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Archive for the 'Living in Japan' Category

JapanesePod101 Review – How JapanesePod101 Helped Me Prepare for the Trip of a Lifetime

How JapanesePod101 Helped Me Prepare for the Trip of a Lifetime

I was always interested in traveling to Japan. The culture, people, and natural beauty of the country were what drew me in. I knew that it was definitely a place that I wanted to visit in the future and something that would be on my bucket list. But for one reason or another, I had never really had the opportunity to travel across the Pacific. I was either too broke or too busy. That changed last summer when I decided to put an end to my procrastination and fulfill my dream. I purchased my ticket to Japan online and celebrated with a triumphant cheer. However, I soon came to a realization. I did not speak one word of Japanese.

Flight to Japan

I had one month until I embarked on my adventure and I wanted to learn as much Japanese as I could, so I decided to look into my options. While perusing the internet in search of a Japanese language program that would fit my needs, I kept finding myself at JapanesePod101.com. Admittedly, I was a little skeptical at first as I had tried similar language programs in the past with no success, but with hundreds of positive reviews as my reference, I decided to give them a shot. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that JapanesePod101 not only offered affordable prices, but also a free 7-day trial of their Premium plan. With nothing to lose and a whole new world to gain, I signed up for the Premium plan. The sign-up process was quick and simple. It may have taken me 2 minutes at most to submit my information and receive my confirmation email. After that, I was immediately able to log-in and start my studying.

The layout of the site was beautiful and I was able to use it on my Macbook, iPad, and iPhone without any trouble whatsoever. Due to the fact that I had no previous knowledge of Japanese language, I started my journey at the “Absolute Beginner” level. Instantly, I found myself eyeing over a curriculum that I knew would be beneficial to my trip. Topics such as survival phrases, introductions, shopping, and ordering food each had their own individual lessons. I began my studying that night with the goal of learning basic travel Japanese before I left. JapanesePod101 made it easy to track my progress and that helped me stay committed to my studies. I studied every single night for one whole month.

Asakusa

Here are some of the features of JapanesePod101 that I found the most helpful:

Lessons by Native-Speaking Instructors
Throughout my years, I’ve noticed that those who do not learn a language from a native-speaker tend to pick up an accent that derives from the teacher’s mother tongue. That’s why I think that this is one of the best things about JapanesePod101. Why learn from someone whose native-language is something other than Japanese when you could just as easily learn from someone who has been speaking it from birth? JapanesePod101 offers real dialogue from real Japanese speakers.

Printable Notes Available to Download
For me, this was a deal-breaker. Though I love the convenience of being able to study online from any of my devices, sometimes I just like to keep it old school and have my notes on a piece of paper that I can physically touch and write on. Fortunately for me, JapanesePod101 offers easy to print PDF notes and transcripts for each of the lessons in the curriculum. Printing them out only takes a few seconds!

Japanese Word of the Day
I think that this is helpful for those lazy days when you may not feel like studying. JapanesePod101 will send you one word per day from their Japanese Core Word List. This ensures that even on your days off, you’re still getting a healthy and relevant intake of Japanese language!

Check out the Japanese Word of the Day widget!

JLPT Practice Tests
As someone who is thinking about learning Japanese language seriously in the future, this feature really stood out to me. JapanesePod101 offers a large number of practice exams for the N4 and N5 JLPT tests, exams which test your proficiency in Japanese and are required by many employers who look to hire foreigners. This struck me as extremely valuable for someone who might want to find work and live in Japan.

Japanese Flashcards
Last but not least, JapanesePod101 offers flashcards that make learning Japanese fun and easy. Users can select the set of flashcards that matches their current lesson in order to enhance their studies!

Other Things to Think About When Considering JapanesePod101:

Affordability
JapanesePod101 offers a high-quality product at a fraction of the price of its competitors. For what you get, JapanesePod101 is a complete bargain.

Different Levels for Different Learners
I think that this allows the student to grow and mature as a learner. Students can advance from one level to the next as they improve. On the other side, if you already have some knowledge of Japanese, you can easily start at a higher level without having to re-learn things you already know.

Available on Any Media Device
This was a really big plus for me! I was able to use JapanesePod101 on my cell phone, tablet, and laptop. They even have their own apps!

Study When You Want, Where You Want
JapanesePod101 gives you the best of both worlds. Rather than taking a scheduled class, why not get the same benefit while studying in the comfort of your own home on your own time?

Tokyo Tower

In the End:

I used JapanesePod101 to study for one month and then left for Japan. I stayed in Tokyo for 2 months and had the time of my life. There were definitely tons of things I couldn’t understand, but I was really surprised at how much I had learned! I was able to order food, go grocery shopping, and even order drinks at a local bar! I had become very comfortable with both hiragana and katakana and could actually read a lot of the signs and posters I saw. I can honestly say that I would have had a completely different experience without JapanesePod101. Without my studies, I wouldn’t have known how to ask for directions, get food by myself, or even thank someone for opening door for me! My time in Tokyo was one of the best times of my life…and I owe a large part of that to JapanesePod101.

Click here to visit JapanesePod101!

Welcoming Our New Innovative Language Team Members

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 the welcome party we held recently. This spring, we welcomed four new team members: Ice, Gabriella, Paloma, and Raul. To introduce them briefly, Ice is a member of the video team; Gabriella and Paloma work on content creation; and Raul is a member of our IT team.

The welcome party was held at a Japanese shabu-shabu restaurant near our office. The restaurant’s traditional Japanese-style design was quite nice. The great service was also a pleasant surprise for us—waitresses in kimono and a waiter assisted at each table with cooking the shabu-shabu properly.

Shabu-shabu is a type of hot pot cuisine where people cook the vegetables and meat by themselves. So diners usually put the vegetables into the hot water in the pot. Diners also pick up the finely-sliced meat (pork or beef) with their chopsticks, then cook the slices by swishing them in the hot water. The name “shabu-shabu” actually came from this swishing action, and is an onomatopoeia, as the swishing makes the sound “shabu-shabu.” Did you know that?

At the restaurant, we did the “shabu-shabu” by ourselves. After all, that’s the most important part of having a shabu-shabu, right!? But the waiters helped us cook the other ingredients, which was very handy for the shabu-shabu beginners.

Have you ever had shabu-shabu before? If you haven’t, please try it at least once!

(Apr 2013)

しゃぶしゃぶでイノベーティブ新入社員歓迎会

こんにちは。もとこです。

今回はイノベーティブランゲージ2013年度春に行なった歓迎会についてお話します。この春、新しく4人のメンバーが入りました。アイスさん、ガブリエラさん、パロマさん、ラウルさんです。アイスさんはビデオをつくっています。ガブリエラさんとパロマさんはレッスンをつくるスケジュール管理をしています。ラウルさんはたいせつなITの管理をしています。
 
歓迎会ではイノベーティブの本社の近くのお店へ行きました。しゃぶしゃぶのお店です。とてもきれいな、日本らしいお店でした。サービスがとても親切で、スタッフみんなはびっくりしていました。お店の人がしゃぶしゃぶを手伝ってくれるんです。しゃぶしゃぶはおなべのお湯で野菜やお肉を料理します。自分で野菜をなべに入れます。お肉ははしでつまんで「しゃぶしゃぶ」と動かします。知っていましたか。

お店では、「しゃぶしゃぶ」は自分でしました。(楽しいですから!)でも、野菜はお店のスタッフが料理しました。とても簡単です。
 
みなさんはしゃぶしゃぶを食べたことありますか。ぜひ、一回食べてみてくださいね。
(2012年4月)

Welcome to Innovative Language Headquarters! Listener Visit #4

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. 😮 His girlfriend is Japanese, and he wanted to meet her parents. It sounded like a big event to me! But Matt kept smiling the whole time and said he was alright. I thought he was brave. 😮

I guess that Peter probably felt more nervous, because he knows that it’s one of the big events for men in Japan to meet their girlfriends’ parents!

I was very happy to receive the souvenir he brought. It was popular Girl Scout cookies from the United States. One packet was chocolate mint flavor, and the other was peanut butter. I liked the peanut butter ones more than the choco mint. 😉 Thanks, Matt! We all enjoyed them.

Matt, did you have a lovely time with your girlfriend and her parents? I hope so. 🙂

(May 2013)

イノベーティブは応援しています! オフ会4

みなさん、こんにちは。もとこです。

今回はオフ会その4についての報告です。先日、JapanesePod101.comのリスナーさんがオフィスに来ました。今回で4回目。まだまだ私は緊張していました。(笑)

こちらがマットさん。アメリカのカリフォルニアから来ました。旅行に来ると聞いていました。でも、ちょっと特別な旅行だそうです。なんと、彼女さんのご両親とはじめて会うそうです。日本人の彼女さんと一緒にいたいから、ご両親に挨拶をします。とても大変そうですよね。でもマットさんはずっとにこにこ笑って、大丈夫ですと言っていました。すごい! たぶんピーターさんのほうがどきどきしていました。
 
今回私がうれしかったのはおみやげ。マットさんはアメリカで人気があるチョコビスケットをくれました。チョコミント味とピーナッツバター味です。ちなみにピーナッツバター味のほうがミント味より好きです。マットさん、ありがとうございました。

Welcome to Innovative Language Headquarters! Listener Visit #3

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 a JapanesePod101.com listener come to visit us from Mitaka, Tokyo. (Yes. From TOKYO!)

Audrius studies at a private university in Tokyo and lives in the dormitories there. He is from Lithuania, in Northern Europe. He is the first Lithuanian I’ve ever met! I was pleasantly surprised by his level of Japanese fluency.

Welcome to Innovative Language Headquarters! Listener Visit #3

Let me talk a little about his Japanese learning journey: he started learning Japanese with JapanesePod101 in Lithuania, before he came to Japan. Then he continued to study it at the university. His energy and efforts towards learning Japanese are awesome, aren’t they?

We welcome anyone traveling to Japan or studying here to visit us! Drop by our office and say Kon’nichiwa!
(Apr, 2013)

Innovativeにいらっしゃい! オフ会3

みなさん、こんにちは。もとこです。

今回はオフ会その3について話します。先日、東京都三鷹市からJapanesePod101.comのリスナーさんがオフィスに来てくれました。(そうです。東京からなんです。)

アウドリュスさんは今、東京の私立大学に留学しているそうです。大学の寮に住んでいるそうです。出身はヨーロッパのリトアニアだそうです。私は初めてリトアニア人に会いました。とても日本語が上手でした。びっくりしました。

リトアニアから日本に来る前に、JapanesePod101で日本語の勉強をしたそうです。その後、大学でもっと日本語を勉強したそうです。アウドリュスさんの努力はすばらしいですよね。

日本へ旅行に来る人も、日本に留学している人も、イノベーティブランゲージのオフィスに来てくださいね。まっています。
(2013年4月)

Fond Farewells at Innovative Language

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.

Did you know that March is one of the most important months in Japan? That’s because it’s farewell season.

Schools and companies start new academic and financial years in April. This means their years end in March, and that’s when graduation ceremonies are held in schools. Here, we have interns who are college students, and some of them leave us in March. This March, we said goodbye to two student interns and one full-time staff member.

But we will see them again someday; we didn’t actually say “good bye”, but “see you again” then saw them off.

We hope that all three enjoy their new adventures!

(March, 2013)

イノベーティブでまた会おうね

こんにちは。もとこです。日本では3月がたいせつなきせつです。みなさん、知っていましたか。そう、おわかれのきせつ。

日本の会社や学校は4月にはじまります。だから、3月におわります。3月に学校で卒業式があります。イノベーティブには学生のスタッフもいますから、3月にイノベーティブを退社(たいしゃ)する人もいます。今年は2人のインターンシップスタッフと1人のフルタイムスタップが退社しました。

でも、また会うことはできますから、「さようなら」じゃないですね。「また会おうね」と言って、送(おく)ります。 3人が新しい場所でがんばれますように。

(2013年3月)

Getting Sporty at Innovative Language

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 listeners! Motoko here. In this blog, I would like to talk about our trip to Round1. This was the second event we held while Eran was here (actually, we went there in November! :p). Round1 is one of the Japanese amusement complexes that have a variety of athletic fields for sport and other indoor activities. It is also famous for “Spo-cha,” (short for “sports challenge”) which is the name of the kind of service Round1 offers.

You just pay the fee for 1 or 3 hours and then enjoy as many sports and arcade games as you like. We call it ‘1-jikan asobi hōdai’ or ‘3-jikan asobi hōdai’ (1時間遊び放題 or 3時間遊び放題).

I tried rollerblading for the first time in my life and it was REALLY difficult even just moving forward. (So one of my co-workers rescued me. It was a very good experience though!)

Even if you are not good at sport, you can still find something to enjoy. There are arcade games (for free!), darts, a rodeo bull machine, and karaoke!


When you’re hanging out with a group of friends in Japan, Round1 is a great place to go!

(Dec 2012)

スポーツをたのしむには。

みなさん、こんにちは。もとこです。今回はラウンドワン(Round1)について話したいと思います。エランさんが東京に来たとき、イノベーティブのスタッフで行きました。2回目のイベントです。(本当は11月に行きました。(●´ω`●)ゞ)。 ラウンドワンはスポーツアトラクション施設です。たくさんコートがあって、色々なスポーツをすることができます。また、ほかの室内(しつない)での遊びをすることもできます。このサービスは「スポッチャ」という名前でも有名です。(スポッチャは「スポーツ チャレンジ」の省略だそうです。)

1時間か3時間用の料金をはらって、スポーツやゲームセンターのゲームで遊ぶことができます。「1時間遊び放題(ほうだい)」と「3時間遊び放題」といいます。
 
私は人生ではじめてローラースケートをしてみました!とってもむずかしかったです。前にすすむことができませんでした。(だから、イノベーティブの同僚(どうりょう)がたすけてくれました。いい経験(けいけん)でしたよ!)

スポーツが苦手でもだいじょうぶです。ゲームセンターのゲームを(ただで!)することができます。また、ダーツやロデオマシーン、カラオケもあります!

日本で友だちとあそぶときは、ラウンドワンはおすすめです。きっとたのしい時間をすごすことができますよ。
(2012年12月)

Year-end Cleaning at Innovative Language Tokyo Office!

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!

Hey everyone. Motoko here! I’d like to talk about our year-end cleaning event, called Ō-sōji(大掃除) in Japanese. Most of our staff had questions about why people in offices did cleaning themselves instead of hiring cleaning staff. But this process is very significant for the year end in Japan.

As you see from its kanji, this is the biggest cleaning season and takes place at the end of the year. It has its origin in a Shinto event called Susuharai (煤払い), in which monks and people cleaned their houses to purify them and welcome the god/kami called Toshi-gami (歳神様 or 年神様) on new year’s day. In other words, Ō-sōji was originally a ritual event. The god, Toshi-gami, is believed to bring people and also their houses happiness and luck each new year. People traditionally clean their houses together and prepare for new year’s day. They believe that if the house is dusty and dirty, the god won’t come. (Japanese gods tend to like nice and clean places!)

In order to invite happiness and luck to the office, some of us formed a group: Team Ō-sōji. We had a one-hour cleaning session in the office. To be more eco-friendly, we chose to use dusters, zōkin (雑巾), to wipe everything off. You can use one of these almost forever just by washing and squeezing it.

[photo1: Our powerful weapon: マイペット]
マイペット

[photo2: Clean dusters after the cleaning ]
Clean dusters after the cleaning

After the cleaning, we of course went to a meal to reward everyone for their hard work.

[photo3: Salt can be one of the good sauces. Simple is best! ]
Salt can be one of the good sauces. Simple is best!

(Nov. 2012)

   Innovative Languageのオフィスを大掃除

 みなさん、こんにちは。もとこです。今回は年の終わりに行った「大掃除(おおそうじ)」を紹介します。イノベーティブの多くのスタッフがどうして自分たちでオフィスを掃除するのか。どうして清掃員をやとわないのか、不思議に思っていました。でも、大掃除には大切な意味があるんです。
 「大掃除」の漢字を見ると、「大きい」「そうじ」だということがわかりますね。年末に盛大にそうじすることなんです。大掃除は「煤払い(すすはらい)」という神道の行事がはじまりだといわれています。「煤払い」では人々がお寺や神社、自分の家を掃除して、清めます。お正月に歳神様(としがみさま)をお迎えするためです。つまり、大掃除はもともと儀式的な行事だったのです。歳神様は神道の神様の一柱(はしら, counter for gods)で、新年とその年の幸をもたらす(持ってくる)と信じられています。日本人はみんなで掃除をして、新年を迎える準備をするのです。もし家が汚かったら、歳神様は来てくれません。(日本の神様はきれいなところが好きな神様が多いです。)
 オフィスに幸運を招きいれるべく、イノベーティブのボランティアでチームを作りました。一夜限りのチームの名前はチーム大掃除です。 一時間位オフィスを掃除しました。環境のことを考えて、道具は雑巾(ぞうきん)を使いました。洗ってしぼればいつまででも使うことができますからね。
 もちろん、大掃除の後は「労をねぎらう」ためにご飯を食べに行きました。

(2012年11月)

Welcoming Eran to the Tokyo office!

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!

Hey everyone. Motoko here!

Today I would like to talk about our recent visit from Innovative Language’s Co-Founder, Eran. Though he’s usually based in New York, he came to visit the Tokyo office in mid-November. It had been a year since his previous visit, so we welcomed him and took him to some interesting spots!

The first event was dinner at Ninja Akasaka. I’m sure you know what a ninja is! And this is a restaurant where you can see modern-day ninja and enjoy creative, gourmet meals. When we arrived, we were let in to the restaurant in groups of 4 or 5 people. What we saw as we entered is a secret, but it was definitely a fun and exciting experience! After being welcomed in, ninja or kunoichi (female ninja) took us to our tables. The seating areas looked like caves and we squished into our small but comfortable seats.

Every meal both looked and tasted great! The course started with a terrine of foie gras with Shuriken-shaped biscuits.

Most of the dishes related somehow to ninja and were fun to look at and eat. I really liked the tiny ninja-shaped dessert, because it was pretty cute!


If you like the animes Naruto or Nintama Rantaro, or even if you don’t really like ninja, I recommend a visit to this restaurant because you will experience something special!

(Nov. 2012)

エランさんいらっしゃいパーティ @東京オフィス
 
みなさん、こんにちは。もとこです。今回はエランさんをむかえたパーティについてお話します。11月の中旬、エランさんが東京にいらっしゃいました。エランさんはイノベーティブの副社長さんです。いつもはニューヨークで働いています。一年ぶりに東京オフィスにいらっしゃいましたから、東京のおもしろい場所に案内しました。

まずはNinja Akasaka。みなさん、忍者は知っていますよね。Ninja Akasakaは忍者に会うことができるレストランです。モダンな創作料理も食べることができます。レストランについたら、4~5人でお店に入ります。ここでお店でおこることを教えることはできません。でも、絶対みなさんもわくわく、どきどき、楽むことができると思います。その秘密(ひみつ)のイベントの後、テーブルに行きます。忍者か、女性の忍者の「くの一」が席まで案内します。ほとんどのテーブルは洞窟(どうくつ)みたいな席で、小さくて居心地がよさそうな席にすわります。
 
全ての料理がすてきでおいしかったです。一番初めの料理はフォアグラのテリーヌ、手裏剣(しゅりけん)ビスケット添(ぞ)え!ほとんどの料理が「忍者」に関係していました。どれも見て、食べて、楽しい料理です。でも、私が一番好きだったのは忍者の形のデザートでした。とってもかわいかったからです。  

もし『ナルト』や『忍たま乱太郎』が好きだったら、特に忍者が好きじゃなくても、ぜひこのレストランに行ってみてください。素敵な体験ができますよ!

(2012年11月)

Making Soba and Picking Peaches

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! In the beginning of summer this year, the Innovative Language staff went on a day trip. Today I’d like to talk about that. We chose peach-picking for fun, and soba-making so that everyone could try a traditional Japanese food! We made soba in a wonderful nihon-kaoku, a traditional type of Japanese house.

Do you know what soba is? Soba is a famous type of noodle in Japan that is a greyish-brown color. It gets this color from a special type of flour called sobako that is used to make it. You dip the boiled soba into a dip called tsuyu made from fish broth, and eat it. Adding onions and wasabi to the tsuyu give it a more grown-up flavor. Soba comes in two types: cold zarusoba, and warm kakesoba, but this time we had zarusoba.

Soba is made from sobako and flour. First, you mix the two types of flour into a large bowl called a hachi. You can use chopsticks, but it seems like it’s more common to use your hands. Next, you add water. Then comes the hard part – you have to then knead the soba dough a lot. The teacher made it look easy, but it requires a lot of strength since the dough is not that soft. Apparently, the action of kneading the dough is an important step to making delicious soba. Once you’re done kneading, you flatten the dough with a rolling pin. Then, you place the soba on a wooden board called a komaita, and cut it with a special knife called a bocho. If you cut it thinly, you get great soba. If you cut it thickly, you get soba that looks like udon. (Which still tastes good…it just might be a little hard.)

Everyone worked hard at making soba, getting themselves covered with flour in the process. After making it, we boiled it and ate it ourselves. Because the noodles are raw, they take only a minute and a half to cook. Soon after boiling them, you do what’s called shimeru in Japanese. Shimeru refers to rinsing the noodles with cold water so that they don’t get too soft. When you do this, it gives the noodles a nice chewy texture. This isn’t done with Italian pasta!

Then we got on the bus to go peach-picking. Is it common to go fruit-picking in your country? In Japan, there are a lot of opportunities for fruit-picking that change with the seasons. Cherry-picking, peach-picking, grape-picking, and pear-picking are some of the well-known ones. You go to the field to pick and eat a lot – depending on the place, there may be a limit to how much you can eat. The place we went had an all-you-can-eat deal that lasted for 40 minutes. For 40 minutes, you can pick and eat as much as you want. Apparently, the good peaches are at the ends of the branches, so everyone tried hard to get the highest ones.

The person who ate the most was a family member of one our Innovative Language staff. They ate seven peaches in 40 minutes! As for me, I ate three. The peaches I chose were big, so even after just three, I was really full!

Readers, you should definitely try your hand at making Japanese food – not just eating it. I had never made soba before, and I’m Japanese! It’s sure to be a memorable experience.

桃狩り&蕎麦打ち

こんにちは、もとこです。今年の夏のはじめにイノベーティブのみんなで日帰り(ひがえり)旅行に行きました。今回はその報告です。日本の伝統的な食べ物に挑戦するために蕎麦打ち(そばうち)を、みんなが楽しめるようにと桃狩り(ももがり)を選びました。素敵な日本家屋(にほんかおく・伝統的な日本の家)で蕎麦打ちをすることができました。

蕎麦(そば)は知っていますか。有名な日本の麺(めん)で、色は灰色や茶色です。「蕎麦粉(そばこ)」という特別な粉を使うので、この色になります。魚でとった出汁(だし)としょうゆで「つゆ」を作ります。ゆでた麺をその「つゆ」につけて食べます。長ねぎやわさびを少し「つゆ」に入れると、大人の味になります。蕎麦には冷たい「ざる蕎麦」と温かい「かけ蕎麦」があります。今回は「ざる蕎麦」でした。
蕎麦は蕎麦粉と小麦粉(こむぎこ)で作られます。まず蕎麦粉と小麦粉を鉢(はち)の中でまぜます。鉢は日本のボウルです。お箸(はし)を使ってもいいです。でも手を使うほうが一般的みたいでした。次に、お水を入れます。大変なのがその後の作業。蕎麦の生地(きじ)をたくさんこねなくてはいけません。先生たちは簡単そうにこねていました。でも生地はあまりやわらかくないですから、力が必要です。この「こねる」作業がおいしい蕎麦の大切なポイントなんだとか。

こねおわったら、生地を「麺棒(めんぼう)」でのばして、たたみます。そのあと「こま板(こまいた)」という板で生地をおさえて、「そば包丁(ぼうちょう)」という特別なナイフで切ります。細かく切ると、素敵な蕎麦になりました。でも、幅広く切ると、うどんっぽい蕎麦になります。(うどんっぽくてもおいしいです。でも少しかたいかもしれません。) 

みんな、粉だらけになりながら、蕎麦打ちをがんばっていました。打ち終わった後は、もちろん、ゆでて自分たちで食べました。生の麺ですから、ゆでる時間はたったの1分半。すぐに水でしめます。「しめる」とは、麺が柔らかくなりすぎないように水で洗うことです。こうすると、コシのあるおいしい食感になります。イタリアのパスタはあまり「しめ」ませんよね。

次にバスで桃狩りへ。みなさんの国では果物狩り(くだものがり)はありますか。日本では季節ごとにいろいろな果物狩りがあります。さくらんぼ、もも、ぶどう、なし、などが有名です。果物(くだもの)の畑に行って、たくさん食べることができます。畑によっては、食べられる数が決まっています。今回行った畑は40分食べ放題(ほうだい)。40分の間だったら、いくつ食べてもいいです。おいしい桃は枝の先にあるそうです。だからみんながんばって、高い所の実を取りました。

ちなみに、一番たくさん食べたのはイノベーティブスタッフの家族でした。40分で7つ食べたそうです。ちなみに私は3つでした。大きい実を選びましたから、3つだけでも、お腹いっぱいでしたよ。

みなさんも日本食を食べるだけではなくて、作ることにも挑戦してみてください。日本人の私ですら、蕎麦打ちはしたことがありませんでした。絶対、いい思い出になりますよ。
(2012年夏)

A Trip to the Baseball Game

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 all, Motoko here.

Today I’d like to tell you about the baseball game the Innovative Language team went to at the end of September. But before I do, which sports are popular in your country? And do you know which sports are popular in Japan?

The answer is: soccer and baseball.

Soccer came to Japan because it was popular in Europe. Baseball, on the other hand, can be written in kanji (野球), and that’s because it was introduced to Japan much earlier than soccer was. In fact, it came to Japan in 1872. It is said that it started when an American man taught some Japanese college students how to play baseball.

Of course, playing baseball is quite popular, but also people young and old love watching it. Stadium tickets come in two types; one is “reserved seating” where you can choose where you’d like to sit ahead of time. Another is “non-reserved seating”, where you can choose where to sit on game day. The second kind is cheaper. Spectators drink beer, eat snacks, and watch the game. Throughout the game, staff (mostly ladies) carry beer tanks through the crowd, so you can easily get more beer without leaving your seat!

The game was held at Meiji Jingu stadium, which is close to Shibuya. The seating areas are divided among the two teams. In this stadium, the seats on the first-base side were for Yakult Swallows supporters, and the seats on the third-base side were for the opponent’s (Chunichi Dragons), supporters. So, if you’re cheering for the Swallows, you need to have a seat on the first-base side.

Speaking of cheering for the teams, we found some unique supporters’ gear to help us do just that. Some people had pairs of miniature plastic megaphones and made loud noises by beating them together. Other people had little umbrellas and danced with the cheering groups. Each baseball team has their own mascot. Tsubakuro is the mascot of the Yakult Swallows – “swallow” is tsubame in Japanese. Actually, the first baseball team ever to have a mascot was from Japan. Did you know that?

(Sep, 2012)

野球観戦

こんにちは。もとこです。

今日は9月下旬(げじゅん)に会社で行った野球(やきゅう)観戦(かんせん)についてお話します。

みなさんの国ではどのスポーツが人気がありますか。日本ではどのスポーツが人気がありますか。みなさんは知っていますか。

正解(せいかい)はサッカーと野球です。サッカーはヨーロッパで人気ですから、日本でも人気になったと思います。野球は「野球」と漢字の名前がありますから、サッカーより野球の方が日本に来たのは早かったです。1872年に初めて(はじめて)野球が日本に来ました。アメリカの人が大学生に教えたそうです。

野球をするのはもちろん人気ですが、見るのは老若男女(ろうにゃく なんにょ)問わず(とわず)人気です。チケットには席の場所を決めることができる「指定席(していせき)」と当日に席を選ぶ「自由席」があります。自由席の方が安いです。みんな、ビールを飲んで、ごはんを食べて、試合(しあい)を見ます。試合中に男の人や女の人がビールを売りにきますから、おかわりもしやすいです。
 
今回は明治神宮球場(めいじ じんぐう きゅうじょう)というスタジアムに行きました。渋谷(しぶや)に近い野球場(やきゅうじょう)ですね。ここでは1塁側(るいがわ)が「ヤクルトスワローズ」の席、3塁側(るいがわ)が「中日ドラゴンズ」の席とわかれて座ります。つまり、ヤクルトを応援(おうえん)する人は1塁側に座って応援します。
 
応援には特別なグッズがありました。ひとつは筒(つつ)で、たたくと大きい音がでます。もうひとつは傘(かさ)で、応援団(おうえんだん)の人と一緒におどります。それぞれのチームには「マスコット」がいます。例えば、ヤクルトスワローズのマスコットは「つば九郎(くろう)」です。ちなみに、初めてマスコットを作ったのは日本の野球チームだそうです。知っていましたか。
 
(2012年9月末)