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Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! “What’s wrong, my friend? You look confused.” Your friend is staring at a large map and it has Japanese writing on it. “I am confused,” he says, although he’s mumbling his Japanese. “What’s got you confused?” you ask in Japanese. “I can’t figure out how to get from here to there. This map of Japan is too confusing. I actually think I’ve got it turned upside down…do I? It sure would help if I could tell north from south in Japanese!” Laughing,  you assure him in Japanese, “It’s not upside down, but it is turned ninety degrees.” Frustrated, he replies in Japanese, “I can’t read the Japanese compass directions or the trail signs.” “What’s this all about?” you ask in Japanese, “What are you trying to do?” “The hiking trail we’re walking tomorrow is supposed to be great, but we have to use a compass and this map to find our way through the Japanese hiking trail, and the map is entirely in Japanese! We’re going to be lost in the Japanese wilderness!” Your friend tends to be overly dramatic at times. He just needs a little confidence and you can give it to him by helping him with the Japanese writing on the map. “No, you’re not going to be lost. Let’s start with the compass points. Do you even own a compass?” He shows you the one that came attached to key ring he got last week. This could be a problem. As you write “www.JapanesePod101.com” on a piece of paper and hand it to him, you tell him, “First, you’re going to need a real compass, not one of those trinkets that come in cereal boxes.”

Learning Japanese with JapanesePod101.com is the most fun and effective way to learn Japanese! This Japanese Newbie lesson tells you where it is. When you’re traveling more than a few yards in Japan, you have to know how to get where you’re going, so you must know how to recognize and talk about the points of the compass in Japanese. This lesson will show you how to use the Japanese words for north, south, east, and west. 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 25th, 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.

19 Responses to “Newbie Lesson S3 #8 - Nihongo Dōjō - Japanese That Can Take You to the Four Corners of the World!”

JapanesePod101.com says:

Mina-san, if Shu-san was your friend, how would you cheer him up?

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プチクレア says:

Fabrizio’s crazy party on Shikoku ? Be afraid…. Be VERY afraid… Though it would probably do Shu some good :smile: I’d probably try to get him to up out for some coffee, or a drink in a nice bar, but he seems too far gone for that… :neutral:

I’ve taken a new, belated new year resolution: I won’t ever sigh again ! :mrgreen:

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rene says:

Lovely, these small idiomatic excursions. However I sighed a lot before I found the exact expression in a dictionary:
溜め息を つくと 幸せが 逃げる (ためいきを つくと しあわせが にげる)
Please correct me if I’m wrong.
It would be of a great help if you could include some of the “conversational extra’s” in the pdf. Thanks in advance.

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gillian says:

I believe saying “Bless you” goes back to the time when the Plague was rife, as sneezing was a symptom of catching the Plague which frequently frequently ended in death

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ジャービジ says:

Until a couple of years ago, I’d always thought people were saying ‘plesshu’ as some sort of set phrase, and I’m 22 :shock: I was even saying it myself, although not very often since it’s pretty annoying when people do that :wink:

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Rishi says:

Isn’t Shikoku EAST of Kyushu? Or is this why Shuu says “tabun,” because he’s not sure?

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kitty-chan says:

Hahaha, I just checked a map :cool: :cool: :cool:
I guess that IS why he said たぶん :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Abrassart says:

Yeah, I just came to this page about that.

While listening to the lesson, I was like: “What the heck, this is wrong, Shikoky is east”. :shock:

But because the teachers didn’t say anything, I started to doubt myself. I was trying to visualize a map of Japan with Shikoko on the West in every position possible, but it didn’t work.

Well, it’s lucky they put a “Tabun!” at the end of the conversation, but the teachers should have corrected this wrong information in the comments… :neutral:

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JapanesePod101.com says:

>>Well, it’s lucky they put a “Tabun!”

it’s not just lucky. it was on purpose… :lol:
naomi sensei was trying to show the effectiveness of たぶん in a passive way, because it will come up in future newbie lessons! :cool:

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Naomi says:

四国は九州の西にありません。四国は九州の東にあります。
Shikoku wa Kyushu no nishi ni arimasen. Shikoku wa Kyushu no higashi ni arimasu.

>>the teachers should have corrected this wrong information in the comments…

Actually, レベッカ and I did make comments about the wrong information in the lesson, but that part was badly damaged and couldn’t use it. We have already retook that part and should be up by …I don’t know the exact date, but very soon.(depending on how busy Marky is)

Thank you for your patience and understanding. :dogeza:

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Jason says:

I believe saying “Bless you” goes back to the time when the Plague was rife, as sneezing was a symptom of catching the Plague which frequently frequently ended in death

I always heard it was because when you sneeze your heart momentarily stops. I have no idea if that’s even true or if that’s the origin of “bless you.”

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Jenny says:

I know this is an old lesson, but I’m still confused about [place]に[noun]があります/います and [noun]は[place]にあります/います

ゴキブリはトイレにいます。The cockroach is in the rest room.
トイレにゴキブリがいます。There is a cockroach in the rest room.

Aren’t these two sentences saying the same thing? Maybe if I saw a question to each of these then it would make more sense. I know I may answer this question without realizing it, but here are the questions I’d ask:

ゴキブリはどこにいますか。Where is the cockroach?
トイレに何がいますか。What is in the restroom?

Maybe if someone confirmed this then I’d be happy and understand it better. :neutral:

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JKid says:

Jenny-san,
They are “kind of” saying the same thing but the focus of each sentence is different. The first sentence emphasises the location of the cockroach. The second focuses more on the restroom and less on the cockroach. This is because は is the topic marking particle so as you can see the topic (focus) of each sentence is different.

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Jenny says:

After looking at my questions, and your answer, I can see the difference. A native Japanese friend also said the same thing.

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王凱 says:

どうしましたか、秋さん、元気がありませんね。
ファブリツィオ元気ですね。
明日、四国へ行きますよ。四国はどんなところですか。
いいところですね。うどん屋がたくさんあります、有名なお寺もたくさんあります。
四国は広島の下にありますね。
地図に上と下がないです。四国は広島の南、九州の西に在ります。
多分。

また、ね

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Bernard says:

For the sentence genki ga arimasen, why isn’t it imasen? Thank you :D

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Motoko says:

Bernard-san,
It is because genki is the subject and it is a contracted phrase.
Genki ga arimasen means that a person doesn’t have genki.
Genki isn’t an animal nor a person so that arimasen is appropriate.
For the usage of arimasu as “to have”, please check out Absolute Beginner Season1 Lesson19.
http://www.japanesepod101.com/2011/09/19/absolute-beginner-19-is-there-some-japanese-fried-chicken-left/

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Bernard says:

Yes、 that makes sense! ありがとう ございます!!!! :D

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