Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! Today the trains of Tokyo are more crowded than ususal as congestion from a peculiar event has reduced personal space to the point it is subject for conversation. A hint about today’s lesson comes in the form of mushi, nakimushi, yowamushi, and a lot more mushi. Also in this lesson, we tackle transitive and intransitive Japanese verbs, a popular listener request, once again! After listening, stop by JapanesePod101.com and be sure to leave us a post!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 12th, 2006 at 6:01 pm and is filed under Beginner Lessons. 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.
27 Responses to “Beginner Lesson #149 - Creepy Crawly Tokyo Conference”
JapanesePod101.com says:
December 12th, 2006 at 6:02 pm
Mina-san, today’s location is パンゲア・Pangea - hello to all of our listeners in Pangea!
Yoshi says:
December 12th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
Hi Mina-san,
I just wanted to remind you that today is 漢字の日！ (かんじのひ、Kanji no hi, The kanji day) and the character chosen for today is 命 (いのち、inochi, life)
Well, I didn’t know about it till now, but how wonderful it is that today is Kanji day! Let’s learn kanji and also take advantage to think about our 命・いのち.
I wanna say “Life is beautiful.”
Matane,
Yoshi
maxiewawa says:
December 12th, 2006 at 7:52 pm
Happy ‘kanji no hi’ from the home of Kanji, the PRC!
“Sometimes I wake up on a beautiful day, and I just say ‘yatta’!”
John C. Briggs says:
December 13th, 2006 at 3:11 am
In the Vocabulary for the Romaji
“Tokyō”
should be
“Tōkyō”
Liz says:
December 13th, 2006 at 9:34 am
Yoshi-san,
Thanks for telling us about kanji no hi. 
I tried looking it up online and the only thing I could find out was that this day started to be celebrated in 1995. This year’s kanji (命)is certainly an interesting one. 
Rob says:
December 13th, 2006 at 10:41 am
Wow, an entire year dedicated to one kanji? This is something new to me! Seems very interesting, too–I think I’ll look deeper into it!
Vicky says:
December 13th, 2006 at 11:07 am
Daniel B-san, I finally open the box today. Thank you so much for your Christmas gift. It was really thoughtful of you.
Thanks for everything!! You are the best of the best! 
Barbara says:
December 13th, 2006 at 4:54 pm
Lis-san,
I also could find little on kanji no hi, but here is a little on the choosing of each year’s kanji. I thought it interresting that 命
was considered in 2001.
http://www.kanjiclinic.com/kc16final.htm
John C-san,
I think you are auditioning for our new proofreader? You have a sharp eye- ganbatte ne!
Alain says:
December 13th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
Today’s japan Times explains the choice of inochi kanji.
There is a photo of Kiyomizu drawing with the comment:
“The Chinese character of the year, “Inochi,” which means “life,” is unveiled Tuesday at Kiyomizu Temple here by Chief Priest Seihan Mori. The character was chosen because several student suicides and other incidents underscored the importance of human life, said the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, which organizes the annual event.”
John C. Briggs says:
December 13th, 2006 at 9:41 pm
Barbaraさん,
Well, sometimes it looks like they could use a little help with the fine details. I don’t mean to be critical. It is just nice when this stuff is right.
Thanks
John
Kevin says:
December 14th, 2006 at 11:19 am
One bug you missed in the dialogue: お金食い虫: the money-eating bug.
Daniel Beck says:
December 14th, 2006 at 8:47 pm
John C. Briggs-san, your
is working so far.
Can I borrow those?
Lu-chan says:
December 15th, 2006 at 1:16 am
Alain– wow. 面白い！あのヌースのＡＲＴＩＣＬＥは面白い！有賀とございます！
happy Kanji day to everyone! I like the new Kanji of the year: 命。
and, to Peter-san, Natsuko-san and Yoshi-san: i really enjoyed the topic today. still trying to work out the “bugs” in understanding intransitive and transitive. 
methinks I may have to brush on my english grammar. >.
Kevin says:
December 15th, 2006 at 7:40 am
A transitive verb, in both Japanese and English, is one that has a direct object, while an intransitive verb does not.
In the example:
虫を集める人が… “the people who collect insects”
集める has a direct object in the clause 虫を集める (i.e. 虫).
…人が東京ドームに集まる… “people gathering at the Tokyo Dome”
集まる has no direct object in this clause (people are just gathering, they are not gathering something)
In English it’s much harder to distinguish them because many verbs can be used in either way, although the meaning of the verb often changes between the transitive and intransitive case:
Transitive: I hurled the baseball at the batter’s head. 
Intransitive: I hurled during English grammar class. 
Lesley says:
December 15th, 2006 at 7:56 am
To all the other beginners out there:
I’m enjoying the Beginner series and won’t go pass lesson four until I get it down pat! I love Mina-zan voice as well as Peter-san. They are both very easy to listen to and I’m able to repeat what they say in Japanese. Today, I was able to say to both my larger English classes, “Are you busy? ” They all were thrilled for me! But I do have one question. The lesson regarding “he, she, they…” most of my Japanese friends here in Japan tell me they don’t use the “Kare-la” form to speak just to read and write. Should this be noted in a boardcast?
Thanks, An American living in Japan
Sindy says:
December 20th, 2006 at 4:13 am
Yoshi-san Thank you for telling us about 漢字の日！(かんじのひ、Kanji no hi, The kanji day)
Daniel-san
ヴィッキ
Now thinking about yesterday 2:00AM or 3:00AM was it a dream? or Vicky-san really said something to me I just saw the comment very dizzy and blind so I couldn’t read it well but anyway whatever it was thanks telling me ok! S_R_C
nanaka says:
December 20th, 2006 at 7:48 am
Watched animation “蟲師” (mushishi), and none of mushi-s mentioned in this lesson appearred in that animation. ^_^
ルう says:
March 27th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
すみません、「何て言うんだっけ」ちょっとわかリませんですから、なんて＝what/how、言う=to say,でも、「だっけ」と「ん」は何ですが。どうも ありがとう ございます。。。
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Category: Beginner Lessons |
Grammar: transitive/intransitive verbs | Topic: insects | Politeness Level: Informal, Polite
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