Received a question today, which I knew would becoming about 0-nii-san・おにいさん・お兄さん and its usage so here is the rest of the explanation about family members:

Family Members – this can be quite confusing if not clearly explained. Here we will fully explain here, as today we only gave another piece of the puzzle. Here we complete it.
When speaking about your family you use:
1. Chichi・ちち・父 – father (only for your family)
2. Haha・はは・母 – mother (only for your family)
3. Ani・あに・兄 – older brother (only for your family)
4. Ane・あね・姉 – older sister (only for your family)
5. Otouto・おとうと・弟 – younger brother (only for your family)
6. Imouto・いもうと・妹 – younger sister (only for your family)

Politer form -When speaking about someone else’s family:
7. O-tou-san・おとうさん・お父さん – father (for another person’s family)
8. O-kaa-san・おかあさん・お母さん – mother (for another person’s family)
9. O-nii-san・おにいさん・お兄さん – older brother (for another person’s family)
10. O-nee-san・おねえさん・お姉さん – older sister (for another person’s family)
11. Otouto-san・おとうとさん・弟さん – younger brother (for another person’s family)
12. Imouto-san・いもうとさん・妹さん – younger sister (for another person’s family)

Here comes the CURVE BALL – When speaking about your own ELDER family members you can also use the politer form! And it is very common to hear Japanese people refer to their elder family members as:
13. O-tou-san・おとうさん・お父さん – father (for both your own and other peoples family)
14. O-kaa-san・おかあさん・お母さん – mother (for both your own and other peoples family)
15. O-nii-san・おにいさん・お兄さん – older brother (for both your own and other peoples family)
16. O-nee-san・おねえさん・お姉さん – older sister (for both your own and other peoples family)
Please check the PDF notes for an explanation!

Lon-san,
Thank you for listening and for posting! It is great to hear from you! Doumo Arigatou Gozaimasu!
Hmmm, I am not sure. So far this is the first I’ve heard about this, but let me look into it a bit more. If anyone else out there is having the same problem, please let us know.

Thank you again for listening!

Lon-san,

I am using iTunes as well to download the podcasts, however, I am not picking up two copies. I don’t know how much this helps, but at least wanted you to know.

ピーターさん、さくらさんー
I am a first-year (completed Japanese 1-3 college-level) here in California. I am going to be taking Japanese 4 in the fall (when it is offered again). I recently came across your podcast and have been really enjoying it. To keep up with my studies, I have been assisting with the Japanese 2 class, and I just told them about your podcast, too!

Keep up the great work! たのしみにしっています！
〜ロンダ (Rhonda)

みなさん、posts をありがとうございます！We’re having the deepest snow in five years in the center of Tokyo On a cold day like this, there is nothing like eating nice hot nabemono (or, nabe; meat, fish, and vegetables cooked in broth in a big clay pot heated on the dining table) Here are some photos of nabemono>>>> http://www.ajinomoto.co.jp/recipe/special/646/S1.asp??recipe=rcpSp646 Here’s more information about it, if you are interested>>>>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabemono

Alain-san,

It seems you ran into our producer! We lost track of him yesterday after his second bottle of sake. Do you remember where you last saw him?
Just kidding, but we are up to something. We’ll keep you posted.

Suginami-ku very nice!

Mari-san, thanx for the post! Yes, I can relate!!! I spent my first few years in Ibaraki-ken, which I absolutely love! Inaka, the double-edged sword, you learn a lot of Japanese, but the learning curve is 90 degrees! We are working on something for intermediates, so please stay tuned!
BTW, where were you in Japan?

is the “u” in every word silent? to me it sounds like its silent like its Nasuko…i dont really hear the “u” being said
is the “u” silent?

Yay! I’m learning!

I understood everything in this one. I am so excited. You guys rock!!
Thank you!! ^.^!!

Shannon

Hiya, great lesson ^^

I wonder if you’re aware though that in the PDF for the romaji –> english translation part, the sentence “gonin desu. chichi to haha to ani to imouto to watashi desu.” on the right hand side is translated to “five people. dad, mom, older brother, OLDER SISTER and myself.”

It should be younger sister ^^; Typo ne?

Quick question about one of the first lines in this dialogue:

“Kore wa watashi no kazoku no shashin desu.”
“This is a photo of my family.”

Can this also be translated as “This is my family’s photo.”? This seems pretty clear in this context, but I’m wondering, if, say, you had “Kore wa John no shashin desu.”, there could be some confusion between the meanings “This is John’s photo” (possessive), and “This is a photo of John.”

Can anyone clarify if there’s any way around this, if I’m misunderstanding, or if the solution is always found in the context?

“basically there is no difference between your english examples, except that “this is john’s photo” could also mean it’s a photo he owns (but he’s not necessarily in the photo).”

That’s what I was going for. Okay, so the meaning is based on context? I know, I’m nitpicky!

Thanks for the help!