Learn Japanese - All You Have to do is Ask!

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Beginner Lesson S4 #37 - All You Have to do is Ask!

Level: Beginner Lessons (S4)

Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! If you need help, you’ve got to ask for it. When you’re visiting Japan, you’ll want to ask for assistance or an explanation in a kind and clear way. If you mess up, you might be known as a person with a bad personality!

This beginner Japanese lesson is here to help you ask for a reason. Put simply, you’ll be asking “why?” in Japanese. But, not only will you master doshite (”why”), you’ll discover how to give a reason, even using a list format. This is one Japanese lesson you don’t want to miss!

learn how to ask for a reason in Japanese

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Beginner Lessons (S4) . 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.

40 Responses to “Beginner Lesson S4 #37 - All You Have to do is Ask!”

JapanesePod101.com says:
Tuesday at 12:56 pm

Please be sure to visit Eve’s blog and try her quiz to win her new book, Crazy for Kanji: A student’s Guide to the Wonderful World of Japanese Characters.

Her quiz is running through March 29th!

Eve’s Blog: Kanji Curiorsity
http://blogs.japanesepod101.com/blog/category/kanji-curiosity/

JapanesePod101.com says:
Tuesday at 6:30 pm

Kon’nichi wa mina-san!

Today we learned how to ask and give reasons. So, what we want to know is - why are you studying Japanese? Please let us know - IN Japanese!

rene says:
Tuesday at 7:28 pm

Good lesson as always.
Just one slip of the pen in the pdf:
the opposite of 背が高い should be 背が低い

Takeya-kun says:
Tuesday at 9:05 pm

Doushite watashi ga nihongo benkyoushite shimasu ka, ka?
nippon ni ikimasu kara~~ ^^

Allen says:
Tuesday at 9:32 pm

日本人と放したいから。日本に住んでいますから。

H. MUHAMMAD SULAMAN says:
Tuesday at 10:47 pm

I am living in Tokyo. and love Japanese language. and most importantly I have to talk to the Japanese guys

H. MUHAMMAD SULAMAN says:
Tuesday at 10:50 pm

にほんごがだいすきから。
日本人とはなしたいから

Mr Boogers says:
Wednesday at 12:38 am

こんにちは、
　　なぜ日本語の勉強をし始めたかって聞かれたら、やはり中学生の頃に留学してきた日本人の男の子と友達になったかげだと思います。もしく会わなかったら、勉強していないだろうと思います。このサイトのポッドキャストは凄く良くて手軽に使いやすい教材でもっと早めに知っていたら得になっただろうけれども。これからも、よろしくお願いします。

～ブッガーズ

(Beau) William David Dunville says:
Wednesday at 3:46 am

I am casually studying Japanese in my sleep. By osmosis I absorb the culture. I also surprise myself with the amount of Japanese language I pick up. I am doing this because one day I will visit.

プチクレア says:
Wednesday at 6:34 am

Mr Boogerさんと同じに中学校の頃日本語を勉強し始めて，その時からずっと勉強しています。子供の時にテレビでアニメがたくさんあって１６歳になった時フランスで漫画が人気になっていました。その頃日本語を勉強するのはとてもクールでした。
ずっと日本語を勉強するのは日本と日本語と日本の文化は興味になっていますから！

Naomi says:
Wednesday at 11:00 am

rene -san

Thank you for pointing out the mistake.I’ll fix it right away!!

Irene says:
Wednesday at 1:32 pm

my sister’s marry a japanesse and they have children now. its hard to communicate with their children of course i want them to be familiar with me. so i study japanesse language. it’s hard but we talk limited and we cannot enjoy because we cannot understand each other.

this lesson help us a lot. step by step soon i can speak japanesse too.

thanks a lot

Jon says:
Wednesday at 2:06 pm

Hi! So there is a new way to get the lesson notes to my iPhone? Where can I find more about that? I’m excited about not having to download the notes one by one to my email so as to read them!

ありがとございます！

Mayumi says:
Wednesday at 4:11 pm

rene -san

Thank you for letting us know. We fixed it.

Mayumi says:
Wednesday at 4:25 pm

Takeya-kun, Allen-san, H. MUHAMMAD SULAMAN-san,
Ganbatte kudasai!

Mr Boogers-san,
Thank you for your nice comment! 今もその日本の男の子とはお友達ですか？

プチクレアさん
中学生のとき、フランスではどんなマンガが人気でしたか？

Irene-san,
I hope that you’ll be able to communicate well with your sister’s kids soon!

Mayumi says:
Wednesday at 4:37 pm

Jon-san,

You can find more information on this page on our site. Thank you!
http://www.innovativelanguage.com/products/Pocket

Mayumi says:
Wednesday at 4:52 pm

(Beau) William David Dunville-san,
> I am casually studying Japanese in my sleep.
Sounds interesting! I want to try it!

Angry Katie says:
Wednesday at 8:35 pm

Why am I studying Japanese?　どうして日本語を勉強していますか？

今、日本に住んでいるから。　　　六ヶ月前、日本に引っ越しました。

If my Japanese sounds strange, or if I make a mistake, please correct me. I have studied for a long time but I’m open to any corrections you have. よろしくお願いします！

Mr Boogers says:
Thursday at 12:01 am

Mayumiさん、
　　はい、今も友達です。友達は東京に住んでいるけれども、私は西日本に住んでいます。もう三年日本に住んでいるのに色々で一回しか会えていないです。ダメですよね。

Thomas says:
Thursday at 6:58 am

あの、どして　日本語　。。。　hmm

日本でいくから日本語にべんきょうします。
cause i’d like to visit japan later.

but why am i interested in japan…. good question.
i like the culture. in a way similar (to german), and yet so strange sometimes.
someday i might read よしもとさん ’s books, or watch おくりちと and understand a bit.

トーマス

Naomi says:
Thursday at 11:13 am

Thomas-san

そうですね。日本人と、ドイツ人は似ていると、言われていますよね。
Some say that Japanese people and German people are similar.

>>おくりちと
Do you mean the movie おくりびと(Departures) which won the Academy award?

プチクレア says:
Thursday at 2:10 pm

Mayumiさん
人気な漫画はドラゴンボールやらんま1/2で私のすすめは司北条のシティーハンターです

Naomi says:
Friday at 10:41 am

プチクレア -san

シティーハンター・・・なつかしい！　

Jay says:
Saturday at 9:26 am

Since my wife is Japanese I really have not studied much until now. Now with Japanesepod 101 and the help of my wife I am progressing well. One day I will understand the “secret code” Hirakana, Katakana, and Kanji and be able to communicate better with her stubborn and rude but funny otosan.

Thomas says:
Sunday at 1:24 am

こんにはなおみさん。
はい、youtube にみました。
Even it was only a small part, it was a wonderful piece.
and all subtitles were in kana
what i didnt understand: why were the relatives of that musician upset when he started to work for the undertaker?
じゃあまた
トーマス

Chris says:
Sunday at 6:12 pm

Allen san: Commenting on your comment “日本人と放したい　から”。Do you mean 話しい.

The first Kanji sounds the same but means you are trying to separate from a Japanese man. Of course that might be what you mean.

Chris says:
Sunday at 6:14 pm

I meant　話したい　（はなしたい）。

Mayumi says:
Monday at 2:23 pm

Jay-san,

I like your expression about your wife’s father, “stubborn and rude but funny otosan”.

yukiko says:
Tuesday at 4:45 am

kon’nichiwa

Watashi wa Nihongo benkyoushite imasu ga tanoshi shi, omoshiroi shi, sore kara Nihon no jinbun ga suki desu kara

(I am studying Japanese because it’s fun and it’s interesting and I also love Japanese culture.)

I hope that’s what I wrote:???: Corrections more than welcome

mata ne

Jay says:
Tuesday at 5:54 am

ohayo Mayumi-san.

He is not so much rude as his is bold. He is retired Japanese Navy so he loves to drink! I found that the more I drink with him the better my Japanese gets. Or maybe that is just the sake talking.

Mayumi says:
Tuesday at 2:29 pm

Yukiko-san,

Thank you for your comment in Japanese!
Only small points…
“Watashi wa Nihongo benkyoushite imasu ga” ⇒”Watashi wa Nihongo o benkyoushite imasu ga”
“Nihon no jinbun” ⇒”Nihon no bunka”

Jay-san,
I guess he must be very strong with “sake”! がんばって！

Jay says:
Tuesday at 6:56 pm

Mayumi-san.
そですね　さけと　しょうちゅうは　まいばん　のみます。　ぼくわ　beeru が　すきです。　もし　ぼくわ　たくさん　さけわ　なみます　わたしの　かわご　むらさきいろ　ね　なれます。

Mayumi says:
Wednesday at 3:44 pm

Jay-san,
にほんごのコメント、ありがとうございます！
Thank you for posting your comment in Japanese!

おさけをのみすぎないでくださいね！
Please don’t drink sake too much!

Jay says:
Wednesday at 8:26 pm

はい　ありがと　また　ね。

Christoph says:
Sunday at 7:02 am

I wonder what Erika is really telling Mitsuru by diagnosing せいかくがわるい for him:
- an unpleasant personality (boring, harsh, …)?
- an immoral character (selfish, not always telling the truth, …)?
- a bad spirit (where he is everything goes wrong, …)?

それから、私は１９９９年以来東京にビジネスをしに行きますから、日本語を勉強します。

Tako says:
Saturday at 10:09 pm

寿司シェフになって一生お寿司が食べたいから、日本語の勉強しています。
その後世界支配します！この調子
それじゃがんばります！

Naomi says:
Monday at 11:23 am

Christoph-san
As you pointed out, 性格がわるい can be translated in many ways. I think you’ll find out what Erika meant in the later episode.
Tako-san
がんばってください!