まで and までに

When used in front of a temporal word, まで and までに can have different meanings. Let's take a look at the below examples:

３時まで手紙を書きました。
I wrote the letter until 3 o'clock.

３時までに手紙を書きました。
I finished writing the letter by 3 o'clock.

In the first sentence, the action (of writing a letter) is not completed until 3 o'clock. Whereas in the second sentence, the action is completed before 3 o'clock.

病院 and 美容院

Some words that can be easily pronounced mistakenly.
病院(びょういん) = Hospital
美容院(びよういん) = Beauty center

JLPT 2 Grammar: Comparison

1) ～に比べて / ～に比べると
Meaning: Compared to..., In comparison to...
Usage: [Noun] + ～に比べて / ～に比べると
Example:
海外旅行が昨年の同じ時期に比べて10％ほど減っている
Compared to the same period last year, overseas travel drops by 10%.

JLPT 2 Grammar: To express a topic or subject

1) ～について
Meaning: about..., regarding..., concerning...
Usage: [Noun] + について(は)
Example:
世界の歴史について研究しています = I am doing research regarding world history.
世界の歴史についての本を買いました = I bought a book regarding world history.

2) ～に関して
Meaning: about..., regarding..., concerning...
Usage: [Noun] + に関して(は)
Example:
日本語の文法に関して、疑問の点があったら、お知らせください
If you have any questions regarding Japanese grammar, please let me know.

Note: ～について and ～に関して have the same meaning, but ～に関して is more formal.

Note: ～に関して can also take the form of ～に関する, ～に関しても and others, depending on the usage.
Example:
最近テロに関するニュースがよく新聞に出ています
Recently news about terrorism is frequently on the papers.

When a sentence ends with な

There are two common ways a Japanese sentence can end with な. The first one expresses the speaker's emotion, wish and so on, and the な does not really translate into anything. In this case, we can remove the な and the meaning of the sentence remains the same, although it may sound like emotionless.

Examples:
東京に行きたいな = I wish I can go to Tokyo.
(The な expresses the speaker's wish)

それは間違っていると思うな = I think that is wrong.
(Here, the な emphasize that this is just the speaker's opinion)

すごいな = That is so great.
(I don't know how to explain the な here, it is just a casual remark)

The second common way な ends a sentence is when a negative order is given. The grammar rule "root verb + な" means "do not do something".

Examples:
笑うな = do not laugh
止めるな = do not give up

This seems to be used only by men, and usually is given from a man of higher status to a lower one (boss to subordinate, father to son etc).

Examples:
そんなことをするな！= Do not do that!

初

There are two ways to pronounce a Kanji - the onyomi (音読み) and the kunyomi (訓読み). Onyomi is similar to the Chinese pronunciation, and kunyomi is the Japanese pronunciation. A Kanji normally has two to three pronunciations, and some can have up to a dozen. In general, there are no rules regarding which pronunciation should be used, so memorization seems to be the only way.

Today we look at the following Kanji:

The various pronunciations are はつ, しょ and うい (there may be more.) The meanings associated with this Kanji are "the first", "the beginning", "the early stage".

Examples:
初恋 (はつこい) = one's first love
初耳 (はつみみ) = the first time I heard about this
最初 (さいしょ) = in the beginning, at first
初学者 (しょがくしゃ) = a beginner
初孫 (ういまご) = one's first grandchild
初産 (ういざん) = one's first childbirth

Sugoi (すごい)

すごい is a commonly used word to mean "great". It is used when people is surprised or excited about something. It can have positive or negative meanings, depending on the context. So it can be translated to "great", "excellent", "cool" in a positive context, and "terrible", "horrible" in a negative context.
Example:
すごい = That's great! / That's horrible!
すごいでしょう= Isn't it great?
すごい映画 = A great movie

すごい is also often used in front of an adjective to mean "very". When used in this way, its form is changed to すごく (change the い to く).
Example:
おいしかった = That was delicious
すごくおいしかった = That was very delicious
美しい女性 = a beautiful lady
すごく美しい女性 = a very beautiful lady

The slang version of すごい is すげえ. This should only be used in informal conversations. And since it is a slang, there is no need to follow grammar rules when used in front of an adjective.
Example:
すげえおいしかった = That was very delicious