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Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! Today we take a peek at a day in the life of a Japanese telemarketer! Selling insurance in Japan is no easy task for our Takahara-san! In the grammar point, we review the present progressive form of Japanese verbs, ni tsuite, and cover what kind of language you would use when talking to yourself!
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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 29th, 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.
67 Responses to “Beginner Lesson #90 - Telemarketer”
Thursday at 6:30 pm
Mina-san, Omatase shimashita! Today’s location is デンバー・Denbā. Hello to all of our listeners in Denver, Colorado! Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!
Thursday at 10:46 pm
How about a hello to Massapequa?
Thursday at 10:49 pm
Oh! This time I´am the first, well I must return to the books…. one week for the vacations.
Thursday at 10:50 pm
Ah! Again the same, anayway greetings for everbody in this great comunity and for the Japanesepod101 team, keep going!
Friday at 12:07 am
Michael D Cassidy-san, you took my title away…
Have a great day guys~~~
Friday at 1:05 am
I am a new member and just discovered the coment section. I had two questions about Lesson#88 and they were both answered very well. Thank you for your good work.
I have just booked a flight to Osaka in Aug. Ichiban tomodachi ni ai ni ikimasu. She said she had to fill out an application for Awa Odori of Tokusima. I am wondering what I have gotten myself into.
Wonderful job you guys do. Thanks again.
Friday at 1:09 am
Welcome to jppod Anjin-san~~~
It must be nice trip, tell us how’s your trip went. I’m heading next year, hopefully.
Friday at 2:33 am
Hello, minna-san!
Just signed up yesterday — wish I had found this ages ago. I have been studying Japanese intermitently for a few years now, but I’ve always made leaps in progress followed by bouts of inconsistency.
This daily podcast is brilliant. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy receiving it everyday; there’s something about a daily feed which is forcing me to be more regular in my practice (which is, of course, the secret to real improvement).
Your dialogues are always so lively and natural — what a change from the normal dreck served up in the ‘Gambatte!’ style textbooks. My wife, from Oita, and I were just laughing away at today’s all-to-real conversation.
Just a comment to say what a great job you are doing. Peter(piita): I *love* your New York accent. Also, I appreciate your humble and sincere manner in the podcast. Honestly, I am so fed up with typical gaijin podcasts: ‘This is me in Japan. This is my opinions about Japan. I know all about Japan.’ On the contrary, Peter, you have a genuinely appreciative style and modest atmosphere that makes for very gentle listening.
Wow, I’m impressed. Just wanted to tell you lot that.
Friday at 2:34 am
Hahahah! I loved this conversation!
I was beginning to wonder if Natsuko signed a “vocabulary only” contract. =D
Friday at 2:50 am
More new people yeah!!! Welcome~~~
Friday at 3:15 am
すごいですね!たくさんだよ!
It’ really nice to know that people are get into Japanese everyday. I myself told about this podcasts with some friends and they are really greatful for this daily lessons ^_^
It’s a pity that they didn’t make any comment here yet. Anyway, it’s a great thing, isn’t it? Like Peter usually says, “Japanese is a way to spread out the Japanese to the world” ^_^ So let’s continue to do it
Claudenir
Friday at 3:19 am
By the way, I noticed that th emp3 files are with a lower bitrate than before. It’s nice to even this way we have a very good sound! A very interesting idea, cause maybe in other place they would try to short the lenght of the lessons.
One more time, どうもありがとうございます!
Claudenir
Friday at 3:25 am
Hey this was an excellent lesson today, I got a lot of really good notes.
Friday at 3:53 am
I agree with you Claudenir-san!!! Btw, where is this name come from? Very nice, but never heard of it. I don’t think I can say your name….
Friday at 5:28 am
Claudenir-san,
and I agree with Vicky — your name is nice. 
I enjoy your posts.
Are you from France?
Friday at 6:03 am
Courtney-san,
Sometimes I get discouraged about learning Japanese
but the good humor and jokes on jpod help to keep me going! Thanks!
I agree! What a delightful conversation today! I enjoyed everything!
Peter-san,
Yes, I heard what you said (in your very soft aside) in this epidsode!! I hope no one tells your wife about that.
Mina-san,
)
I’m waiting to read your “best pick-up lines”!! (or worst!
Friday at 6:09 am
Hugo-san,
Don’t worry, you’ll get it eventually
anjinsan,
Welcome to the community! Wow, August is quite the time to travel to Japan! It’s one of the busiest travel times, so be prepared for some crowded trains!
I’m sure you will enjoy your trip, though!
ssomers-san,
Welcome to you, too! Thanks for the kind words… Peter will definitely enjoy them
Courtney-san,
Glad you liked that
She’s actually on the vocab/old-lady voice contract
クラウデニールさん、
I think you’re the first to mention it! Yes, the files are much more optimized! And the quality is still great
Vicky-san,
Thanks for helping out the welcoming committee
Liz-san,
Good morning, afternoon, evening… not sure which
Friday at 6:11 am
Liz-san,
Not too much experience with pick-up lines, sorry
How about you share a few?
Friday at 6:13 am
Liz-san,
Actually an old man at the grocery store once told me I had nice hair I think…
Friday at 6:16 am
Liz-san and Vicky-san, doumo arigatou gozaimasu.
I don’t know the real origin of my name but I think that it has a kind of French in it. But I’m actually a Brazilian ^_^
It’s not difficult to pronounce my name. Just speak it as in Spanish with the last syllable stressed
By the way, I’m want to fix the Peter quotation cited for me. The right it’s “JAPANESEPOD101 is a way to spread out the Japanese to the world” Gomen nasai
Till the next time
Claudenir
Friday at 6:17 am
Thank you Nathan-san! The Best!!!
Friday at 6:26 am
Nathan-san,
You are sooooooooooo funny!
Friday at 6:28 am
Liz-san, do you have skype.com ID? Here little chat is going on, and I want to join us sometimes…
Except Eran-san, he doesn’t give me his id.
Friday at 6:40 am
Nathan,
Meant every word of it, really. I am very impressed at how practical and ‘everyday’ is the Japanese used in these passages. Native speakers who have listened in on my practising have said that the dialogues are the most realistic, by far, of any of the study units I have used.
In particular, 「ありがとう迷惑」got a huge clap of approval. “Very useful word, very Japanese.”
Friday at 6:48 am
Liz-san,
I’m glad you think so, but the old man is probably the one who is actually funny
ssomers-san,
That’s what we want to hear!
Just a small correction… it is ありがた迷惑. Definitely a good one to know!
Friday at 7:10 am
Nathan,
Thank you. That would be mistake #8 I’ve made today
Always appreciate the heads-up on this stuff.
Friday at 7:18 am
Nathan-san, don’t forget your mission please~~~~
Claud en ir-san??? I thought it would be French too.
How’s ur team doing for WC? I haven’t seen anything since my team got lost.
Have a good days guys, I’ve been chatting all day at work, no good no good.
Friday at 7:30 am
ssomers-san,
No worries, making mistakes is a great way to learn
Vicky-san,
Once I remember my mission, I’ll make sure not to forget it again!
Friday at 7:31 am
Sorry, lots of posts from me today (迷惑だね)
Sometimes in colloquial Japanese, a noun or adjective is simply given the suffix ’san’ in order to turn it into an identifier. For example, in today’s lesson, Oba-san uses ‘鴬嬢さん’ as a kind of dimunitive title for effect. I think of the fun children’s programme ‘働くおじさん’ where those puppets go around interviewing people at their jobs.
So, following this formula, can I call someone (not to their face, but as an aside, or as a funny comment in describing a situation after the fact) ‘ありがた迷惑さん’, maybe to describe a persistent individual whose annoyance factors outweighs his/her presumed helpfulness?
Thanks for your time reading this blurbbbbbble.
-Sean
Friday at 7:43 am
Going for over 30 comments today??? Yeah!!! Peter-san will be really happy when he comes to work today.
Nathan-san, I’ve been telling you all day about your mission, and I even send PM about your mission. So please don’t forget! ASAP if you can!
We like surprises~~~
Mata Ne!
Friday at 9:47 am
Well, let’s make it 30 comments. We have a national no call list here in the US, that makes it illegal for most telemarketers to call you if you sign up. Telemarketers can be fined $$ and you can be paid for turning them in. Does any other countries have a similar law?
Friday at 9:55 am
I guess my mission today is to push it over 30 comments
I hope that wasn’t Nathan’s mission!
Can’t wait to listen to it, but I have to catch up a bit first!
Friday at 10:52 am
Vicky-san, I think it’s more like “Clau de niir” (an i a little long)
Well, Brazil is on the quarter-finals. It will have a game against France in the Saturday.
I think we have good matches in the quarter: Germany vs. Argentina, Italy vs. Ukraine and England vs. Portugal.
Claudenir
Friday at 12:27 pm
hi
watashl Vicky’s friend ^^
Friday at 12:42 pm
Hi Mina-san, I met so many people from this site. And, I was wandering around the member list one day. And, I found D.K. Lee’s name from the list. He is Korean and live there. He speaks only Korean, but knows a bit of English and Japanese. So I send a message, and told him to leave some comments.
I’m glad Jppod101 goes to everywhere…..listeners are everywhere….I’m so happy that I can meet people from this site, and they are all nice people!!!
And, we are all listening everyday again and again.
I’m in love with JPPOD, ah~~~~
Friday at 1:26 pm
Regarding pick-up lines,
Actually, I far prefer the British expression “to chat up”, since our Amercan expression is so dismally goal-oriented.
Now mind you, I have beeen married for coming up on 28 years now, so this line has not been subjected to any rigorous testing. Nevertheless, it is printed on every can of beer sold in Japan, and so I figure it must be set there much as a stage prompter telling tongue-tied lads what to say.
飲酒は二十歳になってから(です)。
いんしゅははたちになってだらです。
Inshu wa hatachi ni natte kara desu.
Drinking alcoholic beverages is (only) for those who have already turned 20.
注意: Don’t use this line if you suspect she is really under 20!
Friday at 1:51 pm
Wow, lots of posts today! Half of them are Vicky’s though.
Hi Cindy Cさん、
I don’t know about the telemarketer thing in Japan, but I sure wish that they has something like that for the newpaper salesmen here. Of course, when they come, I just pretend I don’t speak Japanese.
-Daniel B
Friday at 4:06 pm
鶯嬢(うぐいすじょう)?
ちょっと説明お願いします!
Voice is こえ、ね?
Those are some difficult looking kanji!
(Also, setsume = explain, isn’t that right? My computer didn’t automatically give me the 明 when I typed in せつめ, I had to type in ‘ashita’ then delete the 日 to get it)
Friday at 4:09 pm
Ooh, I forgot…
間に合う is the same word that Chigusa uses when she arrives on time at the airport, in last week’s Intermediate lesson.
でしょ?
Friday at 5:59 pm
皆さん!38 comments! なんて!うれしいです!
Will be back to address them shortly. Now were working on today’s intermediate lesson!! It’s a big one!
よろしく!
Max-san, せつめいー>説明 need the い. And the explanation for 鴬嬢 is can be in JCC #17 Animals and their meanings
http://www.japanesepod101.com/2006/05/13/animals-and-their-meanings/
Friday at 9:35 pm
Cindy Cさん,
Here you’ve got two listings, one called the Orange one which phone numbers are not sold to telemarketers but appear in phone directories, and the Red one which hides phone numbers from all telemarketers and directories.
There are no fines for telemarketers who pick phone numbers illegally from available directories, though…
But being on the Orange list ensures a certain peace of mind.
Friday at 11:04 pm
In the U.S. we have the “Do Not Call List”. If you register your phone number there and telemarketers call you, they can be prosecuted and fined.
While visiting my 90 year old aunt I noticed she got a lot of telemarketing call. She told me she often had to run in from another room to get the phone, only to find out that it was a telemarketer!
She was very grateful when I put her number on the list and now she doesn’t get those calls.
So, if you have an elderly relative you should register their phone number on the Do Not Call list. After all, you wouldn’t want them hitting on young sales people!
Saturday at 1:58 am
Minna san, Konnichiwa
The podcats are really great motivaton to practice japanese everyday, You can learn so much new vocabulary.
Is everyone who uses kanji on the message page just copying it on there, or are you actually typing it from your pc?
Saturday at 2:10 am
Hey everyone, go listen to the last Culture Class and then put a note on the comments section. If there are over 30, we get something special from Chigusa-san!
Peter-san, every time you say “bush warbler” I hear it as “bush wobbler”. Always makes me laugh.
I don’t know if things shouted from construction sites are really pick-up lines, but my worse one was “Woah! Nice udders!”. Another guy managed to annoy both my Vietnamese friend and I. I heard “Wow, look at the titties” and she heard “Wow, look at the Chinese”. So we were both … peeved.
Worse real attempt was “I can’t believe you’re both a computer programmer and a woman.”
Saturday at 2:23 am
I love that the word “ありがた迷惑.” exists. It’s hard to describe someone like this in English without sounding mean.
I lived with an ありがた迷惑. for a few months when I was 20. She was my 40 year old landlady/housemate (ie it wasn’t an intimate relationship). If I said I was thinking of exercising more, she’d call up gyms and get prices for me. If I said I was sleepy she’d bring me pillows. If I mentioned that I missed vegemite, she’d track it down in the store and bring it home. I asked her not to do all this stuff but she insisted that she enjoyed it.
So I felt like I had to repay her. It was exhausting always trying to think of nice things to do for her in return. I couldn’t keep up. And after a while she got mad and said I was inconsiderate and took her for granted. I try to avoid people like that now.
Saturday at 3:08 am
@Jeiri
If you install Far East Language Support on your PC, you can enable the ‘language bar’ which allows you to select which language you are typing in. For Japanese I select hiragana input. As I type romaji it gets converted to hiragana.
じゃ ね
アラン
Saturday at 8:41 am
well i got a couple of lines first the bad pick up lines
1.hey, if you were a booger id pick you first.
2. do your feet hurt…cus youve been running through my mind all day.
3. did it hurt…whe you fell from heaven.
4. your pants must have a mirror cuz i can see me in em
all and i mean all of these are pretty bad and i have never seen any of them work. my best pick up line isnt realy a pick up line at all. i just walk up to whom ever i am inerested in and say ” so, where ya from”? or something to start a conversation. has worked countless times for me. it also helps to invest in a sence of humor when picking up on a person. because, interestingly enough people associate funny with fun… so if you make them laugh your fun to be around.
Sunday at 3:24 pm
男として、お謝りさせていただきます。大変申し訳ございませんでした。 m(_ _)m
ちぇ、なんとうい奴らめ。超むかつく、ああいう野郎。他の男を悪く思わせるのはもう止せ、てめえら!恥ずかしくねえのか?男の恥だぞ、そういうこと。
いや。。。。私は誰に喋ってる。。。? f(^_^);;
Monday at 9:08 am
ジェイソンさんへ
おたくの日本語のレベルは大変高く、しかも男性がふざけて使う用語も
完璧で驚きました。まるで未来の三浦鑑真かドナルドキーンさんの
ようですね。ただ、わたくしたちは日本語の初心者であり、そして
丁寧な例えば、いつかは川端康成や谷崎潤一郎の小説を言語で読んでみたいという夢と希望を持って語学に励んでおります。ですから、この初心者の討論の欄にはあなた様のお言葉とレベルはあわないと察しましたのでどうかもう三段階上の討論のグループへ参加なされることをお進めいたします。
Tuesday at 8:05 am
ssomersさんへ
親切なお言葉をありがたく受けておきます。感動しました。^_^ あ、ですが、おっしゃっていた方々をWikipediaで調べてみる必要がありました。ヘッへ。f(^_^);; もうほとんど理解できたと思います。
あなた様こそ、初心者である事を私には見えません。正直、ssomersさんのお返事は結構難しかったです。私の日本語はまだまだ足りないようですね。
お言葉ですが、まだあまり自身ないので、高いレブルの日本語を使っているところへ行くのはちょっと緊張します。ですか、もっと難しいことを練習しなければ、成長しません。参ったな。f(^_^);;
Wednesday at 9:53 pm
Loved this lesson. Telemarketer’s drive me nuts. Makes me wish the phone had never been invented.
ネイト
Thursday at 12:29 pm
Thanks, Jason. Thankfully most men aren’t jerks.
Did ssommers really just say that you are surprisingly good at Japanese and that you frolic perfectly?
Thursday at 12:41 pm
Ermm….no.
Friday at 7:14 pm
Great conversation! A little late perhaps but I heard this approach recently it was so original it made me chuckle.
Walk up to a girl and randomly say.
“10 ton Polar bear.”
At this point she will most likely look at you quizzically and probably say “huh?”
You sit down and say
“Well it breaks the ice doesn’t it!”
However it’s probably been played out by now. I thought grampa was pretty good at hitting on chicks by my estimation.
seeing as ive given one i like heres one I can’t stand.
“What’s happening sweetness?”
I mean come on!! Who does that work on??? The incredibly despirate?
Monday at 1:43 am
I can’t find out what an 鴬 sounds like. I know its a weird request but I wonder if its possible to find out what one sounds like. I think a nighting gale sounds like this.
http://www.avisoft.com/sounds/ntg.mp3
is it similar?
You also have a bird that sounds like its been wound up like a clock.”Whhaee wha wha waaaaa.” I think murakami called it in his book the elephant vanishes “the wind up bird.” What is that ones name? You hear it all the time in Japanese dramas when every thing goes quiet. Oh and before you ask NO i’m not a twitcher.
Monday at 8:33 am
はじめまして、kawasaki といいます。
鶯の声を見つけました。
http://www.mu-tech.co.jp/mp3/uguisu_ikoma.mp3
Monday at 5:37 pm
ありがとうごさいますかわさきさん
Tuesday at 8:39 pm
In Norway, you can register on the Internet and say that you don’t want calls from telemarketers, but even then they may call you… Well, at least it feels less cruel to tell them you’ve registered and then hang up, than to just hang up.
Monday at 2:22 am
Clienad-san
どういたしまして
kawasaki
Thursday at 9:17 pm
JapanesePOD101,
Another very pratical and interesting lesson.
However, PLEASE turn down the volume on the ringing phone sound effect. I almost drove off the road. I cannot believe someone listening with earbuds hasn’t already complained.
Thanks
John C. Briggs
Friday at 3:39 am
Yeah…the ringing startles me everytime.
Thursday at 2:32 am
I think something’s wrong with the MP3 file. I downloaded it, and it seems to be only the introduction.
Thursday at 2:22 pm
Works fine for me!
Friday at 5:16 pm
Aaron, that happens sometimes. The file gets cut off, and for some reason it cuts off just at the intro, or at some specific point in the lesson. Just download it again!
Monday at 4:17 pm
hello everyone!
i just have a question about the lesson…in the 例文 for ナンパする、there was a mention of omotesandou? i was wondering if that was a place perhaps?
anyone got any ideas?
Friday at 2:16 pm
potwsさん、
表参道 (おもてさんどう)Omotesandou is a broad boulevard that goes from the 表参道駅 (station) to 明治神宮前(めいじじんぐうまえ) Meiji Jinguu-Mae. It is full of fashionable shops and people. At the top end of 表参道 is 原宿 (はらじゅく) Harajuku, another very fashionable part of Tokyo。
I think they were encouraging ピーターさん to go to 表参道 for some ナンパ action.
Saturday at 6:06 pm
もしもし、迷惑保険会社の高原でごさいます。今日は、
間に合っています。失礼します。はい、迷惑保険会社の高原です。今日は、結構です。かしこまりました、失礼します。はい、迷惑保険会社の高原です。今日は、この仕事は大嫌い。はい、迷惑保険会社の高原です。今日は保険について、どうも、ウグイス嬢ですね。誰ですか。迷惑保険会社の高原です。今日は、保険、お祖母さん、高原さんはウグイス嬢ですね、ね、有難うごさいます。お祖父さん、貴方はナンパしていますか、いいえ、ナンパしていません、ただ、会話しています。全くも、そして、ウグイス嬢さん、自分の男を見つけてください、保険は要りませn、もういい、こんな仕事もう止める
また、後で、
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