Learning a foreign language expands your horizon and enables you to communicate with different kinds of people. Language learning can also give you insight and understanding into new and different traditions and cultures.

An important day for couples is upon us, February 14th marks Valentine’s Day, an informal holiday where lovers share gifts with each other symbolizing their endearment.

In some places the holiday has a dramatically different take, for example, in Japan. Each year on Valentine’s Day, girls and women give chocolate to boys and men, and not necessarily to those they are romantically linked to. The chocolate even comes with implicit messages. High quality chocolate, called “honmei choco” (true feeling chocolate), is given to the woman’s romantic interest; however “giro choco” (obligation chocolate) is given to friends and co-workers.

Men who are often the more heavily obligated gender when it comes to Valentine’s Day in other countries, luckily catch a break in Japan, all they have to do is accept (and eat) the gifts, and perhaps deal with the unsubtle message associated with the quality of chocolate received.

Japanese women do eventually get their chocolate, one month from Valentines Day on the 14th of March when Japan celebrates “White Day”. Men are expected to “sanbai gaeshi,” (triple the return) return the favor and then some. The rule of thumb is triple return, as they deliver chocolates, cookies, marshmallows and other gifts to women who showered them with chocolates a month prior on Valentines Day.

We here at Cooori suggest that perhaps we should all take up the Japanese way of celebrating Valentines & White Day!

When learning a language the language experts at Cooori, the online language learning software, state that "it's vital to keep your brain sharp.

The key to keeping your brain sharp is, among other things, to make sure to exercise your brain on a regular basis (like with study sessions in Cooori), sleep well and eat the right type of foods i.e. brain food."

If you want to keep your mind sharp and nourished? Then follow these 10 suggestions for highly effective brain foods that improve memory, mood, concentration, and overall clarity. It's just what every Japanese student needs to focus and excel.

Below you'll find a list of some examples of ideal "brain food".

Blueberries — Blueberries serve a wide range of functions for improving mental function. Most notably, regular blueberry consumption has been shown to improve memory function. Furthermore, blueberries are rich in antioxidants, helping to prevent free radical damage. Still not convinced? Research has found that blueberries can also reverse age related declines in motor function, balance, and coordination.
More about the amazing benefits of blueberries.

Salmon — Rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, salmon helps your brain develop tissue for increasing your brain power. Furthermore, salmon also plays a key role in fighting Alzheimer’s and other age-related cognitive disorders.
More about the benefits of salmon.

Flax seeds — Flax seeds are crammed with ALA- a healthy fat that aids the cerebral cortex in functioning better. This is the portion of the brain responsible for processing sensory information. Keeping it sharp is vital.
More benefits of flax seeds.

Coffee — Regular coffee drinking has been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and other mental disorders (read in more detail on the Alzheimer Journal). That’s because caffeine is good for the brain (in moderation), and it contains antioxidants. The important thing to note is that you shouldn’t add in all the other junk to your coffee (the ridiculous coffee shop drinks crammed with sweeteners and fatty products).
More facts about the health benefits of coffee.

Mixed nuts — Peanuts, walnuts, pecans, and other nuts contain properties that help with everything from fighting insomnia to promoting mental clarity and strong memory. Walnuts are also rich in Omega-3 fatty acids while almonds contain natural mood-enhancing neurotransmitters.
Health facts about nuts.

Avocados — Don’t let the avocado’s fat content fool you. It’s a healthy fat that promotes blood flow, keeping your mind functioning at its peak. That’s not all: Avocados have also been shown to reduce blood pressure.
Read more about why Avocados are good for you.

Eggs — Egg yolks are rich in choline, an essential nutrient to improving memory function.
The health benefits of eggs.

Whole grains — From oatmeal to whole grain bread, whole grains are excellent brain foods as they improve circulation and contain essential fibers, vitamins, and even some Omega-3. Just make your sandwiches from whole grain breads to enjoy the benefits.
Eat whole-grain, live longer.

Chocolate — For me, this is the yummiest brain food of all. Dark chocolate is antioxidant-rich, and it also improves focus and concentration. Milk chocolate, on the other hand, improves memory and reaction time.
Chocolate has health benefits.

Broccoli — Broccoli has been shown to improve memory function as well as slow the aging process. This means a broccoli-rich diet will keep you young and sharp.
10 health benefits of Broccoli.

Go shopping, stock up on brain foods and then start working away and you'll be able to advance your Japanese skill level in no time.

Share with us which brain foods you enjoy the most and let us know if there are any that we've forgotten to mention?

Learn Japanese with Cooori, the online language learning software.

Why living in a mansion is easier in Japan than anywhere else in the world.

It's vital when studying a language to understand the cultural differences and meanings of words that have been derived from different languages for example English words that have been engrossed into the Japanese language might perhaps not mean the some thing in Japanese as they do in English.

Japanese has many loan words
from other languages, like English.
These words are usually written in katakana and have definitions that are close to their original words.

However sometimes the loan words take on a subtly different definition in Japanese. A good example are the words アパート (apato) and マンション (manshon).

アパート as you might have guessed comes from the English word apartment, and has a definition similar to the English. If you asked for an アパート in Japan, you'd probably be shown rooms in an apartment building. By that logic, one would expect to be shown a large Hollywood-style mansion if you asked for a マンション in Japan. However, in Japan マンションs usually point to high priced condo apartments rather than opulent single dwelling homes. マンション probably entered the Japanese lexicon as a way for real estate agents to make high priced apartments sound cool and attractive. But マンション has no formal definition that distinguishes it from アパート. It is not uncommon to find マンションs with facilities that are no better than a building advertised as an アパート.

So if you can't find an affordable mansion where you live, maybe you'll be able to find a affordable マンション in Japan.

We are certain that a daily Japanese study session in Cooori, the online language learning software, will help you keep your brain fit and healthy. There are however many other ways and lifestyle choices that can help you keep your body and mind at its best.

All of the following actions can have a positive impact on your brain & long-term memory.
One is even so simple that you can do it whilst you sleep!

Did you know that sleep might be crucial for the brain in order to form long-term memory?

In a study published in the June 2011 issue of Science, University of Washington researchers worked with a special breed of fruit flies that could be made to sleep on demand. Following a period of training, flies that then underwent 4 hours of stimulated sleep formed long-term memories of that specific training session. Note that training alone was not enough to trigger memory consolidation —sleep was a necessary component. Flies who trained but did not sleep did not form long-term memories.

This study makes fascinating observations about the power that sleep has to cause memory formation. But if you're wondering how much we can really learn from fruits flies, then rest assured that many human studies also show that sleep improves memory and performance.

Proper sleep is easy to incorporate into your lifestyle: consider getting a good night's rest after you've diligently studied for your JLPT test, experienced a particularly cherished event, or learned a new Japanese word. Sleep will help these unique experiences stick with you.

Not only may sleep help your memory, but lack of sleep may also hurt your health. A 2010 study from Biological Psychiatry found that chronic insomnia may lead to loss of brain volume. Researchers used fMRI scans to examine the brains of 37 human subjects with and without chronic insomnia. Insomniacs had a smaller volumes of gray matter in three brain areas—and the more serious the insomnia, the greater the loss of volume. And a preliminary 2012 study from the Washington University School of Medicine found that poor sleep patterns may be linked to brain plaques found in people with Alzheimer's.

Several studies make an excellent case for getting a good night's sleep whenever you can. But remember that although sleep may be beneficial, it's only a part of the puzzle. Apart from nighttime memory consolidation, you can also work on improving your memory abilities by working up a sweat studying Japanese in Cooori.

A quick study session in Japanese in the different ways to say wife; both from a cultural standpoint as well as a grammatical one.

In Japanese there are many ways to say wife. The choice of words depends slightly on preference but also the relationship between the person using the word and the person listening. Here are some ways to say "wife" in Japanese.

妻 (tsuma) - 妻 is probably the most common way to refer to someone’s wife. 妻 is the term you’ll see most often in legal documents and in the news. Until the Meiji era, husbands usually did not refer to their own wife as 妻, but that has changed and it’s not uncommon to hear husbands referring to their wives as 妻.

家内 (kanai) – 家内 is a polite term usually used by husbands who are talking about their wife to someone of an equal or greater stature. As the kanji characters suggest, the use of the term 家内 can imply that the wife is a housewife.

女房 (nyoubou) – 女房 is a fairly general term used by husbands who are talking about their wife to someone close to him, like a close colleague or friend. 女房 can be also used to talk about a close friend’s wife. The term かみさん is a slightly more idiomatic form of 女房. 細君 (saikun) is a term that can be used in similar situations, but is largely not in use anymore.

嫁 (yome) - 嫁’s primary definition means bride, and you’ll see this term often when talking about weddings. Parents, when referring to daughters in law, use 嫁. The term is starting to catch on as a way to refer to one’s own wife, however there is no formal agreement as to when this usage is appropriate, if at all.

奥さん (okusan) – 奥さん is a term used when referring to someone else’s wife. While 奥さん is honorific, 奥さま is a more honorific term that can be used in a similar manner.

ワイフ (waifu) - ワイフ derived from the English word is sometimes used to refer to one’s own wife, or someone else’s wife. However among Japanese people using ワイフ can be seen as cocky, and is not in common use.