JapanesePod101.com Blog

Hey everyone! My name is Jonathan. While a lot of the crew has been busy creating lessons and content, I’ve been working on a few initiatives for JapanesePod101.com. Here are some of fantastic things we’ve done in the past few weeks to share JapanesePod101.com with the world: 1) Solutions Page – We’ve added a section for those interested in using our podcasts and content for schools, companies, and government agencies. Check it out! 2) Wikipedia – We recently created a wiki entry on Wikipedia! Now, you can read all about your favorite Japanese language podcast here. 3) Facebook – In addition to our MySpace and Frapper pages, we now have a Facebook group! Find us by searching us under Group Pages, and add us... Show more

Poking around youtube, as I am often of wont to do, I came across ピタゴラスイッチ1, a kids TV show. The main demographic of ピ・ス seems to be Japanese first graders, which suits me fine, as my Japanese is at about that level. I found a series called 「なにしてるの？」2 Each short clip is only a minute or so, and I have learnt something from every single one. In each one, three boys are seen in a playground. One notices an adult doing really weird exercises, and is heard to remark 「何してる」3. Eventually one succumbs to the others' badgering of 「聞いて来いよ」4, wanders over and asks 「おじさん、何やってるの？」5 He explains the weird procedure he is going through, and a clip explains it a bit better. I discovered the verb which 愛香6 explained to me as the verb 'to spray', a... Show more

Golden Week is here and what better way to celebrate than with an Instant 25% Savings on ANY Basic or Premium JapanesePod101.com subscription. With the country closing down for almost a week, everyone in Japan will surely enjoy something good. At JapanesePod101.com we don’t want you to miss out! Make this year's Golden Week a memorable one by taking advantage of this limited time offer! Simply enter coupon code GOLDENWEEK in the coupon field provided during the registration process to take advantage of this incredible opportunity. New to JapanesePod101.com? * Click here to SAVE 25% and Sign Up for a New Subscription * Coupon Code: GOLDENWEEK * Expiration Date: Saturday, May 5th, 2007 at 11:59pm EST Previously a JapanesePod101.com... Show more

Daniel here. Reporting for JapanesePod101.com. お花見 (おはなみ), or cherry blossom viewing is one of the more pleasant seasonal traditions in Japan. The flowers are stunningly beautiful and change the landscape much like snow can in Winter. People wait in anticipation for their arrival, and the news forecasts 満開 (まんかい • full-bloom) predictions like they do coming rainfall and rising temperatures. In addition to their beauty, 桜 (さくら) are short-lived. Almost as soon as they bloom, wind, rain, and budding leaves conspire to force the lovely pedals off their branches. Just as quickly as they achieve their full majesty, they depart and make way for Spring. As a side note, this phenomenon is very apropos for Japanese culture which seems to... Show more

As part of my ongoing immersion into all things Japanese, I have bought a Wi console, made by company Nintendo. If you didn't know already, Nintendo is one of the biggest manufacturers of video games in the world. The Wii is their latest machine, and it has an interesting interface method: instead of pressing buttons with your fingers, you hold two controllers, or リモコン and wave them around in front of your TV. You really have to try it to understand it; the feeling of having two controllers in your hands and frantically flailing them about makes the whole experience much more enjoyable. I'm currently battling my way through a game called Rayman Raving Rabbids. In it, a group of crazy ラビッツ　try to take over the world, and challenge... Show more

We are pleased to announce that very soon we'll be a launching a new header and footer design on JapanesePod101.com. Here are the key changes that will be introduced in the new design: New Header Navigation - We conveniently separated out "Help Center", "About Us", and "Contact Us" from the main header menu to reduce the clutter and improve navigation. Footer Quick Links – We expanded the number of links available in the footer to allow users to quickly and easily access the information they seek. A Fresh New Look - Last but not least, we felt it was time to give the header and footer a fresh new look. We hope you like what you see and find the navigational tools overall more useful. Below is a screenshot of the new header and... Show more

Besides listening to jPod and blogging, my other online pastime is Magic: the Gathering Online. Magic is a collectible card game, and was the first. I realise that not everyone will realise what this means, so I'll give you a quick rundown: you buy packs of trading cards, which instead of having sportsmen on them, have pictures of fantastic monsters and wizards blowing each other up. Below this picture is a small box of text. You make up your own deck of these trading cards, find a friend, and play game of Magic with him/her. If you're still not sure what Magic is, this article on the official Magic site entitled "WHAT IS MAGIC?" might make it clearer. Magic is quite popular in Japan actually, so much so that tournament reports (yes,... Show more

So... This is my first blog entry here on JapanesePod101.com. And I'll be honest, I ain't the bloggin' type. I can hardly find enough free time to keep up my joke of a Mixi 日記, let alone consistently do it here too. (My Japanese teacher recommended I keep a Japanese diary to practice, so that's the motivation behind the Mixi page.) Because I do read the blogs here, I will try to make my myself heard around here from time to time. But primarily I'm a lurker. lol. Anyhoo, as promised, this is a shameless plug. FIRST, IT'S J-POP TIME! I did some guest vox on the next BOA single. Her next single features a remix by my boy Army Slick and is ready to be released in May! I'd love to post a clip for you to hear in advance,... Show more

Daniel here. Reporting for JapanesePod101.com. Japan, and especially Tokyo, is full of commuters; people going from the outside parts of Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures to work in the city, and students moving in all directions. Just this month, many of these commuters have had their commute habits simplified with the event of Pasmo, an IC (Integrated Circuit) card which can be used on most trains and busses in Japan. Japan’s transportation system is one of the most convenient in the world. Trains, subways, monorails, busses, ferry boats, and taxis can get you to your destination wherever that might be in this archipelago nation. Most people can get along fine without owning a car. While I do own a car, I mostly use it to go... Show more

I was just 5 minutes ago talking to someone on MSN about one of my vocab memorization techniques. The conversation started, as one usually does on MSN, as 'what are you doing'. It took me a while to explain, but my friend thought it was a good idea. He's learning English, but the principle is the same. I do it whenever I'm trying to memorize a lot of words. Maybe it'll work for you! Step 1: Open a search engine. For Chinese, I use 百度, for Japanese, one might try google.co.jp. Step 2: Click on the 'images' tab (remember it probably won't be in English though!) and write in the word. Let's take something from today's lesson; おめでとう meaning 'congratulations'. Step 3: Feast your eyes on all the lovely pictures. Each one has something... Show more