Learn Japanese Pod » Japan

Postcard from Japan

Alex — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 03:27:29 +0000

Here is a video I made entitled postcard from Japan. It uses photos of my travels throughout Japan. I also recorded the audio track which is called “You are I“. It features the beautiful voice of Sae Murakami who appeared in podcasts #11 and #12. Enjoy!

Quakebook – Helping those in need in Japan

Alex — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:00:20 +0000

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On this week’s Fun Friday, Sandra (@sandrajapandra) and I talked about Quakebook, a collection of essays, photos and art by those affected by the tsunami and earthquakes in Japan.

Originally started by a tweet by a former British journalist @ourmaninabiko, the idea was to crowd source contributions for a book that could be quickly edited together and sold to help those in need in Japan.

100% of the profits go to the Japan Red Cross so if you haven’t already please consider purchasing a copy on Amazon.

A huge thanks to Sandra for hanging out with us, sharing her thoughts and explaining how this inspired project came into being.

Sandra also appeared in this Fun Friday episode, and this one too.

Other topics mentioned in this podcast are:

Japanese Slang 06 – Usan Kusai

Alex — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:30:28 +0000

In this week’s Slang from Japan we look at “胡散臭い” (usan kusai) which refers to something that is suspicious or unbelievable. This uses two words: 胡散 usan – which means suspicious and 臭い kusai – which means smelly. It almost literally means something that “smells fishy”. For example:

彼の言うこと、胡散臭いよね。

kare no iukoto, usan kusai yo ne

What he is saying is suspicious.

Japanese Slang 05 – Dekichatta Kekkon

Alex — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 15:00:07 +0000

In this week’s Japanese slang video we learn “出来ちゃった結婚” or dekichatta kekkon. This refers to a marriage that happened due to an unwanted or accidental pregnancy. Check out the video for more examples and explanations.

Japanese Slang 04 – 天然ボケ

Alex — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 15:00:52 +0000

In this week’s Japanese slang we study the term 天然ボケ tennen boke which literally means naturally stupid or airhead. Check out the video to see more examples.

Japanese Slang 03 – さむっ

Alex — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 15:00:05 +0000

In this week’s Japanese slang video we learn “samu” which means “that’s a terrible joke”. Check out the video to learn more.

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Japanese Slang 02 – ど忘れ

Alex — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 03:54:01 +0000

This week’s slang lesson is: ど忘れ – dowasure – to completely forget

今日会議だった。ど忘れしてた

Kyou, kaigi datta. Dowasure shiteta.

There was a meeting today, I totally forgot.

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Japanese Slang 01 – Bakappuru

Alex — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 18:25:33 +0000

This is the first in a new series of weekly short Japanese language videos we are making here at Learn Japanese Pod. This week’s one is バカップル or Bakappuru. The word is comprised of the kanji 馬鹿 (baka) which means stupid and the katakana for couple which is カップル hence バカップル. This isn’t incredibly rude but it might make your grandmother blush so use with care!

Win an iPhone app: Kanji Wordsearch

Alex — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 09:08:55 +0000

We are giving away 5 free copies of the premium version of the Kanji Wordsearch iPhone app as featured in the video below. All you need to do is follow the instructions below. This competition is open from Friday 21st Jan 2011 to Friday 4th Feb 2011 when we announce the winners!

Good luck!

Competition

Please answer the following question to win a copy of the Kanji Wordsearch iPhone app please answer the following question:

Question

Which city in Japan is Beb from?

Send you answers to info[at]learnjapanesepod.com We will then randomly select the 5 winners from the emails sent to us on Friday 28th Jan 2011.

Here’s a video of the app

Listener Request Podcast 01: Reserving a table at a restaurant

Alex — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 07:11:46 +0000

Listener request podcast?! “What’s that?!” I hear you cry. We are taking requests from you to make premium podcasts that can be accessed from the Learn Japanese Pod iPhone and Android apps.

This is our very first listener request podcast which was inspired by a request from @fransgaard on twitter. This lesson deals with reserving a table at a restaurant and we were lucky to have Asami sensei to teach us the correct Keigo which you will hear when dealing with restaurant staff in Japan.

So if you would like to hear this episode, please get the Learn Japanese Pod iPhone app or the Android app.