Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! Well, you survived the first minute without making a fool of yourself with either bad manners or bad Japanese. Just take it one minute at a time and you’ll get through this. At least you remembered your Japanese manners and brought a gift for your girlfriend’s family. Now you must remember how to say it properly in Japanese, “It’s nothing, but I hope you like it.” Okay, they didn’t look at you in horror or burst out laughing, so maybe you said that right. The Japanese lessons must be working. “Thank you very much.” Looks like you got over the first hurdle. At least her mother doesn’t hate you. Her father asks AGAIN in Japanese, “How about a beer?” Why is her father pushing beer? Maybe that’s just his way. Better accept the offer. Hey, it is good beer. You reply in Japanese, “Thanks, it’s really good beer.” That’s two down and four Japanese family members to go… Her mother and her father seem to have taken a shine to you, now for the grandmother and siblings. Now what friendly Japanese phrases do you use on them? Any one of them could make your life miserable this weekend. You’ve got to get on their good sides…
Learning Japanese with JapanesePod101.com is the most fun and effective way to learn Japanese! This Japanese Newbie lesson is about Japanese family relationships. You will learn how to correctly use the Japanese words for mother, father, sister, brother, and others. It’s very important to know how to address people correctly in Japanese. 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!
Review
|
Play
|
Popup
Dialog
|
Play
|
Popup
Grammar
|
Play
|
Popup
Video Vocab | Watch
Premium Learning Center
Premium Lesson Checklist
Audio
|
Play
|
Popup
Lesson Notes
Kanji Close-Up
Lesson Notes Lite
Basic Lesson Checklist












This entry was posted on Sunday, May 11th, 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 #17 - Nihongo Dōjō - What Will They Say if You Come Bearing Gifts in Japan?”
Sunday at 6:30 pm
Mina-san, have visited a Japanese family or done a home stay?
Sunday at 7:29 pm
Newbie on Sunday now?
Sunday at 8:35 pm
This is a great lesson, can we have more lessons in the newbie series introducing this kind of polite forms and Japanese culture nuances.
Sunday at 11:11 pm
When you introduce words like 致す and 申す, it might be good to make the distinction between humble and honorific words, or at least say you can only use them about yourself/your in group. I was making mistakes with this until I eventually read up on 敬語, so it might help out the newbies. 差出がましゅうございますが、それをご詮議下さいまし
Monday at 2:55 am
JP101/Listeners!
I agree with Watermen, things really have change here since I got sick two months ago, you guys deserve a break so don’t get stresset!
S_R_C
Monday at 6:06 am
Hey! Isn’t this a repeat of Newbie Lesson 71 broadcast on 22 April?
Monday at 10:25 am
Nope. Different lesson.
Monday at 11:52 am
watermen-san
ありがとうございます。
Actually, we are thinking about putting more Japanese culture explanation from the next series.
ジャービジ -san
ありがとうございます。
Thank you very much for the feedback!! 参考にさせていただきます。
Sindyシンディー-san
Oh, no. Please take care!
You were sick??
お大事に!/Odaiji ni! = Take care of yourself
Mina-san
皆さんの家族は何人ですか。
Mina-san no kazoku wa nan-nin desu ka?
How many family members do you have?
誰と誰と誰と誰ですか?
Dare to dare to dare to dare desu ka?
And who is in your family?
Monday at 6:29 pm
It’s a bit strange seeing a Newbie lesson on sunday…
I agree with ジャビージさん about honorific and humble language… The only thing is, it’s confusing no matter what level you’re at.
Considering how difficult knowing when to use which form is, and how wide the subject is, maybe you could plan to make it a week-long topic ? Introducing it at different levels according to days, ie :
- on monday, Newbie : the two kinds of “polite language”, humble and honorific, and when to use which (humble when you’ re talking about yourself and your in-group, honorific when you’re talking about someone else)
- on tuesday, Beginner : special “polite” verbs such as 申す, 参る, 差し上げる…
- on thursday, Lower Intermediate : お~になる, お~する
- on friday, Upper Intermediate : polite language in context (ie business talk, dealing with administration, etc…)
Of course those topics have already been explained in several lessons, but having everything in one week gives a kind of unity to a vast subject. For those of us who listen to everything, it gives a nice recap. For those who are only listening to one level or other, they might 1) be tempted to listen to other levels, and discover just how much progress they’ve made, 2) know exactly where to look should they need some more info.
This format might not do for all subjects, but I think it might suit polite language… What do you think ?
Tuesday at 1:55 am
プチクレアさん、this is a very interesting idea! 検討します!
We’ll look into it. I could use a refresher course myself.
Thanks for the great suggestion!
Wednesday at 6:41 am
Naomi-sensei!
Yes I was sick now I feel much better, thank you I’ll take care of myself from now on.
S_R_C
Wednesday at 2:23 pm
Hi… um… is it just me or is the video vocab not working?
Thursday at 12:03 am
私の家族は六人です。
父と 母と 祖父と 祖母と 弟と 私です。
Thursday at 11:51 am
Jieying-san
ありがとうございます!
Thank you for answering my question!!
私も、弟がいます。 I have a younger brother too.
Sunday at 9:40 am
私野家族は二人で。
母と私です。父がいません
Monday at 11:07 am
Charms-san

Thank you for answering my questions in Japanese!!
Just one typo.
私野 → わたしの
Monday at 6:57 am
どういたしまして なおみーせんせい!
ありがとうございます
Friday at 5:52 pm
家は父と母と祖母と弟と妹です。
お父さんとお母さんとおばあさんと弟さんと妹さんです。
ファブつぃオと申します。どうぞ、宜しく、お願いいたします。
これ、つまらないものです。
あら、すみません、わざわざ、ありがとうございます。
ビールどうぞ。ファブリツィオに乾杯。
冷たくておいしいです。
またね
Saturday at 1:04 pm
私の家族は八人です。父と母と私と三人妹と猫と狗です。
Leave a Reply