Learn Japanese pod
Japanese Language Learning Links and Resources
Character and Writing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_writing_system – A Wiki article on historical development of Japanese writing system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoiku_kanji – List of kanjis to be learnt in elementary school with the pronunciations and meanings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyo_kanji – List of kanjis to be learnt up until high school with pronunciations and meanings.
http://brng.jp/50renshuu-s.pdf – printable practise sheet for hiragana and katakana
http://kanjisite.com/html/start/index.html – Kana and kanji – preparation for JLPT.
http://members.aol.com/writejapan/index.htm – katakana/hiragana and some kanji writing tutor (with stroke order animations)
http://nihongo.isc.chubu.ac.jp/komor…kanji2056.html – 2056 kanjis with stroke orders indicated by live-action video
http://kakijun.main.jp/ – Kanji stroke order database (more than 4000 characters listed)
http://hesjapanese.com/ – Kana lessons with sound and animation files
http://kanjisite.com/html/start/jlpt/4/all/index.html – JLPT kanji levels
http://www.jlpt-kanji.com/ – Another web page that helps you when it comes to kanjis for the JLPT.
http://www.kanjistep.com/ – Very cool page for kanji beginners, includes writing order, meanings, etc.
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~kanji/ – kanji stroke orders
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/jouyoukanji.html – printable list of the jōyō kanji as well as a some other commonly seen ones, arranged in the order they are learnt in Japanese schools.
http://www.polarcloud.com/kanji – printable kanji flashcards
http://homepage2.nifty.com/Gat_Tin/kanji/honji.htm – Variant forms of Chinese characters; from China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.
http://www.realkana.com/ – practice the reading of random characters from your selected list
http://www.flickr.com/groups/brush_calligraphy/ – Flickr group to help decipher calligraphy works
Online Lessons/Tutorials:
http://www.learn-japanese.info/ – Easy to follow grammar lessons, some vocabulary. Nice for starters.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/columns/0002/ – The excellent Daily Yomiuri Online “Pera Pera Penguin” articles.
http://www.ichiban.narod.ru/nihongo/nihongo.html – Various tutorials and phrase books in Russian.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/lesson/ – Japanese lessons by NHK Radio available in 17 languages
http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/japanese/cover.html – Teach yourself Japanese – Basic Japanese with a linguistics approach.
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/grammarpage.php – One hundred “watered-down, understandable, bite-sized grammar helps”.
http://jplang.tufs.ac.jp/account/login – JPLANG provides e-learning materials for learning Japanese, developed by a TUFS team.
http://www.trymango.com/language_program.php – for beginners, lots of audio, free but with a registration
http://www.basic-japanese.com/ – 34 free lessons and tools
http://www.manythings.org/japanese/ – free-to-use online study materials
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagod…/1jp/main.html – conversational topics and grammar references
http://www.japanese-online.com/ – Free lessons on particles and sentence structures: audio files available for conversation examples.
http://homepage3.nifty.com/i-yasu/bk-les.htm – 市川保子’s lessons by grammatical topics, compiled from Q&A: Japanese
http://homepage3.nifty.com/i-yasu/bk-les-e.htm – the English version of the above
http://www.pantomime.org/nihongo-tusin/note.html – frequently asked questions about Japanese: Japanese
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Japanese – textbook project by Wiki volunteers
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~sg2h-ymst/yamatouta/intro/dousikatuyou.html – grammar of Classical Japanese: Japanese
Reading Material:
http://www.genpaku.org/ – Collaborative translation project. Usufruct granted by acknowledgement.
http://www3.cnet-ta.ne.jp/p/pddlib/ – Public domain documents including an encyclopaedia, a biographical dictionary and Japanese laws
http://www.aozora.gr.jp/ – Collection of copyright-free works. A lot of texts have phonetic guides in hiragana.
http://hukumusume.com/douwa/ – listen and read fairy-tales
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/20683 – Oku no Hosomichi by Matsuo Bashō
http://eloise.cocolog-nifty.com/rodoku/ – Japanese classics in text and audio files
http://ikeda-hideo.hp.infoseek.co.jp/library_e.html – text and audio files of early modern Japanese literature
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/languages/ja – Japanese reading materials in Project Gutenberg
http://www.esuj.gr.jp/cgi-local/Docu…d=list&lang=jp – Contemporary Japanese opinions with English translations
http://jpn.scripturetext.com/matthew/1.htm – Japanese Bible translation with cross references to other translations: courtesy 電網聖書
Pronunciation:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showp…52&postcount=9 – IPA explanations and tools, compiled by WR’s own timpeac.
http://www.paulmeier.com/ipa/charts.html – sound files for IPA symbols as revised in 1996
http://ipa4linguists.pbwiki.com/ – instructions for setting up your computer to display IPA symbols
http://www.siskiyous.edu/NCTA/Japane…iles/index.htm – sound files for Japanese syllabary and verb conjugations.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2151706_impr…unciation.html – Quick tips of phonemes (aimed at English speakers)
http://www.voiceblog.jp/ted606/ – Recitations including classic literature (texts may be found in Aozora Bunko)
http://www.voiceblog.jp/kiyo22/ – Recitations by a voice actor (texts may be found in Aozora Bunko)
http://www.env.kitakyu-u.ac.jp/corpus/texts/index.html – audio samples from very non-structured interviews
Web Services:
http://webcat.nii.ac.jp/webcat.html – Searches library catalogues in universities and research institutions.
http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ – Searches journal articles by the title.
http://www.ndl.go.jp/ – Home page of National Diet Library.
http://www.google.co.jp/ – Google Japan with Web services in Japanese.
http://www.yahoo.co.jp/ – Yahoo’s Japanese portal.
http://podcastle.jp/ – Nascent technology for transcribing and searching podcasts.
Media:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/ – News from NHK, Japan’s public service broadcaster.
http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/ann/news/web/index.html – TV Asahi News is another good listening resource with transcripts. Enjoy!
http://www.rikai.com/perl/Home.pl – Generates small vocabulary bubbles for Japanese news text.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/rj/index_j.html – live streaming of NHK Radio Japan
http://news.tbs.co.jp/ – News site of TBS, a commercial network.
Dictionaries:
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi – Commonly known as Jim Breen’s dictionary, supports a verb conjugator.
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1R – search for kanjis by combinations of stroke counts and radicals
http://www.jisho.org/ – WWWJDIC spin-off with more user-friendly interface
http://www.online-dictionary.biz/english/japanese/ – another WWWJDIC spin-off
http://dico.fj.free.fr/traduction/index.php – French-Japanese / Japanese-French dictionary.
http://www.alc.co.jp/ – A bidirectional English-Japanese database with a search box for looking up more natural expressions.
http://www.yamasa.cc/members/ocjs/ka…nPage?OpenForm – A bidirectional English-Japanese dictionary and kanji guides
http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/ – Online dictionaries offered from Yahoo! Japan Dictionary. Includes Ja-En, En-Jp and Jp-Jp.
http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/ – Online dictionaries offered from Goo, another Japanese search engine. Includes Ja-En, En-Jp and Jp-Jp.
http://www.excite.co.jp/dictionary/ – Online dictionaries offered from Excite. Includes En-Ja, Ja-En, Jp-Jp, Ch-Ja and Ja-Ch.
http://www.englishjapaneseonlinedictionary.com/ A Romaji English <> Japanese dictionary.
http://www.trussel.com/f_nih.htm – Jeffrey’s Jp<>En Dict. Kana and Romanji input. Display results in Romanji and Kanji
http://www.j-talk.com/nihongo/search/kanjisearch.php – Kanji-English Dictionary
http://www.dictjuggler.net/tamatebako/index.html – 類語玉手箱 is an on-line Japanese thesaurus: Japanese
http://www.matsu-kaze.net/mk/kanji/ – Kanji (教育漢字)-English Dictionary by romaji input.
http://www.saiga-jp.com/kanji_dictionary.html – Kanji Dictionary, with stroke order, English meaning, On-yomi (phonetic reading), Kun-yomi (native Japanese reading), irregular pronunciations (e.g.一日 = ついたち), example sentences, and audio files.
http://www.languageguide.org/nihongo/ – thematic picture dictionary with audio
http://www.nihonjiten.com/ – Collection of numerous Japanese dictionaries
http://www.hikyaku.com/dico/onmyog.html – kanji dictionary and themed lists
Specialised Vocabulary and Phrase Books:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Japanese_phrasebook – Survival Japanese for Travellers.
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SilkRoad-…ei/jinmei.html – list of typical nanori; special kanji pronunciations for personal names
http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~suzakihp/index40.html – Japanese family names; click on 1.苗字検索 in the left pane.
http://yubin.senmon.net/ – A database of Japanese place names, searchable in kanji and hiragana.
http://gogen-allguide.com/ – etymology dictionary: Japanese
http://coe21.zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/djvuchar – Chinese characters from Tang inscriptions; search by CJK allomorphs/scripts [説明書]
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ax2s-kmtn/ref/old_chara.html – Tables to match old and new kanji forms.
http://homepage2.nifty.com/TAB01645/ohara/ – Dictionary of Japan-made kanjis. Entries are provided as image files. Japanese
http://hougen.atok.com/ – User-driven database for regional dialects
http://ryukyu-lang.lib.u-ryukyu.ac.jp/ – The Ryukuan language phonetic database; Nakijin, Shuri-Naha, Amami, Miyako dialects
http://sanabo.com/words/?=index – Yojijukugo (four-charactered idioms) with definitions, usages and English translations.
http://nihongoup.com/blog/japanese-color-names/ – Japanese colour names cheat sheet
http://hiramatu-hifuka.com/onyak/onyindx.html – Pronunciation dictionaries compiled by topics.
http://www.saglasie.com/tr/chemical/ – Names of chemical substances in Japanese and English; database
http://www.ffcr.or.jp/Zaidan/mhwinfo…25684600083647 – list of aromatic bases: Japanese and English
http://www.tradmedicine.com/term/syoyaku-db.html – list of crude drugs: Japanese and scientific names
http://zokugo-dict.com/ – Slang with definition and usage.
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_htsrv_tdy – Glossary of colloquial expressions
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_sit_browse – Themed list of conversational phrases
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_kaydic?ctg_in=1 – Glossary of loan words and Japanese English
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_kaydic?ctg_in=2 – Glossary of yojijukugo or four-character expressions
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_kaydic?ctg_in=3 – Glossary of proverbs and clichés
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_kaydic?ctg_in=4 – Glossary of onomatopoeias and mimetic words
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_kaydic?ctg_in=5 – Glossary of Japanese culture and news
http://www.geocities.jp/tomomi965/index.html – Proverbs and clichés with synonymous and antonymous expressions.
http://crlao.ehess.fr/japonais-coree…eDesIndex.html – Dictionnaire terminologique de linguistique japonaise/日本語言語学専門用語和仏辞典
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~wbaxter/etymdict.html – Mandarin, Middle Chinese and Japanese pronunciations; PDF
http://www.schei.com/dictionary/ – English/Japanese Japanese/English Aviation Dictionary 和英・英和航空学辞典
http://e-words.jp/ – Dictionary of information technology terms: Japanese
http://www.geocities.jp/ps_dictionary/a.htm – 英語－日本語電気専門用語辞書
http://www5.synapse.ne.jp/sio/siof1/…dic_E_top.html – Financial Dictionary (EN <> JP)
http://engeinavi.jp/fen/ – 園芸ナビ 花の園芸用語辞典 (JP <> EN)
http://www.e-bridge.jp/eb/tcontents/…edic.php?job=0 – 橋梁の英和・和英辞典 (JP <> EN)
Grammar:
http://www.jgram.org/ – Very useful web page when studying grammar for the JLPT (from 4kyū to 1kyū).
http://www.nihongoresources.com A rather successful all-in-one Japanese site. From very basic dictionary, to grammar through particles. Noteworthy: giongo (which are onomatopoeia but there’s more to it!).
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/index.html#contents – Japanese grammar reference by constructions.
http://books.google.com/books?id=l_f3b7J2zjcC – constructions compendium offered as a Google search service
http://www.jpf.go.jp/j/urawa/j_rsorc…_04_02_04.html – teaching materials by the Japanese-Language Institute
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=g…ummary_r&cad=0 – Japanese by Iwasaki is a reference in a theoretical framework
Particles:
http://www.timwerx.net/language/particles.htm – Particles overview.
http://japanese.about.com/blparticles.htm – Basic particles overview at about.com.
http://home.inter.net/kenbutler/particlehome.html – A guide to the functions of structural particles in Japanese.
http://www.geocities.jp/nihongoguide/particles2.html – Verb related particles.
http://www.maedera.com/home/jgrammar…r/jgr_part.htm – Particles from a linguistic point of view.
Software:
http://abctajpu.mozdev.org/ – A Firefox add-on to enable easy input of Unicode characters: includes kana shortcuts.
http://www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/ – For Firefox users: Rikaichan is a pop-up dictionary – reads Japanese web-pages.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/szunvukung/kk/ – Kanji flashcard system by Peter Salvi. Uses Tcl/Tk.
http://wakan.manga.cz/ – freeware that parses Japanese text in English and Furigana and Romanji (Hepburn)
http://wakan.manga.cz/files/wakan_full_167.exe – complete download
http://nihongo.j-talk.com/parser/ – converts both Kanji and Kana into Romaji (select “Kanji to Romaji” option)
http://www.furiganizer.com/ – provides furigana to Japanese texts
http://www.popjisyo.com/WebHint/Portal_e.aspx – parses Japanese sites and provides pop-up vocabulary. Also in Chinese and Korean.
http://www.freewebs.com/horazio/freeware.htm – Pazuru Alfabet is a learning tool that helps to recognize kanas.
http://homepage3.nifty.com/jgrammar/…s/tradkan0.htm – Converts between Chinese and Japanese kanjis, old and new varieties.
http://homepage3.nifty.com/jgrammar/…s/readkan0.htm – kaňon (漢音), goon (呉音), MSC and Hanja pronunciations output
http://homepage3.nifty.com/jgrammar/…s/zen2hanz.htm – Converts between fullwidth and halfwidth forms.
http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~grosenth/jwpce.html – Japanese word processor, with a built-in IME for kana input and kanji conversion. Also supports dictionaries.
http://ajaxime.chasen.org/ – Online Web-based Japanese Input Method
http://japan.adventuresoftim.com/flash.asp – vocabulary flash cards
http://www.tagaini.net/ – Tagaini Jisho is a free, open-source Japanese dictionary and kanji lookup tool.
http://www.byki.com/ – a flashcard style system, the tool contains set lists of basic phrases for certain situations
http://nihongoup.com/ – Japanese educational game and reviewing tool (kana, JLPT kanji, vocabulary and particles)
About Japanese:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language – Wikipedia’s general account of the Japanese language.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_verb_conjugations – Comprehensive tables for Japanese verb conjugations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_phonology – Basic topics of Japanese phonology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_grammar – An account of Japanese grammar with emphasis on morphology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_particle – particles galore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics – Japanese honorifics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanes…ntracted_words – Japanese abbreviated and contracted words
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_sound_symbolism – Japanese sound symbolism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanes…raphic_symbols – typographic symbols
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_punctuation – punctuation marks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_…poken_Japanese – gender differences in Japanese
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_counter_word – list of Japanese counters and phonological alterations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_verb – conjugation paradigms of verbs and adjectives
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambun – Kambun is the traditional conventions for translating Classical Chinese texts.
http://users.tmok.com/~tumble/qadgtj.html – Titled “A quick and dirty guide to Japanese”.
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/kanaqadgtj.html – The quick and dirty guide to Japanese. (kana version)
http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/ – Blog, lessons and method of learning Japanese
http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ewey…nime/japanese/ – tips for common but difficult expressions
http://www.kanji.org/kanji/japanese/writing/outline.htm – Outline of the Japanese Writing System
http://kimallen.sheepdogdesign.net/Japanese/index.html – fundamental differences of Japanese from European languages
http://www.classical-japanese.net/ – Translations and grammar for Classical Japanese
http://nihon5ch.net/contents/ch5/dai…08-3-part2.pdf – list of transitive and intransitive verb pairs: PDF file
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/conditional.html – concise article on Japanese conditionals
http://www.cic.sfu.ca/tqj/GettingRig…conundrum.html – an essay on different systems for Latin transcription
http://homepage3.nifty.com/park/aspect.htm – A Study of “V-te iru” in Japanese by Taeko Tomioka
Links:
http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/m.rowley/resources.html – Melita Rowley’s Japanese learning resources.
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/japanese.html – Once again Jim Breen’s. This time his Japanese related web page. Ugly, but every link in that page is worth gold.
Corpora:
http://kokkai.ndl.go.jp/ – searchable record of proceedings of the Diet
http://teikokugikai-i.ndl.go.jp/ – searchable record of proceedings of the Imperial Parliament
Climbing Mount Fuji
Last August I hung out at the Solar Cafe. It is part of the Earth Embassy, an organic farm and learning center for sustainable living located in Yamanashi prefecture. I was helping my friend Jake out on the farm as part of my attempt to escape the madness of Tokyo and relax over the summer holidays.
During my stay I met Hugo and Adam who climbed Mount Fuji. I shot this interview with them and asked them about their experiences. They also give some good advice about climbing Mount Fuji, what to do and what to avoid. I think the moral of the story is be prepared and don’t underestimate Fuji, it can be more challenging that you think.
Map of the video
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Aodh’s Grammar Point [04] っけ (What was it again…)
Since I’m done studying for the JLPT (or more appropriately done failing the JLPT) I thought I’d post another grammar point. This is one you hear all the time in a variety of situations when someone has forgotten something and is trying to remember or get the person they’re talking to to remember.
Noun/Verb/Adjective (Plain Form/Polite Past Form) +っけ
何だっけ。 What is it again…
新宿だったっけ。 Was it Shinjuku? I can’t remember.
病気でしたっけ。 He was sick, right? I forgot.
買ったっけ・買いましたっけ。 Did he buy it? I forgot.
行くんだっけ。 He’s going, right? I forgot.
行ったんだっけ。 He went, didn’t he? I forgot.
行くんだったっけ・行くんでしたっけ。 He was going, wasn’t he?
冷たかったっけ。 It was cold, right?
注意：イ Adjectives don’t ever use the Past Polite form (～かったです) with っけ since it can’t attach to です. Also, it’s not recommended to use the Present Tense for Verbs or イ Adjectives. It’s generally unnatural (even in English) to forget something that didn’t happen yet.
This form is only used to express something you did know, but forgot. If you remember た・だ + っけ, you’ll be ok.
Grammar Note: Plain Form
Verb: 行く ・ 行かない ・ 行った ・ 行かなかった
イ Adjective: さむい ・ さむくない ・ さむかった ・ さむくなかった
ナ Adjective: 元気だ ・ 元気じゃない ・ 元気たった ・ 元気じゃなかった
Noun: 雨だ ・ 雨じゃない ・ 雨だった ・ 雨じゃなかった
J-Slang 09: Futoppara
Today’s J-Slang is…
太っ腹
Futoppara = to generous, broad minded, openhearted
彼って太っ腹だね
kare tte futoppara da ne = He’s a really broadminded guy
Although the Kanji 太っ腹 literally means fat stomach, it really refers to someone who is generous or openminded. In the past, travellers to Japan were often shocked when new Japanese acquaintances would give compliments such as “Nice to meet you Mr Smith. my, how fat you are”.
Of ocurse, these days, calling someone fat in Japan would not be a good idea unless you wanted to get a slap in the face. Women have been brought up on a diet of photoshopped magazine stick insect models as the rest of world has. It’s interesting that although 太っ腹 literally migh be quite rude, it has retained its positive real meaning and can be used as a compliment. And that’s phat!
Learn Japanese Pod is 4 Years Old!
Learn Japanese Pod is four years old! Happy birthday to us! Four years, three apartments, two mac books and one relationship later, here we are still making podcasts for all you eager students of Japanese. I had no idea LJP would become such a great place to meet people interested Japanese and Japan. We’ve made some great friends and had a great deal of fun along the way.
Learn Japanese Pod started out under the vaguest and most pathetic of plans: “I guess I’ll just do it for a laugh”. So here’s to vague and pathetic plans. And here’s to all of you who listened to the podcast and supported it. Without your help, support, comments and general correspondences LJP would only be a mere shadow of itself and not the gargantuan, green, Tokyo skyscraper munching monster it has become.
As we are on the thankyous, a huge thank you to:
Beb: She made the podcast possible. Let’s face it, you only listen because of her don’t you?
Waka sensei: She spent countless hours recording podcasts, checking the show notes were OK and generally being cute.
Karamoon: He was the tech guy and ideas man for us. On one occassion he single-handedly saved the forums from digital oblivion.
Daniel and Yuki: They’re a cute couple. Daniel has been our audio engineer and Yuki has appeared on various shows teaching us Japanese.
You: yes YOU! Not you! YOU! Another huge shout out to all of you who listened to the show and are interested in Japanese culture.
This list is endless but for those of you who haven’t been mentioned you know who you are. Thank you, thank you, thank you and that’s three thank yous!
Here’s to another four years.
Fun Friday for 9th October 2009
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Today’s podcast was recorded at Ocean’s Table in Lumine Est in Shinjuku. A huge thank you to Miki, Jim and Sandra who joined me on today’s podcast and made it as hilarious as ever. I humbly bow in your general direction.
Here are some points mentioned in the podcast.
Serial Trial Lesson Enthusiast
Miki told us that she has become a serial trial lesson enthusiast. This means she goes around various schools and culture centers trying out their free first introductory lessons. So far she has tried vocal training and intends to do Tahitian dance next. She said it is a good way to meet people she would not normally meet. I look forward to future reports from her.
Poster Competition
Sandra’s poster competition is underway. Please check out her blog at Japandra to find out how you can be the proud owner of a JR “Do it at home” poster. In the podcast, she also told us about an interesting cafe in Kashiwa where you get the order of the person who came before you. Check out the podcast for more on that.
We’re Still Here
Luckily, Yukki’s friend’s friend’s mother’s acquaintance’s mate who works in the secret underground government bunker somewhere in Japan was wrong about an earthquake predicted for tonight. Tokyo was supposed to be rubble after the 9th and happily the earthquake to end all earthquakes decided to stay in bed. This was a little story continued from last week’s Fun Friday.
Other News and Points of Business
Don’t forget the next Learn Japanese Pod Get Together on Sunday 18th October at The Pink Cow in Shibuya. We are doing it in conjunction with the Japanese Lounge event which will be featuring tradition Japanese musical performances. This is a great chance to make friends, learn Japanese and experience the culture. Details are here.
Joseph Tame, we’re calling you out! Let’s do a podcast together. If you don’t know who Joseph Tame is, please check out his great website and podcasts at Pokya.
Check out the Forums. Leave your comments, ideas, suggestions, questions and anything else you care to share with our growing community of Japanese learners.
Finally we have a new lesson which will be posted on Monday so stay podcasted to Learn Japanese Pod.
Featured music in podcast- Radwimps “Iin desu ka?”
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Have a great weekend!
Fun Friday for 2nd October 2009
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This week’s Fun Friday was recorded at The Pink Cow on Friday 2nd October 2009. I was joined by Sandra, Jim, Daniel and Yukki who all injected some hilarity and fun into today’s podcast. A big thank you to all of them who put up with a badly behaved iPod recording device. And apologies to you dear listeners as the audio skips a few times at the end of the podcast.
What did we talk about today?
Here’s a list of topics we talked about with some links and other information:
1) The Learn Japanese Pod Meet Up at the Pink cow
We will be having a meet up on Sunday October 18th at the Pink Cow. We are doing this in conjunction with the Pink Cow’s Japanese Lounge event which is an opportunity for you to experience some excellent traditional Japanese music. There will be traditional Kimono wearing, Shakuhachi and Shamisen performances. So come along, have some fun, learn some Japanese and meet some great people.
Learn Japanese Pod Get Together Event Information (Facebook)
THE PINK COW MAP
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2) Earth Quake Prediction
It turns out that Yukki chan has a friend of a friend of a friend who knows someone who works in a secret underground government agency that can predict earthquakes. According to Yukki, Tokyo will crumble to the ground around 9th October. That’s good news because it means I might not have to go into work.
3) Japandra’s Amazing Poster Giveaway
Sandra of Japandra fame has just given away an anti “chikan” poster to one of her subscribers. She has her mits on a new one and will be giving it away soon in a new competition. Listen to this podcast or check out her blog for some upcoming information on that.
Sandra writes great blog containing interesting and witty observations about life in Tokyo.
4) John Cusack’s in Town
Apparently John Cusack is in town promoting his latest movie. One of Sandra’s friends is going to interview him. We tried to work out which hotel he was staying at so we could stalk him.
John, if you are reading this blog post or listening to the podcast please make it easy on yourself and come out for a drink at The Pink Cow we want to hang out.
That’s pretty much it for this week. Thanks again to Jim, Sandra, Daniel and Yukki for making this a fun Fun Friday. Stay tuned, check out the forums and send us an email with your ideas, suggestions, questions and comments to: info(at)learnjapanesepod(dot)com
J-Slang 08: Occhokochoi
Today’s J-Slang is…
おっちょこちょい
Occhokochoi = to be clumsy
おっちょこちょいだね
kanojo tte occhokochoi da ne = She’s really clumsy isn’t she
This has to be one of my favorite words in Japanese partly because of the way it rolls off the tongue. I wouldn’t say this is a particularly mean word. It is usually used for children or between friends and contains an element of cuteness or fondness of the person it is being used for. For example, “oh look at little Kenta, he’s dropped his build blocks, bless…(he’s clumsy)”
Japanese Vocabulary list #1 Food and Flavor
School vocabulary always seemed rather limited to survival words. I have tried to create a list around a general theme each week to study to keep building on the words I know. I will be posting my vocabulary lists regularly, though they are a little behind my regular study.
たべもの food 食べ物 ：
におい smell 匂い
あじ taste / flavor 味
すっぱい sour
にがい bitter 苦い
からい spicy 辛い
しょっぱい salty
おいしい tasty / yummy 美味しい
まずい disgusting 不味い
にく meat 肉
うし beef 牛
ぶた pork 豚
にわとり chicken 鶏
さかな fish 魚
たまご eggs 卵
ぎゅうにゅう milk 牛乳
やさい vegetables 野菜
くだもの fruit 果物
まめ beans 豆
こめ rice 米
しお salt 塩
しょうゆ soy sauce
さとう sugar 砂糖
キャベシ cabbage
ブター butter
Fun Friday: Namaste India Festival in Yoyogi Park
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Today I checked out the Namaste India Festival in Yoyogi and took along my ipod recorder. I bumped into my friend Ady who took the pictures in this post. I’ll be posting some of my own pictures up soon. Here are some pictures and thoughts on what happened today.The food was amazing, the smells intoxicating, the dancing amazing and the music more jolly than a herd of elephants dressed in saris crashing through a Bollywood set. It was great to get my India fix and as an Englishman, I need my curry, it has become the national dish or after pub grub in the UK now.
I mentioned during the podcats that there were 100,000 people which I think was an exaggeration. Probably more like 20,000, oops. Suffice it to say it was packed out with people queuing for food, chatting and slowly
getting drunk by the food stalls.
I also claimed in the podcast that Indian restaurants in London give you free papadoms and condiments whereas the ones in Japan don’t. Ady corrected me on this saying that you can get free appetizers but it probably helps if you are Indian.
I’ve noticed that Indian culture has become gradually more popular in Japan in recent years. The numbers of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis have been increasing. When I first came to Japan more than 12 years ago there weren’t as many Indian restaurants as there are now. Now there are not only small run family restaurants but big chains such as Samrat. Japan just became that little bit more delicious.
Ady taught us a little Hindi and how the grammar is similar to Japanese. Perhaps that is why many of the Indian people I have met here don’t seem to struggle with picking up the Japanese language quickly. I won’t tell you the Hindi my mates from London taught me from my school days. It wasn’t something your grandmother wouldn’t want to hear.
All in all it was a great festival and even better for bumping into Ady and my friends.
It’s still going on tomorrow (26th September 2009) so if you have a chance check it out. Lola Kutty would be proud.
Here is a video of Chadha, an Enka singing Indian who has been in Japan for 30 years. Ady told me he was popular about 20 years ago but has now had a bit of a come back. Who’d have thought…
NOTE: At 14:05 you will hear a woman shouting “Alex!”. This is Lola Kutty, an MTV VJ and very funny woman from southern India. You can check her out here.
Learn Japanese Pod Update
It’s hot out side, the cicadas are making a racket, girls are dressed in Yukatas and letting off fireworks. It’s summer in Japan and perhaps one of the best excuses to slack off from posting anything on Learn Japanese Pod. Well, that’s the story I’m going with. However I thought I should post an update into what’s going on here at the Learn Japanese Pod Professional Recording Studio Language Learning Complex also referred to as “my kitchen”.
I think a quote from the Presidents of the United States Of America is fitting. “Moving to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches”. It’s true as I am traveling to Yamanashi famous for peaches, beautiful lakes and of course Mount Fuji. I’m going to stay at the Solar Cafe which is part of the Earth Embassy, an organic farm and center for learning about Permaculture and sustainable lifestyles. I’ll be helping out my friend and owner Jake to do some farming, build a house and work on the Earthship project that fell by the way side recently. But I’m also going there to escape Tokyo for a while and recharge the batteries. The Solar Cafe has a spectacular view of Mount Fuji and some awesome hiking and biking trails. It’s going to be fun.
Also if you feel like paying us a visit then come along by all means. There’s a lot to do around there and the more the merrier. Don’t forget we are also doing the Learn Japanese Pod Party here on 29th and 30th August.
So drop me a line at info(at)learnjapanesepod(dot)com. You can also check out the Earth Embassy and Solar Cafe Facebook group or the Earth Embassy homepage for more info.
We’ll also be putting up a few podcasts soon so stay tuned! Take care and have an awesome summer!
The New Learn Japanese Pod Logo?
I wish I could have drawn this but I have two left hands. Luckily I am surrounded by some very creative and artistic types who help out. This logo was made by the talented bboykrilin a.k.a Paul Hunter, a UK based web designer, artist and illustrator.
I think he’s pretty much captured the feeling of Learn Japanese Pod here with the slightly bemused Gozilla, the ipod and the JLP dedicated bike(?) bag.
So a huge shout out to bboykrilin and his awesome sketch. I love it.
Maybe it is T shirt making time.
All the podcasts
ポッドキャストをもっと見つかりやすいために全部今までやったポッドキャストをまとめてこのページに載せました。是非見てください。http://learnjapanesepod.com/all-podcasts/
A lot of people have been asking me to make the podcasts easier to find on this site. Therefor I have made one list of all the lesson podcasts on one page. Hope this helps: http://learnjapanesepod.com/all-podcasts/
Learn Japanese Pod groups
You can connect to other Learn Japanese Pod cats on various social networks including Facebook, Twitter, Mixi and Asoboo. Also, don’t forget to check out the Forums.
#94 Maji de
In this week’s show, Waka sensei taught us a really useful phrase you hear a lot these days which is まじmaji. It comes from まじめ-majime which means serious. Remember that this is very casual Japanese and should only be used between friends. It’s not very suitable for work. In a more formal situation you might use 本当に – hontou ni which means “really” or “very”. Check out the show notes below or download the PDF to see how まじ is used.
Show notes for lesson#94：まじで
まじで- maji de – Seriously/Very
1.
A: 明日仕事やめるよ。
B: まじで？
A: Ashita shigoto yameru yo
B: Maji de?
A: I’m quitting work tomorrow
B: Really? (Seriously?)
2.
A:彼はどう？
B: まじむかつく
A: Kare wa dou?
B: Maji mukatsuku
A: What’s he like?
B: Really annoying
3.
A:このケーキはどう？
B: まじやばい
A: Kono keeki wa dou?
B: Maji yabai
A: How’s this cake?
B: It’s seriously delicious
Random Phrase of the week
明日は皆既日食なんだって
ashita wa kaikinisshoku nan datte
They say there’s a total solar eclipse tomorrow
Learn Japanese Pod, ©Alex Brooke, 2009
iPhone Podcast reviews
The iPhone now lets you write a review on apps and podcasts you have downloaded. We would like to get your reviews posted from the iphone. Check this link on how to write reviews for apps and podcasts like ours. This is our first review.
Ouch, Mr Kloranfm! I’ll have to take issue with some of the points in this review.
The “guests” mostly consist of drunk girls they bring into the studio.
First off, they weren’t drunk girls, well not very, plus I had had waaay more to drink than they had. Also, it’s not a studio, it’s a crappy kitchen. The very idea we would record something in a studio goes against our principles of doing anything properly. Which leads me onto the next point.
It’s a shame because if they were organized and professional they might actually have a good podcast.
Oh the slander continues. How could this reviewer insinuate we should be organized and professional when our motto is “disorganized amateurs”?! As we say, if a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing any old how. I’ve been called a few things in my time but professional and organized is not one of them. How dare you sir! Unshaken by this review, we promise to keep bringing you the same badly recorded, amateurish podcast as before!
Anyway, please check out the review feature on the iPhone if you have one and send us another crappy review.
A shout out to Ady for giving us the heads up on this one.
#93 Mendokusai
In today’s lesson, Waka sensei told us how to say “it’s a hassle” in Japanese which is “めんどくさい” or Mendokusai. We also got a very interesting email from Kaori, a student of English who listens to Learn Japanese Pod. She told us that she in fact listens to the podcast to study English. Apparently she is not the only non native English speaker who is listening to this podcast to learn English. I’m hoping we can attract more Japanese people to the site so we can start some language exchanges on the Forums.Check out this letter from Kaori san,
Show notes for lesson#93:面倒くさい
1.
A: 宿題した？
B: 面倒くさいから、明日やるよ。
A: Shukudai shita ?
B: Mendokusai kara, ashita yaru yo
A: Did you do your homework ?
B: It’s a hassle so I’ll do it tomorrow
2.
A:部屋を掃除しなさい。
B: 面倒くさい。後でもいい？
A:今やりなさい！
B:は〜い。
A: Heya wo souji shinasai
B: Mendokusai. Ato demo ii ?
A: Ima yarinasai
B: Ha~i
A: Clean your room
B: It’s a hassle. Can I do it later?
A: Do it now!
B: Ok
QUIZ
How do you say :
1. It’s a hassle
2. Clean your room
3. It’s a hassle so I’ll do it tomorrow
Quiz Answers:
1. mendokusai!
2. Heya wo souji shinasai!
3. Mendokusai kara ashita yaru yo
Random Phrase of the week
焼きもち焼いてんの？
Yakimocho yaiten no?
You’re jealous aren’t you
Learn Japanese Pod, ©Alex Brooke, 2009
Umenohana – Traditional Japanese Dining on the Cheap
Eating out in Japan should be one of the greatest experiences any travelling foreigner should ever encounter. Yet while it creates quite a lot of excitement for some (i.e. me. My mantra is “I can’t say I don’t like something if I haven’t tried it”) for many Japanese dining is cause for nerves and stress. Some worry that they may not understand the menu and end up with a plate full of sea creatures still alive enough to crawl down their throats, or that no-one in the restaurant will speak any English. Others worry about the cost too, which is definitely a concern in Tokyo – and I should know. A few months back, my boyfriend and I, on an impulse, ducked into a tiny teppanyaki restaurant in Roppongi. 2 hours and ¥70,000 yen later, we left full albeit a little dazed and confused too.
But a meal here with all the trimmings doesn’t ever need to cost you your month’s rent. An eatery in the heart of Ginza has the matters at hand covered, providing English and picture menus, the occasional bi-lingual waitress, along with a traditional Japanese dining experience.
Introducing Umenohana. Umenohana is actually a chain of restaurants found all across Japan that offers customers kaiseki style of dining within a small quiet dining area or in the privacy of your own tatami room. Kaiseki loosely translates to mean a customary multi-course meal and with Umenohana offering two set menus specializing in yuba (a tofu derivative) and tofu, this restaurant is a must-go for all foreigners in Japan.
Now for those of you unsure about tofu and yuba, let me assure you that I have taken even the most ardent “meat and potatoes” man to Umenohana and he loved it, even admitting that most of the time he could not tell it was tofu. In fact most people leave the place having learned a thing or two about tofu – firstly that it is incredibly delicious and secondly that they had no idea it could be prepared, cooked and served in such a variety of ways. I will let the photos speak for themselves…
As is customary with kaiseki dining, each portion is small, but with the courses number over 10 (I always lose count!), you will not leave hungry. The cost of the set menus are a very reasonable ¥4600 for Umenohana-zen and ¥5100 for Shiawase-zen and I recommend going at least twice as both menus are entirely different from each other. Drinks are not included in the price, but start around ¥530 for beer and shochu, going up to ¥5,500 for bottles of good quality sake.
Bookings are essential, particularly if you want to dine in a private tatami room (recommended, and at no extra cost too!) – use the opportunity to practice your Japanese over the phone. I always start off saying I do not speak Japanese very well and have my key phrases rehearsed concerning the time, day and number of people the reservation is, for and the receptionist has never been anything less than extremely helpful.
Umenohana is definitely one of those restaurants to take visiting friends and family to. The staff is warm and welcoming, and the “Japan-ness” of the encounter is second to none, with some great photo opps and interesting conversation points amongst scrumptious food and drink guaranteed.
Please check the website below for restaurant locations and booking information:
http://www.umenohana.co.jp/e/index.html
Note: Prices and menu offerings may vary slightly between restaurants. These prices have been taken from Umenohana, Ginza.
AUTHOR: ELISABETH LAMBERT
J-Slang 01: Bakappuru
Welcome to J-Slang, a new weekly article teaching street Japanese to amaze and terrify your Japanese friends. We will be posting these every Monday with a new phrase which is usually funny and regularly used by Japanese people. As the title suggests this is slang so it may be wise to not use these phrases in a formal settings when trying to be polite. We hope this will amuse, not offend and inspire you to learn some more Japanese.
So here’s the first phrase:
バカップル
bakappuru – A stupid couple
あの二人、バカップルだね
ano futari bakappru da ne – Those two are a stupid couple aren’t they?
This phrase is taken from the words “BAKA” which means stupid and “KAPPURU” which is an imported word from English meaning couple.
Incidentally, the kanji for BAKA is 馬鹿 which is comprised of the kanji for horse 馬 and deer 鹿.
Fun Friday for 19th June 2009
In this week’s Fun Friday we have music from Crispy Nuts and Electric Eel shock, two awesome rock bands from Japan. We also talk about some cool Japan related websites, how to become a ninja and other sillly banter with me Alex and the unstoppable Coffeebot.
Shout out to Tomo Akiyama who taught us how to say “Is that a sword in your pocket or are you happy to see me?”.
If you have any funny, interesting or amazing Japan related pictures or stories, shout outs or whatever please send them to info[at]learnjapanesepod[dot]com
Featured websites included:
Featured bands were:
Featured Photo
The sign reads “HOMO SAUSAGE”…no comment. Thanks to Coffeebot for sending this photo in.
Please send your own Japan related photos to info[at]learnjapanesepod[dot]com to be featured on Fun Friday
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