Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! “How many people in your party, Ma’am?” the hostess asks as you enter the Japanese restaurant. Seating you at your table, she asks in Japanese, “Are you ready to order your drinks?” You politely ask the hostess in Japanese, “Please bring us three waters and one tea for right now…we’re not sure.” The server approaches your table and asks in Japanese, “Will you all need glasses for wine, and how many would that be?” He counts the people around the table in Japanese, “You have five people?” Since there are only four people at your table, they must know your boss will be coming in soon - and they know he’s really a big shot. Sure enough, your boss arrives and moments later, another server approaches and explains in Japanese, “I have two vegetable ramen and three onigiri.” They seem to know his usual as they place one plate in front of him along with one glass of white wine. It’s a good thing you have been studying your Japanese so you didn’t embarrass yourself in front of the staff…not to mention your boss!
Learning Japanese with JapanesePod101.com is the most fun and effective way to learn Japanese! This Japanese Newbie lesson is about several things, but it’s principally about counting people and general objects. To learn all about these Japanese counters, check out this Newbie lesson. Visit us at JapanesePod101.com where you will find many more fantastic Japanese lessons and learning resources! Leave us a message while you are there!
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This entry was posted on Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Newbie Season 3 . 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.
33 Responses to “Newbie Lesson S3 #5 - Nihongo Dōjō - How Many People Are in Your Japanese Dinner Party?”
Monday at 6:30 pm
Mina-san, after you eat a bowl of ramen, do you have enough room for THREE ONIGIRI? Wow. Minami-san must have worked hard today and built up quite an appetite. (笑)
Monday at 8:02 pm
In Tokyo there are many Ramen Otaku (ラーメンヲタク) who are crazy about Ramen (myself included). They read magazines, websites and books dedicated to the subject. It gets so intense that even popular ramen shops with long lines may not be good enough for them. The ramen chef of such fantastic shops holds nearly rock star status (or more like prize fighter status). In fact, I’m to eat 塩ラーメン now.
BTW, did you know that Tokyo has some fantastic Italian restaurants? Even here in Akasaka we have a ridiculously good pasta shop. I love it! If you love Italian food too, please jump over to http://www.italianpod101.com and check out the Latin Love, awwwww yeah
Monday at 9:13 pm
いただきます!!!
Working at Style You must be hard… 3 onigiri … That’s almost a meal in itself, right ?
Rebekahさん,私も餃子は一番美味しい食べ物だと思います。
I’m not sure about drinking wine with ラーメン, but I probably wouldn’t go for white Bourgogne…
Monday at 11:11 pm
Ramen Otaku?! I didn’t know there was such a thing
i wonder what these ramen magazines are like.
Tuesday at 12:47 am
chrisさん,
lots of pictures of HOT, STEAMING ramen
can’t help you with magazines from here, but this is a good place to start…
http://www.torasan.com/
超オタクじゃん!
Tuesday at 1:48 am
I wonder if there are any takoyaki magazines
Tuesday at 10:53 am
はははははは
ラッキー!
lol, except she loves ramen too!
Tuesday at 10:55 am
拉麺おいしいね! I always get the 酸酸辣辣 (sour-sour spicy-spicy). I don’t like spicy stuff usually but it’s always good.
Tuesday at 10:59 am
i ate so much instant ramen in my first year of university that i can’t stand the stuff now.
i think i’ll be skipping ramen when i visit japan.
Tuesday at 10:59 am
Haha I liked the guest appearances at the end!
Tuesday at 11:18 am
I went back to hear the guest appearances… and I heard the intro again.


I love Hasegawa-sama’s “sugoi deshou?”
That’s so funny!
Tuesday at 12:59 pm
My first year in Japan, I lived in Mito, Ibaraki (Ibaragi janakute IbaraKI) and there was this great ramen shop near the station that had everything! My friend Dan befriended the cook there and wrote down the menu in English so that any time any English speakers came in they could know what they were getting, if they couldn’t speak Japanese. I love eating Miso Ramen and I look forward to eating more when I return to Japan in Golden Week
PS I throughly recommend the Ramen Museum in Yokohama - go on an empty stomach. Went there with a good friend in Winter last year, and as Marky would say - OHHH YEAH!!!!!
Tuesday at 2:54 pm
JP101!
Thank you for the newbie lesson, Congratulations on IP101!
Welcome back Kitty-chan we miss you!
I
ramen especially Korean ramen! S_R_C
Tuesday at 3:46 pm
Thanks for the Review about counters!! That’s just what I needed!
Tuesday at 4:27 pm
みなさん、こんにちは Mina-san konnichiwa
東京は毎日寒いです。Tokyo wa mainichi samui desu.
Glenn-san
>>I throughly recommend the Ramen Museum in Yokohama
Here is their web page.
http://www.raumen.co.jp/home/
Tuesday at 7:16 pm
Naomi-sensei,
シカゴも寒い!雪がふっています。
東京は寒いですか?
Rebecca-sensei,
It’s interesting that you mentioned “gyoza” in view of the latest news from Japan about contaminated gyoza from China. It must be a terrible worry to everyone there.
Tuesday at 10:19 pm
Hello J-Pod no minna-san,
Quick suggestion - these lengthy intros on all the podcasts now, how about making them use language appropriate to the lesson to which they are attached? I just listened to this newbie lesson today (I listen to all the lessons, and would say my level is intermediate (on a good day)), but I’d guess the intro on this one was way beyond newbie level.
Maybe better to encourage people with something nice and easy (and also short I would say,- the intros have been getting rather too long!) on lower level lessons, especially as the intros are rarely translated or explained.
Tuesday at 10:29 pm
Phil, the intros are translated in the PDFs…i guess an extra bonus for the paying members
I like the intros
and i think the staff likes to do it, to entertain themselves at least…
Wednesday at 12:18 am
>contaminated gyoza from China.
lizさん、one of the biggest current events stories at the moment… 怖いですね!
>how about making them use language appropriate to the lesson to which they are attached?
philさん、this issue is actually being addressed as you read this.
there is a special News going out on sunday specifically about these.
>I like the intros
and i think the staff likes to do it, to entertain themselves at least…
クリスさん、yup, they are mostly inside jokes or sort of “twisting the grammar” as a joke.
and as you said, all the 2008 intros appear in the PDF’s with transcriptions and translations (and if there is enough interest, possible lessons). we’re currently in the process of transcribing the intros from 2007 to include them in the PDF’s (but since they were done improv, we have to transcribe and then go back and translate all of them before creating new PDF’s.)
if you’re curious about any of the new Intros, please, Please, PLEASE check out the PDF’s and all will be clear! 宜しくお願いします!
marky
Thursday at 2:28 am
I heard something odd in the vocabulary track, so I have to ask:
日本で緑ワインありますか?
Thursday at 3:06 am
I heard that too.
I’ve never seen 緑ワイン here. Did you hear the Japanese guy crack up trying to say 生ビール the same way as the English speaker? That was priceless!
Thursday at 3:26 am
I think it was Yoshi-san (it sounded like him).
Tuesday at 3:43 am
Should I really expect to hear someone so “affected” in speech and manner as your regular friend Fabrizio ?? Is there a way to maybe tone him down a bit. I may be all wet but he appears to detract from learning the proper inflection and speech patterns of the Japanese Language. Thanks for listening.
Tuesday at 11:37 am
I dunno, I like his character. He’s funny!
Tuesday at 11:38 am
Fabrizio rules!
Tuesday at 11:45 am
Listening to Fabrizio will help understand certain J-Doramas. He’s like the character Stresseman from Nodame Cantabile. Great show if you like slapstick and classical music, BTW.
Tuesday at 2:00 pm
I must confess Loritch san: I have no idea what J-Doramas are. What will it be that I am understanding ? This is not meant to be a “wise-guy” type comment, I just don’t know. As for the character Stresseman from Nodame Cantabile, I’m completely in the dark. Thanks for your comment, and thanks also to the ladies.
Tuesday at 8:09 pm
J-Dorama is short for Japanese Drama, it’s a live action TV show. Many of them are quite entertaining, and Nodame Cantabile is not an exception. If you are curious, either check it out from NetFlicks or hunt for a bit-torrent with Google to download it. The character Stresseman is a conductor who speaks Japanese with an Italian accent, much like our beloved Fabrizio.
I supplement my lessons with fun shows to watch so I can improve my listening comprehension. I’m getting better, and I can pick out more and more from the shows. I also have a long way to go (I’m going through the beginner series now).
Wednesday at 11:12 pm
hi markystar
You are right. i had pizza in over 12 countries including italy and USA N.Y and i must admit that the best pizza i ever had was in a restaurant in Nagoya near the station… It was so delicious that i could not resist to have a second one!!! i was full for a week.
Tuesday at 2:25 am
いらしゃっい。
何人ですか。
二人です。
こちらへどうぞ。
ご注文は。
はい、生ビールを一つ下さい、それから、ラーメンを一つとおにぎりお願いします。ファブリツィオさんは。
野菜ラーメンを一つ下さい、それから、フランスのブルゴーニュの白ワインはありますか。
すみませんが、わいんはちょっと。
じゃ、ね。
Friday at 3:04 pm
If i were to say ‘I ate three bananas’ Would i say:
1. Watashi wa banana wo mittsu tabemashita
2. Watashi wa mittsu no banana wo tabemashita
Thank you
Wednesday at 1:51 pm
Jacob san,
You can say in both ways, but the first one just state your action, and the second one sounds to put emphasis on the number “mittsu no”
We often put “mo” when we like to emphasize number.
ex) watashi wa mittsu mo banana o tabemashita.
I ate THREE bananas.
I hope this helps
Thursday at 6:52 am
Thanks, that helps alot
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