About our Printer-friendly lesson notes
Follow along to our award winning lessons with detailed PDF Lesson
Notes! These easy to print notes take a closer look at the grammar
point and vocabulary words presented in the audio lesson. Plus,
read more about
language101 cultural topics related to the lesson.
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access the PDF Lesson
Notes today!
Kanji Close-Up
Take a closer look at the kanji characters used in the lesson
Dialogue with the Kanji Close Up Practice Sheets! You'll learn the
meaning, readings, and stroke order of each character. Plus,
improve your writing with kanji stroke order practice sheets!
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access the Kanji Close Up
Practice Sheets today!
About our Review Audio Tracks
Listen and repeat with the Review Track. Hear the lesson
vocabulary and main phrases and repeat after the native speaker -
it's the best way to perfect your pronunciation!
Upgrade your account to access The Review Track and start
perfecting your pronunciation today!
About our Lesson Audio
Our team of
Japanese language specialists have been releasing new audio and video
lessons weekly since 2005. That's a lot of
Japanese language learning! All lessons are free for the first 2 weeks
before going into our Basic and Premium Archive.
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access every single
lesson we've ever created today!
About our Dialog Audio Tracks
The audio lesson is a comprehensive, easy to use lessons that
makes learning Japanese fun for anyone.
Each audio lesson contains can be downloaded in seconds
to your computer, iPod, phone, or mp3 player so that you can learn quickly and be speaking Japanese in no time at all.
The audio lesson is your ticket to learning to speak
Japanese with confidence and accuracy, and from your very first lesson!
About our Dialog Audio Tracks
Don't have enough time for an entire lesson today? Listen to the
Dialogue Only Track to hear the native Dialogue. Listening to a
little bit of
Japanese everyday, no matter how much, will greatly improve your listening
comprehension. Guaranteed!
Upgrade your account to access the Dialogue Only Track and other
Premium Tools today!
About our Grammar Audio Tracks
Tackle grammar head on with the lesson Grammar List. We break
down the grammar piece by piece so you fully master the structure
and formation.
Upgrade your account to access the Grammar List and other
Premium lesson tools today!
About our Videocasts
Our team of
Japanese language specialists have been releasing new audio and video
lessons weekly since 2005. That's a lot of
Japanese language learning! All lessons are free for the first 2 weeks
before going into our Basic and Premium Archive.
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access every single
lesson we've ever created today!
About our Learning Center
Listen and read the line-by-line breakdown of the lesson
conversation with this Premium Tool. Listen to each line as many
times as you need until you fully understand the conversation and
pronunciation. Line-By-Line Audio Transcripts are the perfect way
to improve your comprehension - fast!
Upgrade your account to access Line-By-Line Audio Transcript and
other Premium lesson tools today!
About our Videocasts
Our team of
Japanese language specialists have been releasing new audio and video
lessons weekly since 2005. That's a lot of
Japanese language learning! All lessons are free for the first 2 weeks
before going into our Basic and Premium Archive.
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access every single
lesson we've ever created today!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Beginner Season 4 . 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.
30 Responses to “Beginner Lesson S4 #29 - Formal and Informal Japanese: Do you Know the Difference?”
at 6:30 pm
Konnichi wa Mina-san, Have you ever ridden in a rickshaw? We’d love to hear about your experience.
at 9:24 pm
nah

i
at 9:39 pm
Yes, in Takayama we took a rickshaw. Takayama is a beautiful old town and the guide´s tips were very interesting and useful. Many asian (maybe japanese or other) people which saw us wanted to take a photo of us, sometimes they hurried up to get ahead of us to make a picture - this was very funny
I´ll do it again
In another town, we saw two really very big man who wanted to take a rikshaw and the (very slim) driver said “No problem”. He pulled then this very heavy rikshaw with the two big man quickly and slightly uphill without loosing his smile - this was very impressive!
at 1:07 am
wahoo! now i understand what buddy means in the intro section when he says:
japanesepod-o … おいしそう。
ironically it was used for this lesson too. i say that because it seems random. maybe there is a system.
at 5:36 am
人力車を乗ったことがありません、でも小さい頃リヤカーをよく使いました。
お父さん always called that “リヤカー”.
リヤカーって、 という意味かいつも心中の質問であります。
今、カタカナを見てわかるようになりました。
やはり,日本語が台湾語の中に入っていますね!
ありがとうございました。
at 7:13 am
はい、乗たことがあります。 浅草で乗りました。 その日はとても暑かったけど、人力車は乗るしんながらとてもすずしかた。
本とに進めします。
Yes, I rode a 人力車 in Akasaka. It was hot day, but the wind felt cool while riding.
I really recommend it.
at 8:48 am
Video vocab has a mistake. Narrator says おばあさん but the video shows おばさん! Watch out!
at 9:52 am
tori_ningen_fan-san,
Thank you for pointing it out! We’ll fix it soon.
Spidey-san,
That’s right!! When I rode a 人力車 in Ooita last summer, the wind was so cool and nice!
at 10:43 am
Hungyi Yang san>リアカーは、和製英語(JapaneseEnglish)ですね。”rear car” は英語では違うものを指しますね。
at 10:50 am
こんにちは、みなさん。
Additionally, 人力車/rickshaw is an environment-friendly vehicle.
みなさんは、どこに住んでいますか。
Mina-san wa doko ni sunde imasu ka?
そこは、どんな ところですか。
Soko wa donna tokoro desu ka?
Please describe the place you live using this lesson’s grammar point!!
at 4:21 pm
は~い。 せんせい。
ここ は さむくて くらい です。
koko wa samukute kurai desu.
at 3:47 am
Hiroko さん:
ありがとうございます。 勉強になりました。
at 12:23 pm
One of the best experiences we had when we visited Japan was riding in a rickshaw. We were guests of my son’s ex-girlfriend’s parents (if you can follow that!), in Fukumitsu in Toyama Prefecture, and we were just finishing up having a traditional tea ceremony with them (the 87 year old Grandma is 2nd in charge of one of the major Tea Ceremony organisations in Japan and she still teaches students) when a rickshaw pulled up at the front door! They had dressed me in a beautiful kimino. What a wonderful way to see this beautiful rural township, through the old historical streets. The guy who pulled the rickshaw was the current Mayor of the city. Apparently it is traditional for the Mayor to do this job! We stopped at a famous artist’s original old house and work studio, as well as many small shops along the way. We were treated as honoured guests by the shopkeepers and received delicious samples of the wares at each shop! However, I have to say that I felt very guilty having a person pull me around. Luckily the Mayor was a very fit looking, young Mayor! When we finished he let us have a go at pulling the rickshaw. My husband said it wasn’t too difficult at all. I still look back upon that memory and treasure it.
at 4:31 am
人力車に乗ったことがないけど楽しそうで乗りたいです。乗りたいけど金をはらっても人力車の人に(何というかな?)大変じゃないですか。
ところで”人力車”ということばのoriginはおもしろいです。同じ意味で英語でも”rickshaw”というからもともと日本語からきたことばかな?だがインドでも”rickshaw”もいうじゃない?
Does anyone know the origin of the word “rickshaw”? Because I thought it was also commonly used in India where Hindi is mostly spoken, right?
at 7:00 am
さあ、よく分からないけど、ウィキペディアで人力車について記事がある。
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickshaw
このウィキペディアの記事によると人力車は最初に日本で登場したでしょう。
でも誰が発明したか、まだつまびらかでないでしょう。
at 9:40 am
トーマスさん
>でも誰が発明したか、まだつまびらかでないでしょう。
「つまびらか(= clear in detail)」なんて、むずかしいことばを知っているんですね!すごい!
I’m impressed that you know such a difficult word as “つまびらか” !!
at 7:33 am
Konbanwa, minasan!
Just a small word usage question. The older man uses お兄さん to address the younger man. Under which circumstances can someone use お兄さん to address another man? Can oneesan be used similarily outside its usual context?
at 12:36 am
in Newbie series there not lesson called Welcome to Style You Lesson or Style You and Beyond
please help
at 1:13 pm
wael-san,
Welcome to Style You refers to the entire Newbie Series Season 2, and Style You and Beyond refers to the entire Newbie Series Season 3.
I hope this helps
at 11:21 am
ヤッター。JLPT N5試験の結果をやって来ました。いい点を取った、JLPT N4試験の準備が始まりました。よし、頑張ります。
今から、iPadのシステム語は日本語です。
いいえ、人力車で乗りませんでした。
at 2:49 pm
亀井さん

おめでとうございます!!良かったですね
私も携帯電話の設定を英語にして勉強しました。がんばってください
私も人力車に乗ったことがありません。でもいつか乗りたいです。
at 10:56 am
素子さん、
ジャパニズポッド101、おかげさまで。
OK, to be sure: you have, on your cellular phone, caused the setting to be English. Re-phrased, you have changed the language setting on your cell phone to English.
本当にですか。頑張ってください。
おお。設定と言うですか。はい、そうです、この言葉はiPadを今みました。勉強になりました。
at 10:16 am
is there any expression to say “yes or no “instead of “un or uun ” at jaapanese Informal speech?
at 11:46 am
亀井さん
You’re right. That was one of my way of learning English. It was quite interesting because some phrases are translated differently.
iPadやiPhoneは言語の設定がたくさんあって、べんりですよね。
wael-san,
Sou desu ne. Iya, or in’ya would be alternatives for “no.”
I sometime say un’nya as “No.” but it would be a dialect.
Other answers would depend on the context.
e.g.
A: Kinou kaimono shita no?
”Did you go to shopping yesterday?”
B:Un’nya, kekkyoku ie ni ita yo.
”Na, finally I was at home.”
C:O-hiru ni nin’niku ramen tabenai?
”Don’t we eat garlic ramen noodle for lunch?”
D:Yada! Kyou deeto da mon.
“No way! I have a date this afternoon.”
I hope this helps.
at 10:20 am
素子さん、
はい、そうです。私はiPadの設定を日本語にして勉強しました。iPhoneの設定を英語にしています。iPadの設定が分からない時、iPhoneの設定を読みます。だんだん勉強に成りました。
Yes, this is true. I have set the iPad to Japanese language settings for study purposes. I have set the iPhone to English settings. Whenever I get stuck on something with the iPad, I can consult the iPhone and get straightened out. This gradually aids learning.
at 4:10 pm
亀井さん
iPadの設定がわからない時、iPhoneの設定を読んで、くらべるんですね。
身近なもので日本語を使うのは勉強になりますよね。
at 3:38 pm
There’s just one really tiny mistake in the PDF: on page
at 3:39 pm
Oops! That was supposed to be: on page 7, anzen desu should be anzen da.
at 5:55 pm
Jeff-san,
you’re right
Kana version and romaji version doesn’t match…
We’ll fix it soon. Thank you very much for letting us know about it!!
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 12:41 pm
Jeff-san kon’nichiwa.
I’ve fixed the point you mentioned.
Thank you for your patience!
Motoko
Team JapanesePod101.com