Markyの腹時計が鳴っているよ！
Marky’s belly buzzer is sounding! (Again! )

What wonderful advances in technology. This happens all the time in my field of work. I used to have a 3/5 rule, (IE if I have to replace more than 3/5 of the system, it is more economical to replace the whole thing), but have mostly revised it down to a 2/5 rule. The parts cost that much, and new systems keep getting cheaper.

the maids are coming back, but due to a scheduling conflict, we had to push them back to 2007-10-16. they’ll be back for 3 more episodes tho!!!

btw, my 腹時計told me to eat a pizza

marky

By the way, I am going to go to Japan, from mid-October to November 1! I hope I can speak a little Japanese, but all my friends there speak English so well! I am listening to all the Survival Phrases, so I can survive! I love the way I can record my voice and practice it! Thanks for all that!

そうだね。修理の会社はでちょっと昔風な感じですよね。 　テクノロジーがとても速く進む一方だね。

It’s 11:32a.m. right now…I’m sitting at my desk using the pc like as usual, but i’m already soooo hungry today!!!
腹時計が鳴りまくってる！誰か助けてー！　
ＪPod101 crew　僕の腹時計聞こえますかー！！！？？？？

I didn’t know collecting watches was a hobby!

By the way, Javizy, I had the same little light bulb popping on above my head moment when I figured out that noni = no + ni thing. Handy!

Javizyさん、なんてすばらしい〜！使わせていただきます！ Thanks, as I’ll be sure to add that next time we explain it.

takaii desu ne… should get a new watch… repair is too costly …

oh and, Mina-san…

About six months ago, I wrote in to tell you that the reason I was studying Japanese was to prepare for a visit from my girlfriend’s parents, who can’t speak any English at all. I told my GF NOT to tell them I was studying ahead of their visit here, so as to avoid building up expectations.

Well, they came to visit last month. We spent 11 days touring Italy. For my GF’s dad, it was his fist time EVER outside Japan. Her mom had been to Korea, but never to a Western Country.

I have to say it was GREAT. We had a lovely time and they could NOT believe how much Japanese I’ve learned in just 8 months of study. Really they’d already met me a couple of years back, when I didn’t speak a word of the language, and they were shocked at how far I’d come. When I told them I didn’t have a teacher, but had learned everything from one website…well, they just plain didn’t believe me.

As you’d expect, understanding is still far easier than speaking for me. I found I still can’t say very much beyond a fairly basic level. Even if I’ve studied it, the words just don’t come when I need them. “Tomorrow we will go to Venice early” I could manage, but something like, “well, we better get up early tomorrow if we want to reach venice before noon, so everyone better pack up their luggage tonight” - no way. My communication is pretty limited, still, and I make a ton of mistakes. BUT I could understand a shocking amount of what they were saying to each other - which was especially nice given that mostly they speak Kyushu dialect. And when I needed to communicate something to them, well, often it wasn’t pretty (gramatically speaking) but I usually managed somehow. It was only a few times that communication broke down completely.

One funny thing. I realized fairly early on that it was much easier to communicate with my GF’s dad than my GF’s mom. Her dad is a salaryman, working for a Kyoto company, who has to use standard NHK Japanese every day for work. He was very patient with me and would speak very slowly, and amazingly, we managed to have some fairly involved conversations. My GF’s mom, on the other hand, is really a housewife from Kyushu, and it soon became clear to me that she isn’t really that conscious of when she’s using dialect and when she’s using NHK Japanese. The borderline between them is kind of hazy for her, largely because she doesn’t use standard Japanese everyday. So she’d start talking at me veeeeery slowly, but in dialect, and I’d get lost real fast. That was terribly frustrating! I guess the only way to fix that problem is to go and live in Kyushu for a while, though.

But, overall, I just wanted to write a bit of a testimonial to thank everybody at JPod101 and to let you know that your system really really works. I mean, if you’d told me in January that within seven months I could learn enough Japanese to chat with my future in-laws I would’ve laughed at you. But that’s exactly what I did. It was awesome.

And then, when I think that I’ve spent less than 100 dollars so far to learn all this, that I never had an in-person lesson, never set foot in Japan…well, it’s incredible what the internet can do. And it’s incredible what you all can do. All the “thank you”s I could type wouldn’t be enough.

Francisco

I can feel the love here!

susan さん、
高いでしょう？

franciscoさん、

>Naomi-sensei - I think jPod101 lessons have been a lot better since you joined.

she’s on the ball for sure!! we’re all so happy she’s here with us!! i hope i see her reaction to this post firsthand!

>oh and, Mina-san…

dude, that’s the best thing i’ve read in months! congratulations on all that, and you really went the extra step for them. your girlfriend must really be something! and seems like her parents saw how hard you’re trying! awesome!

and i have to say that from our perspective on the other side of your speakers/headphones or whatever, there’s a real human element to teaching. I mean, language is HUMAN COMMUNICATION after all. and what you just wrote confirms it all. it’s really touching.

Jasonさん、

throwing down, once again! awesome!

If i could add something to your chart…
about なくては - i think that’s the most formal one, so that’s why you use it in your class. Also, about ダメ and いけない, my understanding is these are basically the same. but I’d like to hear naomi-sensei’s input on this one.

man, i’ve been working until 1 again!! time to sleep, goodnight all!

marky

Wow Francisco, you make me want to study harder!! がんばるよ！　

In the lesson notes of this lesson, the grammar point mentioned that のに　indicates the purpose or aim. But in the grammar bank, のに　means although, which is quite different. Can anyone shed light on this matter?