First, after JPOD!

ものすごいだよね！

「気にしない」も英語で「nevermind」じゃないかな？日本の女はそれと言ったけど英語にがてである。

ありがとう！

ただいま

ひさしぶりですね
It seems like lots of things going on while I’m gone….

JockZonさん、本当に美樹のブログがわからないですか。だまされているような気がする。
「気にしない」＝「nevermind」depending on the context. For example, if you were supposed to do something for your friend, and you forgot. Then your friend asks you about it,
“Hey, did you take care of that?”
And you say, “Oh no, I forgot! I’ll do it now!”
Your friend replys, “気にしないで」don’t worry about it or 「nevermind」「forget it」.　「気にするな」 can also take on this meaning, but should only be used if it is a REALLY good friend and this type of speech pattern has been established.

In today’s lesson, don’t worry about it is better.

lol, “as strong as a rock”. oh Yoshi …
I really like this podcast, as well as the previous one between the 2 sisters. Thanks JPOD.

お帰りなさいOur Vickyちゃん！ 　But, why does your IM status still say “Heading to Canada?”

Junさん、

Wow! You’re Take impersonation was dead on!

Yoshiさん、

What’s up with this “Rock” obsession? Wait, no, never mind.

Peterさん、

I know it’s less literal, but I think どうしたの？ is more naturally translated “What’s wrong?” in these situations.

And now for some work in the Save Peter Campaign™:
“Here is Aomori” is a mistake, a typical mistake that Japanese speakers make. I teach a class called “Common Problems in Speaking”. In the second or third lesson we cover this one. Here/There at the beginning of a sentence introduces a topic. It They do not refer to location at the beginning. I think a better translation for the last line would be “Isn’t this Aomori?” or “Isn’t it Aomori here?”

Robさん、

-んだ is the more masculine casual form of -のです. It is used in explanatory type sentences.

Rob-san,
Please send me a PM so I can help you with that translation thing. You can find me on the first page of the Member List.

Liz-san, Rob-san is on icat/aim list.
Daniel-san, yeah you are right Police Officer LI(x)-san™!! She already corrected me this morning.

Where is everybody???

you change I notice everything since you skype and ichat I wonder what happen there?

I think I speak for most people, when I say 「はっ？」

Thanks for the help everyone!

I shall get back to watching this glorious new edition of 七人の侍　now!

mikuji-san,

Yes, of course I meant Yorkshire!

Vicky-san,

Welcome back!

emtee-san,

It was actually as strong as “The Rock”
http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/therock/

Mina-san,

At 8:27am this morning, Princess Kiko gave birth to a baby boy - the first male heir to the imperial throne in more than four decades. This is slightly controversial because it is expected to halt a reform by Prime Minister Koizumi that would have allowed Princess Aiko to become the first reigning empress since the 18th century!

Nathan-san!
Thanks so much for this news!! I was out all evening so I missed hearing about this!

This must be great news for Japan for the much anticipated male heir to the royal family.

Another group of ppl would also be happy as the maternity and baby industry will go into a boom. it is said that the birth of the young prince would encourage more japanese to get married and give birth.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5316266.stm

that’s Empra for you in the South!

The correct Southern pronounciation of “emporer” is “the big cheese.”

Maxさん、

のだ and it’s variants all literally mean “It is that [stuff that comes before のだ].” While it can stand by itself to mean “because” it’s not uncommon to hear it get used with から too, epescially in informal speech.

Ex) ったくもう！お前は下手なんだから！

Note that while んだ is very informal (and on the masculine side), のです and ので are quite formal. They usually give the impression that the speaker is somewhat detatched or emotionally removed from what the reason they’re giving. Here’s a very formal example:

社長はただいま忙しい「です」ので、少々お待ちください。

*This extra です in [] would make it even more formal.

のに means along the lines as “even though.” It often carries the nuance that the speaker was expecting or wanting what comes before のに to happen and they were let down or disappointed because it didn’t happen.

アイスを食べたかったのに、お前はもう全部食べちゃったのか？

あいつは手伝うと言ってたのに。

やめた方がいいのに、あいつらまだ無駄な事を続けた。

Note that the first 2 sentences have a very personal and emotional attachment to のに, but the 3rd one really doesn’t even though it still expresses some regret that they kept doing pointless stuff.

I now using Firefox and Rikaichan, what a wonderful program. Thanks a lot for the tip, plus Firefox seems to be a very good program!

Are you saying that ので is a variant of のです？ If so, are you sure?

Yes, I’m sure. It’s the て-form.

I still think my explanation that んだ and のです are used to mark explanatory sentences (not necessarily causitive) works. Am I mistaken?

No, you’re not mistaken. It was just incomplete. Actually mine is too since I didn’t point out it can also be used for explanatory yet not so strongly causitive sentences. So put them both together, and there ya go.

My wife says this (adjective + です + ので) does not sound natural. Maybe you meant to use an example other than an adjective?

I know I’ve heard this ですので construction in very formal Japanese before. I don’t remember if I’ve heard it as (adj + ですので), though. So I don’t know.

Yes, I’m sure. It’s the て-form.

て-form of what? です？ Hmm…well, I’ll have to take your word on this. But in the words of Ronald Reagan, I will “trust, but verify.”

No, you’re not mistaken. It was just incomplete. Actually mine is too since I didn’t point out it can also be used for explanatory yet not so strongly causitive sentences. So put them both together, and there ya go.

There you go, indeed. Teamwork!

I know I’ve heard this ですので construction in very formal Japanese before. I don’t remember if I’ve heard it as (adj + ですので), though. So I don’t know.

Oh, I have no doubt about ですので, as I have used it myself, but I’m pretty sure you don’t use it after adjectives. In the case of i-adjectives, like your example, 忙しい, it would be 忙しいので、 and in the case of a na-adjective, it would be, e.g. きれいなので。 Maybe なっちゃん or さくらちゃん or たかせさん can weigh in if I’m off here.

It was “strong as The Rock”. That big dude with a square jaw that was in a mummy movie.