Akiko's American Foreign Exchange
Life is a journey.
When fresh-faced Akiko arrives in Seattle on a foreign exchange, she has no idea the twists and turns that await her. Told through Akiko's diary entries with an unpretentious intimacy, this upbeat story will inspire you and capture your heart.
The Easier editions will feel accessible to newer readers, while the Harder editions feature grammar and vocab that will allow more experienced readers to grow. (133 episodes)
Episode 1
Akiko starts her adventure in Seattle.
Notes: This series is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and incomplete sentences. This episode contains an excellent discussion of using the verb tobu, "to fly," and a discussion of using polite verbs in personal writing.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers |  |
| Easier | Unread | 30631 | |
| Harder | Unread | 12415 |
Episode 2
Akiko prepares to navigate to school.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 13420 | |
| Harder | Unread | 6518 |
Pro
Episode 3
Akiko muses about the day's successes.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 7802 | |
| Harder | Unread | 4029 |
Pro
Episode 4
Akiko has her first day of school and realizes she's in for a challenge.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 4916 | |
| Harder | Unread | 2897 |
Pro
Episode 5
Akiko experiences culture shock over household customs.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 4335 | |
| Harder | Unread | 2669 |
Pro
Episode 6
Akiko enjoys movie night with her host family.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 4021 | |
| Harder | Unread | 2479 |
Pro
Episode 7
Akiko muses about her new school friends.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 3717 | |
| Harder | Unread | 2284 |
Pro
Episode 8
Going out to see a movie with a school friend leads to a revelation about Akiko's past.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 3482 | |
| Harder | Unread | 2174 |
Pro
Episode 9
A discussion over breakfast leads to reflection on the role of religion in the two cultures.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 3379 | |
| Harder | Unread | 2137 |
Pro
Episode 10
Akiko begins her search for a place to volunteer but hits an early snag.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 3263 | |
| Harder | Unread | 2045 |
Pro
Episode 11
Pizza night with the host family leads to more cultural discoveries.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 3110 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1970 |
Pro
Episode 12
After being hit on during her morning commute, Akiko opens up to Ginger about her past.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 3043 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1902 |
Pro
Episode 13
Akiko muses about different dating patterns among her fellow exchange students.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 2901 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1835 |
Pro
Episode 14
Akiko attends orientation for the Chicken Soup Team.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 2785 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1787 |
Pro
Episode 15
The discovery of Green Lake delights Akiko and provides the perfect place to wind down after an exciting week.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 2718 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1771 |
Pro
Episode 16
Akiko reflects on her first half month in America.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 2634 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1737 |
Pro
Episode 17
Akiko meets the gang during her first day at Chicken Soup Team.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 2572 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1698 |
Pro
Episode 18
An opportunity for side income appears.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 2503 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1646 |
Pro
Episode 19
Akiko recalls the personal history leading up to her current foreign exchange.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 2465 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1619 |
Pro
Episode 20
Akiko begins to make a name for herself at Chicken Soup Team.
Notes: This article is representative of the style of writing you might find in a personal journal entry. It is written in a quick and casual style, featuring mostly informal verbs, dropped particles, and many incomplete sentences.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 2443 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1594 |
Pro
Episode 21
Her school week finished, Akiko enjoys the simple pleasure of a Friday night picnic with the family.
Notes: This article contains notes about the pattern "X ga ureshii," speech-imitative spellings, and, as always, lots of useful vocabulary.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 2406 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1541 |
Pro
Episode 22
Akiko enjoys Golden Gardens Park with her host family, but the natural beauty brings up painful memories of the past.
Notes: This article contains important vocabulary and expressions such as "having an affair," and the pattern for saying something is someone's fault.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 2348 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1526 |
Pro
Episode 23
Golden Gardens provides the perfect location to do homework and people-watching at the same time.
Notes: This episode contains patterns for informal questions and commands that might be new to you, plus a few excellent storytelling expressions in the Harder edition.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 2282 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1508 |
Pro
Episode 26
As Akiko begins to feel a cold coming on, she reflects about different bathing habits.
Notes: This episode contains lots of good expressions, such as a good way to speak of feeling "sluggish/dull," as well as a cultural note related to the phrase o-yu wo tameru, "to draw a bath."
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 2175 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1433 |
Pro
Episode 33
Akiko gets a lesson in slang from her friends at work.
Notes: This episode has useful notes on the differences between chanto and kichinto, the two different ways to use takusan, and a reminder on how to say that one "should not do" something.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1950 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1355 |
Pro
Episode 34
Her first month behind her, Akiko looks forward to the next stage of her study-abroad.
Notes: This episode contains great school-related vocabulary, such as words for one's score on a test, the verb for "taking" tests, and the name of a common placement test.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1905 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1339 |
Pro
Episode 36
Akiko's interest is piqued when she learns more about the hiking club from school.
Notes: This episode contains an explanation of why pittari works with the particle ni, as well as an interesting expression relating to enticing opportunities.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1850 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1297 |
Pro
Episode 39
It's checklist time as Akiko prepares for a hike.
Notes: This episode contains useful grammar, such as an example of omitting the verb of saying or thinking in favor of reporting a simultaneously occurring action, as well as the pattern for invocations ("may such-and-such occur").
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1808 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1267 |
Pro
Episode 42
Akiko's concern about the hike deepens as she learns about the local wildlife.
Notes: This episode contains useful expressions such as (in the Harder edition) the usual way to say "No one told me that (such-and-such)!"
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1723 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1234 |
Pro
Episode 43
It's go-time as Akiko and company arrive at the mountain.
Notes: This episode contains interesting notes such as one on the difference between two ways of counting objects, and (in the Harder edition) an excellent verb that means "to infer based on another's expressions or actions."
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1681 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1209 |
Pro
Episode 44
Akiko experiences the wonders of the Pacific Northwest.
Notes: This episode contains interesting vocabulary, as well as notes on the difference between ishi and iwa; phrases similar to "one of my friends" in English, and more.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1669 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1191 |
Pro
Episode 48
Akiko is enthralled with the beauty of the Pacific Northwest as the group continues to Snow Lake.
Notes: This episode contains great vocabulary, such as words for "mysterious" and "Great Nature," as well as an extended note on a way of creating and using ad-hoc descriptions of colors.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1578 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1119 |
Pro
Episode 49
The group makes it to the lake.
Notes: This chapter contains fun vocabulary, such as a way to call something "funny," an expression that refers to a "growling stomach," and a word for "serious" that literally means "real sword."
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1559 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1122 |
Pro
Episode 50
Akiko is spellbound by a magical scene at the lake.
Notes: This wonderful episode contains important vocabulary and notes, such as one on why certain verbs, such as kooru, "to freeze," appear in their progressive forms to mean a current state.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1570 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1132 |
Pro
Episode 55
As the group nears the end of their journey, Akiko reflects.
Notes: This episode contains great vocabulary such as "wireless radio (e.g., walkie-talkie)" and "underestimate," as well as a note on how the tense of the verb that comes before toki can affect meaning.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1515 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1088 |
Pro
Episode 63
Akiko and her husband have different ideas about their roles in the relationship.
Notes: This episode contains more good examples of "heated questions," speech contractions, and a special use of dakara that means "I just said this five seconds ago."
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1461 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1045 |
Pro
Episode 66
Akiko has an interesting encounter while waiting in line.
Notes: This episode contains a reminder about the use of the word kuru with verbs of speech, and a note about a pattern that you can use with any verb to mean it is comfortable to do that verb.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1406 | |
| Harder | Unread | 1024 |
Pro
Episode 74
Akiko discovers that sometimes studying a foreign language can bring you to the highest highs...and the lowest lows.
Notes: This episode contains great vocabulary, like a phrase that means "to keep up (with a class, etc)" and a word that means "a repeating cycle."
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1380 | |
| Harder | Unread | 973 |
Pro
Episode 77
Forest and Akiko have their first study session together.
Notes: This episode contains several thought-provoking notes, including one in the Harder edition regarding why a common "incorrect" usage of zenzen might not be so wrong after all.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1312 | |
| Harder | Unread | 986 |
Pro
Episode 86
Akiko reflects on what this new opportunity means to her.
Notes: This episode contains notes on the difference between two words that mean "a sound," as well as a reminder about loanwords that are similar to English words.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1249 | |
| Harder | Unread | 917 |
Pro
Episode 93
Akiko is finally able to make an important hand-off to Forest.
Notes: This episode contains several interesting notes, such as one on the difference between ukeru and uketoru (in the Easier edition), as well as one on the use of moushi-wake nai as an adjective (in both editions).
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1186 | |
| Harder | Unread | 895 |
Pro
Episode 95
Ginger cares for Akiko as Akiko reflects on the day.
Notes: This episode contains an opportunity to review the pattern for naming what you are apologizing for, plus a discussion for a word that literally means "I accept defeat."
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1142 | |
| Harder | Unread | 882 |
Pro
Episode 103
As she prepares for her day, Akiko is surprised by an unexpected visitor.
Notes: The Easier edition breaks down a use of na that might initially feel tricky. The Harder edition looks at a suffix commonly used with body parts.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 1114 | |
| Harder | Unread | 869 |
Pro
Episode 124
Akiko continues to talk with Brian.
Notes: This episode contains a cultural note about giving money at funerals, plus a note explaining the tricky suffix -ake, which can mean either the beginning or the end of a period.
| Editions | Status | Total Readers | |
| Easier | Unread | 957 | |
| Harder | Unread | 704 |