Mina-san,

Today’s location is シアトル・Shiatoru. Hello to all of our listeners in Seattle, Washington!

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

I was surprised to hear the use of the word あなた in this Beginners No.96 dialogue. Isn’t it only usually used for close acquaintances.
Is it used here because the security guard does not need to be polite?
Could we have some guidance here please?

Ummm… Vicky Here~~~

Excellent podcast today. Just what I need. I love to take pictures when I travel and found myself in a few similar situations during my last trip to Japan.
After yesterdays lesson I have been trying to figure out how to ask someone if I may take their picture and here it is in the first sentence today. My troubles arose from not asking first but I didn’t know how. Everyone will be happier now.
I am very thankful for your lessons and I am sure southern Honshu is as well.

Anjin

Mina-san~~~I got raise today! What a surprised!!!

Congratulations Vicky-san!!

So, how about a donation to subscription for me? Onegai shimasu!

Hope everyone has a great day.

Again Takeさん was very funny. But, I wonder if that little bird (and other beginners) understood what he was joking about. Should that be translated in the beginner lessons? It seems a little self-indulgent to keep asking him what he thinks when he speaks so quickly and casually. Maybe that little bird and other beginners will chirp in and tell us what they think.

Takaseさん、

Did they drag you in to the studio just for that one line? We need more Takaseさん！！！

Our Vickyちゃん、

You got a raise? Even though you listen to JP101 during working hours? Is your computer problem the reason you aren’t on AIM right now?

-Daniel B

Vickyさん, yeah I’ll send you a PM. What’s your forum name?

The lesson was great! And I agree with Danielさん, more Takase-san! Where’s the bonus track about her weekend?

This beginner’s conversation confronts me with one of the subtle complexities of Japanese again. When Take-san is referring to his own father and mother, he uses the honorific terms “otousan” and “okaasan” rather than the humble terms “chichi” and “haha”. Although the context makes it clear whose parents are being referred to, in many cases, the polite terms mean “your father” or “your mother”, while the humble terms mean “my father” or “my mother”. Was the use of the honorific terms in this conversation natural?

“Again Takeさん was very funny. But, I wonder if that little bird (and other beginners) understood what he was joking about. Should that be translated in the beginner lessons? It seems a little self-indulgent to keep asking him what he thinks when he speaks so quickly and casually. Maybe that little bird and other beginners will chirp in and tell us what they think.”

Being one of those people who doesn’t always understand what Take-さん　says, I’d like to say that yes, I’d like to know what he says. Maybe just a short note at the end of the pdf? You know, “highlights from today’s broadcast” or something. The biggest 問題 I have from Japanesepod is all the joking around that I just don’t understand, or the joking that is done entirely in English. I guess I’m looking for a happy medium where I can look up the impromptu jokes that you guys come up with on air… I think one of the real strengths of a daily podcast is the off-the-cuff stuff that you come up with… I’d be really interested to see you take it a bit further.

Anyway, back on track.
If you ever come over to the mainland, you’ll have little or no trouble finding entries/exits, just as long as you pay attention to the kanji pdf. In China, exits are market with ‘出口’、anything forbidden is marked with ‘禁止’ batteries are called ’電池’ an ID card is called a ’身分証’… the list is endless. Some you could probably work out, like an emergency exit is often called an ’安全出口’　We even have the little green man that Peter mentions in today’s show!

The pronunciations are sometimes a little different though. Then again, about 50% are almost the same. My (native Shanghainese) students are always correcting my Japanese pronunciation until I explain to them that I’m not speaking Chinese…

Mina-san,

Apologies, but one of the PDF promises slipped our mind as we were making the PDF. There has been a new copy uploaded with a comparison of a few toru verbs.

Vicky-san,

Congrats on the raise!

Liz-san,

Thanks for spreading the awareness!

Daniel-san,

It’s not the official opinion of JP101 (only mine), but I think that little things like that keep the lessons more accessible to a wider audience. Just like there are benefits to be gained by beginners listening to the Intermediate lessons, the little banter provides something nice for a higher level student listening to the Beginner lessons. In addition, there are time constraints that don’t make it practical to explain everything that someone might not understand, and I think with those in mind it is better to expose listeners to a little more Japanese as opposed to a little more English. We have such a great community of listeners here in the comments as well as on the forums, so if someone is curious about those tidbits, they are always welcome to post and ask fellow listeners. We like to see the listeners helping eachother out… it’s one of the qualities that makes the community here great All just my opinion, though

Bob-san,

As far as I know, your impression is correct. I believe this was just a case of his disregard for the security guard (and the rules). I’ll try to get an official word on that!

Sindy-san,

I love photography, too

Mina-san,

We are currently experiencing some strange behavior with our media hosting provider serving the wrong audio files. We are working closely with them to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding,

Eran

The informal audio seems to be working fine now.

Was the use of the honorific terms in this conversation natural?

Yes, I believe it’s considerably more common. It’s not really “correct” or “proper”, but that doesn’t stop it from being more common.

Our Vickyちゃん

「我がVickyちゃん」か？かわいいあだ名。いいなあ。

Mina-san,

We have corrected the strange issue with the random audio tracks being served. Thank you for your patience and my apologies for the inconvenience.

Eran

PS, going back and reading my post (”self-indulgent”), I can understand why it may have seemed that I was opposed to the banter.

感謝です、Danielたん。

Re: Take-san’s remark about today’s conversation, did he say, “komato sho”??:???:

Take Take Take…blah blah blah…

-Daniel B

Matt-san,
I kind of agree with you about that! However, Peter-san (or Nathan?) suggested that we could help each other. To that end I wrote down the word I thought I heard, but no one has answered me.

Does anyone else love it on the Informal Audio when Take-san says, in a thick accent, “Nihongo ga wakarimasen”

Yes Liz-san, that is my favorite part too. I’m listening again and again all day. But, what country accent he is trying to copy????

Ah….Take Take Take-san!!!

Speaking of blah blah blah, check out this comic:

http://www.comics.com/comics/pearls/archive/pearls-20060712.html

Japanesepod101チ＿ム様、

消すと切るはどう違うか？

私の電子英和辞典にかけるのボタンは［入］で消すのボタンは［切］です。
切ると消すは機械のボタンにどう違うことを教えてくださいませんか？同じですか？　

それから、家族はてんれい形を使うについて…

このレッスンでガードマンを聞かけかった人は,[お父さんとお母さん]を［父と母］の代わりに両親と言いました。
てんれい形を使うことは、［いい人ですが。。］のニュアンスがあってと思います。困った人は、ガードマンに[いい気質の人です]を教え見たがってですか？.　正解ですか？　

Bob1-さん、それについてどう思いますか。

よろしくお願いします

mikuji

PS:to Everybody- I hope it does not annoy you if I try to write all my lesson related post in Japanese[no doubts there are many mistakes in it]. I need the exercise but I would hate to discourage or frustrate people- this is a bginner lesson after all. Please let me know if you want me to show some bits in translation. Any corrections welcome but please keep it brief.Thanks.

消すと切るはどう違うか？…

この場合は、同じ意味です。

Everybody- I hope it does not annoy you if I try to write all my lesson related post in Japanese[no doubts there are many mistakes in it]. I need the exercise but I would hate to discourage or frustrate people

いや。気にする事はありません。初心者であるメムバーにもっと高いレベルの日本語を見るといいですよ。慣れなくちゃならないから。全部わからなくてもいいです。最初は、一つ二つの言葉と文章がわかればいいです。だが、ミクジさんは誰かに翻訳を頼まれたら、その願いを叶ってあげて下さい。

Someone mentioned getting Germanpod101.com instead of Japanesepod…

Actually, this has been happening a lot recently, I clicked on Chinesepod.com recently and got good old Japanesepod101! Maybe a problem with the hosts?

Keep up the good work!

I like not being able to understand the side comments. Like someone said, it’s a good frustration. I keep them as something I’ll come back to in a few months and suddenly understand. A way to measure my progress.

One thing I would really like is a translation of the informal track. The reason I don’t usually listen to it is because I won’t understand most of it and even if I think I’ve figured it out I’ll never really know if I got it right.

JapanesePOD101
In the PDF, you have “plain post” where I think you mean “plain past”.
John

[…] 2006-07-13 Beginner Lesson #96 - You May Not […]

Ferro Gaita…

news…

The recent informal tracks have been time consuming and a bit frustrating. They seem well beyond the beginner level, especially the grammar structures and colloquialisms. Perhaps these were for the more advanced students when the lesson inventory wasn’t as large as it is today.

But, gee, they *shoot* you if you take a picture in a 写真禁止 zone??

I think next trip maybe it is better if we go to アフガニスタン.

Tommyさん,
I think your observations are spot on! I agree that it can be confusing, since beginning learners learn that “otousan” and “okaasan” are used to refer to other people’s parents, but the truth is there are many times where it would sound more natural to use those over haha/chichi in conversation.
Thanks for your help!!

Tommyさん,

Just to expand on Jessi’s comment a bit - you’re totally right about the formality of “haha” and “chichi” (I myself almost never use those words except in very formal situations - ie. the immigration bureau or speaking to a university lecturer). There are almost as many ways in Japanese to say “mum” and “dad” as there are in English. You’ll hear “papa” and “mama” from young women right into their late twenties/early thirties, and even things like “Yuki-mama” and “Yuki-papa” from a girl called Yuki, for example, to refer to her own mother and father!