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Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! Today Miki and Natsuko return home from trip to Rome, Italy! Take-san is gracious enough to meet them at the airport, and he finds out how the trip went. You don’t want to miss today’s lesson, as we delve further into the past tense. Stop by JapanesePod101.com and leave us a post! Also, check out the forum and see what’s new at our continually growing Learning Center.

Grammar: , | Topic: | Politeness Level:


This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 3rd, 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.

38 Responses to “Beginner Lesson #65 - Welcome Home”

JapanesePod101.com says:

Me again? Good morning~~~

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JapanesePod101.com says:

皆さん、today’s location is Kairo・カイロ! :grin: Hello to all of our listeners in Egypt.
As you may have noticed our release time is slowly returning to normal. What is normal? We’re still not sure. :wink: Were actually aiming for a few hours earlier, so
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu. :grin:

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Vicky says:

No matter what time you’re trying to post.

I’m still #1 so far… :mrgreen:
Have a good day everyone~~~

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Vicky says:

Welcome back Take-san, love your clear Japanese voice!!! :oops:

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JockZon says:

Wow, you were early today. I’m just back from school and I got one more lesson from you. You’re like 10 hours earlier or something. God job.

Wonderful lesson you guys! I love it, but I didn’t get what feragamo was?

Bye, bye take care.

ミキは何才ですか? :cool:

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Peter says:

Vicky-san, yes, Take-san is the man! What a voice! Natsuko is great too! And welcome aboard Miki! :grin:

JockZon-san, we’re almost back to normal. :wink: We should be publishing a bit earlier sometime soon. (knock on wood)

http://www.salvatoreferragamo.it/web/index.html

High-end Italian :wink: We buy all our high-end Italian at decalofashion.com. :grin:

ミキちゃんは二十歳です。 :wink:  

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JockZon says:

ほんとうですか? 二十さいですか? Then I was almost right then :razz: Say hello from me.

歳or才? Maybe a question for the forum :smile:

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Jonas says:

JackZon-san:

Both 才 and 歳 are commonly used(when refering to age) but 才might be a bit more common than 歳. By the way, 二十歳 is usually read as はたち. This is an irregular reading.

Jonas

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JockZon says:

Maybe I knew that ;) But I didn’t. Thank you Jonas.

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Jason says:

コロッセオ sounds a bit too close to 殺(ころ)せよ :shock:

Just as an extra note, in more formal/businsess speech, 今(いま) is usually replaced by ただ今(いま).

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Daniel Beck says:

Peterさん、

Forgive me, but I’ve gotta give you a hard time. :wink:

「ぜいこうちょう」じゃないよ。絶好調(ぜっこうちょう)だよ!  :cool:

-Daniel B

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Naz says:

Peterさんへ
For quite some time I was trying to figure the phase that you were saying. I looked up in the dictionary typing words like ぜいこちょう、せんこちょう、etc. but could not find the right meaning until a Japanese friend told me it was ぜっこちょうです。
Maybe you did tell us the meaning in previous lessons (I haven’t listened to all of them). Until Danielさん had mentioned this, I’ve totally forgotten about and had gotten used to your pronounciation. (^_^)
ごめんね。I’m not trying to be critical. It was just that when I read his post, I suddenly remembered about it.

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Peter says:

Jason-san, yes, good point. Interesting glimse into the way you associate things. :wink: Keep the posts coming. I want to know more. :grin:

Danielさん、just a tactic to get a post out of you. :wink:

Naz-san, yes, we did cover it once, but maybe we should have went over it more. :wink:

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Friday listener says:

Japanesepod101 pdf says that brandnames are mentioned (“for the simple reason” I would like to know the “complex” one) because most Japanese are crazy about brands. Will we soon have pdfs about flamenco? They love it too and some Spanish webs about this kind of music are in Spanish, English and Japanese.

Brandnames are integral part of many people´s life and style in Western countries too but most of these people are kids, adults with an adolescent soul, low self-confidence folks, “fashion-victims”, blind followers of fads and trends… Is this the same in Japan? Once polite past has been explained, today´s lesson was a good opportunity to contrast this form with the others already explained by mixing, for instance, family and non-family people in the same conversation. The everyday forms can so be reinforced, we can see more easily the differences between both of them and they will be better learnt but I guess what´s integral part of basic Japanese (the subject this web is about) comes second and we will have to wait till next lessons (or next week lessons) to see this.

Francis Pissani (newspaper journalist who publishes technology articles in some of the most important newspapers of the world) says that

“The expression Web 2.0 was born to attract investor´s interest once internet economy bubble was over. It invites to ask yourself: “is something behind?”.

Did you ask yourself, japanesepod listener, what´s behind the 2.0 surname given to this web a few days ago?

Au revoir

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DanMon says:

Friday listener,
Yes, and ?

Et alors ?

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Friday listener says:

Oui DanMon, et alors?…

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Marie Bresson says:

Oui, Friday listener, c´est vrai, le contenu de ce pod n´est pas tres bon et le 2.0 semble “too much” pour les webmasters mais ce web est pour adolescents et je crois que tu ne peux pas te complaindre. Les raisons pour faire mention des « brandnames » sont ridicules mais alors japanesepod101 n´est pas fait pour « intelos » comme toi and je crois que ces paroles vont bien. Tu dois aller à une autre web, celui-ci n´est pas pour vous.

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DanMon says:

Friday listener,
I’d like not to bother listeners with too many French with a quarrel that would seem so French to Anglo-Saxon ears.
What I just wanted to say is that I see jPod as one of the tools helping me to learn Japanese (at least to try). As a tool, its efficiency depends also on the user’s skills. But don’t forget that a lot of the content is free. And you know, criticising gifts …
And talking about tools, you should have a look to the learning centre, the personal data banks and the dictionary.
I looked at some links given the previous weeks and found some contents very interesting. But now, I just use Jpod dictionary to help me to understand those contents, and add all new words/Kanji to my personal databank. It helps, not only to acquire new words, but also, prevents the lost of older ones.

Perhaps, when we’ll have enough vocabulary jPod will try a critical analysis of Kant and a Japanese philosopher, but for the moment, brand names or kiss concert would be fine.

Again, jPod team, thanks for the efforts.

Sorry Marie, but as a 38 years old adolescent … :???: , but Anyway I do understand what you meant.

Sorry for my English, I hope it is good enough to express my point :sad: .

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Friday listener says:

Danmon, you are speaking with another person, not me. I have read again what I wrote and I haven´t found any word about the learning center efficiency, the cost of japanesepod101, links given the previous weeks, having enough vocabulary to read Kant, and on and on. I am sure you love jpod but I never tried to discuss how much people hate or love this web. My questions were precise and clear and you answered none of them. If you want to say how good is all this, start your message with a “Japanesepod staff, … “ but, please, don´t mention my nickname.
(just a final advice: if you want to read japanese webs forget about jpod dictionary. Dowload firefox and then the rikaichan extension. You can´t imagine how good that dictionary works. I think Jpod is clearly behind but if you want to discuss on this, please, let´s do it about more concrete things, not about what you think I have said and, in fact, never did)

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Friday listener says:

A final word about efficiency. I have been able to learn Japanese even when I read the wrapping of paper tissues. Does this mean that they have at least a bit of efficiency to teach Japanese? I mean, when you say that jpod is useful you should say with respect to what, otherwise, that word is empty or becomes simply an expression of affection towards the webpage (I guess that was all you wanted to express). When you look around and see the materials and methods used to teach Japanese, some of them are below jpod but many of them are clearly above. Some comments about them (what you think is good or bad on this) would be unavoidable if you want to speak about how helpful (or not) is this web. I have checked again what you called Jpod dictionary (by the way, it is not free. As far as I know, you have to pay the premium fee if you want access to the learning center) and I think that you have free dictionaries on internet as good as this one or much better (do you know http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin ?) As for the word bank, I consider it just a complement to other tools and nothing to write home about. Whenever I want to remember a word I prefer to use my notebook. I take it down (usually with an example sentece to give a context) and review them every so often. This takes certainly more time (an a lot of notebooks) than making your wordbank in a computer but works much better to remember them (besides, you can learn at the same time how to write in Japanese) Technology can make some tedious tasks easier but, in the end, the main effort is ours and the sooner you realize it, the better for you. There are no « 2.0 shortcuts » to learn a language but, the good news is that, doing it, is still as rewarding and enjoyable as ever.

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DanMon says:

Friday listener,
I tried your link :lol: , you should do it yourself.

Anyway, you might be right and I have not enough knowledge of Japanese language to be a good judge.

What distressed me in the your first message was the critic of people trying their best to do something different, and perhaps, doing so, helping people not so bright as you to learn to talk Japanese.

And about answering your real question, you should be aware that implying that someone is ‘adults with an adolescent soul, low self-confidence folks, “fashion-victims”, blind followers of fads and trends’ doesn’t usually tend to nice questions/answers moments.

But let’s make a deal, to know if this web is worthwhile.
I know close to nothing about Japanese language. Come in a few weeks and check. We’ll, then, decide a rating based on my improvements.

Just a last question: Are you a Japanese teacher?

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JapanesePod101.com says:

DanMon-san, thank you for keeping it civil. :grin:

Everybody, please keep in mind that we would like to keep our comments and our forum a friendly and nurturing environment. Feel free to express your opinion - good or bad - about the podcast, but when addressing eachother, please be respectful.

In addition, now that we have a forum, we would like to keep daily comments relevant to the corresponding podcast for the most part. If the discussion begins to veer wildly off-topic (as it has here), please move the discussion into the forums, where you should be able to find a suitable place to continue.

Thank you so much for your participation and understanding!

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Friday listener says:

Danmon

Sorry about the link. This one should work http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1C

Japanesepod is doing something different? Check please www.chinesepod.com and you will see that they are just copying what they are doing (Peter is a suscriber). Unfortunately they still haven´t reached its level.

I am not a Japanese teacher. I haven´t made any comment about your brightnes (or lack of it) and I would never do it or try it. I agree with Peter and I think that we have to be respectful to each other. I am just commenting on what is done here and what you wrote. My first message “…doesn´t tend to nice questions/answers moments” only if you feel included in one of the subgroups of brand people. Those comments only tried to draw jpod attention and discuss about one the reasons (and the reasons of the reasons too) behind the choosing of some materials and not others.

Within a few weeks of jpod your Japanese will be better, no doubt about it, but the question is: how much is it better thanks to jpod? Would it be worse or better working in a different way? What kind of extra jpod gives to you with respect to competitors? Obviously, you will never be able to answer those questions. Learning, at least up to a point, is a trial-error process and the most reasonable approach is a combination of sources of Japanese language that fits your time, money and learning goals. That task is up to you. If you compare, section by section, what jpod gives and what others (books, internet, etc) give, you will see many good points here but also shortcomings that make it a limited language learning tool in need of the accompaniment of other materials.

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DanMon says:

Friday listener,
would you mind to join me in the forum listener’s lounge where we could have a more proper place to have a civil discussion.

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Friday listener says:

Danmon. I don´t have more time today to write and I have to leave. I consider this place as proper as any other to have a civil discussion and I feel we never did other than that. I will check that lounge later to see if there is something interesting.
Enjoy Japanese.

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Liz says:

Friday listener,
In regard to “brand-name consciousness” in Japan, this is a topic I have been very interested in. When my Japanese friend visited Italy, for example, he told me that his wife and daughters insisted that he bring back some ぷらーだ items. I could not understand this word! I made him repeat it many times. Finally, he said, “You know–like Gucci”! Well, the funny thing is that I am not brand-name conscious and,( I’m serious), I had never heard of “Parada”. ( I guess I lead a sheltered life of some sort.) It was the combination of my ignorance of the name and his pronunciation of it that made the thing so funny!!

Anyway, “brand-name consciousness” is, I believe, a well-documented part of Japanese life. They are “rabid” about it, as far as I can see, much more than Americans, for example. Here’s a quote from “Vanishing Japan” by Elizabeth Kiritani, Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1995. It’s from the “Foreword by Donald Richie”:

“…….Japan now has more people in it than ever before. This means less space. Old-time spreading out — whether in public parks or private houses –has become more expensive. More efficient housing, more efficient methods of feeding, more efficient entertainment–all of this means enormous change. Brand-new poducts must be consumed in ever larger doese to spur an economy whose only consideration is its own steady growth. New products are welcomed everywhere in the world — if the hype is right — but only in Japan is the shin hatsubai (newly available) so ubiquitous as to be a national institution.

Added to this is a certain fecklessness, long visible and celebrated from the Edo era — it even had a name, iki — which finds in the changing fashions and the latest modes a gratification not unknown in other countries buy seldom elsewhere round in such a lavishly concentrated form. Fads and fancies follow each other in an endless parade across the tube, the screen, and onto the streets. All of these are fittingly expensive and all are dependent only upon naked novelty.”

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Liz says:

Friday listener:
I agree with Marie Bresson. “Tu dois aller à une autre web, celui-ci n´est pas pour vous.”

Translated: You should go to another website, this one is not for you.

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Daniel Beck says:

I’m glad this thread between FL & DM is going off list. But, I just wanted to point out one area of disagreement with FL.

Although JP101 is influenced by CP (and they have said as much, no denials there), JP101 blows away CP IMHO. I like Mandarin and so after hearing Peter praise CP on this podcast, I subscribed to them too. And I have to say, I like JP101 WAY more than CP.

While CP may have paved the way, JP101 definitely excells them didacticly (in my opinion as a language teacher) and also as entertainment. I mean, c’mon, Shakespeare Takahashi and the Nagasaki Connection. They rock! :cool: And even though I give him a hard time occasionally :wink: , Peter is the better English speaking host.

JP101, you guys rule!

-Daniel B

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Max says:

I’m learning Chinese and Japanese from CP and Japanesepod. My Chinese is at an intermediate/high level, and my Japanese is at the beginner’s level. My occupation is an English teacher.

(By the way, if you’re really keen on pods, I recommend Chinesepod - go to the Japanese version to hear some useful conversations… especially useful if you can pick up the Chinese)

As different as the Japanese and Chinese people are, so too are the two pods. Chinesepod is much more dry, and only ever has two people. Japanesepod has serials, and funny voices.

I understand much less of Japanesepod, but I like it so much more!

Peter-san の中国語はどうですか?

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Peter says:

Max-san, 日本語もお上手ですね。As for my Chinese…well, thanks to Cpod I was making progress, but due to the time constraints imposed by 18-hour work days, it has taken a backseat at the moment. However, I can’t wait to get back! :grin: I would say that my Chinese is…..slightly above beginner. :wink:

Friday Listener,

Our friends at ChinesePod have been nothing but helpful since we started.
http://www.japanesepod101.com/about-us/special-thanks/

If people would like to compare us, I think it is unwarranted. We are both doing our best to bring education in the respective languages we teach to people across the globe who may not have access to it. If what we are doing here has some positive impact on a listener out there, peaks someone’s interest in either of these amazing cultures and languages or in any other way postivitely stimulates someone’s interest in learning, then I would say what we’re doing here has been a tremendous success.

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Friday listener says:

Peter

It is undeniable that jpod attracts and stimulates some listeners and they are influenced by it. It is undeniable that you and chinesepod try your best, etc. Nobody can deny what you say in your post and I never said the opposite. Feeling the necessity to remember those things to defend your position when nobody mentioned them only highlights your weaknesses. My comments and questions on today´s lesson (supossedly, this section is for that and not for commenting on jpod on general. These were the rules that you posted before but, again, they seem to be forgotten by you) were more concrete but they remain still unanswered by you.

I don´t want to be offensive but saying in your own web that one is inspired by chinesepod and saying now that “If people would like to compare us, I think it is unwarranted” doesn´t make any sense. We have every right to compare you with them when they were the origin of all this and when they provide a good reference, a good ruler, to measure and evaluate what you do. If this is not the place to do it and we should go to the forum, perfect, but, again, you should be first and set the example.

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Max says:

Erm, if anyone’s interested, today’s high level lesson in Chinesepod is a dramatic dialogue, which is a big departure from what they usually do.
Just as japanesepod has taken some ideas from Chinesepod, so too has Chinesepod taken ideas from Japanese.
What co operation!

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Kat says:

Well to get back on topic…

In all the time I studied Japanese at high school and then went to Japan twice, I still do not understand the different between the particles へ and に and には could someone please explain!

In what context do you use each of the above particles?! わかりません!

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Elainemoon says:

Wohoo! Maybe this one you will not think it’s copying.
I found a website learning Mandarin as flash animations.
it’s called activechinese.
Languages at all are the same thing. You could use this way or that way, it doesnt matter.
Japanese also could be made into flash animation. :smile:

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Tony says:

My understanding is that, although they are mostly interchangeable, へ is more for for movenet in a general direction and に is more for movement to a specific location. So, こちら へ どうぞ。I hope this is correct !

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Olive says:

Hmm. I’ve been explained to a number of times the intricacies between “ni” and “e” … still takes some time to sink in. at this point i’m still shooting at the hips and hope that it’s a 50/50 change of getting it right.

but what about “ni wa?”

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高山是真 says:

Particle ‘e’ emphasizes direction and particle ‘ni’ emphasizes destination. Only in the sense of “going” are the two interchangeable. In any other situation you must use ‘ni.’  As for ‘niwa,’ the addition of ‘wa’ adds a contrastive aspect to the meaning. For example ‘koko niwa nai kedo…’ (it’s not here, but [maybe it’s somewhere nearby?]), or in the conversation “bachikan niwa ikimashita ka” (what about [contrastive wa] the vatican, did you go [directional ni] there?) It’s also used for adding the sense of topic (wa) to the sense of the particle ‘ni’. “watashi niwa” (speaking about myself…) ‘nihon niwa’ (talking about in Japan)… of course, getting the nuances of ‘wa’ down is one of the nasty things about learning Japanese as an English speaker. :???:

Hope that helps!

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王凱 says:

ただいま、お帰り、イタリア旅行はどうでしたか。最高でした。何処え行きましたか。ロマえ行きました。コロッセオはどうでしたか。いいえ、いきませんでした。バチカンには行きましたか、いいえ、行きませんでした。
ポンテンを見ましたか。いいえ、みませんでした。
ロメには何がありましたか。
グチでしょう。フェラだーでしょう。フェラタモでしょう。
買い物ですか。他には。
素敵な出会いです。
結局男探しですか。

また、明日。

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