About our Printer-friendly lesson notes
Follow along to our award winning lessons with detailed PDF Lesson
Notes! These easy to print notes take a closer look at the grammar
point and vocabulary words presented in the audio lesson. Plus,
read more about
language101 cultural topics related to the lesson.
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access the PDF Lesson
Notes today!
Kanji Close-Up
Take a closer look at the kanji characters used in the lesson
Dialogue with the Kanji Close Up Practice Sheets! You'll learn the
meaning, readings, and stroke order of each character. Plus,
improve your writing with kanji stroke order practice sheets!
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access the Kanji Close Up
Practice Sheets today!
About our Review Audio Tracks
Listen and repeat with the Review Track. Hear the lesson
vocabulary and main phrases and repeat after the native speaker -
it's the best way to perfect your pronunciation!
Upgrade your account to access The Review Track and start
perfecting your pronunciation today!
About our Lesson Audio
Our team of
Japanese language specialists have been releasing new audio and video
lessons weekly since 2005. That's a lot of
Japanese language learning! All lessons are free for the first 2 weeks
before going into our Basic and Premium Archive.
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access every single
lesson we've ever created today!
About our Dialog Audio Tracks
The audio lesson is a comprehensive, easy to use lessons that
makes learning Japanese fun for anyone.
Each audio lesson contains can be downloaded in seconds
to your computer, iPod, phone, or mp3 player so that you can learn quickly and be speaking Japanese in no time at all.
The audio lesson is your ticket to learning to speak
Japanese with confidence and accuracy, and from your very first lesson!
About our Dialog Audio Tracks
Don't have enough time for an entire lesson today? Listen to the
Dialogue Only Track to hear the native Dialogue. Listening to a
little bit of
Japanese everyday, no matter how much, will greatly improve your listening
comprehension. Guaranteed!
Upgrade your account to access the Dialogue Only Track and other
Premium Tools today!
About our Grammar Audio Tracks
Tackle grammar head on with the lesson Grammar List. We break
down the grammar piece by piece so you fully master the structure
and formation.
Upgrade your account to access the Grammar List and other
Premium lesson tools today!
About our Videocasts
Our team of
Japanese language specialists have been releasing new audio and video
lessons weekly since 2005. That's a lot of
Japanese language learning! All lessons are free for the first 2 weeks
before going into our Basic and Premium Archive.
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access every single
lesson we've ever created today!
About our Learning Center
Listen and read the line-by-line breakdown of the lesson
conversation with this Premium Tool. Listen to each line as many
times as you need until you fully understand the conversation and
pronunciation. Line-By-Line Audio Transcripts are the perfect way
to improve your comprehension - fast!
Upgrade your account to access Line-By-Line Audio Transcript and
other Premium lesson tools today!
About our Videocasts
Our team of
Japanese language specialists have been releasing new audio and video
lessons weekly since 2005. That's a lot of
Japanese language learning! All lessons are free for the first 2 weeks
before going into our Basic and Premium Archive.
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access every single
lesson we've ever created today!
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 24th, 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.
102 Responses to “Beginner Lesson #114 - Snow in Summer”
Thursday at 6:30 pm
Mina-san, Today’s location is ミネソタ・Minesota - hello to all of our listeners in Minnesota, U.S.A.! Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!
Thursday at 9:18 pm
Well, an early one today.
Thursday at 9:19 pm
Frist today!! But what’s up with the Learning Centre??
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!
ジリアン
Thursday at 9:54 pm
Gillian-san!
Haven’t heard from you lately!! 
)
You’re alive!!
The Learning Center works fine for me.:???: (Note the American spelling
Thursday at 9:56 pm
Since when are you greeting entire states? Don’t you all know any cities in Minnesota?
Thursday at 10:27 pm
For some reason Brits always spell things funny; they have sometype of creeping ‘r’ syndrome: theatre for therater etc
Thursday at 10:33 pm
Daniel-san,
Are there really cities in Minnesota?
Thursday at 10:54 pm
Nathanさん、
Yes. I learned that in elementary school. Don’t they teach that information in Texas?
Thursday at 11:02 pm
Eran-san,
Something has changed here. Under “Leave a Reply”, my name used to pop up, but now I have to type it. Just so you know . . .
Mina-san,
Don’t forget to vote for our Sølvi! And listen to her music, Episode 5, Round 1, under the picture. Sølvi is the third one, so you might want to download the mp3, then fast forward to about a third of the way before the end. You won’t miss anything. The other two musicians are bad.
http://www.creamofthecrop.cc/
Thursday at 11:25 pm
Minnesota kara Ohayou gozaimasu, minna-san!
JapanesePod101 sugoku miha ya na!!
Watakushi no namae wa Ryuu desu. JapanesePod101.com atarashii membaa desu. Jibun de Juu-go nen mae kara nihongo o benkyou shite iru no desu. Sankagetsu Ousaka ni sunde imashita.
Shuushin wa Minneapolis de, Minnesota no machi ga ooi nan’ no. Demo koko ni wa motto ooi yori no ga mizuumi desu! Mou 10,000 mizuumi soo desu.
Kono web site wa nihongo o benkyou narau tame ni hontou ni subarashii desu yo. Erai ya na!
Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu!
JapanesePod101.com gambatte kudasai!!
-Ryuu
Thursday at 11:26 pm
I’m glad to hear these informal conversations. One question, though: I was sort of expecting the guys to use “sugei” instead of “sugoi” in their version of the dialogue. I see this in movies and tv a lot, and it’s usually just the boys. Too slangy for Japanese Pod 101, or am I misunderstanding something?
Thursday at 11:42 pm
Hi Mina-san, hope everyone has a great day.
So, informal lessons now? Gotta go back and listen to all the informal tracks that I missed out on before.
Liz-san, are you on a different computer? Or did you erase cookies? That might explain why the form fields were not prefilled.
Nathan-san, I guess Ryuu-san answered that question.
Welcome Ryuu-san, good introduction!
Thursday at 11:45 pm
Yeah, Lizさん, beware before you become the new cookie monster…
Thursday at 11:55 pm
Mark-san,
どうも!
クーキーモンスタですよ!
Thursday at 11:57 pm
Thank you!
This is a waaaay cool site.
I am very impressed.
Why didn’t we have this 10 years ago?
I think it would be awesome to have this model for all languages, like Spanish, Chinese, Arabic….
I hope JapanesePod101 keeps on going!
Friday at 1:21 am
whoa! Ryuu-san, anata no website wa sugoku kakkoii desu ne!
on another note, anyone know how to create “User defined functions” in a SQL database? i’ve tried searching for stuff but i’m approaching a plateau on my progress. kanashii T.T
JPod101 crew, doumo arigatou! atarashii no lesson wa omoshiroi desu yo!
Friday at 2:01 am
Rei-kun,
This is a little out of my area, but I’ll link to an article that could be of help. I’m not sure if the syntax for UDFs in SQL vary by SQL product (i.e. MS SQL, Oracle, DB2, etc.).
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=31673&seqNum=1&rl=1
Friday at 2:09 am
That was very useful. I didn’t realise that guys could use ‘no’ in questions. I’m really looking forward to the next lesson
@rudyryo-san: There is a chinesepod website.
@psycho13-san: After yesterdays posts, I was expecting a change in pronunciation for sugoi too. However if ’sugoi’ works for Yoshi-san, then who am I to argue.
Friday at 3:01 am
Interesting Kanji here
戌年 いぬどし
surprising that it is not
犬年 dog year.
Japanse always seems logical, and then something like this happens.
ジョン
Friday at 3:15 am
@John Briggs-san.
The zodiac animal kanji are all different from the regular kanji:
十二支 = The twelve signs of the Chinese Zodiac
子 = ne(zumi) = the Rat, the first of the twelve animals of the zodiac.
丑 = ushi = the Ox, one of the twelve animals of the oriental zodiac.
寅 = tora = the Tiger, one of the twelve animals of the oriental zodiac.
卯 = u(sagi) = rabbit = the Rabbit [Hare], one of the twelve animals of the oriental zodiac.
辰 = tatsu = the Dragon, one of the twelve animals of the oriental zodiac.
巳 = mi = hebi? = the Snake, one of the twelve animals of the oriental zodiac.
午 = uma = the Horse, one of the twelve animals of the oriental zodiac.
羊 = hitsuji = the Ram, one of the twelve animals of the oriental zodiac.
申 = saru = the Monkey, one of the twelve animals of the oriental zodiac.
酉 = tori = the Cock [Rooster], one of the twelve animals of the oriental zodiac.
戌 = inu = the Dog, one of the twelve animals of the oriental zodiac.
亥 = i(noshishi) = the Boar, as the last of the twelve animals of the oriental zodiac.
Friday at 3:46 am
Alan-san, I’m tora. Any good sign from that animal? Hope it’s a better than Noodles story.
Friday at 3:47 am
ひどいなあ。
Johnさん, if you look at them closely, it looks very much like 犬 could be simplified version of 戌. I don’t know that for sure though.
Friday at 3:58 am
Alanさん and Jasonさん、
どうもう ありがとう。
ジョン
Friday at 4:01 am
Vickyさん、
Tiger people are sensitive, given to deep thinking, capable of great sympathy. They can be extremely short-tempered, however. Other people have great respect for them, but sometimes tiger people come into conflict with older people or those in authority. sometimes Tiger people cannot make up their minds, which can result in a poor, hasty decision or a sound decision arrived at too late. They are suspicious of others, but they are courageous and powerful. Tigers are most compatible with Horses, Dragons, and Dogs
John
Friday at 4:13 am
What about me? I’am Boar, what can I expect for me?
Friday at 4:17 am
three things.
shouldn’t the horse kanji be (馬)?
Can someone explain how (戌) or (犬) came to represent dog? unlike most Kanji’s this doesn’t seem to make sense. @.@
~Mark-san
arigatou gozaimasu!
Friday at 4:44 am
Was it just me, or did Chigusaさん sound like she was in a hurry in both languages? Did she have a flight to catch after the recording? Or does it come from talking a lot with a NYer?
Talking a which:
Peterちゃん、
What is a “yuge float”?
psycho013さん、
Yeah, すげい is pretty darn informal. There was a discussion of this on yesterday’s thread. And since we’re on this topic, we can add ウメー for the very slangy form of delicious.
Friday at 4:46 am
Lizさん、
I have to disagree with you about Cream of the Crop Episode 5. I thought the other two acts had good production values and catchy tunes. Not my taste, but I don’t think your assessment is fair.
But, more to the point, I think it goes against the spirit of the show to encouage people to vote without listening to each artist. And, it weakens the integrity of this community, IMHO. And, I would guess that Sølviちゃん would rather win because her music was liked than because a bunch of Cookie Monsters™ went on a binge.
So, that said, I think Sølvi was the best of the three. And I encouage people to listen to all three, and then vote; once a day preferably.
Sorry for preaching. I’ll step down from my soapbox now.
Friday at 4:49 am
rei-kun
According to my dictionary its a “stylised derivitive of a pictograph showing a dog with pointed ears standing on it’s hind legs barking” !!!
There was a picture of the original pictograph. There’s a LOT of simplification going on. Probably because it might have been used a lot.
It is interesting that it’s not derived from 人 (ひと) 大 (だい)although it looks as though it is. It’s a radical in it’s own right. 犭 -> けものへん symbolising beast. seen in another kanji for dog 狗 which is the one I see used by Chinese.
I’ve no idea why the zodiac symbols are so different from the ones in general use. 午 looks too much like 牛cow but it’s noon, probably once the hour of the horse.
Friday at 4:57 am
Ratto-sama… I agree with you, however, the other two artist obviously do the same thing and then I think it is ok for us to help sölvi and vote many times. As I see it, you could ask for votes but of course should the voters be able to choose on whom the should vote.
I haven’t listened to lesson yet but I will later…. Ciao
Friday at 5:02 am
Daniel-san
vis voting
I tend to agree with you. Has anyone looked at the other contest? it had only 1/10 the total amount of votes of the Sølviさん one. I think we’re driving a lot of traffic there.
And you’re right about integrity. There was a web vote on a national radio show here in UK that an interest group “hijacked” that led to a minor scandal. OK a better mechanism other than cookies should be in place, but maybe it’s best to stick to the spirit of things.
I am in favor of supporting friends and members of our group and I hope Sølviさん wins… but you know what I mean?
Also apoligise for straying a bit off topic. gomen.
oh and Danielさん we use さん here apparently as someone keeps reminding us!
Friday at 5:34 am
Mina-san, I understand both side of you guy’s opinion. I think we are trying to show our support to Solvi-san own our ways. And, I’m sure Solvi-san knows and saw that she got our full support. Let’s not talk about Voting anymore. It doesn’t mean we are stop voiting for her. It goes until September 1st, so it’s a long way to go. Just do your ways to support her until then, please?
Daniel-san = Ratto-sama, I like this new name.
I haven’t eat any cookies yet, and you called me the Cookie Monster™. If your postcast becomes voting issue, I will eat all kinds of Cookies to support your site as well regarless you like me to eat cookies or not. That’s how we are….supporting each other.
John C. Briggs-san, thank you for tora information. I noticed that I do deep thinking everytime I’m posting here. I guess it’s coming from one of the twelve animals of the oriental zodiac????
As the lesson goes, everyday passes by I need more time to study than before. It’s good that I’m into it also it’s bad that I’m running out of time and it’s killing my sleeping hours.
Love you all, and be good!
Friday at 5:35 am
My sign is the dog
which means Vicky and I should get along well!
Chirstmas Cake and New Years Noodles….I think that sounds like one delicious dish!
Friday at 5:39 am
Katie-san!!! Don’t forget, I’m New Years SPICY Noodles!!! Which means, it’s a better than regular.
I saw email from Mixi, haven’t read your comment yet, but I didn’t like the title you left. You shouldn’t feel that way. I promise you, you will be okay.
Smile Katie-san!
Friday at 5:46 am
Millions of New Yorkers say “yuge”!! Shall we tell them all they are wrong?
Let’s take it easy on Peter.
And, in regard to listening to Sølvi’s competitors, I did not mean to discourage listening to them.
What I mean to say is that I did listen to them and I thought their music was very run-of-the-mill, unlike Sølvi’s, which is very original, so people could save time and get to the good stuff!
Friday at 5:48 am
Beltonさん
Yes, I think 12:00pm is the hour of the horse.
There is an exercise discussing this exact point in Japanese For Busy People. The details escape me right now.
The general idea is that there are 24 hours in a day and 12 animals in the Zodiac. So the first animal represents 12:00am-1:59am, and the second animal represents 2:00am-3:59am. and so on.
Interesting stuff. I will see if I can look this up when I get home.
じゃ また
ジョン
Friday at 7:10 am
japanesepod101 team,
Thank you very much for specifically addressing the ‘no’ issue in this lesson! Your attention to these small details of usage, as questions arising from your listener base, is really the mark of an attentive, interactive PodCast. I always appreciate getting the verdict from a native speaker’s mouth.
Much obliged to your considerate heedfulness.
Friday at 7:41 am
These last two lessons have been fun; I’m still digesting them.
I never learned any informal 30 years ago; it was in the text book but we crossed it out and wrote whole ‘mus’ senetneces in their place.
I’m on vacation next week so you guys need to vote keep the voting up for Solvi!
Friday at 7:42 am
JockZonさん、
Who is Ratto-sama?
はっ? I think he only exists on IM, like Little Man. Let’s leave them there.
Oh, just to keep the facts straight, the others’ votes did not escalate until after “ours” did.
Lizさん、
I have no problem with your opinion about the artists. I just think it’s not fair to vote (especially in a cookie-eating binge) w/o having listened.
Oh, shall we tell NYers they pronounce “huge” wrong? By all means!
I think you think Peterちゃん is a lot more sensitive than he is. 心配(しんぱい)なく。
Belton様、
Thank you for the reminder about using さん. Duly noted.
Friday at 8:06 am
Daniel-san, you are wrong. I was there when the # got eaten up. That’s right I came for alert sign. I’m on my vacation this weekend too. Please take care of Solvi-san’s voting!!! (/
™)
Will you guys miss me?
Friday at 8:14 am
No Our Vickyちゃん、
I’m not wrong. I followed the early voting pretty well.
But, that’s enough of that here. Let’s get back to 日本語。
Friday at 10:56 am
Beltonさん、
Here is the Chinese Zodiac information
Hour of the Rat: 11pm-1am
Hour of the Ox: 1am-3am
Hour of the Tiger: 3am-5am
Hour of the Rabbit: 5am-7am
Hour of the Dragon: 7am-9am
Hour of the Snake: 9am-11am
Hour of the Horse: 11am-1pm
Hour of the Goat: 1pm-3pm
Hour of the Monkey: 3pm-5pm
Hour of the Rooster: 5pm-7pm
Hour of the Dog: 7pm-9pm
Hour of the Pig: 9pm-11pm
So 午 as in 午後 actually means after the hour of the horse. Or afternoon.
Thanks
John C. Briiggs
Friday at 11:07 am
みんなさん,
Now we all love Peter. In fact we love him enough to tell him to get his act together and say huge rather than yuge. This is a form of “tough love” but if we persist, we can save him.
I myself am from Boston, and when I was young, the accent was very thick and often confusing to people outside of the area. Will time and effort, I put the “R’s” back where they should be.
Peter is trying to teach us Standard Japanese 標準語 ひょうじゅんご, so he should be using Standard English. Just because most Americans can decode a NY accent, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t confuse some JPod listeners.
So. Peterさん practice
hyooj
slowly please
hyyyooooj
and one time fast
hyooj
very, very nice.
じゃ また
ジョン
Friday at 11:08 am
Well, In the interest of complete disclosure. The following is from Dictionary.com
huge /hyudʒ or, often, yudʒ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[hyooj or, often, yooj]
Friday at 11:52 am
I’m rat子 = ne(zumi) = the Rat, the first of the twelve animals of the zodiac. So I don’t know with who I get along but with Katie and Liz have get along very well so I guess rat gets along with dog now what we need to know is what’s Liz-san, Peter-san, Yoshi-san, Chigusa-san, Sakura-san, JP101-san, Jason-san, Daniel-san, Rei-kun, John C briggs, Alan, Sean Somers, Michael D Cassidy, locomode, solvi, Vicky-san etc because I like them very well they seem really interest and nice people!
ohh well now that locomode gave me an idea here is my introduction about my self!
S_R_C
Hello Mina-san I’m Sindy Rodriguez, I’m 22 years old, I’m from Mexico City and I live in New York City Brooklyn!
I have six e-mail accounts, Mobile and a home telephone!
I found JP101 by my brother Luis one day I tell him if I could barrow his ipod and when I turn it on I was looking at all the podcast and I found JP101 first lesson downloaded in his ipod the first lesson was about introducing ourselfs and how we say I’m from america in Japanese that’s when I hear Sakura-san and Peter-san voice for the fist time I thought they had a radio show but then later on I found they make podcast and when they gave the website (http://www.Japanespod101.com) I decided to check it and guess what the lesson I found when I open was the world cup lesson and that’s when all begins and all you know from now (misunderstoods, bad comments, angryness, madness, fearness, shocks, have fun, cryness, sadness, happyness, likeness, dislikeness, etc all this feeling Jp 101 has made feel in almost three months and I thank them so much and to mina-san for making me understand that I was wrong and that what I say hurt me and other people so now I would show my self has I’m truly are and not has i wanted or pretended to be just because I was jealous Yes that was the true I was jealous of Vicky-san but now I understood that is not good to have those feeling for people I don’t know but anyway I came here to learn Japanese that is my major dream and travel to Japan someday and meet the JP101 staff and that hot people Japan has I also have Japanese friends and they have teach me alot I love them and Japan forever and if things come well I plan to move from New York City and live in Tokyo until my lasts days of my life and I’m really working harder to make my wish come true! When I died I will incinerate my self and divided my ashes into three parts USA, Mexico and Japan! because that’s were I belong well I have say alot of me and if you like me or not I still invite you to be my friend by IM me, Calling me, e-mailing me, which ever you prefer to communicate your welcome aboard because I don’t descriminate I’m a very friendly and nice people I just made the wrong impression of me! You decide my friends
e-mail: Sakuraeagle84@hotmail.com
mobile: 347 743-7674
Instant message: Shaoraneagle84@aol.com
Friday at 11:56 am
Don’t forget that the new year begins at a different time each year, usually around February. So if you were born in January or early February, you might not belong to the animal that is next to your year.
For example, I was born in January so I belong to the Chinese year before the physical year in which I was born.
Friday at 1:13 pm
海
中
の
瑶
雲
う
ね
る
蛍
烏
賊
Friday at 2:14 pm
Daniel-san, I followed the voting when you didn’t even know that it existed. I can’t say that it is our fault that it went like this.
Friday at 2:18 pm
Btw, sindy, you shouldn’t give out you phone # just like that.
Friday at 3:15 pm
@sean-san
I foolishly decided to translate that.
My effort: ‘In the middle of the sea’s exquisite cloud, undulates the firefly squid.’
I’ve got so far to go (sigh). ’sea’ and ‘cloud’, I really ought to know. Squid was tricky as it’s literally ‘crow bandit’, but was mentioned as a special reading. I wasn’t too happy with ‘firefly’ in a sea setting either, but my electronic dictionary turned up ‘firefly squid’ (watasenia scintillans). I guess this is one of the pretty ones with scintillating colours. I saw a tv program on these once.
Anyway, this seems a touch off-topic. Did you just have a wild urge to post that for no reason
Alan
Friday at 3:22 pm
Thinking about ’squid’ being ‘crow bandit’ is too ‘Osaka’-like for comfort. I’ll be looking for bubbles in my eyes next.
Friday at 3:32 pm
John C Briggsさん、
Loved your post on “tough love for Peterちゃん。
Yeah, let’s save Peter!!! The Save Peter Campaign™ 2006.
Friday at 3:53 pm
Sindyさん、
Please keep your self-incineration plans to yourself.
Friday at 5:37 pm
On what zodiac year you were born in.
)
Which do the Japanese follow since they moved New Year to sync with western calender? Do people still follow the old lunar calender for this?
Also do they have the system of further ascribing elements to the animals. for instance I’m a wood snake. (and I remember fire horse women were seen as very bad news! feisty.
on accents.
). English can cope with a lot of varience in accent.
Peter has a very mild accent, more a bit of a twang.( I have relatives whoose accent I can’t understand at all in English) I like accents. I like the way foriegners speak English and find it a little odd when they have American accents (except when the foriegner is American
And as we keep on talking about English (not American) shouldn’t the gold standard be received pronunciation ?
Can we get Peter to speak the Queens English?
(Before the flames start I’m Irish, we have our own style of English again. )
Friday at 5:39 pm
Briggs-san, now that’s funny!
But everybody outside Boston knows the “h ” is silent. 
Perhaps I should throw out the My Cousin Vinny DVD I use to keep my accent sharp.
Friday at 6:10 pm
@Sindy-san,
I guess the direct approach (like the self-introduction) works for speed-dating, where you haven’t got time to mess about, but usually friendship builds up more slowly. In the online world it works better to join an existing topic of conversation, providing information when you know the answer, or adding queries when you don’t, all in a relaxed and non-confrontational manner. If you come across as interesting and helpful, people will ask about you, at which point you can provide more personal information. Communication is a skill, it grows with practice. Good luck
Friday at 6:36 pm
Peterちゃん、
No no no. My Cousin Vinny is off limits to you!
Remember, we have started the Save Peter Campaign™ 2006. We don’t need to have you saying “yutes” on JP101.
“Now Mrs Riley, and OOONNNLYY Mrs. Riley, how many fingers am I holding up?”
Man, what a great movie!
Friday at 6:50 pm
i-yah you guys!!! Don’t be so tough on Peter-san please. I have yyyuuuuge accent, and everybody makes fun of me. But the end, everybody wants to talk like me. Accent is personality it makes us different and unique things to have. That’s who we are…..
I used to be bothered about my accent and always wish that I speak a good English, but now I am happy that I have an accent. It makes me I’m special.
So who cares!! ( like yoshi-san) Gambatte Peter-san, I’m yyyyuuuuge a fan of jppod anyways.
Friday at 6:54 pm
皆さん、
今日、引越しする。未だ、新しいアパートはインターネットが有らない。
That doesn’t mean I’ll be away from the site, I just won’t be able to read or write Japanese characters on the computers at school.
About the voting:
Maybe on Svalbard, though, but that’s more like… Hawaii. Islands far away. I see mooses all the time, though. They’re beautiful and scary at the same time, walking around in our gardens…
Thanks a lot for all your votes and nice words about my music! It really means a lot to me. But, I don’t want you to spend so much energy voting. Whoever wins the contest is going to win because his or her fans have the biggest stomachs and can eat the most cookies… You know what I mean. And I don’t want to be that person. The comments on the site, though, they’re priceless! Where have you read about Norwegian polar bears? I’ve never seen any…
Friday at 6:57 pm
Btw, I’m 丑。 I wonder where all my muscles have gone…
Friday at 9:28 pm
OK, sure, accents are charming… until people cannot understand what you are saying. Then the fun is over.
When I realized people could not understand me (and I have trouble spelling words that I have been mispronouncing), then I took action.
I know the Boston accents are thick when I have to translate what the locals are saying to people from out of town.
Friday at 9:33 pm
I used to live in Providence, Rhode Island and I have one word when it comes to the discussion of accents….and its CRANSTON
Friday at 10:10 pm
Hi all
Gomen ne for intrusion, just wanted to let you all know I absolutely enjoy the lessons and the comments here, you’re all so well-informed and writing informative things
Friday at 10:39 pm
Briggs-san
Charming accents.
I can remember a school inspector getting annoyed at me because (like a lot of Dublin people I pronouce th as t ) And I also remember a family friend (moderately famous oscar winning actor
) getting really wound up by me doing this. I was only a kid!
But then I get exasperated when a Japanese friend complained why couldn’t I speak in an American accent so she could understand me better.
If I could do that I could be an actor.
What’s my point? Mostly people can’t help their accents. and I prefer the richness. I’d hate it if we all spoke like 1950s BBC radio presenters. You just have to take the time to tune in usually. That’s when the fun starts to begin.
Friday at 10:47 pm
Belton where in Ireland? My grandmother was born in Monaghan.
I was there two years ago; I also ‘toured’ Belfast.
Friday at 11:07 pm
About accents: I’ve moved a bit inside Norway, and my dialect is totally messed up as a result. I’ve had to modify it to make people understand what I’m saying, but now I’m really sad because I can no longer speak the way I used to, and people from my home town think I’m not proud of where I come from anymore. But I guess it’s just a thing that has to happen, I can’t expect everybody to understand my old dialect… I just wish I could still remember how to speak it.
Friday at 11:35 pm
ちぐささんの出身はどれですか?
たけさんの出身はどれですか?
Friday at 11:50 pm
It is true the accent issue some times can be a problem to understand a conversation, but I think the same thing what Belton-san I prefer the richness in the lenguaje to.
Peterさん, you have all my support!
Saturday at 12:13 am
OK,OK.
I never have trouble understanding Peter, so the accent is charming. But if it were bad enough that I could not understand him, the charm would be gone.
Saturday at 12:42 am
I’m with sean - thanks for the の hints. I keep hearing that の is feminine and I’m trying to wean myself out of feminine speech as much as I can. As, I think it was Peter (is it not weird for anyone else to refer to gaijin as “san” while you’re speaking English…speaking Japanese, ok…Japanese people, ok - but other gaijin? Is there anyone who gets offended if it’s left off?) who said, it’s kinda natural for a gaijin guy to start off with a bit of a girly sound.
I just watch a lot of manga/Sarariman Kintaro — plenty of masculinity to go around.
But the の always seemed to fit for an informal question. I’m glad to hear that it’s ok for a guy…just feels right for some reason. Thanks!
Saturday at 1:38 am
Chigusa-san,
I just love listening to your voice. Arigatou gozaimasu for letting us listen to it more often.
ネイト
Saturday at 2:07 am
@Cassidy san
I’m from Dublin. Lived in Cork for a while in my teens. Been in London now for quite a while. As a result my accent is a bit mixed up.
@locomote-san
The matter of us using san.
At worst it’s an affectation. It also could be like the “cargo -cult” goings on I see at the local Aikido club. But I think we choose to do it because it’s the sort of thing we do in Japanese class to reinforce that it’s something you should do when speaking to Japanese. It’s no worse than us dropping in Japanese words or complete Japanese sentences when we have perfectly adaquate English in common. It’s all part of the game we choose to play and the roles we’ve chosen to adopt.
I like to think it’s one of those things that makes this site a nice place without people being abusive or flaming. No-one is offended if it’s left out. That’s a bit of a joke with Daniel-san. I quite like it that I’m know as Robaato-san to my various friends I’ve made through studying Japanese. (even my deaf nephew’s sign name for me is Japan-guy !!
)
But it’s not of my culture so I’m unlikely to take offense one way or the other.
Saturday at 4:22 am
Hmm…it seems that some folks might be taking my comments the wrong way. Just to be on the safe side, let me explain a little.
The whole さん business is in good humor. A while back we held a discussion about whether JP101 should use it in the lessons. My argument was that they should since they are teaching the language, and students should be in the habit of hearing and using it until they are comfortable enough to know when to leave it out.
Then, in the comments, I failed to use it. Peterさん, in good humor, commented that “around here, we use さん.” So, ever since then, it’s been a common joke to repeat it among people we know.
Re: accents, especially Peterさん. Again, all this is said in good humor. I enjoy his accent. Which is WHY I tease him about it. And if you look at those times when he replies, he takes it all in good humor. So, I think people shouldn’t worry about him. He’s a big boy (I know, I’ve seen him!).
Saturday at 6:33 am
Alan,
—
Anyway, this seems a touch off-topic. Did you just have a wild urge to post that for no reason
—
Sorry, I must be confused? Posting a haiku, in Japanese, using appropriate summer ‘kigo’ is off-topic–but an ongoing promotion for some voting campaign in an indie music contest is kosher? I mean, no offence to this gentleman and his efforts . . . but that goes without saying as acceptable, but Japanese haiku are off topic?
Mate, no mind it, but I am %100 gobsmacked on this occasion: you know, I thought posting the odd message in Japanese, as this is a Japanese learning forum, *may* have been appropriate. However, I am entirely mistaken. I will get back on topic.
(ahem)
Go Sølvi Go! Go Sølvi go!
Is that all right? Honestly, I do hope your man does very well, although that particular line of posting didn’t strike me as ‘on topic’ — I was willing to just let it fly.
Clearly I just don’t understand the Japanese101Pod environment, soooo–
and this will be the last post you will get from me in these forums, on any day, in any place.
One last tanka for the occasion (my god,save me from the day that one needs an excuse to post poetry):
笑
う
こ
と
死
ん
で
し
ま
え
ば
ま
ま
な
ら
ず
笑
っ
て
お
こ
う
こ
こ
ろ
ゆ
く
ま
で
Saturday at 6:59 am
Seanさん, I imagine most people here aren’t very familiar with Japanese poetry. And when you make a post that literrally says something about firefly squids undulating in the middle of the beautiful sea with absolutely *no explanation whatsoever*, it shouldn’t suprise you that more than a few people were going
I had no idea what it meant either.
Sølvi’s a girl, btw.
Saturday at 7:40 am
Jason,
I will take one minute, one last time, to address your point. I feel ridiculous, as I said I had nothing more to say — but as the emails have come in, I will take a moment to touch on this.
First, I’m sure you’re aware that Japanese poetry is a condensed form, and that translation requires more than literalism . . . supplementary modules of English can be used to render the translation more suitable. I am not sure why yourself and Alan insist on using Google-language-translator type
word-for-word-ism. You’ve read enough of my other messages, in Japanese, to at least give me the benefit of the doubt on this point.
If you didn’t know what it ‘meant’ — poetic truths aren’t the same as computers, sir — you could always ask? This might even have precipitated a discussion on Japanese poetic forms. I don’t mind if people go ‘:???:;’ but suggesting that being nannied for being off-topic seems a wee bit much.
Is this any worse than an analysis of a New York accent? As I said, not really sure what these forums are for . . . not sure at all.
I thank you for your indulgence of one last post — *I promise!* In the meantime, do pick up any of Professor Ueda’s books on linguistic tensions in translating Japanese haiku . . . his studies of Basho and Buson are most instructive on this point.
Saturday at 8:21 am
*sigh* Look, you posted that completely out of the blue. As I’m sure you know, people here often write message to the rest of the board in Japanese. So naturally that was likely the first way most people took it and tried to make sense of it. Haiku probably didn’t even cross their mind. I didn’t know it was a haiku until you said it was, much less what it meant on some deeper level. I’m sorry, I just don’t make a habit of counting the syllables in peoples’ posts. But none of that matters. The fact is you gave us no warning, so it seemed like a completely random post. We just wanted to know what you were talking about. There wasn’t any need to get defensive or anything. If you would have just prefaced it with something like “hey guys. Here’s a nice summer related haiku” or just explained it was a haiku in reply to Alan, you could have avoided this entire mess. But you didn’t, so everyone’s just sitting here looking at your post going “what…?” Alan just happened to be the first one to ask about it. I’m sure he didn’t mean any offense with his comment. He was probably just curious like the rest of us to what it was you posted.
But anyway, I think you’re making way too big a deal over this. This is obviously just a major lapse in communication. If you still want to leave, then that’s up to you. But I don’t think anything so dramatic happened here in order to warrant that.
Saturday at 11:53 am
Seanさん、
Personally, I welcome the posting of the Haiku.
I think different people have different ideas of what to post here. Some of it is clearly not related directly to the lesson. I think that is fine too.
But I think people like you posting more Japanese related materials is a very welcome addition.
Please don’t feel shut-out by one stray comment or person. I think the diversity of posts is important.
Thanks
John C. Briggs
Saturday at 12:08 pm
I don’t mind posting haiku either. Now that I know that’s what they are and not some random spam posts.
Saturday at 1:47 pm
@sean-san
I didn’t mean that I didn’t like the haiku; it’s just that I translate most of the posts in japanese (by hand) for the practice. My comment about being off-topic was more an expression of surprise at the result in this case. There was a winking smiley in the post, which was intended to lighten the tone of my post. Regarding the non-japanese chat in the comments; yes, there is perhaps too much, but live and let live is my thought. Sorry for causing any offence.
Alan
Saturday at 1:53 pm
アラン様へ
Your polite message does indeed deserve a reply; I would be a pretty boorish person if I did not at least extend a hand in your directiion. I should have prefaced the post (although ‘explaining’ a haiku with oferatory preparations seems anathema to me . . . I showed the haiku to several different people and was amazed by the variety of interpretations which I received . . . the ‘undulating’ tentacles of the squid . . . incidentally, firefly-squid is a particular breed known for having a kind of flourescent tone at twilight . . . I was trying to fuse the imagery of dissipating clouds with the murkiness of the seafoam . . . and the legs of the squid performing a kind of dance. Perhaps a fisherman’s line is somewhere in the picture, etc. Haiku are, after all, suggestive.
I did not pick up on the smiley face bit: for that, I apologise — it would have helped me get a sense of your point. As it was, I thought it was a rebuke, which to me seemed out of place considering the other topics at hand (which don’t bother me — it’s a public space).
Yeesh, anyways, thanks for taking the time to write. It was most courteous of you . . . real Japanese spirit in your manner, if I may risk sounding inappropriate.
Fair play to you,
Sean
Saturday at 2:50 pm
Sean-san, I’m glad it things clear up for you. I didn’t like the way you are saying this is my last comment from me, and I didn’t get the reason why. Of cause it wasn’t rebuke. But in the future if you do get feeing of rebuke, still you shouldn’t be leaving like that. I did get quite bit of rebuke actually it’s quite harsh. But, I’m still here to support jppod.
Jppod is the part of your life, and we are also a part of you. And, all us of the parts gather together it makes a good community of jppod.
As you knowing me, I’m not good at explaining things. But I’m soooooo glad that it clear things out. Hope you don’t leave here like that.
This is your 2nd time!!! You were decided to leave last time and you ended up sing for premium member, remember??
We are all different and coming from every where. But Jppod makes us all in one, and you are one of them. Be with us Sean-san, and hope I will get there to understand your Haiku one day.
I’m heading to Vancouver, Canada in couple of hours that’s where you are at, right?
Saturday at 6:16 pm
I’m glad this seems to have worked out or cleared up a little. I was a bit depressed after reading sean - san’s post last night.
The comments board is an imperfect medium. It’s easy to give offense or take offense. I think mainly due to the speech like speed but the letter like permanence.
A lot of things get posted here, it’s function is different to different groups of people. The common cause may not neccessarily be scholarly but more a love of what jPod is trying to do. The comments board provides a social function. hence the multitude of posts some more directly relevant to Japanese learning than others. I tend to comment on what sparks my interest and tune out what I think irrelevant.
What is right for these comment pages? Anything as long as it’s civil and G-rated and not outright Spam. Until jPod want to step in and moderate, anybody’s post is as valid as anyones else. As I’ve said before 十人十色
We’re very mixed ability here. In terms of Japanese ability and comfort with the BBS medium. And side chats aside, we’re total strangers. It’s hard to jump in and start giving opinions in that situation I think, and easy for misunderstandings to happen.
Raising the tone in the comments.
It’s a worthwhile thing to do. But it’s going to happen slowly. As people become more proficient they might feel better about posting in Japanese. As they gain knowledge they might be better able to ask questions about how the language works. And for anyone who tries to raise the standards or wants the people here to get excited about new Japanese language, don’t get discouraged if no-one bites on your bait. I’d suggest keeping up with the efforts and maybe eventually people will come around encouraged by your example.
Haiku and Tanka.
It’s interesting. Dare I say it, maybe a bit advanced for the audience here at the moment. Even in a first language poetry is often overlooked these days.
Maybe Sean-san you should consider starting a thread in the forums. It might get a more serious response. I might not be able to participate but I’d read it and would find a discussion of things like seasonal words and how syllable counting works of interest.
I recognised your writing as haiku. If I had the skill I would have liked to join the game and compose a response. But alas for now I am just about ok with concrete expressions of daily needs, am struggling to express ideas, the leap to poetry is a long way off.
So…
The best I can do is to offer up my favorite poem from the Manyoushuu
(It reminds me of Yeat’s He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven )
この花の一よの内に百種の言そ隠れるおほろかにすな。
kono hana no hitoyo no uchi ni momo-kusa no koto so komoreru ooroka ni suna.
In a single sprig
of these blossoms
are concealed a hundred words;
do not treat me lightly.
Saturday at 6:20 pm
message board ate my comments
I just submitted a long post here and … nothing.
I won’t repost (if I can salvage my work) in case of duplicate posts.
Saturday at 6:40 pm
I think there’s a ghost sneaking around here these days… Yesterday, while writing a comment, I was suddenly sent to a site I’d visited earlier that day. When I returned, my unfinished post was gone. That happened 3 times, then I gave up and wrote it in another program before cutting and pasting it here. Creepy…
Saturday at 7:08 pm
Maybe Belton-san wrote too much that it took a while to post it???/
Belton-san, nice to read your comments as well. I wish I can be so clear up like that. But oh well…
Taking off this country in a hour. Will miss you guys. Be good!!
Saturday at 7:23 pm
Vicky-san (Spicey-noodles-chan)
The computer was obviously reading my amazing prose and pondering it before updating the page
Have a great time in Canada. Don’t forget to use your Japanese on the natives or do they speak a variant of Enlish there?
Saturday at 9:01 pm
Belton-san,
Great post! It certainly is true that we have mixed ability in Japanese and, also, I agree with your point that the Comments section has many uses. And, as much as we all love the electronic medium, typing out words really does not express one’s true feelings or attitudes. The smilies try to compensate for that, but everyone must measure his or her words accordingly, in order not to cause offense.
I loved the haiku you submitted!!!! It was so “to the point”!!! Beautiful.
Saturday at 9:34 pm
Belton-san, sometimes the spam filter gets a bit hungry.
Mina-san, if you post and it fails to appear, it is most likely the spam filter. Please post or let us know by e-mail, and we’ll take care of it.
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!
Sunday at 2:21 am
Vicky,
Thanks for your thoughtful message. I am not taking issue with it, but there’s a point I need to touch on . . . as it underscores some of the problems that have occurred (real or imagined), not only for myself, but perhaps for others:
You write,
‘Jppod is the part of your life, and we are also a part of you. And, all us of the parts gather together it makes a good community of jppod.’
I respect that this is a true, heartfelt statement of yours . . . but for me it doesn’t really apply. Jpod is a small part of my life. As lovely as you lot are, you’re not a part of my life. That’s not to say that I don’t value your comments, opinions, ideas, etc, but I didn’t join a club.
I didn’t join to make friends. I don’t skype, etc, etc, with the members of this forum. I have tried to use the various mediums offered by Jpod, as constructively as possible, to improve my Japanese. I admit to having not been as conscientious as possible, and perhaps too zelously sticking to my own personal goals. Does this make sense? I think it’s perhaps that Jpod isn’t ‘a part of my life’ — whatever that might mean — that I probably am missing much of the esprit de corps that marks these forums. That’s grand. It’s like, I would have emailed Alan personally, but I don’t know his address . . . a private messaging function would be a nice touch on this site. So I had to post publicly — which unfortunately invites responses from people who are only marginally connected to the incident at hand, but who feel compelled to give his or her ‘read’ of the situation. 
But it’s my problem for posting publicly. Hence, my solution was just not to post at all on future threads.
I have been surprised at what issues moderators have, and haven’t taken up, in regards to what is appropriate in this forum. That is true.
Sunday at 3:13 am
seanさん, I’m sorry to see you go, but I’m glad things got cleared up. ^_^ Have you been to the forum? Not these comments sections but the forum proper that’s linked at the top of the page? It’s a much different environment in there. Much more focused with very little off-topic chatter.
Sunday at 5:05 am
Uh? And now my IP is being blocked from the site altogether? I’m having to use my university faculty proxy account to access the site. I have sent a letter to the support team, but I seem to be missing something here.
-Sean
Sunday at 8:34 am
seanさん, I’m sure that’s only a bug. Give them some time to work it out, ok? I’m sure they didn’t block you intentionally.
Sunday at 8:41 am
JockZon-san I give my phone and e-mai that wayl because I know that no one will call or sent an e-mail because they don’t like me!
Daniel-san I wanted to share something nice and personal to everyone something you’ll never going to do because your not a true Japanese!
Sean Somers don’t leave I love your comments I also figure out that here JP101 people ignore certain peoples here who gets out of the topic but what they are doing its very mean because you feel like they are ignoring you but who cares there is still other nice people here who reads mine and your comments and answer them and that’s the people that makes the differents and makes you comeback for the lessons and post ok so keep it up I’m with you sean!
S_R_C
Sunday at 9:06 am
Sindyさん、
Here are some “truths” for you:
Sharing your intent to incinerate yourself and spread your ashes over three countries (including two that are dear to me) is faaaaaaar toooooo much information.
Believe me “true Japanese” people don’t want to hear this crap any more than non-true Japanese people (whatever that means).
Sunday at 9:06 am
Please click the following link for the only way I could possibly think of to appropriately reply to this comment:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jason42/miunani.jpg
Sunday at 9:11 am
Jasonさん、
You forgot:
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/7155/stopposting11051218303002wsqg0.gif
Sunday at 9:14 am
ok I have that pic in my website I’m going to add Jason pic too in my website too thank you guys I love anime so much!
Tuesday at 12:24 am
Arab Americans…
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….
Wednesday at 8:37 am
Hi, in the lesson they say: ‘’yuki no chookoku made atte.'’
Can someone explain why they’ve used the word ‘made’? I haven’t seen ‘made’ used in this context before and I haven’t been able to find it used in this way in any of my text books.
Thursday at 2:38 pm
Hello from MN. I know I’m way behind, but I’m still trying to “catch up”. Someday I hope to be listening to the new lessons as they come out. But, I heard Minnesota in this lesson and though to come leave a post (finally). L)
Anyway, a huge thank you to everyone who makes japanesepod101 happen. I listen to a few lessons each day and I love it. Thank you.
Wednesday at 12:19 am
昨日何で麻布十番祭りに来なかったの。昨日会社にずっどいたの。日曜日なのに。最近忙しいの。お祭りはどうだった。すごかったよ。人が多くて食べ物が美味しくて。夏なのに雪の彫刻まであってびっくりした。雪の彫刻?うん、戌年だから。犬の形だよ。すごいね。行きたかったな。残念。
昨日何で麻布十番祭りに来なかったの。昨日は会社にずっどいたから。日曜日なのに。うん、最近忙しくて。お祭りはどうだった。すごかったよ。人が多くて食べ物が美味くて。夏なのに雪の彫刻まであって。雪の彫刻?マジで。うん、戌年だから。犬の形だったよ。すごいね、いきたかったな、残念。
昨日どうした麻布十番祭りにこなかったんですか。昨日会社にずっどいました。日曜日なのに大変ですね。最近忙しいんです。お祭りはどうでしたか。すごかったです。人が多くて食べ物が美味しくて。夏なのに雪の彫刻まであってびっくりしました。雪の彫刻ですか。はい、戌年だから、犬の形でしたよ。凄いですね。行きたかったです。残念です。
昨日なんで麻布十番祭りにこなかったですか。昨日ずっど会社にいました。日曜日なのに、大変ですね。最近忙しいくて。お祭りはどうでしたか。凄かったです。人が多くて食べ物が美味しくて。夏なのに雪の彫刻までありました。雪の彫刻ですか。本当ですか。戌年だから、犬の形でしたよ。すごいですね。行きたかったな、残念です。
また、あとで。
Leave a Reply