Episode
Next Biz Thing #421 kotomora.com
- Published
- Sep 15, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 697
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- https://share.transistor.fm/s/da9d7341
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Summary
Kotomora https://kotomora.com Markus J. Diplama looks at Kotomora, a Japanese dictionary and grammar reference built in Tokyo by a team of language learners working alongside native speakers. The episode explores what sits behind its dictionary of more than 216,000 words: a sentence analyzer, 862 JLPT graded grammar patterns, kanji stroke order, pitch accent and translation guides that compare similar words side by side. It makes the case for treating a language as a connected map rather than a flat list of definitions, and for teaching nuance and register instead of handing over a verdict. Worth a listen for anyone learning Japanese, or building learning tools. Have you ever looked up a word in another language, found what looked like the perfect translation, used it in a real conversation, and then watched the other person's face do something you did not quite expect? Not confusion exactly. Something gentler than that. A small flicker that says, I understand you, and also, that is not quite how we would have said it. If you have ever had that moment, you already understand the problem that today's business is built around, and you already know that it is a much bigger problem than most dictionaries are willing to admit. Hello and welcome back to The Next Biz Thing. I am Markus J. Diplama, and every episode I go looking for the companies that are quietly fixing something the rest of us have simply learned to live with. Not the loud launches, not the companies that exist mostly to be talked about, but the ones building something careful and useful and then getting on with it. Today I want to talk about a company working in a field that is extraordinarily crowded and yet, strangely, still full of gaps. Language learning. And specifically, a Japanese dictionary and gramm…