I’m mischievous but not mean! what would be the word for that?

It seems like you get along with dogs well! I think you might like this little Japanese children’s story about a particular mischievous monkey:

http://www.his.atr.jp/~ray/stories/sarukani.html

Grab the dictionary and try reading it without looking at the English, first!

Steve-san,

I agree! The image of a fiery flower is a great one! And there are so many! We both share the same feelings for kanji By the way, if you’re a fan of Beat Takeshi (Takeshi Kitano), he has a great movie called 花火. It’s a mixture of bloody violence, hilarious comedy, and a love story to boot. I definitely recommend it!

Peter-san,

Can you believe I can’t float?! Seriously! It’s like a parlour trick that my friends always demand… they love to see me lay on the bottom of the pool And speaking of swimming lessons… one of the FUNNIEST scenes from any anime that I’ve ever seen is in Goldenboy, when he’s trying to become a swimming teacher. I don’t suppose you’ve seen it? If not, I’ll have to figure out a way to get that to you

Marcos-san, as always the pleasure is ours! Funny! B! My parents actually said the same thing! One of these days, I ll get to the bottom of this.

Gevorg-san, great to hear you’re doing better! We missed you! BTW, nice site! Just checked it out, very cool! Great job on the Kanji! We’re going to have a lot more for you. 頑張ってください！

Athara-san, thank you! We would like to thank you too! Thanks for the posts and participating! Remember, you great listeners make this site great! Keep up the great work!

Matt-san, thanks for the posts! Yes, I think we can do something pretty cool! Just need a bit more time.

Alexander-san, thanks! Don’t worry, the original members our the base! But we want to bring you a variety of voices, and have lots of 3 person conversations! One major flaw in teaching is the conversations are always just 2 people, so once you’re in a group discussion!! So we try to change that! Please keep the feedback coming!

Jay-san, you’ve almost got me convinced. Pii-gu it is!

アルフォンソさん、謎謎（なぞなぞ）を見てください！気に入ると思います！

Jay-san, glad you liked it! It was the least we could do! Thank you for listening!

JP-san, you got me! Today should be the last day.

Jonas-san, nice to hear you’re feeling better! And, actually the first few years I was immune, so watch out!

Athara-san, we were hoping one of our listeners saw him! He should show up one of these days.

Jay-san, yeah it is bad!

Nathan-san, always great to hear from you! Thanks for the Kanji lesson! The grass radical was awesome!!
Sorry about the moderation, but when you post of 3 links on one comment it gets flagged.

セツさん、毎度ありがとう！Thanks for listening.

Monkeyjay-san, very nice name!

Prem-san, thank you! We haven’t forgotten, still working on it. Please give our regards to your wife! Thanks for listening!

Steve-san, wouldn’t be a news show without you! Yes, the hay fever is bad!!!

Thanks for mentioning my name again It is really nice to hear my name said in a Japanese style.

I never did get round to burning the podcasts on to disc…Maybe next weekend.

Nathan-san. I have always liked the way the Japanese call Fireworks Hanabi. I’ve said it before and I will say it again…I just love Kanji…ok, I can only read a little Kanji….but it is so beautiful.

Peter-san….I also suffer with hayfever…it will soon be that season. I hope you recover soon.

O-genki de
Steve

Thanks for mentioning the my name.
I felt honoured. Yes I am patient
enough till you come up with some
snaps related thing. Till that time
I will make continue to click some
more useful daily life kanjis and
make sure that I describe them.

The Blood type episode was too informative.

Peter, your and mine blood group must be same,
I too don`t know about my blood group
But after thsi episode I will make sure
to get it checked. My wife also enjoyed
this episode.

Keep up the good work.
Prem

Haha, monkeyjay… I like it!

No problem! I’m glad I could help. You should be able to find the romanized names at the about.com site, and then you can check the kanji out at work later. I agree, monkeys (saru) rule, but I’m a dog (inu) myself

Most kanji tell a story, and it’s a great way to remember them! And not only does it help you remember the meaning, but how to write them as well! For instance, 持つ (もつ, “motsu”) and 待つ (まつ, “matsu”) look really similar. However, on the left we have 手 (hand) for “motsu” which means “to hold/to possess”, and 彳 (linger) for “matsu” which means “to wait”. Once we realize this, we can not only remember which is which, but how to write the character (after initially learning it, of course)!

Also, I have a comment awaiting moderation for some reason, but in case it isn’t approved, I mentioned the anime フルーツバスケット, or Fruits Basket. It revolves around the theme of the Chinese zodiac, and it’s one of my favorite! If you don’t mind a cute comedy anime, you should check it out

Oh and I know ABOUT the animal signs, I was just interested in the japanese words etc thank you so much for your help you are awesome!

Ps. monkeys rule

セツ - 摂

http://www.eto12.com/

I’d also like to mention that there’s an anime called フルーツバスケット, or Fruits Basket, whose central theme revolves around the Chinese zodiac. It’s incredibly cute, really funny, and it’s one of my favorite! You can find more information here:

(Japanese) http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/fruits_basket/
(English) http://www.fruits-basket.com/

I just saw your comment about the Chinese zodiac (干支, or “eto”) on the last post. Here’s a quick little article about the general subject:

http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/countries/china/czod.html

Here is a site with some basic information about the twelve signs, and the romanization of the Japanese names of the animals represented:

http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa100498.htm

As for the official kanji of each sign, they are as follows (with the Japanese kanji representing the animal in parenthesis):

子 - The Rat (鼠)
丑 - The Ox (牛)
寅 - The Tiger (虎)
卯 - The Rabbit (兎)
辰 - The Dragon (竜)
巳 - The Snake (蛇)
午 - The Horse (馬)
未 - The Sheep (羊)
申 - The Monkey (猿)
酉 - The Rooster (鶏)
戌 - The Dog (犬)
亥 - The Boar (猪)

Hope that helps!

I think it’s just like moving into any completely new environment. Your body has to deal with germs, etc. that it may not have necessarily encountered before. This is why some people may be more susceptible to things like colds and allergies when still new to a place. Our amazing bodies specialize in adaptation, though, so they grow used to it in most cases. Of course, there are individual characteristics to factor into the equation as well.

Jay-san,

You’re right! 花 can mean “flower” and the single kanji is normally read はな, or “hana”. It’s one of the many kanji whose pieces can tell the story of its meaning, too. The top part is the “grass” radical, 艸 (くさかんむり), and the bottom part is 化, which can have the meaning of “change” or “transform”. Now imagine flowers hidden in the grass, and then suddenly they blossom… it’s as if the grass transforms into flowers!

A fun compound that uses 花 is 花火: はなび, or “hanabi”. The first kanji means “flower” and the second means “fire”. Imagine a huge fiery flower blossoming in the sky and you’ve got… that’s right - fireworks!

Note that the grass radical (艸) looks a bit different when used on top - some radicals are written a bit different when used as the kanji alone. Here is a great article about radicals for anyone interested:

http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa070101a.htm

And for those willing to venture into a Japanese-only site, here is a great one that has animations of the radicals in their different positions!

http://kanza2004.poke1.jp/LibraryHtm/busyu/busyumei.htm

I also read that with the higher temperatures, earlier summers, and higher pollution, pollen gets trapped in the air easier and so people nowadays are getting worse hayfever. it makes your face a combination of , , and . (the last one looks like he is about to sneeze)

花粉症, flower dust illness! I love it I recognise the flower kanji! hana right? that’s all i know about that