Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! You had a big fight with your son right before he went off to his Japanese school for the day. Now that you’re home from your job in Japan, you decide to make amends by making him his favorite dinner and some cookies for dessert. You knock on his door in your Japanese apartment, but much to your surprise, there is no answer. You knock again and start apologizing in Japanese, but again, there is no response. You cautiously open the door a crack and say in Japanese, “Hello? Anyone home? I’m so sorry for arguing this morning, so I decided to make you your favorite Japanese dish and also I’ll make some dessert.” Still nothing! You decide your son is playing hardball, so you open the door fully so you can address him in Japanese. He’s nowhere to be found! You mumble to yourself in Japanese, “This is worse than the time when we had a fight about him playing baseball instead of doing his homework!”
Learning Japanese with JapanesePod101.com is the most fun and effective way to learn Japanese! This Japanese Particle lesson will teach you how to use the particle wa to show contrast. We’ll also show you how to use the Japanese particle mo, which means “also.” 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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Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! You’ve heard this jibe so many times before, but never in Japanese. Your friend taunts in Japanese, “Why do you call it ‘football’ when everyone handles the ball with his hands?” No matter, it’s always the same effort to get your goat, regardless if it’s in Japanese or not. So you give the standard answer in Japanese, “Not true, actually. The kickers kick the ball on punts, kickoffs, field goals, and points after. And there are ways to kick the ball you’ve never even heard of. Besides, why do you call it football when players can touch the ball with their legs, backs, butts, chests, even their heads, and the goalie grabs the ball with his hands almost every time?” Said in Japanese or not, that generally slows them down for a while as they take it all in. Then you continue the onslaught, and to their surprise, in Japanese, “And don’t get me started on difficulty. How hard can it be to kick a round ball. You know exactly where it’s going to go, exactly how it will roll. The only thing you can do is put some spin on it. Try kicking a prolate spheroid and see if you can tell where it’s going to go, but guys in college can kick an American football for fifty meters and put it within vertical poles only four meters apart and three meters off the ground. I haven’t even mentioned the brutal tackling that’s a normal part of every play. Where is that in soccer?” Your Japanese friends look at you in wonder. How could you get all that out in Japanese? They admit defeat, sort of, with their rebuttal in Japanese, “Let’s talk baseball.”
Learning Japanese with JapanesePod101.com is the most fun and effective way to learn Japanese! This Japanese Particle lesson is about wa, one of the most common Japanese particles, and its various uses. Learn how its use conveys a subtle interest in something other than the subject at hand. 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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Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! Completely befuddled by the array of unfamiliar vegetables, meats, and other produce that you see, you are happy your roommate has decided to take you on your first trip to the Japanese market. You ask him, in Japanese, “What’s this?” He replies in Japanese, “That’s daikon; I’m not sure what to call it in any other language.” Walking a bit further, you ask again in Japanese, “What’s that?” He happily answers in Japanese, “Oh, that’s fresh salmon for sushi and sashimi. Don’t look at that. It’s really good, but it’s very expensive, and we can’t afford it.” “Oh, too bad. I like salmon. Why can’t we just get a little bit?” Your roommate answers in Japanese, “Oh, it’s wonderful, but it’s so very expensive, we cannot afford to buy more than enough to make two little pieces of sushi or sashimi.” Seeing his logic, you finally agree, eager to continue your questions in Japanese, “What’s that over there?” Your Japanese roommate answers, “That’s seaweed.” A little confused as to why it’s in a grocery store, you ask in Japanese, “Seaweed? What do we do with seaweed?” Your friend laughs and replies in Japanese, “We eat it, in a variety of ways. You’ve eaten it. Don’t you remember?” Totally grossed out and absolutely positive he has no idea what he is talking about now, you answer in Japanese, “No, I don’t remember. I don’t think I like seaweed. How would I forget eating something like that?!” Thrilled to prove you wrong yet again, he answers confidently in Japanese, “Don’t you remember the other night when we ate at the restaurant? The little morsels wrapped in green?” Surprised by the crystal clear memory of the tasty little treats, you reply in Japanese, “That was seaweed? Well, in that case, I do like seaweed. Let’s get some Japanese seaweed.”
Learning Japanese with JapanesePod101.com is the most fun and effective way to learn Japanese! This Japanese Particle lesson explains the differences between Japanese particles wa and ga and how to use each of these little Japanese particles in sentences. Improve your Japanese questions with this lesson. 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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What should you do and say when you meet a Japanese person for the first time? More importantly, what should you not say! In this lesson we’ll learn how to talk about yourself in a polite manner. We’ll also learn the must know expression “Where are you from?” A staple of Japanese small talk. We’ll look at sai, the Japanese counter for age. We’ll also look at how to use wa to imply a question, a useful grammatical structure in Japanese.
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