Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com. Today we need your help to pick the perfect guy for Natsuko! Three eligible bachelors, but only one Natsuko. Today the host of the show introduces you to them, but in the end you’ll choose Natsuko’s date. Natsuko says, “Yoroshiku!” You don’t want to miss today’s lesson. After listening, be sure to stop by JapanesePod101.com and comment on who you want Natsuko to date.
This entry was posted on Thursday, March 23rd, 2006 at 6:10 am and is filed under Beginner Lessons. 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.
皆さん (mina-san), today’s location is San Paulo・サンパウロ! Hello to all our listeners in Brazil! ![]()
Be sure to vote for the bachelor of your choice in your comment!
よろしくお願いします。
p.s. The Kanji of the Day will be up for 2 days as this one is crucial! Yoroshiku.
Your Links are messed up.
You’re linking to the Lesson Notes with both links - there is no link to the Kanji Closeup.
Peter-san.
I agree…I also vote for number 1…I think he and Natsuko-san would make a good couple. He is an actor and Natsuko-san is an actress of Jpod101. plus he like kinoko no yama and I have resently become addicted to them
Michael D. Cassidy-san.
I be you were too quick…I have done that before…check now, they are fine
Steve
That is a fun lesson…..Before we know it Natusko-san will be married…Hehehehehe!
I just saw my last post in yesterdays lesson (No. 50) and it as this written on the top:
“Your comment is awaiting moderation”
Does that mean I have written something that is not allowed?
Michael D. Cassidy-san and Jpod101.
Actually…yes…Michael D. Cassidy-san is right…I just went to check the Kanji close up pdf and it takes me to the original lesson notes.
Oooops! sorry did not see the comment at the end of the first posy from Jpod101.
This isn’t a question to do with the lesson, but I thought here would be the best place to ask. What is the function of the word なんて. I have heard a sentence スキーなんて簡単ですよ which was explained as “skiing is a piece of cake”. I also recently heard どちら様なんてか which was explained as “who the hell is it?”. My question is, is there a good single explanation of what なんて means? Thank you for any help.
And I say batchelor number 3 because his favourite word is a Kansai-ben word, which means he must be cool (one of Natsuko’s requirements) !!
If anyone is interested I have updated my website.
http://uk.geocities.com/yasashii_nihongo
The pages I have updated are:
http://uk.geocities.com/yasashii_nihongo/dtd.html
I just added a few more time expressions (originally on my blog)
http://uk.geocities.com/yasashii_nihongoxtr/japan.html
I added a small picture I drew of a lady bowing (originally on my blog)
And a new page has been added:
http://uk.geocities.com/yasashii_nihongoxtr/pronouns.html (Part of it originally on my blog)
Actually on my blog http://only-me-fatboy-steve.blogspot.com/ I have posted a story that some of you might be interested.
O-genki de
Steve
> Three eligible bachelor’s, but only one Natsuko.
Guys, guys, guys… and you were doing so well! That apostrophe in “bachelor’s” is wrong. Apostrophe+s means possessive, so you’re saying “独身 の” instead.
PS: Another vote for #1, if we’re talking about a chance for a serious relationship. If it’s just for fun, then maybe #3.
OMG !! I have to listen to this one !!
I’ve been pretty busy and there’s something wrong with my iPod+iTunes so I miss tons of lesson hope I can catch up >
It’s happening again, sorry guys…
v(-.-)v
my question was : what does ‘haraheta’ means?
Another vote for Mister #1.
Well if only he was a philosophy’s teacher that would be better than being an actor… *dreaming*
But as we’re talking about Natsuko and not myself… Mister 1 will do^^
オルリナ
If I’m not wrong haraheta means “I’m Hungry”
(Well i think cuz it’s San goku’s favorite sentence in Saïyuki…keuf)
You’re linking to the Lesson Notes with both links - there is no link to the Kanji Closeup.
Michael, thanks for pointing this out! The links are now pointing at the correct files. Someone’s going to get in trouble
- Tech Guy
I just saw my last post in yesterdays lesson (No. 50) and it as this written on the top:
“Your comment is awaiting moderation”
Does that mean I have written something that is not allowed?
Hi Steve,
Nope, you did not write anything bad. For safety measures any comment with 3 or more links in it will be flagged for moderation. This is just a safety measure to combat spam.
Your comments will show up momentarily.
Tech Guy
Sorry Natsuko-san, you should wait for better guys….
I can’t bet none of these guys for you….:(
Natsuko wa tanoshii you desu ne.
Dating an actor might be fun ne.
Tech-guy.
Thanks for telling me that…I was a little concerned about it.
So far it seems No 1 has the most votes.
Steve
Hello Japanesepod101!
I ‘d like to say hello to all the friends at japanesepod101: Sakura-san,Peter-san,Natsku-san,Kazunori-san,Takase-san,
Jonas-san,Favianna-san,Sahara-sensei,and to all the members of the community.
Thanks for mentioning São Paulo as today´s location, guys
I know this is not the right place to say about the photos,but I was really happy when I saw them yesterday. All of you laughing and so happy that I even showed them to all my friends and family. They were so happy too. I’d like to know if you guys have decided to make some T-shirts with the japanesepod101 crew and logo on them. That would be pretty nice because everybody loves japanesepod101. Also, if you need any help with some Portuguese,as Peter-san said on Sunday News,I’d be glad to help ![]()
Thanks so much again. So nice to see you all again
From São Paulo state,
Marcos
i want to know how a guy with no job gets to climbs mountains and go on dating shows. i vote for #2
Natsuko-san has an expensive “hobby,” thus ruling out 2 and 3.
Hopefully, No 1 is successful and also not “chibi” “debu” “hage” –the dreaded combination for any Japanese suitor.
Ayu: “haraheta” means hungry, but it’s probably not polite, at least I’ve never heard it in a polite situation. “Onaka ga suita” (spelling?) is probably more polite.
Just noticed that in the Kanji close-up the meaning of “niku” should be spelled meat, not meet.
That makes a pretty mental picture doesn’t it? I don’t recommend going up any mountains with contestant No. 2
Podcasts completed - kyuu-juu-go (95).
Have a great day everyone!
ネイト
I like tall guys, so my vote is for number two! And going for drives and rock climbing sound like fun.
I would seriously vote for number 1, even though he is an actor. Number 2 is too high flying climbing all those mountains. So, number 2 may actually make for a better story line, as would number 3, being only 19 years old…you know how fickly those young ones are!
I think Natsuko can find someone better, but if I have to pick, I agree: Number 1 is the best. My only problem with him is, she wants a guy who is smart and how smart could you be if you play the lottery? He does sound like someone who likes to have fun, her second requirement.
Her third requirement was that he should be handsome. But we don’t know how handsome any of these guys are!! Number 2 might be handsome. At least he’s tall! Number 3 is too young and I don’t like his favorite word “Akan”.
Good luck, Natsuko-San!!
We could presume, though, that number 1 must be handsome, if he is an actor… at least, if he is a famous actor… that wasn’t really made clear… I don’t know!
Number 2!
Number 2!
Those other guys are too young, and Natsuko will need the stimulating conversation of someone who likes to climb mountains. You must think too, if he has no job maybe he has a vast inherited fortune! (to lavish on natsuko). He will have the most time to spend with natsuko as well.
I agree with Liz on number 1, playing the lottery could equal trouble! Although his quote is nice, but he is an actor.. how can you tell if he is sincere?
and that 19 year old? that alone is enough not to vote for him!
haha fun lesson
CP-san - Even better, they’d have the same job! They could work together and start an office romance, and Japanesepod101 could turn into a great (read cheesy) rajio dorama!
checked out the link kindly supplied by Sakura yesterday- at last I’ve found something that is just about down at my level!
I liked especially the kanji bit and have downloaded the E-card as it’s my wife’s birthday on saturday
Can’t wait to show my nine year old daughter the picture of children sweeping their own school~incredulity will no doubt reign.
Sad I may be but such little things make me happy I am. (sad is that geeky?, nerdy? Sorry don’t know the stateside equivalent of a Mancunian sad which, in this context, is not necessarily uhappy)
Arigatou gozaimasu
I agree with Vicky-san, Natsuko-san deserves only the best
If I had to pick, though, I’m going to go with Number Two
Rob-san, なんて has a number of uses. In your first example, it is used as emphasis to express astonishment or amazement. It is often translated to “how/what so-and-so!”
スキーなんて簡単ですよ
skiing astonishingly-simple - How simple skiing is! - Skiing is a piece of cake!
なんてすばらしい絵だ
What a splendid picture!
I’m not so sure about your second example, but it sounds to me like it’s out of a comic book or something. どちら様 can be a very polite way of asking who one is, mixed with an informal なんて, and then straight to か. So it’s almost like making a mockery of the person being asked, or at least it seems that way to me.
In short, I don’t think there’s one easy way to definte なんて. The first sentence shows a common use, and when it comes at the end of a sentence it can express doubt or disbelief. Hopefully someone can jump in and give you a better answer!
Elise-san, lesson 50 should already be showing up in iTunes. Double check, and if it’s definitely not there, use this link to manually click “Get” next to the lesson:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=112831729&s=143441
Marcos-san, it’s nice to see you dropping in to say hello, too!
Rob-san, I didn’t realize that Jason-san had answered already on yesterday’s entry. We clashed a bit on the first one - I might be wrong, and I’m sure he knows better, so go with what he said unless someone lets us know otherwise
My vote is for number 3 “Nito!” I love that phrase. Pluss I think he would have a good story. Jyakuniku kyoshoku, he is a character.
Ashita!
Marukomu
Marukomo-san, the nito was number 2! and number 2 had the saying 弱肉強食!
GO NUMBER 2!
Nathan-san, I knew you’d pick the same as me. haha.
ps. is 弱肉強食 a saying that would be used in an evolutionary context? (I know that the saying is a bit misused, but one of my most intense interests is evolutionary theory!)
If I were to choose a girl with all the options above, I’d certainly choose the number 1
Yes, Natsku, go for the number 1. Peter-san and the members, I’ d like to know if I have the permission to print the japanesepod101 crew and logo on some T-shirts and give to some of my friends to promote your site. They always ask me where I learn Japanese. I have also told to all my friends at school about this sugoi site.
Marcos desu
Yoroshiku
Marcos-san: You want to print T-shirts with us on? Very flattering! What you should do, is mail us at contactus@japanesepod101.com, and we’ll talk about it there.
Jonas
Current stats on the votes;
#1: 9
#2: 5
#3: 3
Vote from me added to #2
Vote from Dave added to #3
The following has not been added as a vote, because of unclear language (and #1 already has many votes
)
Tayirbiz Says:
March 23rd, 2006 at 9:03 am
Natsuko wa tanoshii you desu ne. Dating an actor might be fun ne.
Nathan-san - Thank you for your answer. The only reason I double posted is because I didn’t realise I posted yesterday when today’s was already underway. His answer was good, and so was yours, even though they’re slightly different. I think it must be a construction that you have to get a feel for, rather than something which can be fully explained. I asked the same question to a number of native Japanese speaking friends, and they all said that they had no idea how to explain what it means! So thank you for your input, it is something that I hear all the time, so I’m sure I’ll get a good feel for it soon… maybe Peter and the gang could slip it into a lesson somewhere, either なんて or なんか ?
Nick Rhodes-san
In the wise words of Alan Partridge….your just ’saaaaaaaaaad!’
Hehehehehehe! ![]()
Mind you I also enjoyed that kids site to learn about Japan…so maybe I am just as sad as well
Actually thye only time I have answered all questions coreectly were on that site
Have a look at this…a robotic snake…..And yes…it was made by clever people in Japan.
http://www.hackaday.com/entry/1234000957073583/
But it is nothing new…I had a plastic snake I use to hold by the tail and it moved just as well….Hehehehehe! (does anyone remember those?)
Natsuko san sounds a fun person.Dating an actor might be fun for her.
I vote for the actor.
Is my language clear now?
Tayirbiz-san, I understood you from the start!
Jonas-san is studying law. ![]()
Number #1 - 10 votes
Rob-san,
Ah! Yes! I wasn’t even thinking about the relation, but you reminded with with なんか. Yes, なんて also has a meaning similar to など (etc.), but it tends to give the previous word a feel of unimportance… kind of a “whatever!” feel. So スキーなんて could be “skiing or something” “stuff like skiing” - giving it a feeling of disregard for those things. “Yeah, skiing or whatever is simple.” I just jumped to the other definition because I had your “piece of cake” translation at the front of my mind.
Steve-san, what a robot!
Nathan-san - I really like the translation as “or whatever”, that makes perfect sense! Thank you very much
My vote also goes for the actor. Heck, actors are usually between gigs anyway, but at least they are striving for something. If we have the 26-year-old unemployed mountain climber, we’ll get nothing but an unrelenting diet of lovers’ quarrels. Japanese girls tend not to fall for somebody who lacks all ambition, even if they are handsome.
俳優の方はつくなくとも夢があるでしょう。Let’s keep at least some of the dialogues optimistic and uplifting!
Even though I have voted for No 1. The one thing that does strike me is that all actors seem to have their heads stuck up their…Ummmmm! own….errrrr…bums and seem to love themselves and go on about how great they are….But number 2 is out of the question as he has no job. and No 3 is too young…unless of course Natsuko-san wants a Toy-boy. ![]()
So I hope No. 1 is a rare breed of an actor and is down to earth…Anyway, I will stick to my decision and vote for No 1 (Please don’t count this vote, I already voted for No.1 earlier on)
Meh none of them start a scandle and date the host!
or No3 because no 1 has too many votes.
We wan’t pictures of the date too. I want to see at least 30cm gap between you at all times and absolutely no heavy petting!
皆さん! thanks for all the votes!! Clienad-san you leaked the script to you!!!!
Very funny!
We’ll try and meet those demands. Thanks for posting and keep them coming.
I think it must be a construction that you have to get a feel for, rather than something which can be fully explained.
Yes, it is. And that’s what my answer was based on.
なんて’s meaning and nuance changes somewhat with where it occurs in the sentence and, as always, tone of voice is also important.
I asked the same question to a number of native Japanese speaking friends, and they all said that they had no idea how to explain what it means!
This brings up an interesting point: sometimes native speakers aren’t the best source of info about their own language. Some may know how to use it because they’ve been exposed to it enough, but they haven’t really studied the language’s workings. At least not well enough to explain it to a gaijin.
I know there’s plenty of native English speakers who couldn’t explain what a relative clause is. To me, being a guitar player, it’s kinda like a guitarist simply playing by ear and feel and not knowing a lick of music theory. Knowing theory certainly isn’t required to be able to play well, but it certainly helps complete your understanding.
Ayu, like the others already said, はらへた is a very colloquial way of saying “I’m hungry.” It litterally means “my belly’s in bad shape.” I wouldn’t use this when talking to your boss if I were you.
(addition)
I have a meeting with my ex-Japanese teacher Wednesday, so I’ll ask her if she can clarify なんて a bit.
Oh, and while なんか does have the same “something like (thing)” effect that なんて does, the nuance is different. My sense (and my dictionary) tells me that なんか tends to carry a bit of a negative opinion about what it’s attached to. For example:
バッジなんかいらない。
vs
バッジなんていらない。
These both say, “we don’t need something like badges.” My sense is that the なんか version has a much stronger implication. That and for some reason なんて just sounds kinda off to me here.
It also can’t be used in the “How wonderful!” way that なんて can.
Anyway, the point is that なんか and なんて are definitely different even though they can have the same “things like…” effect. Their nuance is quite different…and difficult to explain.
Ayu, like the others already said, はらへた is a very colloquial way of saying “I’m hungry.” It litterally means “my belly’s in bad shape.” I wouldn’t use this when talking to your boss if I were you.
Just to clarify this, it’s not that はらへた is rude, it’s just very informal.
Jason-san - Thank you very much for the extra thoughts on the two constructions, it’s been very helpful. I don’t suppose you could also explain the difference between those two and など, for example 彼など詳しいと思いますよ or 忙しくて, テレビなど見ていられない, which in my grammar book is put under the same set of examples as なんか and なんて. How is this one different from those two?
Also, is this the same など as a や… や… など construction?
Thank you for the help on this!
など essentially means “etc.” or “so on” or “things like (what preceeds など).” The difference between など and なんて and なんか is that など is very neutral compared to the others and is considered “standard” Japanese rather than colloquial. など doesn’t really have any extra possible implications like the other 2.
Japanese people love to be indirect. So sometimes it’s also used not so much as a “hard”, literal “etc” but more as a way around mentioning something directly, especially if it follows only a single thing.
スポーツなど好(す)きじゃありません。
“I don’t really like sports (and such).”
でも is often used in this same kind of way as well:
お茶(ちゃ)でも飲(も)みませんか
“Would you like some tea (or something)?”
BTW, the idea behind this is that if you said “お茶を飲みませんか” it sounds, to the Japanese ear at least, that tea is the only thing you’re offering (even though it’s not explicitly stated here in the sentence). So using でも instead helps express a willingness to offer other things in case tea’s not to the person’s liking and would prefer something else (or something in addition to tea).
Also, is this the same など as a や… や… など construction?
Yes.
彼など詳しいと思いますよ
Are you sure that shouldn’t be なら instead of など?
(addition to the でも thing)
We do the same kind of thing in English. Except we usually list a few alternatives instead. But it accomplishes the same idea.
“Would you like a soda? Coffee? Juice?”
Thank you again, I now have a good, well-rounded picture of the three constructions. Perhaps that last sentence was a little confusing without the context, it was preceeded by この機械に詳しい人はいませんか, which I translated as “Isn’t there anybody who understands this machine?” answered by “I guess someone like him could”, does that make more sense?
And thanks for the でも construction as well
You’re welcome.
Ah, that does make better sense now. Where’d you get that example? “彼など” just sounds funny to me.
It’s from the 完全マスター2級 日本語能力試験文法問題対策. Even though it’s for that exam, it’s full of constructions which are commonly used in daily life, though some of them are a bit more forced… apparently this is one of them
Which doesn’t really help with a confusing (at least to me) construction
Bachelor #2 has my vote… though no job kinda worries me but an actor who plays lottery sounds too risky to me and a 19-years-old is just too young to understand what a woman needs/ wants.
When I met my fiance, he was a student with no job as well… but things turn out for the best. He now loves his job and still hikes, runs, and climbs so I’m hoping the bachelor #2 is in a similiar situation.
^
大変(たいへん)失礼(しつれい)いたしました。ものすごく悪(わる)い序段(じょだん)でございました。お許(ゆる)してくださいまし。 m(_ _)m
Hehe.
I choose number 1 for sure. Yes Natzko we are being yoroshiku.
NEET stands for Not in Employment Education or Training. It started in the UK as a goverenment term and has spread to other countries.
The votes were tallied and the winner is bachelor #1! ![]()
In next Thursday’s lesson, bachelor #1 makes first contact!
Thanks for all the votes!!
Was it just me, or did anyone else find this episode much more difficult to follow? I think the large number of new words in this show confused me. I am thankful that the next episode #52 is easy to follow. The PDFs are a life-saver. Thanks for all that you provide for us, JapansePod101.com.
Dear Daniel
I find this the most difficult episode to follow too. It is too long for a beginner like me to catch up with everything. I have been listening to it more than 10 times to get used to the speed of the conversation. Anyway, this is really a fun dialogue. Great job, Jpod101.
Category: Beginner Lessons |
Function: introducing a friend | Topic: dating | Politeness Level: Polite
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