Learn what’s new at JapanesePod101.com this week. Today we properly introduce the newest member of our team Sasahara-sensei, a fully licensed professional Japanese teacher! Welcome aboard Sahahara-sensei! Also find out what else is going on, and finally, be prepared to be praised again, as you the listeners are SAIKOU・さいこう・最高 (the best)!
This entry was posted on Sunday, February 5th, 2006 at 3:30 am and is filed under News. 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.
34 Responses to “News #6 - Sasahara-sensei”
japanesepod101.com says:
February 5th, 2006 at 4:45 am
Here is the post from Scott-san:
Peter, you recommended that I use the Rikai.com website to help me read kanji. Actually, I’m using a plug-in for Firefox called “Rikaichan”. It does the same thing as going to rikai.com would, except all you have to do is right click on the page you need help with, and select “Enable Rikaichan”. No need to copy and paste any URL. 
This is a must have plug-in for anyone studying Japanese and using Firefox. Check it out at http://www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/
japanesepod101.com says:
February 5th, 2006 at 4:52 am
Jonas-san, another one of our top posters who will be in next week’s news for sure, 
added this:
Peter; thanks for the link. I know about it But I don’t use firefox… I would, but I just find Opera better for most tasks… Maybe I could install both tho. But..! I use their webpage, and www.popjisyo.com alot. Really helpful.
Steve says:
February 5th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
こんいちは。
どうもありがとうございます for mentioning my name and my friends mothers name. It was, really, a surprise びっくりしました。Thank you also, so very much for saying Konnichiwa to my daughter. I will play that do her tomorrow. Actually today she was eating dinner and she said to me “oishii desu ne” (おいしいですね)
I agree Peter-san. Japanese is just like an onion, I also seem to be peeling away at this wonderful language…been trying to teach myself for many years and I have learnt more in the past week, since I discovered this site, then I have in the past years.
Also, that was another great Video…I have never thought about Ice Hockey been played in Japan…I always think about Sumo and Basball….next you will be telling me there are Japanese cricket teams. Hehehehehe! But I typically think about Canada when it comes to Ice Hockey…how ignorant am I?
I always remember during the Football (Soccer) World Cup in 2002 how not only did the English fans support England…but we also supported Japan. I sadly could not go to Japan for the world cup…stupid Mortage and bills…Hehehehe. Whenever Japan played we would support them and shout out ‘Gambatte Kudasai’
Anyway…I better go to bed now and sleep.
じゃまた
ステイーブ
Steve says:
February 5th, 2006 at 2:16 pm
Oh before I forget, I downloaded Firefox Browser and Rikaichan, it is so great….what a fantastic tool.
Jonas says:
February 5th, 2006 at 4:18 pm
Nice news Good to be updated on whats happening etc. And very nice that you got a licenced japanese teacher on board! Hopefully, the quality of the podcasts will go from great to excellent!
One question though. Whats up with the “iTune in” thing? I dont even use iTunes 
(I tried, but my 500mhz laptop didn’t like it very much.) 
PS: me in the news next week? wohoo! just a FIY, my name is pronounced ヨーナス(not 洋ナシ！ or ジョナス). Lost of japanese mispronounce my name when they see it written. And no matter how many times I correct them, they always end up asking me 「洋ナシ？」or 「ジョナス？」. Annoying
Jonas says:
February 5th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
Oh, yeah… I forgot. Steve-san. The onion thing. I keep peeling and peeling, and the more I peal, the more I cry! I’ve been at this(studying japanese) for 3 years now, and I can understand news on the TV, and read a newspaper, but still, I never feel like im good enough. Like lots of things, japanese is easy to learn, but hard to master…
Scott says:
February 5th, 2006 at 4:38 pm
どういたしまして。 I’m glad that everyone else is finding the plug-in as useful as it was to me. (^_^)
And Jonas, I hate to say this but even I would have called you ジョナス by mistake. 
Kazunori Sakai says:
February 5th, 2006 at 7:18 pm
皆さんこんにちは 僕は英語が得意ではないので日本語でコメントします。皆さんも日本語で書いてみてくださいー
Peter Galante says:
February 6th, 2006 at 3:09 am
チャナンさん！やった！ Very happy to hear we got it right!
Steve-san, we cannot thank you enough for your participation! Your daily posts have contributed so much to our growing community, there is no way we wouldn’t mention you! And, I am personally grateful to Sekiguchi-san, as she vindicated me with the spider explaination. It is the very least we could do!
Yes, the ice hockey. That is one thing I really love about Japan, no matter what your interested in it is guaranteed that someone is doing it!
And yes, Rikai-chan rocks!
Jonas-san, yes, Sasahara-sensei is really good! One of our main goals is to make Japanesepod101.com into a one stop learning center. No need for verification, etc. With everything signed, sealed and delivered. This is a big step, as everything produced has to be stamped with her seal of approval. Should make for a great balance!
Itune in…I’d say a large percentage of our listeners use itunes, plus after the plug the gave us, leading us to rank in the top 100 podcasts for a week, we figured we owed it to them.
As for the name….just ask チャナンさん！One rule of thumb about the news annoucements, no one gets their name pronounced right the first time.
But thanks for telling us, it should cut back on the butchery a bit.
And, one last thing, you can say you mastered Japanese when your tear ducts run dry and shut forever!
Scott-san, thank you!
一憲さん、久々！もっと、もっとコメントしてください！
Sakura says:
February 6th, 2006 at 3:53 am
みなさん、こんにちは。さくらです。
Reading the names is always very challenging! でも、あらかじめ発音を教えていただので、ヨーナスさんのお名前は間違えずに読みますよぉ～来週 
Steve says:
February 6th, 2006 at 4:37 am
I don’t think we should be too harsh if you pronounce a name wrong. Personally I am not bothered if you say my name right or wrong, to me it is just a privallege to be mentioned in the podcast and to be apart of this growing community of Japanese learners. Anyway, as we say in the UK…and no doubt in the USA…and possible even Japan, ‘it is the thought that counts’
Oh! by-the-way, you did say my name right, mind you it is an easy name to pronounce. My name sounds so much more softer when spoken in Japanese.
And before I forget, I played the podcast to Sakura, and she had a big smile on her face when she heard her name mentioned
どうもありがとうございます
お元気で
ステイーブ :-)
Nate says:
February 6th, 2006 at 4:43 am
Just wanted to say hi and let you know I use my time walking around my hometown listening to my JapenesePod lessons. It is a great way to practice, though I think those that pass me think I am a bit crazy for talking to myself. Nothing new there really since I do it all the time. As long as I don’t answer myself I figure I am still sane.
Any chance we could get more vocabulary of things in nature - ie various animals, tree, river, sky, clouds, etc. Also everyday things like airplane, car, book, music, etc.. Or maybe there is a place on the web you can point us to to build our vocabulary.
Anyway, thank you so much for this podcast. It is great fun and, Peter, I envy you getting to work with such great people as Kazunori-san, Sakura-san, Natsuko-san (I hope I did that correctly).
Domo arigato gozaimasu!
Nate
Steve says:
February 6th, 2006 at 4:49 am
Jonas-san
Wow! You’ve been studying for 3 years and you can already understand the news and read a Japanese newspaper…I have been studying much longer and I still struggle to get past “こんいちはお元気ですか” Did you…or do you…go to college to study?
Personally, I actually find Japanese very difficult, I am not very good with languages as a whole, but Japanese just attracts me, so I may not be able to post any useful information on the Japanese language, but seeing so many people trying to learn is encouraging and the podcasts are really helpful. I did find another site offering free Japanese podcast lesson, but it was, by far, so much more inferior, so needless to say, I never subscribed to those podcasts. I think the whole team at Japanesepod101.com do an outstanding job.
O-genki de
Steve
Sakura says:
February 6th, 2006 at 5:06 am
スティーブさん、thank you for your kind comment It’s quite exciting to have the opportunity to pronounce names and place names I’ve never come across in my life.いつも間違えないかドキドキですが、すごく楽しいです。And thank you for letting us know that Sakura-chan liked it Yokatta desu!
Nate-san, kochirakoso arigatou gozaimasu! And thank you for your suggestion about vocabulary. Korekaramo yoroshiku onegaisimasu
Nate says:
February 6th, 2006 at 5:10 am
Peter-san,
Thank you for the tip on viewing the podcast notes by pressing the iPod button twice. Very helpful!
Arigato gozaimasu!
Nate
btw - How would my name be pronounced in Japanese? If it helps, Nate is short for Nathan.
Peter says:
February 6th, 2006 at 8:15 am
ネート or ネイトさん (up to you )
Yes, that is one of the best features we offer! It takes some time to do, but we feel you listeners are most definately worth it!
We’re going to try to go after the back lessons soon.
Please keep the questions and posts coming!
adam says:
February 6th, 2006 at 6:22 pm
this rikaichan extension is only for pc. does anyone know of one for the mac?
matte imasu
Jonas says:
February 6th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
Well, it’s not a plugin, but there is Rikai.com and popjisyo.com, that might help you.
Jonas says:
February 6th, 2006 at 8:26 pm
seems i messed up my html tags on the first link there… should be www.rikai.com
Jonas says:
February 6th, 2006 at 8:45 pm
3 strikes… im out… hehe
さくらさん、ちゃんと僕の名前を正しく発音してくれたら嬉しいです！だが、日本人はよく間違って発音しっちゃいますので、もう慣れてきました（笑
みんなそう思っているだろうが、素晴らしいポッドキャストを作って、みんなに楽しませるなんて本当にありがたいです。
Steve; Yeah, I’ve been stuying at the university of Oslo(Norway) and Tokai Daigaku(Sapporo and Shonan(kanagawaken)), but as Ive said before, you never get good enough. Learning a language is a lifetime commitment. My english isn’t even as good as I wish it was….
As for other japanese podcasts, there is one other that I listen to, that is pretty interesting. They use a bit more advanced japanese than here though. Hope I wont get shot for this njuku.com , they have a new podcast maybe once a week or so… but as I said, their target audience is different from that of this site.
Jonas
Peter says:
February 7th, 2006 at 5:10 am
ネートさん no problem! Keep the posts coming! And same to you!
Adam-san, I’ll look into. As will others, I am sure!
Jonas-san, great point. I would also like to add, that as a language is an evolving creature with so much culture and pop culture thrown into the mix it is sooo tough to stay on top of it. Case in point with my English, being out of the country you miss out on events, famous people, and other things crucial to ones conversation and humor skills. Being able to understand and speak a language is one layer, but back to the oninion….
That is why we intentionally include as much everyday stuff in our lessons, we try to give a real daily dose of Japan! Case in point Mos Burger, which I really do love!
Jonas says:
February 7th, 2006 at 5:40 am
Peter-san; hmm, feels weird to add “san” to names when writing in english… oh well. anyways.. I know what you mean. My norwegian is getting worse and worse (汗). Hopefully, it’ll get better when I get back home, and can speak on a daily basis… But then my japanese is gonna get worse again! help…!
Mos Burgers are great but they are so tiny! You need 2 burgers to get full. I’m also a fan of Freshness burger
How about a cooking lesson? Maybe once a week, or month or whatever, you could explain how to make some easy japanese dishes. Seems both you and I like japanese curry theres lots of words to learn.. like jagaimo, ninjin, ninniku, tamanegi, kare-ru-! etc. and verbs like nikomu, yuderu, ageru etc. Today I made tonkatsu by the way I just love the bull-dog tonkatsu sauce.
Keep it up!
Jonas
Peter says:
February 8th, 2006 at 9:31 am
Jonas-san, yes, the see-saw game! Tricky to find the balance especially for people who are striving for more! You see I forgot English grammar!! Thank god for the internet!
Yes, that Mos Burger opinion is quite common! My friend came from the states, and he said the same thing. Am I the only one that doesn’t see it?
Cooking, great idea! That sounds really fun. We could even do some video, now that’s what I am talking about!
Tonkatsu, outstanding, and yes, that bulldog stuff is amazing. I had to quit, as I had 3 days in a row once and couldn’t feel my tongue! But that is some very good stuff!
You too! Keep up the great work, and the proofing of our work, seems like we still need it! Actually, it’s called sleep deprivation! We’re up to something.
Jonas says:
February 8th, 2006 at 10:51 am
Well, I’m not a really big eater, and I would never be able to eat a whole american “super size” set, but I still would like to get some more bang for my bucks at Mos. They are delicious though. Except the fries. They are like… average… I can make better fries myself
If you dont know how to make tonkatsu, i could explain. It is really easy just meat dipped in flour, egg and fry(the breadcrumish stuff), and then fried in oil. And tonkatsu sauce! Getting hungry…. but its 4am 
already?
I had curry today btw. Hottest one I ever tasted. The place I ate at had “hotness” from 1 to 150, and the guy who worked there said that 80 was about the same as cocoichi’s 10. I had 150….
Well, night!
Jonas
Peter Galante says:
February 8th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
Jonas-san, yes, we should warn people about the Mos Burger fries! However, their onion rings are first rate! You should see the looks I get when I put 3 or 4 on my Mos Spicy Cheese Burger. Outstanding!
When are you going back? We should get you to do a cooking show, before you head back! Show the world Jonas-san’s tonkatsu!
Where did you eat the curry? Wow! As for Cocoichi’s, I haven’t been there in years. They used, maybe they still do, offer a 1.3 kilo serving of curry and if you finished it all in 20 minutes it was FREE! If not 1300 yen or something. Needless to say, this is how my attempt went: On the first bite I burned my tongue, as it was so hot, then I proceeded to eat curry for 15 minutes, without even making a dent!!!! With a burnt tongue, and after 15 minutes of eating curry, the taste was terrible! At 5 minutes left, I threw in the towel, and I had to pay for one of the worst experiences ever! For the longest time I thought cocoichi’s was the worst curry ever! But, I had it once at a normal serving, and really enjoyed it! But for some reason, I am still haunted by the experience! It was bad. So bad, that when my best friend came to visit, I made him do it. Pretty much the same experience.
Maybe I’ll stop by one in the near future!
Jonas says:
February 8th, 2006 at 9:25 pm
Peter-san; Yeah, I like the onion rings too! But I usually make my own, when I’m making tonkatsu. You kinda just do it the same way, as you do the tonkatsu.
I’m heading back to norway at the end of the month 
It sucks… But sure, I’d do a show
Ate the curry at a local shop. It’s at Tokaidaigakumae(odakyu sen). As for the 1300g curry, never tried it. But I’ve heard about it. Sounds way too much, hehe. I’m usually fine with a normal serving. Going “oomori” I usually get very “kurushii”…. man… my english is getting worse by the day! hehe
Anyways, cocoichi is one of my favorite curry shops Just love it… And put rakkyou on top! mmmmmm
Jonas
Peter Galante says:
February 8th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
Jonas-san, Rakkyou!!! A gift from the gods! Is it all you can eat rakkyou at cocoichi’s?? If so, consider me converted! I will abuse that free condiment, much worse the ginger (shoga) offered at the sushi places I frequent!
Rakkyou!!
As for the show, that would be great! We are thinking a cooking show, which we’ll distribute as a videocast! Let me 打ち合わせ a little more with staff! But what do you think?
Jonas says:
February 8th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
Peter-san; They are delicious, aren’t they. Unfortunately, it isnt rakkyou tabehoudai at cocoichi 
But it’s kinda cheap. For 50 yen you get maybe 8 pieces. Theres a place called “Little Spoon”. I’ve only been to a place up in sapporo(actually outside sapporo, near makomanai, if you are familiar), but I’ve seen a shop in shibuya too. Atleast up in sapporo they had rakkyou tabehoudai with their curry. Maybe they have that here too.
Speaking of abusing all you can eat offers, I always put a lot of shoga on my tondon, when I go to sukiya
As for videocast, sure count me in!
Jonas
IssueGirl says:
July 22nd, 2006 at 1:13 pm
I’m almost positive that this comment is not going to be read, but I wanted to start leaving my commentary anyway. I’ve been listening to you guys for less than a week. I have to admit, I’m quite the procrastinator at times, but I’ve already listened to over a months worth of Podcats because they are so funny and interesting. I can’t seem to get enough!
I’m thirteen and I live in Colorado, USA. I told two of my best friends about the site, and we all are learning together. Again, even if this is never read, I want to start expressing my undying gratitude.
You guys rock!
peptidase serratia says:
January 1st, 2007 at 11:15 am
To land, and even gloomy, though he took a survey of the lake, but never have had a Christian.
gilin rueda says:
September 13th, 2008 at 9:49 am
wahhh!!!!! im one of the young listeners!!! hhehehe… so happy!! well i just got the age of 15 last august(2008) .. hehehe
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