|📷@ieindigoeast | 
  |🔁@love.kikikoko|　♡Kiki+Koko™

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Before we get started, today, we just wanted to be sure we mentioned the launch of another new blog! Don’t worry, these lessons and the educational contents created here on ieindigoeast.com are always top priority. There is just so much more that we have to share, and we just wanted to open up that new avenue when it comes to topics and projects that don’t quite fit into the same category. We’re currently working on audio-visual projects for here and for there, which will most likely also be explained on the Patreon page as we go along. We explain the general concept of everything much more thoroughly in our first post for ♡Kiki+Koko™ at https://lovekikikoko.blogspot.com.

Be sure to follow us through that channel and our Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and we think even Flickr, and you’ll get updates on when the latest content will be released! It definitely will be much less consistent than here, it’s just a fun side space where we can’t wait to share about a variety of things with you, so it’s important to subscribe so you know when to look out for the next bit of new content. We’ll be trying some new things there and mixing it up, but no worries, we’ll ease you into it, and we really hope it’s a fun side area for some enjoyment.

Thank you for your continued support!
♡Kiki+Koko™

BLOG UPDATE 2022: New Content Coming Soon!♡

Nᴏᴡ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʀᴇɢᴜʟᴀʀʟʏ sᴄʜᴇᴅᴜʟᴇᴅ ᴘʀᴏɢʀᴀᴍᴍɪɴɢ:

Not quite ready to put your skills to the test? Have another look at the main lesson~! It’s only a tap, click, or whatever-other-sort-of-selection-method-emerges-in-future away!

こんにちにゃあ～！Welcome to Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online, the only Japanese teaching site run by ████████ █████ twins and a sentient computer robot. We’re Kiki and Koko, your hosts and guides to Japanese language and culture. We’re here to assist you in your Japanese language learning journey no matter if you just want to learn a little for fun or enough to become a scholar! With us, you can learn anywhere at any time of day! You can learn in a house or with a mouse. You can learn in a box or with a fox! You can learn with us here and there, you can learn with us anywhere! And, today, we’re enlisting the help of our in-expendable, computer robot friend. That’s right, there’s nothing artificial about our friend’s intelligence! Programmed to teach, but here to help, QUIZBO™! The previous lesson, we taught you about the characters 「だぢづでど」and 四つがな~! It was quite a full lesson, indeed, so if you’ve only just encountered the lesson, it’s no rush to necessarily test your skills quite yet. But, if you’re already confident, or you just want to have a more tangible way of practising these characters, then this is still the perfect chance for you! This time, we’ll be testing your knowledge or just assisting your revision. But, don’t think it will be too easy, as we’re adding other similar characters to be sure you have a good grasp on them. But, don’t worry if you don’t get them all correct straightaway, making mistakes is all part of the learning process. We’ll be cheering you on as you practise 「だぢづでど」!

Practising characters doesn’t happen in a vacuum, though. That’s why we mention it’s important to learn differentiation of characters, not only from the current characters, but from past and future rows as well. In the previous lessons, we presented you 五十音順, gojuuojun, hiragana, and an important part of learning those would be differentiating the similar characters. When you return to revise, be sure to keep similar characters in mind and find ways to differentiate them with things like mnemonics or just rote memorisation—whatever works best for you! We try to give you the best tools we can, but sometimes, it just comes down to getting it to click in your own mind. But, as we continue, there’s been a new element for which it is important to watch out~! And, that’s carefully being on the lookout for 濁点, dakuten. If you normally wear vision correcting devices like spectacles or contacts, it’s definitely important to wear them when dealing with regular sized or small text. We explain what 濁点, dakuten, are in a previous lesson, linked in the text, but just due to their nature, they can be difficult to notice when first starting out.

And, also due to their nature, it’s one of the things that makes being able to identify nearly identical characters with modified sound based on them so important. It’s about attention to fine detail, but if you can read English letters, it’s not as difficult as it sounds once you’ve gotten used to it. For example, have a look at capital letters: 「G」 and 「C」. If you were first learning these characters in a basic font where the horizontal line on the G seemed almost insignificant, they may seem very impossible to differentiate. But, day after day, it’s easily differentiated amongst English letter readers. So, don’t underestimate your eye for detail, but also be sure not to be too overly hubristic, as it’s all a process and it’s important to keep your mind and eyes sharp. It’ll become more natural with time, but in the meantime, always try to keep these concepts fresh in your mind by revising often, so in future, you’ll be able to take it for granted in that way. And, you’ll look back and remember how long ago it was that you spent time revising, and how it’s so natural to you now—how skilled you’ve become. And, at that time, you can return to us even still to further your knowledge of language and culture.

僕は手伝うために来たのです☆ I’m here to help!

We mentioned him in the intro, and now he’s here to help! We have our computer friend, QUIZBO™, here to read each of the hiragana aloud to you. Press the 「▶」button and listen to the pronunciation. Then, you can do your best to identify which character they said! If you’ve been here since the previous lesson, you’ll know that QUIZBO™ is always available to listen to in his mobile form as QUIZBO™ mini; so, no worries if you need to have him repeat something, he’s here to help!

Maybe you’re not quite sure about how each of these are read… But, that’s okay as well! If you’re not quite sure of the matching moji  (文字, characters), you can still guess to study/revise. Or, if you want something a bit more concrete, be sure to visit the Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! blog or online site where we have a whole lesson for you on how to read from あいうえお to– well, the current lesson! QUIZBO™ is there to help you read as well!

As for this quiz: the overall questions are in the same order each time, but the answers are randomised, so you can always return or refresh to study/revise!

So, without further ado:

Let’s NihonGO!! だぢづでど!!
[Questions with QUIZBO™]

#1.) Which hiragana do you hear? Hint: 【dzu】

#2.) Which hiragana do you hear? Hint: 【do】

#3.) Which hiragana do you hear? Hint: 【di】

#4.) Which hiragana do you hear? Hint: 【de】

#5.) Which hiragana do you hear? Hint: 【da】

That’s all, folks! How did you do? Did you just use it to practise? Did you get them all correct? Or, was it a bit too tricky for now? In any case, you can refresh and try again as many times as you wish, day or night, anytime and anywhere. While each numbered question will stay in the same order, the answers below them will randomise; so you won’t accidentally memorise that the answer is the first or second every time, you’ll actually be using your skills. And, learning the characters isn’t the only useful part of it, you can also use this for romaji which will assist in future, even though you shouldn’t rely on it forever as a beginner. But, QUIZBO™ will always be here for you to revise, day or night, reading it whether everyone is busy or you’re only able to study for a random moment of the day.

But, overall, don’t rush yourself! Sometimes even fast learners can be taken in by wanting to learn too much too fast, and instead of actually learning, they end up memorising it in the same way as they memorise short term information. You may have heard stories of people forgetting what they’ve learned, but in such a case, they technically didn’t ever ‘learn’ it, but rather, just had it in their short term memory. For example, after learning the English alphabet in school, if you use the English alphabet, then you probably haven’t forgotten a letter by now. It’s not only because you probably see the letters every day, but it’s because of how much time you spent on learning each letter of he alphabet. For those that didn’t learn how to read early outside of school, you may remember writing and colouring prints of letters over and over. You may remember reciting the letters over and over. It’s all of those multiple exposures and experiences that properly encoded it into your long term memory. So, when you’re learning these, remember those tactics, and try to be patient with yourself. Because if you simply memorise without truly learning, they may just fly away. But, we’ll be here to help you keep a string on each of these so they stay put and become natural.

Grooving to the content we’re creating? You can leave a TIP in the TIP♡JAR  to keep it going! 
(Can’t? No worries! The content is free for everyone! We’re just glad you’re here!! Bring friends if you like~!)

We want to continue to ensure you have the proper foundations and continue to climb as high as you dream when it comes to your steps to success in your Japanese language learning goals, whether you want to just learn a bit for fun or become fluent. We’re an independent resource that’s created just for you! Ads don’t keep the lights on, currently, they don’t even keep a fire going with such fluctuations and inconsistencies, especially at the beginning of the year, but you can ensure that these resources can continue to be created with love and care for not only yourself, but for everyone with access to the internet! And, maybe in future, even those without internet. We have so much we want to create and so much more we want to give, and you can support the creation of new and even better content by leaving a TIP in the TIP♡JAR to keep it going, or for long term contributions in increments, you can join our Patreon where our gracious host, Indigo East, usually posts behind-the-scenes, sneak-peeks, exclusive content, and more. And, we join in as well!

But, we understand, it’s a tough world out there, and there’s other options for everyone. If you’d like to support our survival, your survival in Japanese language, any other prospective learner under the Sun, as well as the creation of more content to be made available to as many people as possible, you can also share the content! You can easily share via Twitter and Pinterest where you can retweet and repin respectively without even having to type! Gestures like that go a long way, and we appreciate it. You can follow us here and Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and of course, YouTube, the links of which are found at the end of this segment as black and white icons. Thanks again for your time!

And, thank you for joining us! We hope that you continue with us on this adventure, and we appreciate that you’ve chosen us to assist you on your Japanese learning journey.

♡Kiki+Koko

     
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