📖 Study Guide
Learn Japanese through stories.
These stories include Japanese culture,
daily life, travel experiences,
and conversations between people.
1. Read the English text.
2. Read the Japanese text.
3. Use Romaji if needed.
4. Review the vocabulary.
🌸 Story
Sakura and Sumire step outside.
さくらとすみれが外へ出る。
Sakura to Sumire ga soto e deru.
Doesn’t it feel a little cooler?
ちょっと涼しくない？
Chotto suzushikunai?
Maybe it is
just a little cooler than yesterday. 😊
昨日までより、
少しだけ涼しいかも😊
Kinō made yori,
sukoshi dake suzushii kamo 😊
Somehow,
the air feels different.
なんか、
空気が違う気がする。
Nanka,
kūki ga chigau ki ga suru.
But just in the morning,
it feels a little like autumn. 😊
でも朝だけ、
ちょっと秋になったみたい😊
Demo asa dake,
chotto aki ni natta mitai 😊
doesn’t it kind of feel that way?
そんな感じしない？
sonna kanji shinai?
passes by the two of them.
ふたりのそばを通り過ぎる。
futari no soba o tōrisugiru.
That breeze just now
felt kind of autumn-like. 😊
いまの風、
秋っぽかった😊
Ima no kaze,
akipokatta 😊
little signs of autumn keep appearing one by one.
少しずつ増えていくのかもって。
sukoshi zutsu fuete iku no kamo tte.
Then today…
we found
one little bit of autumn in the morning air.
じゃあ今日は……
朝の空気に、
秋ひとつ見つけたね。
Jā kyō wa……
Asa no kūki ni,
aki hitotsu mitsuketa ne.
begin walking through the morning air
that feels just a little different from usual.
いつもと少しだけ違う朝の空気の中を歩き始めた。
itsumo to sukoshi dake chigau asa no kūki no naka o arukihajimeta.
💭 Story Note
In Japan, people often notice the changing seasons through small changes in everyday life.
Early autumn can still be very hot during the day, but the morning air may begin to feel cooler first.
A slightly different breeze, softer sunlight, or a change in the feeling of the air can make someone think,
“Autumn is starting to arrive.”
This way of noticing the seasons is not always based on a date or temperature.
Sometimes it is simply a feeling:
the air seems a little different from yesterday.
In Japanese daily life, these small seasonal signs are often enjoyed as part of the gradual change from one season to the next.
📚 Vocabulary
Here are five words and expressions from today’s story.
They are useful for talking about small changes, feelings, and impressions in everyday Japanese.
| English | Japanese | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| cool / refreshing | 涼しい | suzushii |
| the air / atmosphere | 空気 | kūki |
| I feel like / it seems to me | 気がする | ki ga suru |
| just a little | 少しだけ | sukoshi dake |
| -like / kind of | 〜っぽい | -ppoi |
**〜っぽい（-ppoi）** is a casual Japanese expression used when something feels, looks, or seems like something else.
In the story, Sakura says:
秋っぽかった。
Akipokatta.
It felt kind of autumn-like.
Here, っぽい does not mean that it is completely autumn already.
It expresses Sakura’s feeling that the breeze had a little bit of an autumn quality.
You can attach っぽい to many words in everyday conversation.
春っぽいね。
Haru ppoi ne.
It feels kind of spring-like.
大人っぽいね。
Otona ppoi ne.
You seem mature.
The expression is useful when you do not want to say,
“It definitely is this,”
but instead want to say,
“It has that kind of feeling.”
🔰 Mix Words and Feel Their Meaning｜ことばを混ぜて、感覚をつかもう
Today’s expression is **〜っぽい（-ppoi）**.
You do not need to make a complete Japanese sentence yet.
Try mixing **〜っぽい** into your usual English sentences.
This breeze feels 秋っぽい.
This color looks 春っぽい.
This café feels 日本っぽい.
As you use the expression,
try to feel its meaning:
something is not exactly that thing,
but it has a similar feeling, look, or quality.
For example,
秋っぽい
means something feels or looks a little like autumn.
春っぽい
means something feels or looks a little like spring.
Try describing something around you
with **〜っぽい**.
コメント