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Learn intermediate Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! Don’t be spooked by the new lesson category - today we introduce the first Lower Intermediate level lesson! These lessons are geared toward those ready to move on from the beginner level, but not quite ready for lessons presented in all Japanese. Today’s lesson is a scary one in honor of Halloween! Tune in to find out about akaname, and then stop by JapanesePod101.com to leave us a post!



This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 31st, 2006 at 9:00 pm and is filed under Lower Intermediate 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.

66 Responses to “Lower Intermediate Lesson #1 - Scary Fairy Tale”

JapanesePod101.com says:

Mina-san, Happy Halloween! :twisted: Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

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Nathan says:

Mina-san,

Here is a fun link! The author that is mentioned in the podcast (Mizuki Shigeru) is quite famous, and there is even a road in Japan that is lined with statues (83 I believe) of the 妖怪・ようかい・yōkai, or ghosts and monsters that appear in his stories. The road is in Sakaiminato City, Tottori Prefecture. You can see pictures of the statues here:

http://www.sakaiminato.net/main/map/mizuki.html

Enjoy! :grin:

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mikuji says:

子供いたら、あかなめのお話しを聞くからお風呂に入らないと思いますよう! :shock: その話しは逆効果を生み出すでしょうか。。:???:

その中初心者のレッソンにありがとうございます。

大好きなものは:

1)長居会話
2)もっと日本語で話すことの意図

どんどん新しい日本語の表現を渡すことはとても便利です。

If I were a child, after hearing the story of the akaname monster I would not wish to enter a bath at all ! It rather has the opposite effect, I think!

I liked very much:
1) the longer dialogue
2) the intention to introduce more japanese in the explanation.

Gradual introduction of Japanese expressions is very useful.

Thank you very much for this intermediate-beginner lesson.

mikuji

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Belton says:

Just for information.
I found I had to unsubscribe and resubscribe to get iTunes to download this episode.

looks like a great idea.
頑張って!

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Liz21 says:

Yoshi-san,
Great voices!! :mrgreen: You sound like so many different people! But I always know it’s you!!! :cool:

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スウェーデンのヘンリック says:

相変わらずすごいレッソンです。

Beginnerレッソンは大抵簡単すぎるけど、 Intermediateレッソンは難しすぎると思います。
私にはLower Intermediateレッソンがぴったりです。

Also, it was great to finally have 夏子様 back. Aside from her brief appearance in the iLove audio last week, it’s been almost two weeks since she was in a lesson. JapanesePod is just not the same without 夏子様.

毎日夏子様の素敵な声を聞くのを楽しみにしていますよ。

Anyway, keep up the good work. I hope we’ll see a lot more of these Lower Intermediate lessons in the future.

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Matt says:

I found a webpage with a picture of the あかなめ, if you are interested.
http://www.blu.m-net.ne.jp/~uma001/akaname.html

I love the new lessons. Absolutely perfect for me! What will be the schedule for the different podcasts now?

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Alan says:

I listened to this without the pdf and followed the plot quite well, although a few words were unknown. The longer and slightly faster story was great. I’m looking forward to more conditionals :smile:

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bakaneko says:

My feedback: Wish you guys can go more into how some of the sentences were put together — in another word, some grammar discussions.

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Stan says:

I am always amaze at how you constantly try to improve Jpod101. The Lower Intermediate is a great idea. Now if you guys can do brain transfusions so I can absorb all the material, that would be really great!

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maxiewawa says:

Here’s another example:

夏子先生の声を聞くと、嬉しいになる。

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Sean says:

BRILLIANT idea, this new category! Thanks a million!!!

Sean

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Benedict says:

I am so happy to see this lower intermediate lesson. Thanks for all the effort that Jpod101 put in.

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Sylvie says:

While listening the lesson (very good one, by the way) I thought this monster was a new one, but in fact it is a very old one: Toriyama Sekien, 1712-1788, the famous ukiyo-e artist, draw it in one of his Hyakki Yakô series, a thorough study of the Japanese supernatural beings
here is a great site about yôkai: http://web.mac.com/tkeirste/iWeb/HistoryG300/Toriyama%20Sekien’s%20Myriad%20Monsters.html

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Sylvie says:

the link seems to be unvalid, i don’t know why
i think this will work

http://web.mac.com/tkeirste/iWeb/HistoryG300/Welcome.html

and go to Pictures, then Myrias Monsters

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Miranda says:

This level is terrific! :grin:

The content, vocab, grammar, and topic were presented well-perfect for Halloween. Just what I need. Thank you! Please keep it up!

:grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:

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Jean-Michel says:

It is amazing how many new ideas have been implemented on JPod101 recently. You guys are doing a terrific job!
In my case, however, it seems it will still take me some time before I can jump into all those advanced features — let me first complete the Beginner cycle !…

By the way, I think that, as the number of options available keeps increasing, it might be useful to have some kind of road map of the whole studying program explaining how/when one is supposed to switch from one level to the next. This point was discussed earlier in connection with the second season of Beginner’s cycle and the same question now arises with this “lower intermediate stuff. For me, it is enough to tackle 3 Beginner’s lessons a week, with the vocab, grammar and everything, in addition to my other Japanese course. So, since it look like this Beginner’s cycle will be going on forever (and I am still learning a lot there), I might never get a chance to move on to the something else: so frustrating !!! Any hint ?

Several people have already reported the “Beginner Lessons (S2)” broken link. Is this on purpose — I mean, just to keep the suspense ?

Again, thanks a lot for all your efforts.

Jean-Michel

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NickT says:

Great idea. As someone said earlier, for me, Lower intermediate is a “perfect fit”. Beginners is sometimes too easy (not always), and intermediate (after lesson 15 or so) is a little hard.

My only comment regarding the format would be that I miss the romaji transcript. I usually listen to the Japanese while reading the English, and when I do this it is helpful to be able to flick across to the romaji if a word is used that I don’t know, or I don’t quite catch something.

It doesn’t have to be romaji, I can read hiragana fine (and at this level everyone should), the important thing is that it is on the same page so I can flick across to it when needed. I realise the conventional wisdom is to stop using romaji as soon as possible, but in this instance I find it quite useful to be able to process the conversation in real time.

Keep up the good work :smile:

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ディウィッド・リー says:

初めまして、マレーシアからのディウィッドです、よろしくお願いします。最近いつもJapanesePodをきいて、色々な勉強になった。ここからJapanesePod101のみんなさんに、どうもありがとうございます。 JapanesePod101は最高です!!

このビデオの中に、眼鏡かける人は本当にヨシさんですか? :shock:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87kme4C8yYA

がんばってね〜

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Liz says:

よしさんですか? :shock:

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Tayirbiz says:

Subarashii!
Hontouni omoshirokatta :grin:

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maxiewawa says:

The audio content questions for this lesson are the wrong way around.

The monster has poison in his spit, not dirty stuff. And he eats dirty stuff, not poison!

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JapanesePod101.com says:

Maxiewawa-san,
Thank you for pointing that out. The issue has been corrected.
ありがとうございます! :grin:

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Laura says:

Great lesson! I agree with the others it’s the perfect level. I really like the way you tell us what Yoshi-san and Natsuko-san say in their conversation after without translating it directly. A smidge more Japanese in the explanation section would be ok too.

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Laura says:

This is how I imagined the Akaname. Look at the Weeper at the bottom. You can’t see it in this pic, but it has a super-long tongue that it attacks with.

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/promathia/enemies/enemies_01.html

This is how it actually looks (according to one artist). It has a red color, which must be a visual pun on 「あか」.

http://www.obakemono.com/obake/akaname/

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Todd says:

Fascinating stuff guys! As a creature buff, I am humbled that I am learning something new. Benkyoo ni narimashita. There is a famous monster in the Resident Evil series called “the Licker”, which sounds exactly like this. Yikes! Too scary!

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Eaglefire says:

This lesson is good as. The beginner lessons are too easy and the intermediate lessons are too hard. I always wanted a lesson in between the both and this lower intermediate lesson just did the thing. Thanks a lot. Keep on your great work. Thank you

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gillian says:

I absolutely agree with what NickT says about the despised romanji for precisely the same reasons. Another point why can you only get grammar points in the basic download?

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Dean says:

I think this podcast is awesome, very professional. But honestly, I don’t see where this Lower Intermediate level is all that much different from the Beginner level. How about focusing in on the vocab and grammar necessary to progress to Intermediate? And leave the conversations to the Beginner and Intermediate levels. Well maybe that’s too boring, but it would be cool to see something that helps to bridge the gap instead of just adding another level.

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Zenkai :D says:

there is a problem in the pdf, I think… because it does not have the romaji transcript, it’s intentional? I need the romajiiiiiiiiiiiii! …it’s too much for me to read kana… :cry:

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Valle says:

hello, im a new user of japanesepod101 and directly started with this lesson.

Can someone explain to me, why in yoshi’s second phrase “Akaname” is transformed to a verb (or is akanamette/あかなめって) not a verb?! Or can someone give me a hint, in which lesson I can look to find an answer.

Thank you for your help! :smile:

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Matt Kempke says:

Hi, I’m a new user, too. I’m studying Japanese in my 4th year at university. unfortunately we learned it like latin, so my motivation and listening comprehension are on low level. (And I forgot the Kanji, too) This is the very first japanese learning session that I actually enjoyed!!!!
Thanks so much!!! I’m also studying linguistics and from a scientifc viewpoint this is perfect to learn the language!!! :)

By the way, I had the same question as Valle above …

Take Care, your new fan (and premium subscriber :) ) Matt

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JapanesePod101.com says:

that って means という so it means something like “The Akaname you were talking about” :mrgreen:

you may have to search for that grammar point (in romaji), but i think it was covered recently in this lesson:
http://www.japanesepod101.com/2008/02/23/premium-lesson-12-which-way-to-meiji-jingu/

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Dan says:

First of all, this is a great site that my jap teachers here in brazil told me to enter, and I apreciated very much what I’ve seen and heard. Domo arigatou onegaishimassu!
Post for this lesson: I WAS EATING MY GRUB! :mrgreen:

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Mayumi says:

Dan-san,
Thank you for your nice comments! :dogeza:
Do you eat “GRUB”?? :roll:

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JKid says:

Mayumi-sensei,
I think in this case Dan-san might just be using slang. People often say “grub” meaning for in general. I don’t know why. :D

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Michelle says:

I lived in Japan almost nine years ago, studied Japanese seriously at that point, but haven’t used it at all for quite a while. This was the perfect level for me to start back at. A good amount of English/Japanese–it made me happy to hear how much I do remember.

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Adam says:

Just to let you know, I think there is a problem with the second content question. It never says whether I got the answer wrong or right, but when evaluating my overall score it counts that one as being wrong.

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austin says:

kowatta!

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Martin says:

Hi, I’m new here. I figured low intermediate would be 楽、 but still helpful for me. The audio asked us to leave a reaction to how much English, and other reactions to let you know what we’d like.

I would prefer if the slow reading were not quiiiiite sooooo sloooooow. Also, although I enjoy the banter, perhaps a LITTLE less English would push me a bit more. Maybe some of the 説明could be in simple Japanese? Maybe if necessary, the English voice could make sure we’re catching it.

Since I’m new here, and starting at the oldest lesson, I realize you have quite likely changed your lesson patterns somewhat since this lesson. However, in hopes that it’s a help, I’m giving this feedback.

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Jessi says:

Martinさん,
Thank you for your feedback!! We have actually made some of the changes that you talk about here, so please look forward to those in future LI lessons :mrgreen:

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Miyuki says:

I was eating an apple just as you said ’sorry if you’re eating now’ while explaining ‘Akaname’. :mrgreen:
すばらしいレソンにありがとうごやいました! :wink:

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Miyuki says:

Eh, I meant ‘ございました’. I always mix them up when switching to Japanese keyboard. :oops:

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Kaven says:

the lower intermediate level is a good idea yes.i think everything is fine.the slow speech is ideal to make sure people REALLY get it,because when you hear something for the first time you can’t always understand it so well.for my part,i’m doing ok at following a conversation(listening-wise at least) if i concentrate enough.

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Hannie says:

Hello Peter :)

its nice to meet you here

im always listening youre voice here
where is kanji i miss him ….

thank you so much guys :)

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michie says:

Very nice. I learned a lot. thanks.. and very amusing and interesting story.. :grin:

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Ivonne C. Goodman says:

I don’t really remember being a member to Japanese Pod101. After hearing this story, this story put me in my place. I am glad you guys did the translation so that I knew what akaname was and that its a bakamonu or a Grimelicker but I didn’t understand each sentence that was said. Perhaps maybe the translater would translate the story after the japanese was said? That might help.

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Ivonne C. Goodman says:

Yea this story put me in the place where I was before, an absolute beginner but now I realize that I am not an absolute beginner anymore but a beginner trying to move on to intermediate. :mrgreen:

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Ivonne C. Goodman says:

I am into sentence structuring right now. But understanding conversation has always been my problem. I like if I could read the romaji bit by bit so I could break each japanese sentence down. That would help me to understand it better. But I guess that option isn’t given to people who come up to your site for free (darn… so much for reading that pdf!!) :mrgreen:

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sidney says:

i like understood everything the first time :razz: I feel motivated now :smile:

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Kimu says:

Hi. My (Japanese) husband was listening in on me practicing this lesson today. In his opinion, “kare” (or kanojo) would not be used to refer to a family member by Japanese people and that it sounds strange, or, at best, stilted to use it in the dialogue. Do the Japanese native speakers at Jpod agree or not?

I did enjoy this lesson very much. The story was interesting and vocabulary useful.

Kim

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Naomi says:

Kimu-san
Your husband is absolutely right. :razz:
Since I read your comment, I read this lesson’s dialogue… I was totally shocked!
Not only “kare” part, I found so many unnatural phrases or words in this dialogue.
It doesn’t seem like the story writer(apparently non-native Japanese person) asked native Japanese hosts to proof read it. :wink:

This Lower intermediate series was created long time ago when most of our current staff was not yet on board. Back then this company didn’t have any full time native speakers so this series may contain unnatural phrases.
The good point about this series is that this series was written by a person who has actually studied (or been studying) Japanese as a second language. So for native English speakers, this series might be easy to follow. :wink:

I personally recommend that you skip Lower series season 1,2 and 3 and start listening to Lower Intermediate season 4.
From season 4, the grammar and vocab are more organized and easy to follow. :wink:

Thank you for your feedback. :razz:

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one101 says:

wonderful lesson and approaching method, good work!! :grin:

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mohammad says:

hi

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Kimu says:

Hello. I have a premium membership and can’t log on. I sent an email. Can you please help?

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Tanaka Naoki says:

Doumo Arigato goosighimas!! You guys hove saved my life i looooove you guys so
(thank you so much!!)

much!! im an intermediate and im in fourth grade!!!
thanks so much!

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ダニー says:

good lesson. This was my first lesson on this site. I think it fits this category nicely. I also learned a Japanese story which I didn’t know before.

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Elena says:

Not long ago I was talking on skype to a Japanese guy, and I asked him to check my pronunciation. I read an extract from this dialog and he told me that according to the context and the situation, Yoshi (the character) must be quite a young boy, but they don’t normally use “かれ” referring to children.

Well, OK, I see Kumi-san’s comment and Naomi-san’s reply, so now I understand why this mistake occurred, but still I would like to learn more about pronouns and nouns meaning “he”, “she”, “this person”, etc. How to use them correctly? Are there any lessons focused on this problem?

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Naomi says:

Elena-san
We’re deeply sorry this dialogue causes you trouble…

I don’t think we have lessons focus on the usage of pronouns.
We usually use “kare” and “kanojo” to mean “boyfriend” or “girlfriend”.
In novels though, “kare” and “kanojo” meaning “he” “she” appears, but I’d say it’s rare that we use “kare” (meaning “he”) and “kanojo”(meaning “she”) in a daily conversation. Instead, we use the person’s name, title, “sono/ano hito-that person”, or simply omit it.

So if I rewrote the lines…
なつこ:よし が やりたいって 言ったの。 ”Yoshi said he wanted to (do it).”
おとうさん:よし は いい子だな。”Yoshi is such a good kid.”

I hope this helps. :wink:

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Elena says:

Naomi-sensei, thank you very much for your answers. Sorry for disturbing you once again, but since there are no lessons about the pronouns, I’d like to ask one more question.
It’s about the words like あいつ、こいつ、やつ. I’ve heard that they are rather rude, but they are used quite often by male characters in anime and manga. Do men tend to use then in real life?

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Elena says:

Sorry, there’s a misprint in the last sentence, it should be “them” not “then”.

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Naomi says:

Elena-san
>>あいつ、こいつ、やつ
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Yes. Men (or sometimes girls) use them often in a casual conversation between close friends. :wink:

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Elky says:

今日の仕事が終わらないと、明日は休めません。頑張ります。

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Jessi says:

Elkyさん、
頑張ってください :wink:

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mss says:

Peter, English has the exact translation for 重い病気.It is a “grave illness”. Serious illness or other situation is often described as grave, which comes from the Latin “gravis” or heavy. (Like gravity.)

In fact, if you ever watched the original “Back to the Future” movie, you might remember 1980’s Marty often used the slang “Heavy” whenever he heard serious news. He used the expression so much that 1950’s Doc asked him if there was something wrong with the gravity in the future.

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Vicente says:

Estuvo genial!!
Creo que así sí voy a aprender japonés
Yupi!!!

Yatte mimasu!!

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