Learn Japanese at JapanesePod101.com! Today is Agnes’ big presentation! It’s her chance to prove how hard she’s been working on her first big project at Design Office J. But there’s just one problem: she’s been working so late recently and she nebō shicchatta - over slept! Our grammar point is bāi de wa nai, used to describe inappropriate actions in a particular time and/or place. After listening, stop by JapanesePod101.com and be sure to leave Agnes a post!
This entry was posted on Friday, October 12th, 2007 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Intermediate 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.
28 Responses to “Intermediate Lesson #72 - My Tokyo Traveblogue - Day 20”
JapanesePod101.com says:
October 10th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Mina-san,
When it rains, it pours. Poor Agnes is having a lot of problems this morning. Do you think she’ll be able to do a good job with her presentation? Or is she totally going to blow it this time?
sue-shee says:
October 12th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Been a lurker for a long time! Where did the daily Kanji go?
One point, what do you guys use to study grammar? Podcasts by themselves are not getting me anywhere.
Suggestions for books most welcome!
Ja-ne.
Sue-Shee
Francisco says:
October 12th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Oh wow, I was sure poor Agnes had been consigned to the scrap heap of discontinued series. Nice to hear from her again…
lisab says:
October 13th, 2007 at 12:31 am
It is great to hear from Agnes again, but the Lesson Notes and Kanji appear to be lost…
Neil says:
October 13th, 2007 at 7:29 am
Textbook comment from thejapanesepage.com:
Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese. This is a 2-book course with a strong following. Each book has an accompanying workbook and audio. It is one of the more expensive courses but worth the money. However, this is not so much better than Nakama that you should ignore a good deal if you find it.
Other recommendations are also provided at this site. I find the Genki books at Amazon for about $40-$50 per book.
デボン says:
October 13th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
I think these books are great for just grammer points.
http://www.unicom-lra.co.jp/ja/ja_e.html
http://www.thejapanshop.com/product.php?productid=16468&cat=267&page=1
Francisco says:
October 13th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
By the way, for a good time check out:
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=wf2CL6YqxPE
Jyuppon Anime!
Peter says:
October 14th, 2007 at 12:24 am
Thank you for letting us know! All fixed.
Peter from a new touch iPod.
TempleUniJP says:
October 14th, 2007 at 3:14 am
Im a 大のファン of this series and its really useful vocab. I was really hyped to get another instalation. Well, I thought i should let you know that im back in school and I tested into Advanced Japanese! I only took one formal class prior and ive been studying almost 2 years now. This summer I listened to you podcasts habitualy and always read the PDFs. Im sure that if it wasnt for your show I would be in Intermediate level now. You guys saved me alot of money and time and made it possible for me to study and work at the same time. I dont think i can really thank you guys enough!
Anyway, I decided to write to you today becuase last night I had a funny vivid dream I was working for you guys editing the podcast. Natsuko was this extreamly mean person who completely changed after taping the podcast. I was having some disputes with some faceless person about PR work and then Peter in his always chipper voice and additude promtly fired me, siteing the fact that he doesnt like confrotations. Haha, well it was great becuase your radio voices were so clear and distinct in the dream but visualy it was really hazy.
Well again, Thanks so much! You guys are all really making a difference in cultural communication and understanding!
Francisco says:
October 14th, 2007 at 3:48 am
You definitely know you’ve been spending too much time on this site when their voices start insinuating themselves into your dreams!
Peter says:
October 14th, 2007 at 5:17 am
TempleUniJPさん、おめでとうございます！ 
Great job! As for the rest of the post….priceless! 
On Monday your post will be the talk of the office!
Sue-shee-san, have you seen the grammar bank in the learning center? There is a lot of useful stuff in there, also in the PDFs.
As for books, by far the best grammar book:
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar (Paperback)
by Seiichi Makino (Author), Michio Tsutsui (Author)
They have an intermediate version:
A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar (Paperback)
by Seiichi; Tsutsui, Michio Makino (Author)
Straight, uncut, grammar.
João Paulo says:
October 14th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
I loved the intro with Shakespeare Takahashi. It’s been a long time!!!
Great lesson, too. Considering all the twists from JPOD, who knows how will Agnes get to the office? It will surely be in a surpring way!! 
Yuki says:
October 15th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Francisco-san, 「10本アニメ」おもしろい！！始めて見ました。
TempleUniJP-san!
It seems like your Japanese were improved a lot! やりましたね！
今度は日本語でコメントをお願いします Please leave a post in Japanese next time! 
Francisco says:
October 15th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Yukisan,
Sadly, some of us are still well on the other side of the Kanji Curtain - Rikaichan is my savior!
Being illiterate is lame, I know, but all I can say is that different people learn Japanese for different reasons. Personally, I don’t live in Japan, and have no plans to move there: the only reason I’m studying is to be able to talk with my fiancé’s family! So I really don’t have a practical reason to learn the Kanji, though every so often I think about giving it a try. Who knows, maybe some day in the future I’ll need them for some reason.
So I’ve been thinking of making Kanji study my 2008 New Year’s Resolution. I’m in a strange position now: I grasp the language well enough to be able to have a simple conversation, but I don’t know ANY Kanji. Not one! I really wonder what the best method to start is.
You hear a LOT about the Heisig Method when you look around online, and it seems to REALLY divide people. I have to say I find it tempting to go down that route: my memory seems to latch on to “little stories” a lot better than to squiggles. Plus, I have one big luxury: I’m in *no* hurry. Heisig tells me I need to spend 6 months to a year memorizing Kanji meanings without learning a single pronunciation, and then another 2 or 3 years memorizing pronunciations and how kanji go together, and that’s fine for me: I have the time.
Anyway, I wonder if other people here have used the Heisig method, and what y’all thought of it. Anyone?
Peter says:
October 15th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
João Paulo-san, yep, great to have him back!
Francisco-san, flashcards and 4 books, searching for them, but only found one…
This is one:
Kanji in Context Reference Book
will keep looking for all of them.
bennchan says:
October 16th, 2007 at 9:42 am
this is my first visit. maybe my grammar and vocab aren’t so bad but I can’t listen for ****. looking to take it up a little bit.
kitty-chan says:
October 16th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
LOL. At least he’s being honest, hahahaha 
I definitely think my listening has improved in a very short time! YAY!
I don’t live in Japan, so it’s pretty hard to hear Japanese except on Youtube, so this is great for me!! 
OkayamaS says:
October 17th, 2007 at 3:46 am
I don’t know how to type a double take…. but… was that Shakespeare Takahashi?
Natsukashii!!!!
Sean Somers says:
October 18th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Although they seem to pop in and out of print, the two part dictionary series published by ‘The Japan Times’ (eds. Makino and Tsutsui) are very good:
“Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar”
And there’s an intermediate version as well. Definitely worth picking up a second hand copy.
-Sean
sTeVe aUsTiN says:
October 18th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Is there an echo in here?
JK. I have those books, I don’t think they go out of print. I see them all over the place in Japan. I third that motion!
Jason says:
October 24th, 2007 at 11:02 am
new iPod Touch
Replying from a slightly used iPod Touch. It’s quite a nice little device though typing is taking some getting used to.
ミシェル says:
October 26th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Thanks for the link to the 10本アニメ link! I think I’ve just wasted the past 35 minutes going through the various episodes 
This one is interesting in that it’s very “Japanese” (http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=m1Y28enda3k)–just filled with Japanese cultural references.
41st side qns ny says:
July 14th, 2008 at 7:53 am
can anyone transcribe what her response to shakespeare takahashi’s request is in the preview?
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Category: Intermediate Lessons |
Grammar: baai, baai de wa nai | Function: calling in sick, making excuses | Topic: office, presentations | Politeness Level: casual, formal, Polite
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