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Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! It is such a beautiful day today that you cannot resist taking your friends up on their offer to head out on their boat. But you had no idea what a learning experience today would turn out to be. Your friends are driving along and you are all chatting and having an incredible time. Suddenly, your friend points out the side of the boat and yells excitedly in Japanese, “I bet you have never seen one of these back home! Check out the whale gliding in the water!” Rushing over to the side of the boat, you see the most exciting sight you have ever seen! You ask your friend in Japanese, “How do you say ‘whale’ in Japanese again?” He repeats the word and then hands you a scuba suit. Looking terrified, he laughs and assures you he will not let anything happen to you but that you HAVE to see what is under the water! And he was right! When you climb back on the boat later, you have so many questions! And the worst part is that you have no idea how to say any of the amazing creatures you saw swimming under the water in Japanese. Luckily, you have plenty of time to sit on board and describe the animals to your patient friend while he tells you what each is called in Japanese…crab, jellyfish, urchin, and so on. What would you do without your friend? JapanesePod101.com is the most fun and effective way to learn Japanese! The answer is that you would come to JapanesePod101.com! In this Japanese Video Vocabulary lesson, we will teach you how to talk about these amazing marine animals in Japanese in case you don’t have one of those patient friends handy! In this Japanese vocabulary video, you will learn Japanese by watching the video, seeing both Japanese and Japanese translations describing the video, and all while listening to the Japanese translations being read aloud by our native Japanese speakers. Visit us at JapanesePod101.com where you will find many more great Japanese lessons and learning materials! Leave us a message while you are there! 


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This entry was posted on Friday, October 5th, 2012 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Learn with Video . 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.

6 Responses to “Learn with Video #14 - Have a Whale of a Time with JapanesePod101.com!!”

JapanesePod101.com says:


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wajima says:

The romagi translation for the sentence concerning jellyfish (below) is obviously incorrect. Please correct. クラゲがスーッと水の中を上がって行く。
Kujira ga kaimen ni arawareru.

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JapanesePod101.com says:

wajima-san,
Ohh!! :oops: :oops:
Thank you very much for letting us know! You’re right; even the subject “kujira” is already wrong :oops:
We’ll fix it the soonest. Thank you!

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

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Tommy says:

Hello JapanesePod101,

Some comments on the English translation of two of the sentences in the lesson: First the Japanese given is: クラゲがスーっと水の中を上がって行く。The English given is: “The jellyfish are bobbing in the water.” The verb “bobbing” suggests and mainly is used when something is floating on the surface of the water. The video and Japanese sentence suggest that the jellyfish are below the surface and drifting smoothly upwards.

The second sentence, is the one concerning the whale: クジラが海面に現れる。The English given is: “The whales are coming up for air.” That may be the reason they are coming up, but the Japanese sentence does not really give a reason. What we know is that a whale (or whales) appears at the water’s surface.

An interesting (I hope) learning opportunity arises from the difference between how the jellyfish moves and how whales move relative to the water’s surface. Watching a whale, we are more likely to say, “The whale breaks the water’s surface,” because the motion is one that is usually faster and more startling. For something to “appear” at the water’s surface suggests that the motion is more gentle. I don’t believe we would ever say that a jellyfish “breaks” the surface. But whales, submarines, dolphins, etc., all will often break the surface — although they are all capable of rising more gently and just “appearing.”

Since 現れる gives us the meaning of “appear,” I wonder if the there is a Japanese way of expressing a more sudden and dramatic appearance on (and above) the surface that can give the same feeling that we use when we say “to break the surface.”

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JapanesePod101.com says:

Tommy-san,
Very interesting observation! :grin:
As to those translations in English, you’re right; some are not literal translation or transliteration. Thank you for the suggestions!
Japanese and English are quite different languages, so the view points “behind the scene” are also different. 現れる doesn’t involve speed; it just means something comes up into sight (your view). So, it could be even sudden or gradual.

Natsuko(奈津子)
Team JapanesePod101.com

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JapanesePod101.com says:

Tommy-san,
Very interesting observation! :grin:
Yes, you’re right about English transaltions! Our translation is sometimes
not literal translation or transliteration. Thank you for your suggestions!
Regarding your question about 現れる, well, English and Japanese are very
different languages and view points “behind the scene” are also very different.
現れる in Japanese actually doesn’t involve speed at all. It could be
very fast or sudden, or it could also be gradual.
Hope this helps!

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

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