Today, we bring you another blog post from Motoko, JapanesePod101.com lesson creator, host and Office Party Planner! Motoko will be sharing more bilingual posts on our blog, so check back often and leave a comment! Hi everyone, Motoko here! Today I’d like to tell you about another listener visit we had recently. We had a JapanesePod101.com listener come to visit us in the office. This was the fourth visit for me, but I still felt nervous! This is Matt. He was visiting from California. I had heard that he came to Japan for a holiday. But it seems that it was more of a special trip for him, because guess what? He came here to meet his girlfriend’s parents for the first time. :o His girlfriend is Japanese, and he wanted to... Show more

Today, we bring you another blog post from Motoko, JapanesePod101.com lesson creator, host and Office Party Planner! Motoko will be sharing more bilingual posts on our blog, so check back often and leave a comment! Hi everyone, Motoko here! Today I’d like to tell you about another listener meetup we had. The other day, we had two JapanesePod101.com listeners come to visit us. One was from Canada, and the other was from France. It was the second meetup for me, but I still felt nervous beforehand! Andre from Canada, and Becher from France paid us a visit. They met each other through their Japanese studies, and this was their first trip together – they were staying in Japan for two weeks. They told us that right before... Show more

There’s absolutely no limit to the number of vocabulary words you could and should learn in the Japanese language. The fact is, the more words you know, the better you’ll be able to speak and communicate. That’s true of any language; even your native tongue! But when are you going to find the time to learn them all? Isn’t there a shortcut? Introducing Visual Dictionary Lite - Learn Japanese, presented by Innovative Language Learning! This new App for iPhone and iPad focuses your Japanese vocabulary learning to the words you need to know - the objects, places and people that you’ll encounter in your daily life. With Visual Dictionary Lite, you’ll be transported to a world where everything you tap and touch comes to life with native... Show more

Today, we bring you another blog post from Motoko, JapanesePod101.com lesson creator, host and Office Party Planner! Motoko will be sharing more bilingual posts on our blog, so check back often and leave a comment! Hello everyone, Motoko here. Today’s post is a report from our bowling tournament! The full-time staff at Innovative Language Learning (which I’ll call just Innovative from now on) all took part in a bowling tournament. Initially we were going to have a team-on-team match, but we ended up playing as individuals. 　 A グループ対抗戦　(gurūpu taikōsen) means, just as you can see from the Kanji characters, competing as a group. Conversely, a 個人戦 (kojinsen), individual match, is when you yourself are your only ally and you compete... Show more

Today, we bring you another blog post from Motoko, JapanesePod101.com lesson creator, host and Office Party Planner! Motoko will be sharing more bilingual posts on our blog, so check back often and leave a comment! Hi everyone! Motoko here! A few weeks ago, we celebrated the marriage of Marvin. He's part of our Technical Team and is from Germany. The wedding ceremony was held in May – and what’s more, his bride is Japanese! In Japan, there are all kinds of wedding ceremonies. There’s the traditional Shintō shinzenshiki, which is held at a shrine, and the Buddhist butsuzenshiki, which is held at a temple; there’s also the kyōkaishiki, or church wedding, which has been gaining popularity in recent years. Another more unusual variant... Show more

Today, we bring you a blog post from Motoko, JapanesePod101.com lesson creator, host and Office Party Planner! Motoko will be sharing more bilingual posts on our blog, so check back often and leave a comment! Hi everyone! Motoko here. Today’s blog is about the concept of off-kai. At the beginning of this month, two JapanesePod101.com listeners came to visit us at the office. Apparently we often used to have listeners come and visit us, but for me it was the first time, so I was really excited. Christophe was from Switzerland, and said that he tries to come to Japan at least once a year. It was really clear to me that he loves Japan! This time he visited our Tokyo office with his friend, who is also a JapanesePod101.com listener.... Show more

This lesson Will teach you some of the most commonly used and most hopeful expressions in Japanese. sō ieba (そういえば) "speaking of which" or "now that you mention it, and you use it when you are reminded of something and want to talk about it. toriaezu (とりあえず) A handy phrase that means, "in the meantime" or "for now." Use it to talk about some kind of action you take or decision you make "in the meantime" because for now, you feel like it's better than doing nothing. ryōkai desu (了解です) Ryōkai is a word that means "comprehension" or "consent." It is often used as an exclamation in the following ways: by itself (ryōkai!), with the copula desu (ryōkai desu!), and with the past tense verb shimashita (ryōkai... Show more

In this lesson, we'll offer tips to help you overcome some common errors that learners of Japanese make. Don't Attach -san to Your Own Name! One of the first things English speakers learn in Japanese is name suffixes used when addressing other people. The most common one is -san, which we attach to people's first or last names to show respect. Because we use -san to show respect for others, you should never use it to refer to yourself. Watch Your Politeness Level! One of the unique aspects of Japanese is the varying politeness levels that change according to a number of factors: age and status of the speaker and listener, the speaker's relationship with the listener, and so on. It is important to... Show more

The focus of this lesson is teaching you some very common Japanese expressions you might not learn from a Japanese teacher. すごい (Sugoi) - An adjective meaning "wow," "amazing," or "great." This word is commonly heard and is often used when one hears or sees something interesting or unusual. バカ (Baka) -  A noun meaning "idiot" or "fool." When used as baka na (バカな), it becomes an adjective meaning "stupid." This word can either be insulting or playful depending on how it is used. When used in a serious manner, it can come across as a strong insult, so it's better to exercise caution with this word. うそ！  (Uso!) - literally means "lie," but when used as an exclamation, it corresponds to "No way!" or "Really!?" in... Show more

In this lesson, we'll teach you the top five useful classroom phrases in Japanese, and then some! "Please say it." / "Please repeat." Itte kudasai (言っ てください) means "please say it." As a variation, you might also hear ripīto shite kudasai (リピートしてください), which means "please repeat (after me)," when teachers want you to repeat exactly what they have said. "Please look."  Mite kudasai (見てください) means "please look," and when an object comes before the phrase, it means "please look at (object). "Please read."  Yonde kudasai (読んでください) means "please read." You can expect to hear this phrase if a teacher wants you to practice reading some word, phrase, or passage. "Please write it."  Kaite kudasai (書いてください)... Show more