Comments on: Lower Intermediate Lesson #17 - Postcards VII

by: ヴァネッサ

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 03:23:08 +0000

I’ve really enjoyed these last lessons, not that I didn’t enjoy the other ones As for the speed element, I’m a third year university student and I found it a tad difficult at some points to follow along, but it was challenging and I was pleased with how much I did manage to catch the first time I listened.

ありがとう！

by: Anders

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 17:18:55 +0000

when the girl from the agency says

明後日せんにく七時半発ホノルル行きを…

what is this せんにく or せにく? I am so confused- can someone help me out

and i the last part of this sentence

…ホノルルゆきを戻りしておきます

or is it …ホノルルゆきをお取りしておきます or something else?

Please help me out

by: someone

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:41:52 +0000

some more examples:

just a little -> jusht a little
something I’m not certain about - >something I’m not sherten about

by: someone

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:25:34 +0000

Natsuko’s pronunciation is very nice, but to the other female voice actor, please get someone to help you with your English pronunciation,

for example:
your ’seven’ sounds like ’sheven’
your ’sou desu ne’ sounds like ’sou desu nerrr’.

My pronunciation is not good, but I can tell when someone doesn’t sound right and it’s hard to learn from someone this way.

Cheers

by: Clienad

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:58:55 +0000

That was hard work I must admit this one will take a few listens to get it all but I am certain that it was excellent for my listening comprehension. Vocab and explanations flew past like a bullet in Japanese but the main point was always re-enforced by a short explanation in English (A very good idea). In this way I’m surprised at how much I understood I also think this is a good one for true speed Japanese comprehension. Being in Japan people speak exactly like this and they don’t slow down all the time sooo… Great!!!

I also love the fact that you introduced the name of the lesson earlier. I have these on random so I sometimes have to wait a while before I know if I have listened to this lesson before.

Keep up the great work.

by: Auntie

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 00:03:34 +0000

Hello! Like quite a few of the other posters on this thread, I too found that the sound recording was too fast. Sachiko-san in particular was difficult to understand (so fast!), although I managed to catch most of what Natsuko was saying because she was just a shade slower and clearer. But thank you for another brilliant lesson!

I do miss Peter’s involvement, too, because he plays the “teacher” part and slows down the lesson deliberately at times in order to clarify/ reinforce some language point that native speakers may take for granted, but which a foreign student would definitely be confused by.

Thank you!

by: Bobu

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 01:21:51 +0000

I’m starting to like these lessons even more than the Intermediate ones!

Good story and I enjoyed the vocab discussion, the girls seem much more chatty when Peter isn’t there!

by: ミシェル

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 03:40:01 +0000

Lots of useful service/commerce-related vocabulary, ne. But for learners of Japanese, actually calling up an airline company and making reservations by phone is quite a challenge! A little misunderstanding could result in a big travel mixup…

But perhaps intermediate-level folk could manage doing things online? Here’s the Japanese ANA website: http://www.ana.co.jp/asw/AMCTopServlet?type=usj

Of course, the form on the left is probably pretty self-explanatory, but if you want to work on some vocab, note that 出発空港 is departing airport and 到着空港is arrival airport. You can also input airport by the 空港コード which is, you guessed it, the 3-digit airport code. Next, 往路is literally “approach route,” but can also mean “outbound journey.” 往路出発 is the start of the trip. Likewise, 復路can mean “return journey,” and 復路出発 is the date of your return.

The site then asks for the number of adults (大人), children (子供), and infants (幼児). The class dropdown box (economy, business, first) is written entirely in katakana.

What about the buttons below? Well, 上記以外means “other than those above,” and 旅程 is itinerary, so you can probably guess what you’ll find if you click on “上記以外の旅程” (the graphic to the left helps too). This is the form you use to make multiple-leg trips. Click on the 区間数追加 button to enter all your various legs.

Another useful page is the 時刻表検索 page which lets you look up timetables from one airport to another. The lists of non-Japanese cities offer a good opportunity to practice reading katakana (since you should be able to figure out the names of all cities in your home country at least!)

by: NickT

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 11:16:43 +0000

I followed this lesson much better than I follow the intermediate ones, so I don’t think it is on that level quite yet. Maybe it is similar to the first two or three intermediate lessons, which were quite easy, but no where near some of the later ones.

Isn’t the point of lower intermediate though, that it will slowly ramp up in difficulty and become more like the intermediates eventually? I guess there is a danger though, that if it gets too difficult, then it will become an “Intermediate Seasons 2″, and lose its original purpose of being for people who cannot quite follow intermediate lessons.

I enjoyed this lesson.

by: Max

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 23:57:54 +0000

I’ve complained about the speed of lessons before but this one seemed fine for me. Maybe sometimes I am just more receptive and more easily able to absorb the Japanese. I hope this is a sign that I may finally be in a state where listening and understanding is something I do without thinking so much.
To be honest I am getting tired of approaching every Japanese conversation I listen to with a furrowed brow and an intently concentrated expression on my face.