btw-i have only been listening to these podcasts for a couple weeks yet I can definitely tell that my Japanese reading comprehension has greatly improved (no longer takes me an hour to read an email from a Japanese friend). THANK YOU so much for these podcasts. They have been the only way for me to continue learning Japanese on my own, so that the 3 years of Japanese classes I took don’t become a complete waste (it’s soo easy for me to forget if I don’t practice!!).

I would appreciate comments.

がんばれ！！！！。

It is great to hear your voice. I love your laughter. I hope we will hear more of you in the future.

ネイト

If I have an unknown word in some other program (e.g. Microsoft Word), I copy it to the clipboard, and then past it someplace in Firefox (typically the Google search box but any place will do). Then I can mouse-over and use Rikaichan to see what the word means.
This is a little cumbersome, but since Rikaichan handles conjugated verbs, it is very useful.
Jya mata
John

And lets not leave out Linux users, Peter!

The jala.com address has come up as a link - this was not my intention. Please don’t use it! I think it is just an example and will lead to nowhere.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu

mikuji

Since Jalan.net has been mentioned I thought you may wish to take this opportunity for learning the Japanese vocab associated with logging in as a member on an internet based service. Below you will find a translation of the log in page from jalan.net

The square brackets indicate something I added to aid understanding which may not be in the text but is needed to make sense in English. Curly brackets show the literal meaning and round brackets show the kana for the word in kanji just preceding them.

You can see the original at: http://www.jalan.net/frame/menu_point_syokai.html

じゃらんnet よくあるご質問 jalan.net FAQ
じゃらんnetへのログイン Log in to Jalan. net
すでに会員（かいいん）の方は、anyone who is an existing member,
Eメールアドレスとパスワードを入力（にゅうりょく）してください。Please enter email address and password.
まだ会員でない方 （かた）… any persons who has not yet registered….
…の 新規登録（しんきとうろく）（無料）はこちら …can enter their new registration details (for free) here　{literally: the registration of any person who is not already a member [is] here}
Eメールアドレス email address
(例）xxxxx@jalan.jp (for example ) xxxxx@jalan.jp
パスワード password
パスワードを忘（わ）れた場合（ばあい）はこちら in case you have forgotten your password [click]here
ログオン　log on
同じ（おなじ）パソコン・ブラウザを使って（つかって）の他人（たにん）による不正（ふせい）アクセスを防（ふせ）ぐため、… in order to prevent unauthorised access to another person using the same computer /browser…
…認証（にんしょう）サービスご利用（りょう）後はログアウトするかブラウザを一度閉（と）じて下さい。…please logout once from the browser after use of the certification service
セキュリティ保護（ほこ）のため、定期的（ていてき）なパスワード変更（へんこう）をオススメします。for the sake of security we recommend that you change your password regularly　｛note the use of 片仮名 【かたかな】to stress the word ［お勧め」= recommend｝
パスワード変更はこちら [click] here to change [your] password

Enjoy!
よろしくお願いします

ミクジ

# 新規登録 initial registration // new registration

# 新規登録する add as a new entry
新規 【しんき】 (adj-na,n) novelty, originality, (P)
登録 【とうろく】 (n,vs) registration, register, entry, record, (P)