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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 1st, 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.
36 Responses to “Beginner Lesson #103 - The Perfect Gift”
Tuesday at 6:30 pm
Mina-san, Today’s location is ブラジリア・Burajiria - hello to all of our listeners in Brasilia, Brazil!
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!
Tuesday at 9:50 pm
1st comment today!
All that blank space. The benefits of my time zone I suppose.
mata mata. Let’s try out the new stuff here–>
http://www.japanesepod101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=465
just one sentence. Ah go on, you will, you know you want to.
Tuesday at 10:15 pm
Just got back from Goro Miyazaki’s ゲド戦記 (Gedo senki - Tales of Earthsea). It was alright. Not as good as papa’s recent films.
Will have to listen in the morning.
Tuesday at 10:27 pm
Belton-san, just wrote my sentence of the day.
Great idea!
Daniel-san, Ebert, wherever he is, can feel the bad ora coming from that poor review! Come on, a bit more effort.お願いします!
And, when are you coming down here?
Wednesday at 12:01 am
Good Morning, here is in TX. Raining so hard, and I so wet. Hope everyelse where have a good sunny day though.
Today is 5th day of Voting. How long we have to vote? I forgot. Anyway, please follow these direction from Eran-san. It’s pretty easy to follow.
1) Go to http://www.podcastawards.com
2) Select JapanesePod101.com in the Education category
3) Enter your name and email at the bottom of the page
4) Click the ‘Submit’ button
5) Be sure to check your email and VERIFY YOUR VOTE
Touhyou hontoni onegaishimasu!!!
Wednesday at 1:47 am
Hello!
I won’t have time to listen to this today put I just want to ask a question. What is the difference between 友 and 友達? Is it plural or what?
Wednesday at 2:47 am
i like jockzon’s questions….does anyone ever answer them?
Wednesday at 3:04 am
Danielsan - I can’t wait to see that movie! Even if it’s not spectacular, I’m sure I’ll like it more than Howl’s Moving Castle.
I’m glad “kureru” was mentioned in this podcast. When it’s brought up again you guys should mention the joke about crayons! Ya know–”kureyo kureyon”.
Wednesday at 4:01 am
I was pondering agemasu and have a question to go with JockZon’s
Can you use ageru for people in your company?
They’re part of your in-group so use the same forms that apply to you.
Or is this only when you are talking to out-group people?
When talking within the group you need to use respectful terms/forms for superiors?
Mmm.
I can’t wait for Tales of Earthsea but think I’ll have to wait another year for the DVD
(When I went to Howl I got my money back because it was an English dub. ugh
)
Thanks for playing ピーターさん I had a busy day today and my own daily sentence needs to wait until tomorrow.
Wednesday at 4:28 am
Belton-san,
How have you been?
Your question about ageru is a good one. I just had lectures from 4 different sensei´s on this, so it shows how important this topic is!!! Generally, when you want to use a neutral expression ( in other words not too formal and not informal) you can use ageru. So, when talking about someone in your company or about yourself you can use this. However, if you want to be polite you could use sashiageru. For example, kochira kara kippu o sashiagemasu.
Take care and have a great week.
Wednesday at 4:40 am
Peterちゃん、
Sorry, didn’t want to post a full review here. Maybe on my blog tonight.
Re: coming there. Yeah, well, August 3rd has been circled on my calendar for some time. I don’t as the day to visit, but it’s when I finally can breathe a little. So, probably next week.
Robさん、
You didn’t like Howl’s?
Beltonさん、
Know what you mean about dubbed movies.
Almost didn’t see Cars here because my local theater only had it dubbed. Had to go all the way down to 六本木ヒルスto see it.
Speaking of reviews, I need to listen to today’s lesson.
Back in a tick
Wednesday at 4:40 am
JP101 _ mant acima! _ eu amor fuchibol! _ _ como você guys!
To The Community: 第2 変更をありがとう! S_R_C
Wednesday at 5:06 am
Great lesson today! I am very interested in the whole topic of gift-giving. Will do you a Culture Class on this? Gift-giving in Japan is a confusing topic for other people to understand. At least we will have the correct vocabulary to use. Thanks! I’m happy that you think we will be “experts” at the end of this series of lessons.
I was quite surprised by the incorrect example in the pdf. I was studying it and looking at it, then I realized it was an example of the WRONG way to do it.
OK, I’m going back to the Learning Center to try the quizzes, etc.
I did vote thought I’m still out of town.
Wednesday at 5:07 am
though I’m out of town
Wednesday at 5:22 am
Off the topic today, it’s raining so much here. My company let all us to go home. I live close to work, but it took me forever to get home since they block all the streets. We don’t get rain much here, so people don’t know what to do with rains. Hmmm….scary situation. I never had this problem before.
Wednesday at 5:39 am
Vicky-san,
That’s amazing! Rain in Texas!! I’m glad you got to go home early!
Re: the Learning Center. I guess I will need to study about 10 times more than I do.
Or, I need to go back to many Beginner Lessons
because I am finding the Quizzes are way too difficult for me.
How about anyone else?
Analyzing it, I think I am way too dependent on romaji
I do understand the dialogue and I enjoy it. I would appreciate anyone’s advice.
Wednesday at 5:49 am
Man… Liz-san, I thought you are on vacation. You still study over there? Take some break eh?
I guess we could go over 30 comments today since I’m off??? I forgot to say something….driving on raining day was too much. My hands are still shacking….
Wednesday at 6:03 am
Vicky-san, glad to hear you made it home okay.
Good opportunity for the 30 comments, over halfway already!
Liz-san, when I first signed up I took a glance at the quiz for survival #1, and it was too difficult for me.
It probably still is - so much to learn!
Will vote today, Vicky-san remind me later today eh?
Wednesday at 6:12 am
I will Mark-san, if I’m still alive. City started to evacuate people, and my cell isn’t working….
Wednesday at 8:52 am
Re: I did like Howl’s Moving Castle, but not as much as I loved Spirited Away–which was one of the best movies to come out of Ghibli in a long time. Howl was good, but it’s not something I can wholly recommend to others or watch every day (like I did Princess Mononoke). What’s your favorite Ghibli movie overall? Mine is Whisper of the Heart without a doubt; if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you do so. It’s finally been released in the States, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding it wherever you may be.
Wednesday at 12:58 pm
uhm, vocab question…
at the end of todays dialogue, Chigusa-san (who MUST be a hottie… she’s got such a sexy voice) says “konya no tanjobi pati de watashimasho”….
what does “watashi” mean in this context?
Thanks
Wednesday at 3:01 pm
Ok, I understand ‘ageru’. It means sense that you raise something up when giving it to someone. And ‘kureru’ almost sounds like ‘kuru’ so it follows that the thing is coming towards me. But what’s this word that was added at the end of the dialogue? “watashite?’
(Also, I think this might be the word that the poster above is referring to.)
Wednesday at 4:08 pm
The word in question is 渡す(watasu), which means to hand over(transitive, so it takes an object). It is conjugated to the volitional form -> watashimashou.
Translated word by word its something like this:
konya no tanjoubi pati de watashimasho
Tonight’s birthday party at lets-hand-over
Note that the object (wine) is dropped. Putting it in, it would be like this:
Konya no tanjoubi paatii ni wain wo watashimashou.
Hope this clears it up.
As for 友(tomo) vs 友達(tomodachi), the first one is mostly used in expressions and in written language, and very seldom in spoken Japanese. For new learners (and probably intermediate and advanced too), the safest would be to stick to 友達. Both words are number neutral, so if you want to specifiy one or many friends, you would spesify that infront of 友達(一人の友達 - one friend, 沢山(takusan)の友達 - many friends)
Jonas
Wednesday at 4:13 pm
In short:
watashimashou = watasu + masu + ou
Detail:
watasu = To deliver, to hand over
watashimasu = polite form of watasu (-su -> -shi, then add masu).
watashimashou = polite volition form of watasu (-su ->-shou).
Meaning:
watashimashou = Let’s deliver
Similarly, watashite is the te-form of watasu. (-su -> -shite)
Wednesday at 4:17 pm
Dang. I was just about to reply to Joshさん & Maxiwawaさん and Jonas goes and steals my thunder.
Oh, btw, Joshさん、 from what I gather from “EYE-witnesses” Chigusaさん is a hottie, but you better be careful about your criteria.
Did you ever see that Aerosmith video where the guy is calling a 900 number, but it’s really some old hag in curling irons?
Wednesday at 4:31 pm
Robさん、
I also like ‘Whisper of the Heart’ very much. ‘Spirited Away’ is great, but I’ve watched it too many times now. I also very much like ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’, although that isn’t on a japanese theme.
‘My Neighbours the Yamadas’ was interesting as a parady of japanese life. ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ was also interesting from that perspective, although too depressing to watch repeatedly. Both of those were directed by Isao Takahata rather than Hayao Miyazaki and have a different feel. In terms of shock value the non-ghibli ‘Bare Foot Gan’ also is worth watching from a war historical perspective.
I guess that ‘Pom Poko’ is my least favourite from the Ghibli stable. There were some interesting references to Japanese myths, but the story didn’t really grab me.
Straying away from Ghibli, both ‘Azu Manga Daio’ & ‘Fruits Basket’ give an interesting perspective on Japanese schools, while the ‘Oh my Goddess’ videos (not so much the movie), give some limited insight of college life. Apart from the aforementioned ‘My neighbours the Yamadas’ there doesn’t appear to be much based on realistic adult life. Maybe time to pick up a j-dorama.
Wednesday at 4:56 pm
Thank you Jonas
You always got good answers.
Wednesday at 6:02 pm
Oh, by the way Danielさん, a little bird told me you didn’t use 「さん」when referring to me…
what’s up with that?
Jonas
Wednesday at 8:19 pm
Jonasさん、
I must have missed it because you stole my thunder.
ごめん!
That little bird can be a troublemaker at times.
Wednesday at 8:31 pm
Alan-san and Rob-san
Whispers of the Heart is my favorite as well.
I found Howl better on later viewings.
usagi-san
It’ll have to be yaru then 
Thanks.
Of course with me the higher up the organisation the less respect I have for my superiors
Some day the concepts of relative status will finally click. (Sometimes I think I have it and then… it’s gone. )
Liz-san
(warau)
Have a great holiday. I think you keep up with the lessons because they come so often that if you miss a week you’re scrambling to catch up again. I’m still working through the early episodes.
We expect a full report in Japanese with slides when you get back
– I had a conversation with a Japanese student. She pointed out a major thinking difference to me. If I met someone in the library I would say on leaving “don’t work too hard” not so with the Japanese “ganbatte” stick with it, do your all approach
–
I too find the learning centre quizzes more advanced than the podcasts level and content. I don’t think it’s just a case of romaji dependence. (I’m ok with kana / kanji )
The JLPT4 quizzes are a bit more advanced than the actual test (IMHO)
There’s also the fact that although the podcasts are only 15 mins long they pack in what would probably be covered in a weekly 1 hour class. The daily pace is quite fast if you listen a couple of times, review, try to do quizzes, maybe write something, read a little about the grammar.

Then there’s a new lesson the next day.
I find it takes a while for the information to “settle” so it can be used. So it’s easy to find the 15 mins to listen but hard to find the extra time to process it… and of course there’s the time needed to hang out here too
Wednesday at 8:37 pm
Belton-san,
Thank you very much for your thoughtful and helpful answer. I will keep on trying. It was refreshing to hear you say that you thought the quizzes were more advanced than the content level. You’re right about the fast and furious pace of the lessons!
That thing about the full report in Japanese with slides . . .
And that thing about using time to do Comments . . .
Wednesday at 10:03 pm
I have a question regarding the Miyazaki thread. Which movie was “Whisper of the Heart?” What was the Japanese title?
Personally my take on his movies is that 千と千尋の神隠し (Spirited Away) is his best, and ハウルの動く城 (Howl’s Moving Castle) is probably second. I enjoyed 魔女の宅急便 (Kiki’s Delivery Service) and となりのトトロ (My Neighbor Totoro). I’m not a fan of もののけ姫 (Princess Mononoke). Although very lush & stylish, it’s dark themes bothered me. Too 神道 (Shinto) for me.
Wednesday at 10:38 pm
Daniel san
Whisper of the Heart = 耳をすませば (I can never remember that second word sumaseba) It was a Ghibli film but not Miyazaki.
It has a great version of John Denver’s Country Road.
Yoshifumi Kondou directed it. Unfortunatly he died a few years later, I’ll always wonder what other films he might have made.
Thursday at 6:09 am
I’m so glad to see that you guys enjoyed Whisper of the Heart as much as I did!
Alansan, yes I’ve seen all of those films. In fact, I’ve seen every movie to come out of Ghibli! Grave of the Fireflies is very depressing, yes, so I don’t own that one, though I’d say it’s in my top 3 favorite from that studio. If I need a good cry I’ll look into it again
Beltonsan, yes that’s so sad that Kundo died after “Whisper”–he had nothing but good things ahead of him, I think, as far as film is concerned. So sad!
Tuesday at 7:42 am
このレッスンには唾らしい事が怒るんでした。口語体のレッスンを切ってながら、分かっていて,読まないんでした。
やっぱり、難しいですよね。でも、とても沢ら幸せしています。
ありがとうございます。勉強に成りました
デイブ
Saturday at 1:44 am
今日、部長の誕生日ですね。すっかり忘れてました、確か今年は還暦ですね。部長に何をわけましょうか。ワインはどうですか。いいですね。2006年ものはどうですか。いいアイテイアですね。1946年ものより、随分安いし、決まりです。今夜の誕生日パーチーで渡しましょう、そう
しましょう。
今日、部長の誕生日よね。そうだよ。すっかりわすれてた。今年は還暦だね、部長に何をわけようか。ワインはどうだか。いいだね、2006年ものはどうかな。いいアイテイアだね、1946年ものより、ずいぶん安いし、決まりだ、今夜の誕生日パーチーで渡そう。そうしようよ。
また、後で。
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