There is something wrong with the grammar points of the PDF

This shop clerk is so funny!!! Take-san is the beeeeeeest!

I have a question Sindy - how did Take manage to sound so much like Yoshikai?

I might have asked the question in today’s dialogue because all of the £1 shops I’ve been in have had items at other prices; kind of misleading if you ask me

Danielさん、true enough.
But I think we can make a good case for bending the language a little bit for pedagogical purposes. By modeling the English after the Japanese sentence structure (especially in the beginner and newbie level) we can illustrate usage that is unique to japanese and start off listeners with good habits in japanese. after all, we’re trying to teach japanese, not english. these kinds literal translations are usually deliberate and we tend use fewer of them in the higher levels.
in the end, translation is an art, not a science, and the technique has to vary depending on audience.

as for aizuchi (back channeling), of course we use it in english. all languages do. but i think peter wasn’t trying to make an across the board statement. as you well know, aizuchi is extremely important in japanese. it’s actually considered rude if you don’t constantly reply with はい、うん、ええ、そうですか and the like, whereas in english you could, in theory, say nothing and just listen.
again, we have to consider all these points from the beginning and think about how we can get some good habits formed in our listeners (text books don’t usually even cover aizuchi). so since this was a newbie lesson, it seemed like as good a time as any to stress the importance thereof here. that said, you’re right we most definitely do back channel in english, but it’s MUCH less than in english.

an interesting story about back channeling in english and japanese:
it’s actually annoying (and even RUDE) in english to back channel as much as they do in japanese. and i’ve gotten in the habit of doing it here. but when i return to the states, i have a hard time “turning off” japanese mode. and i constantly say うん、ええ、へえぇ, etc and it annoys the pants off my friends in family in america. i have to train myself to stop doing it.

marky

Introおもしろいね。いつも！

Hai, Fashion chekku shimasune. Mazune, sono kutsu ga dame. Sorekara ne, ano, sono kaban mo dame. ??::???:　Sorekara ne, Sono shatsu mo dame, zenbu ga dame, subete dame…

Anata ne, hitotsu ii koto oshiete ageru.

Japanesepod101 kikinasai!

でも、ちょっと意見あげていい？Introはレッソンに対してほうがいいとおもいますんが。中級な学生のために。

Maybe the intros could be based around the same basic idea as the dialogues.

Just include ‘ikura’ or some other word from today’s lesson and it would give everyone another exposure to the word. It would undoubtedly change the skit, but it would give it that educational slant that we’re all looking for.

I’m not sure if it’s the same thing, but when the two actors were working it out, you might just chip in with ‘一ついいこと教えてあげる’ to ‘一言教えてあげる’, which was a word from yesterday’s lesson.

I’m not sure if 一言 and 一ついい事 are interchangeable though, but I hope you get my meaning. Just include something from that day’s dialog in the intro, as a ‘primer’ to that lesson.

たとえば
いらっしゃい！
え、これはいくら？
お客様、すみませんけど、それだめ。
え？じゃ、これは？
はい、実はね、それもだめ。これもそれもあれもだめ、全部がだめ。。。ききなさい！

Or maybe…
(Background sounds of a shop)
Girl@register: は～い、次の方おねがいしま～す！
Customer: えと。。。この中級レッソンと。。。
Girl:は～い。(Beeping sound as she scans the barcode)
客：それに、メッセージ・ボードと。。。
Girl:は～い。
客：それと、七日間Free Trialお願いします。全部いくら？
Girl:お客さん、これはゼロ円です。
客：え。。。
Girl:　Japanesepod101.comへいらっしゃいませ!

I always see the intros as the level of language I’d like to be at. - Breakneck speed. I think listeners would really get a kick out of being able to pick something out of the intros, even if it’s only one word. This would be much easier if some of the words were taken from the dialogue for that lesson.

It’s really amazing all the input you give us listeners about some language/cultural aspects you really don’t find in textbooks.

The explanation about “aizuchi” was really nice and it really didn’t change the topic of the rest of the lesson.

Now, about Naomi sensei’s funny experience, I can relate to Javizy-san, here in Brazil we also have the R$ 1,99 shops (equivalent to 100en shoppu in Japan) and some products there do have different prices sometimes.

I wonder why they continue using the name R$ 1,99, then!!! But as Peter-san said, that may be a very good practice for those who want to master on numbers

Mata!

Interesting lesson…
Naomi san does use “aizuchi” quite often, perhaps it would be nice to have a lesson on when and how to use “aizuchi” too. In addition, its good that Naomi san is showing us the correct pitch but please don’t overdo it to the point that sounds irritating. Other members on Jap101 are nice and easy to listen to but I found myself have to lower the volume everytime you speak. I still enjoy listening to the lessons but just a little feedback to keep in mind….

Mina-san!

Thank you for your participation!

Tataraabuela-san!

It’s ok grandma, nice feedback! S_R_C

Just wanted to say I’m really enjoying this newbie series with Naomi-sensei. I was finding the later beginner series a bit tricky, I’m finding this more structured approach really helpful.

ありがとうございます

Tony