また明日ね。

Thanks. I feel a lot better about things now. But I wouldn’t leave this course, regardless. As Peter-sensei so often says in the emails we get from him, the simple key to success is to set goals and to stick to them. So, I’ll just go on following these lessons diligently. I said ‘diligently’, not ‘blindly.’ Because I really DO sense the intelligence behind these lessons. They’re actually built-up pretty cleverly (insofar as I am able to tell, of course). So I firmly believe in this method, even though the lack of grammar frustrates me a bit at times. But I would also like it on record that I truly do believe that your podcasts are the best thing I ever encountered!

Sumimasen, that came out a bit harsher than I meant. Demo, hontou ni, grammar is not a plague which should be avoided at all cost! And I know people have suggested I just skip to Season 2 for the grammar. But being a true beginner — unlike, indeed, many others here — it seems like skipping half the newbie Season will undoubtedly introduce a whole different batch of problems. So I’m kinda reluctant to do so.

markystar said: “… this is an old lesson and we’ve changed how we do things since then. and, honestly, that’s why we recommend starting from the Nihongo Dojo series, it’s much more controlled and doesn’t introduce grammar that is outside of the level.”

Kore wa nan desu ka?! So, what have I been doing all previous lessons for then? A bit disheartened now.

すすり泣く声 and 泣きながら is originally for the purpose of the directions for voice acting. We are sorry for making you confused. すすり泣く声 means “sobbing,” and 泣きながら means “in tears.”
どうしたんですか means “what’s wrong” or “what’s the matter.”
いいかなぁ can be divided into いい meaning “good”, か which is a question marker and なぁ which is an ending particle indicating emotion. So, it means “I wonder which one would be good.”

I have to say, that I really appreciate the natural usage of the language even in the Newbie-Lessons. I studied Japanese intensively for one year with a teacher with “normal” textbooks. I thought, that I was well prepared for my trip to Japan…

I wasn’t… And now I have found JPOD and I thought, that THIS is the kind of language I was confrontrated with in Japan and not the Japanese I had to learn with the textbooks. Now I am pretty sure that my next stay in Japan would be great after studying with JPOD!

Even if a Newbie doesn’t really understand what’s behind the “n da”, you can catch the sound and rhythm of these lines and of course, you have the translations. It’s a kind of context-learning and I like it very much. And I am sure, that the “no da” will be much more easily understood when it is time for the grammatical explanation.

Sorry for my bad English. But I guess with JPOD I am able to refresh it too !

Greetings from Germany,
Kobu

IROIRO ARIGATOU GOZAIMASHITA NE !!!

But I don’t think these lessons are confusing. I just think you guys leave a lot of words and parts of sentences unexplained. But I’ve learned that everything in this series is basically “beyond the scope of this lesson” [lol], so if a true newbie, like me, just focuses on what the point of the lesson is and not on the excess things, then no confusion will come.

I love JPod. End of story ^_^ You guys rockkkkkkkk at what you do.

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I’m sure you can enjoy many more interesting and useful lessons at our site!
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