Real Life]A Japanese acquaintance tells me she recently tried 牛タン gyuutan (beef tongue) for the first time. I ask her how it was, and she says:美味しかったけど高かった。Oishikatta kedo takakatta.

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Ben Rosenthal

This is for those of you learning Japanese as a foreign language who wish to learn the language as it’s actually spoken by native speakers. It’s inspired by a piece by Chris Eubanks on his journey to learn Finnish and how he’s come to be quite proficient in Finnish grammar without any form of direct instruction — not even conjugation tables in a textbook. His method was to learn Finnish grammar indirectly via the brain’s ability to be exposed to a language in action and recognize patterns.

2 months ago | goodmenproject.com | Ben Rosenthal

I have yet to meet author Michael Chief in person (I hope to someday), but based on his content and our online communications with each other, I think he’s a great guy. That being said, when I came upon the following article of his, my reaction was, “Whoa, not so fast there…”:You see, like him, I would never advocate that men (or anyone of any gender) close themselves off to (romantic) love — especially if they were to do so out of bitterness.

2 months ago | goodmenproject.com | Ben Rosenthal

Dig, if you will, the picture:A man is relating to you with warmth and making you feel seen as a fellow human being. He looks for common ground that you two can bond over and is interested in knowing what makes you you. He isn’t saying or doing anything overtly sexual that would make you feel like he’s only interested in you for one thing. You two have fun together and enjoy each other’s company doing non-sexual things. And yet…you’re getting a vibe from him.