Japanese Onomatopoeia: 84 Ways to Express Yourself in Japanese with Sounds

Today, I'm feeling pretty わくわく (wakuwaku: "excited")! Are you うずうず (uzuzu: "itching to get started")? Because today we're learning onomatopoeia! You may think, why do I need to learn onomatopoeia? Maybe you're thinking of American onomatopoeia, that seems to be only in comics ("bang" and "kaboom") and children's books ("woof woof" and "meow meow"). But Japanese onomatopoeic expressions are so common! You will be doing a serious disservice to your language skills if you don't at least learn the basics. You'll be hearing them every day! Plus, you can level up your Japanese conversation skills by expressing yourself with Japanese onomatopoeia. Japanese sound effects are used in everyday speech to not only describe sounds, but also feelings. Many people think Japanese is vague, and to an extent, it is - until you get into onomatopoeia. With thousands of onomatopoeia, Japanese feelings and true meaning are uniquely expressed through sound effects. Feeling いそいそ (isoiso: "enthusiastic") now? Let's get learning!