About nuance up
Welcome to nuance up!
nuance up is a blog designed to help you go beyond textbook Japanese and gain a deeper understanding of the subtle nuances of the language, taking your Japanese skills to the next level.
Why I Started nuance up
Hello, I’m Kanako, the creator of this blog. I’m a native Japanese speaker, and for the past seven years, I’ve worked as an online Japanese tutor, conducting over 5,000 one-on-one lessons with students from all over the world.
Having studied English for many years myself, I’ve come to realize that Japanese and English are both challenging languages to master, due to their significant differences in grammar, pronunciation, and other aspects. Based on my own language learning journey and my teaching experience, I have a keen sense of the common pitfalls for non-native speakers and the nuanced differences between Japanese and English.
Based on this experience, nuance up aims to help you transition from textbook knowledge to communicating smoothly and confidently in your own words.
How to Learn with nuance up
In this blog, I provide numerous example sentences for each grammar point or word. My goal is to help you feel the subtle nuances of a word by comparing multiple examples, rather than just reading a single translation.
To make your learning even more effective, I also started a YouTube channel in 2025!
The YouTube content is designed for students who have finished the beginner level of Japanese. It’s meant to be listened to like a podcast, so you can learn on the go, whether you’re commuting or doing chores.
Many learners tend to watch a video once while looking at the screen and then move on. However, this often makes it difficult to retain the information and use it in your own conversations. There’s also the problem of not being able to match the written word with its spoken pronunciation.
That’s why I encourage you to listen to my YouTube videos several times without looking at the screen first.
Don’t worry if you only understand 1% at first. I promise that with each listen, you’ll start to pick up more and more words. You can always check the screen for the answers, but if you have the time, I highly recommend looking up the words in a dictionary yourself.
Learning by ear helps you retain the correct pronunciation, and when your guess about a word’s meaning turns out to be right, that “Aha!” moment makes the memory even stronger. I hope you’ll experience the excitement of language learning with me!
Making the Most of nuance up
Learning hiragana, katakana, basic grammar, and verb conjugations is essential. This foundation largely depends on your motivation and effort.
While nuance up won’t cover these basic topics in detail, my goal is to support you and make your Japanese learning journey more efficient and enjoyable through this blog and my YouTube channel.
So, let’s work together to nuance up your Japanese!
A Note on Translations
Due to my limited English proficiency, I use AI tools like ChatGPT for the English translations in my content. I check them for consistency with the Japanese, but they may not always be the most optimal expressions. There are also times when I intentionally adjust the English to help you understand the Japanese way of thinking. I apologize in advance for any unnatural or inappropriate phrasing you may encounter.
Thank you.
一緒にがんばりましょう！*\(^o^)/*