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A conversation is never complete without talking about the “fam”, and today we take you one step closer. Learn how to talk about your family in Japanese, as today we introduce vocab that you will use over and over.

Grammar: | Function: , | Topic: | Politeness Level: ,


This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2006 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Beginner Season 1 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

52 Responses to “Beginner Lesson #21 - A Family Affair”

Rafael says:

Welcome back Sakura!
Good job you two. It was for me a nice review and consolidation exercise.
Take care

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JapanesePod101.com says:

Hello Everyone, thanks for all the support. It gave us a lot of energy for today’s show! Hope it shows. どうもありがとうございます! Peter

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Peter says:

Rafael-san! Thank you for the post. Please keep them coming! And an email is on the way. Chotto matte kudasai.

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Joey says:

Peter, Kazunori, Natsuko, and Sakura:

Thank-you so much for these podcasts. These things rock my world. I go to bed every night just so that I can wake up to find a new podcast on your websight. This podcast series is much better than other learn Japanese podcasts because you guys go through each word slowly and clearly so that they stick in my brain. I will be looking foreward to listening to each new podcast that you guys put out.
ありがとうございます

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Peter says:

Joey-san, どうもありがとうございます!Thank you for that すごい post! We’ll be reading this one before lessons! Thank you posting, thank you for the confidence booster, and thank you for listening! Please keep the posts coming, and we have a lot more in store for everyone.

Peter

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heather says:

hey there, i’m enjoying checking out your podcast.

i’m just a beginner, but i was listening with a friend who is more advanced… and he wondered why you didn’t refer to Sakura as Sakura-san, when you use a very polite “Go-kazoku”

- Sakura, Go-kazoku wa nan-nin desu ka?

should it be

- Sakura-san, Go-kazoku wa nan-nin desu ka?

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Peter says:

Heather-san,

Yes! Your friend is technically correct. Please thank him. However, we use the names as more of an indicator to let you know the conversation is about to start. Sakura is Sakura’s first name, so actually it should be Suzuki-san (Sakura’s last name), go-kazoku wa nan-nin desu ka?

We try to keep the show as informal as possible, which conflicts with the formal style of the language……rock and a hard place! This is why we use first names.
Usually when you ask this question there is no need for the name at all as you presumable know the person you are talking to. Again, the name is more of an indicator to let you know the conversation is on the way and who is talking to who. Apologies for the confusion.

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Sakura says:

Rafael-san, Joey-san, heather-san, thank you for listening, arigatou gozaimasu! Your posts make me genki :razz:

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Charlie says:

Hi!
I can’t remember how I found out about your podcasts (I think it was from a Japanese radio pod cast..) but I’m so glad I found them!
I’m from the UK, studying Japanese at John Moores University in Liverpool, and I download a podcast a day, and listen to them as I walk to class.
So, thank you for helping me out, it’s a really good method of learning!

(P.s, I know in this podcast you say about ‘nin’ but will you ever do more casts on other counting systems, because I never remember which is which!)

Charlie

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Peter says:

Charlie-san, Thanks for the great post! We love to hear stories like yours, as the give us energy for doing the show. Please keep them coming. It is great to know that you’re studying Japanese, and that we’re a part of that! Really, really great stuff!
Yes, counting, we’re definately going to be tackling that issue, so please stay tuned. In the meantime, if you have any questions please email us or post a comment and we’ll get back to you in a timely manner!
Anything we can do to help, we’ll do!
Ganbatte Kudasai!
日本語でもいいですよ!

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David says:

This show was so helpful to me. I also notice that Japanese people refer to thier family members directly in the same way that they refer to other’s family members. e.g. Otou-san and okaa-san.
Is this normally the case or am I off?

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MintyFresh says:

In this lesson you only have one of each, older brother, older sister, younger brother, younger sister. How would you include 3 older sisters into the dialogue? Would it just be 私の家族は父と母と三姉と私です。? Also being from the traditional broken American family. What would I call the step family, step father, step mother, step sister…etc.

Your Minion,
Minty

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beth says:

ummmm…. you missed kazoku as a vocabulary word. I only mention it as I’m making flash cards of all the hiragana, and I can go look it up, but thought I’d let you know!
Thanks as always and keep the great shows coming!!

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Tintin says:

私の家族は父と母と三姉と私です
Unfortunately, I can’t type Kanji on this computer, but here’s the romaji.
ane wa san-nin ga imasu. (three older sisters exist)
or

chichi to haha to sannin no ane to watashi desu.

For general brothers/sisters, you use kyoudai and shimai (Brother/sister)

boku ni ha 6nin no kyodaishimai ga imasu.

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Carlie says:

Beth, I’ve noticed that sometimes they miss wordsin the vocabulary list. Usually I have the notes infront of me while listening, and I write in my own notes when this happens. :D

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Nathan says:

Beth-san, thanks for pointing that out! We’ll see if we can’t take care of that :grin:

Carlie-san, that’s a great method! Taking your own notes (in any class or when learning) really helps to enforce the knowledge much more than just reading notes. Keep up the great work! :grin:

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lulu_chan says:

interesting information on asameishimae: I went out with one of my dear japanese friends last night, and was practicing my japenese from here (YAY! thanks for this amazing site!!).
I am helping her with her english (as she is helping me practice japanese), and i mentioned english will be a piece of cake for her. and then, I said “asameishimae”. She gasped and said ” nooooo. we don’t say that. it’s old phrase. very embarrassing”. :oops: (my friend is in her late twenties, like me). so, this lingo is not current.
just thought i’d mention it. wonder if anyone else has tried it and had a problem using it.:???:

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Peter says:

Lulu-chan, thank you for listening and for your feedback. :grin: To date, we’ve had one other incident with this phrase. It had to do with feminine/masculine speech. A female said it to her teacher in England who quickly discarded. A week later I heard it on TV used by a girl. It is a well known phrase, but on the masculine side. I used to use it all the time when I was 24 or 25, and never had problems; however, perhaps none that I was aware of. :wink:
As for what is current and not, it changes so fast! Another phrase that works well in this type of situation is rakushou - (lit.) easy win, but can be used to mean something will be quite easy.

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polo says:

polo des,

hi all this was a wonderful lesson
watashi ga dai suki des

but i know i may rush things but can anyone please give the meanings of ( chan,kun,sama,ni-sama, ni-san, oni-san, ni-chan )???

arigatu kuzaimus

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John C. Briggs says:

Poloさん,
Here is a start
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_titles
ジョン

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polo says:

hi again

arigatu kuzaimas briggs-san

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John C. Briggs says:

Poloさん
Not to pick on you, but thought you might like to know the spelling is
arigatou gozaimasu。
In any case, you are welcome. dou itashimashite
ジョン

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Abby says:

Hi, (re-Tin Tin’s message & John Briggs)
I’m new here. Just wanted to comment on TinTin’s sentence above:
ane wa san-nin *ga imasu. (three older sisters exist)
*Remember that counters take no particle, so the sentence should be:
ane ga san-nin imasu. (I have 3 older sisters).

Also, John Briggs - are you the John Briggs from Kansai Gaidai back in 1989? - if so, hisashiburi - you probably don’t remember me - Abby McMeekin in the rainbow house.

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Ashurii Arekusandora says:

is there any way you could say “half brother” or “half sister”?

Arigato,
Ashurii

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palmist81 says:

:kokoro: sugoi lessons :wink:
i love them all
gambatte kudasai :lol:

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Saturn226 says:

My friend taught me a song to help learn the counters for people

Sung in the tune of 10 little indians

Hitori Futari San nin no indian
Yo nin, go nin, roku nin no indian
shichi nin, hachi nin, kyuu nin no indian
juu nin no india boy!

or something like that ^^

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gilin says:

:nihon: sugoi!!!!haahah!!!
since i had an interest in the Japanese language i really want to hear my name by the japanese people hehehe.. very interesting!!(wrong grammar?) :oops:

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Serena27 says:

If you are married with children and someone asks how many people are in your family, do you reply with your spouse and children, or parents and siblings? Also, both my parents are re-married, so should I name all 4 parents, or is that too much information to give in an introduction?

arigato gozaimashite

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Mayumi says:

Serena27-san,

When you are married and have children, usually you reply with your spouse, children and yourself, in Japan. If you live in together with your own parents or your spouse’s parents, you can reply including the parents. For your situation, I think you don’t have to reply with all 4 parents.

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Serena27 says:

Mayumi-san,

Arigatougozaimasu!

Now I only have to name 3 people instead of 8. That will be much easier!

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Alaa Marjieh says:

夏子、桜、 :nihon:

You are really a good teachers ,you made me like the japanese language another time after I had lost the hope to continue learning japanese, I wish you a good luck and god bless you (and Peater and Kazunori too)……. :kokoro:

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Pepper says:

Confusion!

In anime and movies and such, “big sister” and “big brother” are always “onee” and “onii” At least, that is what younger people call older people they are fond of, even if they aren’t necessarily related. So, when would you use “ane/ani” versus “onee/onii”? Does it have to do with talking to them directly versus talking about them?

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Mayumi says:

Pepper-san,
“ane/ani” is the formal way of talking about your real big sister and big brother to others. You don’t use it when you speak to your sister/brother.
On the other hand, “onee/onii” can be used to call your real sisters/brothers, and also just older people you like to speak to them friendly. You can use it whenever talking to directly or talking about them. :wink:

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Rob-san says:

So, just to be sure on this, what would make me say “haha” or “chichi” over kaa-san and too-san which I recall Uchiha Sasuke from Naruto shouting in one of his “messed up family flashbacks” when he was looking for his parents.

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Rob-san says:

Ahhh deary me. I see you answer that very question in the notes of lesson 23. Hehehe *slides away*

Although, the example above is still a little mysterious, because he refers to his parents, not elders. Nante omoshiroi.

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Claudia says:

私の家族も四人です。父と母と妹と私です。

Thank you for all the great podcasts!

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Monnie says:

私の母て父わ大好きです。

これわ良いです。

どもありがとうございます。

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Mayumi says:

Monnie-san,
Thank you for your nice comment, “これは良いです。” ありがとうございます!  :smile:

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Greg says:

Suzuki-sama, peter-sama (If im correct Sama is used when indicating extreame honor to someone, If im correct japanese usually dont use this unless they talk about god, president, prim minister, Mabe a belated family member) anyway

Arigatoo gozaimasu, Boku no Nihongo wa maa maa o-kage-sama.
Anatatachi wa sugoi desu yo.

I have a very long way to go before i will be really good at it. So keep up the great work so i can keep on studying. By the way. Is it a good idea or bad if i have been writing down all the vocab words. I mean would it start to confuse me in the long run.

Arigatoo Gozaimasu.

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kiki-chan says:

I;m still brushing up on my Kanji….so what is this character? 良

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Jessi says:

kiki-chanさん,

良 is the character for “good”: 良い (いい, or sometimes よい)

Most of the time, though, you will see いい written only in hiragana :)

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Kathy says:

Konnichiwa! Watashi no kazoku mo ooi desu. Ima shitsumon ga arimasu: I have two elder sisters and two younger sisters. How can I say it in Japanese? ( Ane wa futari imasu. Imooto mo futari imasu?) Please correct me if I am wrong. Thank you very much!

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Ben says:

Konnichiwa,

Could someone please help me with the word “doo”? Eg. Chooshiwa doo desu ka? I must have missed its meaning in the previous lessons… I’ve been taking notes and I can’t find it in them, and I don’t really feel like spending an hour listening to the lessons it could have possibly been explained in.

Arigatoo gozaimasu!

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Mike says:

Just a minor technical issue that I have observed. Relevant to the downloaded iPod content, the dialog portion of Lesson 21 has the correct sound track but the embedded text transcript reflects the content of Lesson 22 rather than that of Lesson 21. The dialog portion of Lesson 22 is straight; the sound track and text match and both reflect the content of Lesson 22 - which is to say that it does not appear that these have inadvertently been interchanged between the two lessons. With respect to the web content, everything appears to be in order, so no issue there.
I’ve soldiered through 22 lessons in two days. They are very enjoyable.
あなたたちはすごいですよ!

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JapanesepPod101.com says:

Mikeさん

The transcript has been fixed!
Thank you for letting us know :razz:

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Mike says:

ど いたしまして

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おう says:

私の家族は三人です。父と母と私です
私の家族は二人です、一人です。
私の家族は七人です。父と母と兄と姉と妹と弟と私です。
朝飯前

また今日ね

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Lacey says:

I find the words for mom and dad sort of amusing :mrgreen: Hehe!
I told my dad this and he laughed, too.

What are the words for gramma and grampa? Are we gonna learn about these?

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yuichi says:

Laceyさん

I agree that the words for mom/dad sounds a little bit funny :mrgreen:
Gramma is sobo. Granpa is Sofu.
I hope this helps :grin:

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Rodrigo says:

It’s wonderful to learn vocabulary with compound words like Asameshimae. Bring me more of them! :)

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Erlend says:

I started with japanese from anime, and in many animes I have seen that old people might be called grandpa and similar stuff, is this normal, or actually kinda rude? Can you call an old person you have never seen before for grandpa? :P

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Motoko says:

Erlend-san,
Yes, we call old men as O-jii-san/chan, and old women as O-baa-san/chan, even when it is the first time to see each other.
This is a friendly way to address old people, like “Excuse ’sir/madam’” in English.
But it is also true that some people don’t like to be called like that, because it literally means “grandpa/ma” and it also indicates that they are “old” people.
I like to call them as oji-san and oba-san, because it can be used middle aged and old people.
I hope this helps.

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