Learn Japanese with Beb and Alex

#93 Mendokusai - What a hassle

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:45:00 GMT

#93 Show notes

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:04:00 GMT

Fun Friday for 26th June 2009

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

fun friday for 19th June 2009

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:45:00 GMT

For more info about this episode please visit this link:
http://learnjapanesepod.com/fun-friday-for-19th-june-2009/

#92 Japanese rainy season

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:48:00 GMT

#92 Shownotes

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:47:00 GMT

Fun friday for June 12th 2009

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:33:00 GMT

#91 Yori

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:30:00 GMT

#91 Show notes

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:02:00 GMT

#90 Kureru

Thu, 4 Jun 2009 03:54:00 GMT

#90 Show notes

Thu, 4 Jun 2009 03:53:00 GMT

Learn Japanese forum video tutorial

Sun, 31 May 2009 09:40:00 GMT

Some people have been having trouble posting videos in the Learn Japanese Pod Forums. So with the help of Coffeebot, Olly and a few 500ml cans of Kirin äçæã we made this little tutorial for you.

Actually, it's pretty easy to post a video in the forums but it's not very intuitive. If you don't know how to do it, it can be a little tricky working it out.

Since we use SMF for our forum, this tutorial should work for any similar one. Enjoy.

#89 To be in time

Thu, 28 May 2009 12:24:00 GMT

#89 Shownotes

Thu, 28 May 2009 12:23:00 GMT

Fun Friday for 22nd May 2009: Tokyo Hacker Space

Fri, 22 May 2009 17:24:00 GMT

#88: OKU

Thu, 21 May 2009 12:47:00 GMT

#88 Show notes

Thu, 21 May 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Fun Friday for 15th May 2009

Fri, 15 May 2009 04:00:00 GMT

In this podcast I interviewed Stoneriver and Goldhorn who have completed a 1200km bike trip to Hokkaido. I met up with them after the finish line and asked them how they got on. Enjoy.

Fun Friday for 8th May 2009

mail@alexbrooke.com — Fri, 8 May 2009 12:12:00 GMT

I'm currently staying at the Earth Embassy, a cafe, organic farm and learning center for sustainable lifestyles in Yamanashi. I'm helping out with a project to make an all year green house from recycled materials inspired by Earthship technology. I'm also here because I want to escape the madness of Tokyo and get some fresh country air.

Check out these related links:
The Earth Embassy
Earthship

#87: Desho

Thu, 7 May 2009 16:12:00 GMT

#87 Show notes

Thu, 7 May 2009 04:00:00 GMT

#86: Whether or not

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:39:00 GMT

#86 Show notes

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Latest news

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:55:00 GMT

Things have been a little quiet on the podcast front but fear not for we shall have a new podcast up tomorrow.

we are also working on the new site which you can find at http://learnjapanesepod.com

When we have finished we will be moving information on the podcasts including show notes to the new site however the RSS feed will remain the same.

http://japanese.libsyn.com/rss

#85: You should

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:29:00 GMT

#85 Show notes

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:27:00 GMT

Fun Friday: Making music in Japan

Sat, 7 Mar 2009 05:13:00 GMT

#84: Panashi

Wed, 4 Mar 2009 05:01:00 GMT

#84 Show notes

Wed, 4 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Fun Friday: Learning Japanese for free

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:23:00 GMT

In this week's Fun Friday, Jasmin, Ben, Karamoon and myself talked about subjects including getting free (or very cheap) Japanese lessons at local community centers. It's a great way to get started in Japanese in Japan on a low or non existent budget.

Enjoy.

#83 Show notes

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Show #83: Stop it!

mail@alexbrooke.com — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

It's lesson #83 on Learn Japanese pod and Waka sensei teaches us the various uses of the verb ãããã/ Yameru / to stop or quit.

Enjoy.

Latest goings on at Learn Japanese Pod

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:08:00 GMT

We've been very busy at Learn Japanese Pod trying to reorganize the entire site to make it more user friendly and look a little sexier. We will be migrating the podcast information from this site at Libsyn over to the main site at http://learnjapanesepod.com

For more information about this and extra news about the recent goings on click here!

Yoroshiku

Fun Friday: Obama rama!

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Show #82: Japanese verbs for wearing clothes

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:26:00 GMT

#82 Show notes

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Fun Friday: Craft beer in Tokyo

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:21:00 GMT

Welcome to Fun Monday?! Yes I know I should have got this show up three days ago but trust me this show is a good one.

I was invited by Stone River of the Learn Japanese Forums to a craft beer brewers new year party. I was lucky enough to bump into Tim an expert in micro brews who very kindly gave us the low down on what's what in the beer world in Japan. So a huge thanks to Tim and all the other beer connoisseurs who made it such a great party. We'll be posting some more beer interviews soon. Plus I will be updating this post with the URLs mentioned in the podcast. Happy drinking!

COMMENTS

Happy New Year

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 02:09:00 GMT

I just wanted to wish all of you a Happy New Year and all the best for 2009. It's almost the end of the 00s, probably the worst decade in a very long time. The coming year looks like it is going to be tough for many. But with a cup of sake in one hand and maybe a beer in the other we shall be invincible. At least until the hangover...YES WE've got a CAN of beer.

Thank you for listening and being the coolest cats out there. See you all in the next year for more Learn Japanese madness. And to see in the next year, here are some Japanese phrases that might help you survive the New Year celebrations. http://learnjapanesepod.com/home/index.php/japanese-lessons/vocab-/216-new-years-phrases-in-japanese.html

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Show #81: Bikkuri!

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:59:00 GMT

é³æ¥½åéä¸

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 03:59:00 GMT

éæåéä
ææãèåãæãããååäãææãéæãçäããããæãããããããããããããããæåãçäããããæãããéçããããããã2ääãããããããçãããããããããããããããéæãæãããã

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imunique999 ( at ) yahoo.co.uk

Fun Friday for 12th December 2008

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 04:44:00 GMT

Show #80: BUT!

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:20:00 GMT

Fun Friday for 5th December 2008

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 15:25:00 GMT

#79: It ain't necessarily so

Wed, 3 Dec 2008 15:21:00 GMT

#79 Show notes

Wed, 3 Dec 2008 05:00:00 GMT

LJP End of Year Party

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 09:05:00 GMT

Learn Japanese pod will be hold a Year End Party for all of you at the Pink Cow in Shibuya. The menu is great and we even have our very own DJs. Entrance is free, so what more do I need to say?

Location: The Pink Cow, Shibuya, Tokyo
Date: Sunday, 14th December 2008
Time: 7pm start
Entrance: Free

More information on our Facebook community at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=37241583869

#78: It's not like that

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:10:00 GMT

Hosts: Yukki and Alex
Audio Production: Daniel Edwards

#78 Show notes: It's not like that

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Donations to Learn Japanese pod

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:32:00 GMT

If you enjoy Learn Japanese then please consider donating to the site. Since this site is becoming more popular running costs are increasing.

Any donations of any amount no matter how small are welcome and of course this is purely voluntary and a way to show your appreciation.

Fun Friday: I like driving in my car

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:01:00 GMT

Naked old japanese men, Kaiten sushi, eating whale meat, moving to Japan from America, the JET program, electronics from Akihabara, bringing your laptop to Japan were just a few of the subjects Waka sensei, Sandra, Jim, Ben and myself talked about on this week's Fun Friday.

This episode was recorded back in June in our rent-a-car as we drove back from a spa in Chiba.

#77: Naruhodo

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:54:00 GMT

Today's lesson is Naruhodo which means "I see" taught to us by the lovely Yukki sensei. Audio production: Daniel Edwards Hosts: Alex and Yukki sensei

#77 Show notes: Naruhodo

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Women and alcohol

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:16:00 GMT

We've been running the Learn Japanese Podcast for a little over three years now so I thought it would be a good time to take stock and have a look at how we were doing. I had a look at the statistics for downloads for the podcasts and compiled a top 10 of the most popular podcasts. From that I was able to get a rough idea of what you people come here for. And it looks like it is cute Japanese girls and alcohol.

Check it out:

Top 10 Learn Japanese Podcasts by download

Learn Japanese Pod website

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:11:00 GMT

We are slowly migrating all information about the Learn Japanese podcasts to http://learnjapanesepod.com which is the main site and portal for the podcasts, forums, free Japanese online lessons and other great resources. This blog will still exist but show notes and other information will be located on the main site from now on, so please bookmark http://learnjapanesepod.com

You can also find my personal website which gives an overview of all the websites I am managing including the Learn Japanese Podcast and Forums

http://alexbrooke.com

Of course you will still be able to download podcasts from this page or you can subscribe via iTunes

Fun Friday: On and off-line study aids for Japanese

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 16:41:00 GMT

You can discuss this podcast and get links to the websites discussed here: http://learnjapanesepod.com/forum/index.php/topic,1070.msg11762.html#msg11762

The forums are back online

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 15:55:00 GMT

We've had some server trouble with the forums but they are finally back online. So please check out the forums!

Click here for the Forums

(The moral of this story is, if you want a website which loads quickly, had no downtime and great customer support DO NOT USE http://servage.com )

#76: It's been a long time baby

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:45:00 GMT

#76 Show notes: Hisashiburi

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Fun Friday: Izakaya Taxi

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:16:00 GMT

To read more about Izakaya taxis, CLICKY HERE!

#75: I told you so!

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:07:00 GMT

#75 Show notes: I told you so

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Fun Friday: Akihabara Safari

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:07:00 GMT

As I am migrating this site to the main site more information can be found on this podcast below: Clicky

New Learn Japanese Pod site up

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 19:58:00 GMT

In an effort to make the Learn Japanese pod site look a bit more sexy, I am migrating everything to a new site at:

http://learnjapanesepod.com/home

Please check it out and see what you think. Feel free to email me with your comments, ideas and suggestions to:

imunique999[at]yahoo.co.uk

Fun Friday: Osaka castle with Beb and Waka

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:43:00 GMT

This video is a little late in coming but here it is at last. In August last month I went down to Osaka with Waka sensei to hang out with Beb. We made this movie in front of Osaka castle as we had done two years ago. Time certainly flies ! Check out the other Osaka castle talk shows we did in July 2006 and Enjoy.

#74: Basic Japanese phrases: Ittekimasu

mail@alexbrooke.com — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:51:00 GMT

A huge thank you to all of you who came out last Sunday to Yoyogi park and helped to record lesson #74. This wasn't our first outdoor recording but it did have the most people ever, you all know who you are. This week went back to basics with some easy and useful phrases: Ittekimasu, Itterasshai, Tadaima and Okaeri. Enjoy!

#74 Show notes

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Yoyogi get together

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:07:00 GMT

it's a little belated but here is the video of the Learn Japanese Pod get together in Yoyogi on 21st July 2008. Thanks again to everyone who showed up. Yoroshiku!

#73: Giving presents

mail@alexbrooke.com — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:01:00 GMT

It's been quite a while but Beb was back this week to record this week's podcast together with Waka sensei and myself. We hung outside Osaka castle and I asked Waka sensei and Beb to teach me some useful phrases for giving presents in Japan. The idea to do this show came from a suggestion sent in by Kaya from Canada. So a bit shout out to you. Hope you enjoy this week's episode.

#73 Show notes: Giving presents

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Beer and Sushi!

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT

This show is a cross between a Fun Friday and a regular lesson. Waka sensei, a secret guest and myself got together for a delicious sushi party with some beer the forgotten condiment. In this video Waka sensei teaches us the names of various kinds of Japanese food. DELICIOUS!

#72 Give me a break

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:02:00 GMT

In today's lesson, Waka sensei teaches us a very useful phrase "Kamben shite". This is used for excusing yourself from things you don't want to do, something you might find yourself doing a lot in Japan. We recorded today's podcast outside in the park so apologies for the noise in the background.

#72 Show notes: Give me a break

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Learn Japanese Pod Get together in Yoyogi park

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:51:00 GMT

It's time to make the most of the summer so we are having a Learn Japanese Pod party in Yoyogi Park. Anyone is welcome to come along.

Bring your own whatever if that be food, drink, frisbee, football or even a friend. There is no end time so we'll party as long as the mood takes us. We'll probably be recording or filming the proceedings too.

Stay posted for plan B in case of rain.

Date: Monday 21st July
Time: 1:30pm
Location: By the main fountain
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2667822692_4cac336003_o.jpg

Contact:
Mobile email: alexbrooke[at]softbank.ne.jp
PC email: imunique999[at]yahoo.co.uk

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#71: å¼±èå¼·é£ãThe law of the jungle

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 16:00:00 GMT

In this week's lesson Waka sensei teaches us the phrase åèåé jakuniku kyohshoku or "the law of the jungle".

Show notes coming soon.

#71 Show notes

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT

#70: Telephone Japanese

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:34:00 GMT

In this week's lesson, Waka sensei teaches Ben and I some useful basic Japanese for phoning a friend. Enjoy.

#70 Show notes: Japanese for the telephone

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:33:00 GMT

#69: What are you into?

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:53:00 GMT

In this week's lesson we study the verb ããã / hamaru. This has various meanings including something that you are really interested in. Enjoy.

#69 show notes: What are you into?

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:51:00 GMT

#68: æ°ãki

mail@alexbrooke.com — Wed, 4 Jun 2008 14:01:00 GMT

This week's lesson covered the various uses of the word æ "KI".
For example:

æããããã/ki ni shinai de / don't worry

æãåãã/ki ni itta / I like it.

æããããã/ ki wo tsukete ne / take care

We covered five examples in the podcast although there are many more uses that you can find here. The podcast was recorded outside by the river. Waka sensei and I thought we would escape the confines of the studio ( the kitchen ) to the wilderness of Chiba ( the park ). It was wonderful to sit outside and hear the beautiful bird song. æåãæãåãã/I really liked it.

Enjoy.

Don't forget our Learn Japanese pod Facebook community
and the Forums

#68 show notes: æ°ãki

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 13:57:00 GMT

Fun Friday: Nikko

mail@alexbrooke.com — Sat, 31 May 2008 03:59:00 GMT

Today's Fun Friday features a video of a trip Waka sensei and myself made to Toshogu in Nikko. More info coming soon...

Fun Fridayãæåæçåãããããããããããèãããããã

Fun Friday: Hanging out with Daniel Edwards

mail@alexbrooke.com — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

This week I hung out with my good friend Daniel Edwards a music producer, composer and singer from the States. Amongst his many talents, he is also an excellent Japanese speaker. I asked him how he came to be in Japan and his tips for studying Japanese effectively.

You can check out Daniel's music on his myspace page @:

http://www.myspace.com/danieledwardsmusic

Here are links to some of the topics we talked about:
Basic Kanji Book
Marutei Tsurunen

#67 Sho ga nai / It can't be helped

mail@alexbrooke.com — Wed, 21 May 2008 06:00:00 GMT

If you come to Japan it is impossible to avoid the phrase "sho ga nai" which means "it can't be helped". This phrase along with it's more formal version "shikata ga nai" is used to express the concept of "c'est la vie" when life throws an unpleasant situation your way and you feel powerless to avoid or correct it.

It's raining today, we can't go on a picnic, "sho ga nai".

I failed my entrance exams, "sho ga nai".

The entire world is against us on our whaling policy, "sho ga nai".

"Sho ga nai" has been interpreted as the stoic self sacrificing nature of the Japanese which can also be found in Buddhist teachings and their emphasis on group identity.

"I have to go into work on sunday- sho ga nai"

The ultimate expression of "sho ga nai" was at the end of the second world war when their emperor asked his people to endure the unendurable and embrace defeat.

An unkinder and more western interpretation would conclude "sho ga nai" means "I can't be bothered". Arguably, you cannot run a sucessful company by shrugging your shoulders when your employees are lazy and unmotivated.

Regardless of whether you think "sho ga nai" expresses a fatalistic unwillingness to make changes or is an enlightened acceptance of life, "sho ga nai" is an essential phrase for students of Japanese.

In this lesson, Waka teaches us how to use "sho ga nai" just like a native. Enjoy.

Links:
Kyuma Fumio and Sho ga nai

#67 Show notes: Sho ga nai / It can't be helped

Wed, 21 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Here are the lesson notes for lesson #67

#66 Ordering beer

mail@alexbrooke.com — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:56:00 GMT

Today, Waka teaches us how to order a beer in Japan. She also teaches us how to stop your boss trying to get you drunk. KAMPAI!

#66 Show notes: Ordering beer

Thu, 15 May 2008 16:52:00 GMT

Here are the show notes for lesson #66

Fun Friday: Hanging out at the sushi restaurant

mail@alexbrooke.com — Sat, 10 May 2008 03:59:00 GMT

This week's fun Friday comes from the conveyor belt sushi restaurant or Kaitenzushi. We sat and talked about various topics while stuffing our faces with delicious sushi. Some ginger slices and cups of green tea made it a fantastic meal. Enjoy!

Learn Japanese on Facebook

Fri, 2 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

I have created a new community for Learn Japanese for all you Facebook fans. I think this will present a new opportunity for people into Japanese to hang out and exchange info and events. I hope you enjoy it. So please join the Learn Japanese Facebook community!

We also have the Learn Japanese Mixi community and don't forget to join the FORUMS!

Yoroshiku

Fun Friday: Hanging out in Odaiba

mail@alexbrooke.com — Thu, 1 May 2008 15:34:00 GMT

My brother Ben and I hung out on the man made beach in the port area of Odaiba in Tokyo. The weather was perfect as we watched the sun set and talked on subjects from magic karaoke pills to architecture in Japan and more.

Here is a list of links on the topics we covered
Japandra.blogspot.com
Provoice Karaoke pills
"Shutting out the sun" (book review)
Hikikomori
"Dave Barry Does Japan" (book review)
L'institut Franco-Japonaise
The Fuji building
Odaiba

Also, don't forget to check out our forums and our Facebook community.

The Loop line tour

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:23:00 GMT

Back in November 2005, El Gringo and myself did what they say shouldn't have been done. We rode around the Loop line in Osaka and made a movie of it. El Gringo has just finished editing the final episode, part 8 of 8. Viewers with a low threshold for naked flesh and immoral behavior should fast forward at the Intermission part of the movie.

See all 8 parts here on youtube:
Loopline on youtube

Alternatively you can download the episodes to your ipod from here:

Loopline on NFTOS

#65 Let's do lunch

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:16:00 GMT

Today Waka teaches us how to ask people to go out for lunch in Japanese.

#65 Show notes: Let's do lunch

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:30:00 GMT

Here are the lesson notes for show #65 in PDF form. This lesson is about talking about lunch in Japanese.

#64 It's a lie!

Wed, 9 Apr 2008 14:52:00 GMT

This week we study the word "uso". It means "lie" and that's the truth.

#64 Show notes It's a lie

Wed, 9 Apr 2008 14:08:00 GMT

Here are the show notes for lesson #64

Show notes fixed

Tue, 8 Apr 2008 11:29:00 GMT

For some reason the show notes for lesson #62 weren't working but they are up and working now. Just scroll down the page to find them or click here: Show#62 lesson notes

#63 No way, that's outrageous

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 14:07:00 GMT

In this Learn Japanese podcast we look at the phrase "tondemonai" which has various meanings depending on the context including "outrageous", "unthinkable" and "impossible".

Waka sensei was kind enough to research the various uses of this word and type up all the lesson notes for us. She also helped to record the podcast so in the end I paid her for her efforts in ramen.

Enjoy.

#63 Show notes

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 14:04:00 GMT

Here are the show notes for lesson #63

#62 to lend something

mail@alexbrooke.com — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:11:00 GMT

In this podcast, Waka sensei teaches us the various uses of the verb "KASU" to lend.

#62 show notes (to lend something)

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:08:00 GMT

Here are the show notes for lesson #62 which focuses on the verb Kasu (to lend)

Blogging

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 02:05:00 GMT

Find out about the latest J-madness on the learn Japanese blog here!

Learn Japanese Pod Blog

#61: Borrowing stuff

mail@alexbrooke.com — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:24:00 GMT

Waka sensei was kind enough to teach me Japanese outside on her sunny flower filled wooden deck. This week we studied the verb "Kariru" which means to borrow. This is a very useful word you can use in everyday conversation. Sorry about the noisy dog in the background.

#61 show notes

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:33:00 GMT

These are the show notes for lesson#61

Prapatang.com

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:49:00 GMT

I've just set up a new bi-lingual Social Networking site for Japanese and English speakers called Prapatang. The idea of this site to get people together for language exchanges and to learn a little about different cultures.

I noticed that there are a lot of people out there interested in Mixi but maybe don't have the skills to read all the Kanji contained. There are also a lot of Japanese people interested in meeting foreigners and practicing English.

The site is in BETA so it is a little buggy but it should be easy and fun to use. Why not check it out. Any comments and suggestions would be welcome.

So check it out: PRAPATANG.COM

White day

mail@alexbrooke.com — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:33:00 GMT

In this video, Beb tells us about the various intricacies of Valentine's day and White day in Japan. It's not just about buying a bunch of roses! Enjoy.

Fun Friday: Hanging out in Chiba again

mail@alexbrooke.com — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:09:00 GMT

I hung out with Waka sensei again, sipped tea on her beautiful deck and talked our heads off. First off we discussed some news stories including whalers missing their targets thanks to the efforts of the Sea Shepard and other anti whaling groups. Apparently by the end of March, the whalers will only have caught 500 or so whales well under their original quota of 900. We also briefly talked about the Tax dodging sisters who got busted for stashing an incredible $56 million in their garage.

We talked a little about retro Japanese games including Super Mario and about how I will be setting up a shop to sell Japanese goods abroad. Stay tuned for more info.

For useful links for improving your Japanese check out Freejapaneselessons.blogspot.com and boostyourjapanese.com

Finally we listened to some tracks from the hilarious show Sora mimi Awa (video). Viewers of the show submit songs in other languages that sound like they contain funny phrases or words in Japanese. Submissions tend to vary in quality but the good ones are hilarious including "Through the never "by Metallica. In the chorus James Hetfield sings "Twisting
Turning, Through the never". However, to Japanese people it sounds like "Sushi, Tori, Furo, Nero" or "Sushi, chicken, bath, sleep". This show never ceases to cause a few giggles.

Don't for get to check out:
THE FORUMS
THE NEWSLETTER

What's your favorite word? Revisted.

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:34:00 GMT

Your favorite podcast on Learn Japanese

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:20:00 GMT

Please help me out by voting for your favorite podcast on Learn Japanese. Remember there are videos, Japanese lessons and "Fun Fridays". Vote for your favorite type of podcast and then feel free to leave a comment on which number you liked the best. Any other constructive criticism would be wonderful.

SO VOTE NOW! It'll only take a minute!

Japan survey

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:07:00 GMT

What aspect of Japan are you interested in. Please take 30 seconds to finish our survey.

TAKE THE SURVEY !

Fun Friday: Hanging out in Chiba

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:03:00 GMT

Today, Waka sensei and myself hung out in Chiba and discussed various news topics including an incident involving a man in drag turning up at a high school and causing a small riot. Listen to hear more weird tales.

#60 It's obvious

mail@alexbrooke.com — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 03:08:00 GMT

Today Waka sensei teaches us about the word "ã?ã?ãã?ã?â? (atarimae) which has a few meanings including, obvious, of course and to take something for granted. This is quite a useful phrase that you will hear in daily conversation to express that a fact or answer to a question is obvious. It can also be used to express the idea of taking things for granted.

Resources:
Atarimae example sentences

Don't forget to check out the...
FORUMS
CHATROOM
BLOG

And you can sign up to our newsletter to keep you informed on the latest Japanese language resources and entertainment here

#60 Show notes

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 03:06:00 GMT

Here are the show notes for lesson #60

Fun Friday in Osaka castle park

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:56:00 GMT

Yes, yes, I know it's not Friday but I wanted to get this video out as soon as possible. In this video Beb and I talk about Rob and Makiko's wedding, music and other various things.

Enjoy

Fun Friday: Save the planet!

mail@alexbrooke.com — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 02:05:00 GMT

Welcome to Fun Friday, a podcast where we put away our text books, relax and talk about issues on Japan and studying Japanese. This week, Waka sensei and myself talked about Genetically Modified organisms, whaling and other environmental issues and how they affect Japan. I hope we didn't get to preachy for you and we are certainly not experts on environmental issues. I just hope this podcast could be act as a point of departure for your own research and conversations on the environment.

Here are some links to sites we talked about:

Letter to Simon Crean of the Australian Ministry of trade to ask him to stop GMOs being grown in Australia and being imported to Japan.
https://www.greenpeace.or.jp/ssl/gm/cyberaction/canola/?cyber

Greenpeace anti whaling campaign "Save Mr Splashy pants"

Campaign to stop Meiji using GMOs in their products.
http://www.greenpeace.or.jp/campaign/gm/cyberaction/meiji2

The Pinky Show explains What's wrong with GMOs.

And here are some useful vocabulary we used to talk about the environment:

çåããenvironment
ã?ãã??ãã?

é?ä?å?çã?æ?ã?ïäçï Genetically Modified (crops)
ã?ã?ãã?ã??ã?ã?ã?ïã?ã??ãã?ï

æ?é Whaling
ã?ã?ã?

Feel free to email us at mail[at]alexbrooke.com if you have any comments or responses to this.

Don't forget to join the forums
Our Facebook community
Hang out in the chat room
and the general blog

#59 It's Cold!

mail@alexbrooke.com — Thu, 7 Feb 2008 11:32:00 GMT

Hello again everyone and Learn Japanese Pod is back with a new free Japanese lesson podcast for your entertainment and edification. In this lesson Beb and I discussed the use of the word "åã?/ã?ãã?/samuiâ? or cold.

However, this word can also mean something is unfunny. Why? The idea is, when you hear a joke that is so bad, it sends shivers down your spine, hence "Samui!". So it's a great way to tell someone not to give up their day job.

Another word in Japanese that is used to describe something cold is "åã?ã?/ã?ã?ã?ã?/tsumetaiâ?. Like Samui, this means cold however it is used to describe objects and liquids. Samui is usually used just to talk about temperature. For example you can say "kyou wa samui" or today it is cold. However you say "kono koucha ga tsumetai" or this tea is cold. Another possible use is "ano hito wa tsumetai" or that person is cold. (Standoffish/distant/unfriendly)

Check out the show notes below for a full explanation and other examples. Also check out the Learn Japanese Pod Blog for general news and on Japan and Japanese lessons. And of course listen to the podcast!

YOROSHIKU ONEGAISHIMASU

Also, don't forget to join the forums to ask your questions about Japan and join the growing community.

#59 Show notes

Thu, 7 Feb 2008 11:24:00 GMT

Here are the show notes for lesson #59. Enjoy!

What can I do to save the whales?

Mon, 4 Feb 2008 13:37:00 GMT

Learn Japanese Pod is joining the campaign to save Mr Splashy Pants.
Find out how to save him and his whale friends from those nasty Japanese whalers!

HELP MR SPLASHY PANTS!

Fun Friday: Japanese TV shows

mail@alexbrooke.com — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:16:00 GMT

Welcome to Fun Friday, a chance for us to put away our text books and talk about all things Japanese. This week Waka sensei and myself talked about various finds on the internet and TV that I have found helpful for studying Japanese. First off is "The World Of Golden Eggs". It is a hilarious anime with English subtitles I found on the internet and that really helped me with my Japanese.

After that we talked about Matsumoto's suberanai hanashi. Suberanai Hanashi basically translates as funny stories. In this program, Matsumoto, the famous Japanese comedian, gathers together some of his friends to spin some humourous yarns. Pretty hard stuff if you don't have Waka sensei to help you out. Finally we checked out the horror that is Japanesebugfights.com

Links from the show:
1) The World of Golden Eggs
2) Matsumoto's Suberanai hanashi
3) Japanesebugfights.com
4) Learn Japanese pod Facebook community. Osaka beats Tokyo hands down community.

Don't forget to join the forums and check out the chat room and blog.

An apology for the sound which occasionally skipped. Gomen. I think we should have that problem fixed for next time.

Fun Friday: On the Shinkansen

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:16:00 GMT

I made this video just for fun and as a reminder of the many hours I have spent looking out of the Shinkansen at the countryside gliding past. I must have used it close to a hundred times commuting between Tokyo, Osaka and sometimes Fukuoka for work. It's clean, fast, on time and generally quite a smooth experience. However for some reason there always seems to be a competition between the pensioners as to who can eat the weirdest and most stinky bento. One old man opens his bento box with an expression on his face that seems to say "behold, sliced boiled eggs and crunchy fishy snacks". And then another old lady will open her bento "dried stinky squid, I win!". It is usually better to bring your own food on the Shinkansen on a long journey. Although the food isn't bad, it is expensive and if I wanted to burn money when I ate out I'd live in London. The thing I love about traveling on Japanese trains is that speaking on the phone is considered rude. Oh, the times I've had to endure idiots on buses in America and wankers on the tube in London screaming down their phone things like "I'm on the train...no...I SAID I'M ON THE TRAIN". The Shinkansen also has quiet cars where phones have to be switched off completely. The other great thing is you can drink alcohol on the train. So phones are out and getting completely pissed is in. The Shinkansen started running in 1964 in time for the Tokyo Olympics and hasn't had a single fatality due to collisions, derailments, typhoons or even earthquakes. There was one fatality when a child got caught in one of the doors and there are jumpers too but it is a safe train. Top potential speeds of the Shinkansen would be 443 kph set by the Class 955 (300X) test train but general operation speeds are around 300 kph so I believe the TGV in France is actually faster. If you want to know more nerdy stuff about the Shinkansen you can go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkansen Enjoy the video. The music in the video is "Muziqawi Silt" by the "Wallias Band". I chose the music because of the driving beat and the pentatonic melody slightly reminiscent of Japanese music. Here's to Ethiopian jazz.

Vlogs on Japan

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:30:00 GMT

If you want to know more about life in Japan, youtube is a good resource. There are more and more foreigners living in Japan and making some pretty entertaining and informational videos that are worth checking out. So I made a video showing three people I subscribe to youtube under the life in Japan umbrella.

They include:

atomicboyx

discount sausage

Tokyocooney

You can also find my youtube videos here

On the Dotonbori bridge with Wes

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 13:56:00 GMT

Here's a little video of Wes and myself on the Dotonbori bridge in Shinsaibashi in Osaka. We were contemplating bridge jumpers, the Hanshin tigers and people in cute hats.

Live on the radio tonight

Wed, 9 Jan 2008 18:29:00 GMT

Tonight I'm appearing on Head Stand, a program hosted by my good friend Patrick Widdess on 209 radio in Cambridge in the UK. Headstand features an eclectic selection of music, poetry and conversation with guests every show. You can listen to the show live today 9th January 2008 from 10pm to 12am GMT. Click on the following link to stream live or download the podcast later. http://www.209radio.co.uk/shows/profile.php?show=headstand I'll also be videoing the show and hope to put the results up here soon. Keep posted.

Complex Kanji

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:22:00 GMT

Learn Japanese has been a little quiet as of late but for the mean time here is a small article I wrote on some of the most complex kanji in Japanese.

Complex Kanji

Cycling in Osaka

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:49:00 GMT

I've changed the address of my personal blog to:

http://learnjapanesepod.com/newblog/

The latest post is about how cycling is the best way to get around Osaka.

Cycling in Osaka

Yoroshiku

What Japan is thinking about

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 02:45:00 GMT

This is just a little plug for my personal blog. I did a search on Google zeitgeist to see what searches Japanese people were making.

Here are the results.

CLICKY!

I hope to be doing some new podcasts soon so sorry for a small gap in podcasts.

Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 1 video

Sat, 1 Dec 2007 10:26:00 GMT

Three posts in one day? Is it a record? Well here is the last video for you for the level 1 Japanese Language Proficiency Test.

Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 2 video

Sat, 1 Dec 2007 03:20:00 GMT

Here is the level 2 Japanese Language Proficiency Test crammer video. Again, this is just for fun and to help you in a small way towards passing your test.

Good luck!

Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 3 video

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 10:16:00 GMT

The Japanese Language Proficiency Test is almost upon us so I thought I would do a fun video for you last minute crammers. The video contains 10 kanji that often appear in the level 3 JLPT and I have added a few example sentences so you know how to use them.

A big shout out to Wes who researched and chose the Kanji for the video. I'll be coming out with a level 2 and level 1 video very soon.

Enjoy!

Lesson #58: Just cut it out will you?

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 05:10:00 GMT

I got together with Beb and studied how to tell someone to cut it out in Japanese. We had a look a standard and kansai dialects and learned a few more useful phrases along the way. Some of these phrases can be a little frank so be careful when using them.

lesson notes

Lesson #58 show notes

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 04:46:00 GMT

Here are the show notes for lesson #58

All show notes are here

News from the other side talk show #40

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:49:00 GMT

OK this is late and it isn't the Learn Japanese podcast but "News from the other side", a podcast I help my friend Rob out with every now and then. I thought I'd include it here in this blog because we did a kanji of the day section. I hope you enjoy it. Yoropiku Oh and the kanji of the day was... é?ãwhich means heavy.

If you liked that you can also check out talk show #42 This show had an extra special helping of random streams of consciousness and nonsense. But it was fun to make and we did include some kanji for you students of Japanese. Enjoy.

Alex's blog

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:51:00 GMT

I thought I would put a link to my personal blog just for those of you who are interested. I talk about what I have been doing recently including my various music and internet projects. I thought I would keep it separate from the Libsyn blog here because it is not all strictly Japanese.

You can either click on the link at the top or HERE!

The next Learn Japanese Pod show will be posted this Wednesday with the lovely Beb chan! I also hope to be getting out a video for Fun Friday amazingly enough on...well...Friday.

Yoroshiku very much !

Fun Friday with DJ Wes (Whaling and fingerprinting)

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 07:46:00 GMT

I caught up with DJ Wes and we talk about various things including whaling, fingerprinting and other Japan related topics.

Enjoy

#57 shownotes

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 02:11:00 GMT

#57 Self introductions in Japanese

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:11:00 GMT

After a long absence Beb is back to teach us how to give an extended self introduction in Japanese. These introductions can be used for introducing yourself to groups of people for example when starting a new job or beginning a Japanese class.

#57 lesson notes

Here is a compilation of all the self introduction lessons and videos we have posted previously. I thought it would be useful to group them together.

Lesson 54
Read: http://japanese.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=270135
Direct download: http://media.libsyn.com/media/japanese/lj54.mp3

Makiko self introduction
Read: http://japanese.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=88248
Video: http://media.libsyn.com/media/japanese/jikoshoukai.m4v

Buy Beb's music

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:19:00 GMT

Fun Friday: Awa odori

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:49:00 GMT

This is a video of the Awa dance native to Tokushima prefecture. It is performed every summer at the same time as the Bon festival and it's roots go back to 1587 when the Daimyo of Awa province, Lord Hachisuka Iemasa opened Tokushima castle. The celebrations got a little out of hand but were so much fun they decided to do it again every year with the dance moves reflecting the drunken stumbling festival goers. The dance is performed with Shamisen, flutes and drums.

When I saw it, I was struck by the trance like nature of the rhythm and melody. Now imagine that on one too many cups of Sake. It was all good fun and a really fulfilling cultural experience.

A big shout out to Jarrod who filmed and designed the opening titles.

Enjoy...

Fun Friday with Wes

mail@alexbrooke.com — Fri, 9 Nov 2007 05:00:00 GMT

It's been a long time but I got in touch with D.J Wes who has just got out of hospital. Waka sensei and I talked to him about open heart surgery and hospitals in Japan and his upcoming Japanese Language Proficiency test amongst other things.

Waka and I wish Wes a speedy recovery and success in taking the level one JLPT !

Ganbatte Wes !

Enjoy

#56 Saving Energy

Thu, 8 Nov 2007 10:03:00 GMT

Holy energy saving lightbulbs ! It's lesson #56 with Waka sensei and myself Alex to give you a lesson in saving energy in Japan although it can't be said it happens much here. Maybe they are as bad as everyone else. But don't give up friends, the polar bears are counting on us.

We also talked a little about the Japanese homes, double glazing and the death of the Nova Bunny. Quite a mixed bag this week.

So sit back, relax and enjoy the podcast.

#56 Lesson notes

About us...

Thu, 8 Nov 2007 03:31:00 GMT

Check out our new profile page @:

http://learnjapanesepod.com/profile/

Quiz time

Sat, 3 Nov 2007 23:07:00 GMT

Particle quiz

Flash Quiz

Fri, 2 Nov 2007 12:51:00 GMT

Check out this new flash quiz I have made for you clever Japanese students. It's just a basic quiz but I hope to be making new sexier quizzes soon.

Yoroshiku.

#55: Basic questions in Japanese

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:49:00 GMT

In this week's lesson we study some basic questions in Japanese. These are typical questions you might be asked when meeting someone for the first time in Japan. Therefore I hope you will find these very practical.

Links:
Lesson #55 lesson notes

All lesson notes

Panic living #43 by El Gringo

Mundo Popular Don't forget to check out the Forums and the live chat page

Lesson #54 Self introductions

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 23:03:00 GMT

I wanted to get back to basics so I asked Waka to teach me some basic introductions in Japanese. I think this is a very useful structure you will use again and again. Enjoy !

Show notes: http://learnjapanesepod.com.lessonnotes/show54.pdf

New chat room

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 12:20:00 GMT

We have just installed a new chat room. I'll probably be using this to keep in touch with listeners when we do a live show. Feel free to log in anytime and chat away.

http://learnjapanesepod.com/chat/

Fun Friday: Studying Japanese

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 06:26:00 GMT

Transcript for Fun Friday for 19th October 2007

I recorded a conversation with Rob last week at L'Institut Franco-Japonaise Iidabashi in Tokyo. I was initially intending to talk about the focus of this podcast and how to organize it. Ironically we lost our focus and ability to organize, at least, my thoughts and the conversation went off on various tangents. However, I thought there were som e good points raised. Those points included what to teach students of Japanese, how people study languages, what kind of people study Japanese and our own experiences of learning the language.

I decided to record and transcribe this conversation since I thought there might be some helpful hints or perhaps new perspectives for students of Japanese to discover. So here it is. Rob and I talking about Japanese amongst other things.

Rob: I was saying that rather focusing on a particular level of Japanese you should you should focus on useful Japanese and again not just useful conversational Japanese but since you are working with not just audio but also video and using internet you can upload photos and stuff like that. It just makes sense to focus on the visual.

Alex: The stuff that you're in contact with everyday

Rob: Yeah, but things thats that people would encounter the minute they get off the boat. But a second reason is I think that the way people learn Japanese and the types of...I guess what draws certain people to Japanese...I don't know if it's personality type or what but Japanese is a much more visual language than other languages. Of course all modern languages...my point was that for me, all of my languages have been very conversational, not to say that I didn't read them because reading really helped but I never reached that point where I would was like OK I can't read this

Alex: Recently I've been thinking of how I should, what I should focus on in terms of teaching Japanese and what to include on the site. Before I was thinking I'm going to split it into beginner, intermediate and advanced Japanese but I'm only one person, I'm also just doing this for fun.

Rob: But there's an error if you're dividing any language up by a level because that's not how it works. It doesn't function on levels, like you get it all at once. Yeah and what's useful. And so conversational... what's useful is gonna be "where's the toilet? Can I have a beer please?"

Alex: Opening an onigiri

Rob: And written is going to be like "Don't go beyond this point" "Don't park your bicycle here" "No shoes, no shirt, no service" that kind of thing.

Alex: And that, that sometimes is like quote unquote difficult Japanese. That Kanji in a classic text book would divide it from...going from a "beginner" to increasingly more complex Japanese. That kanji that you need to know for signs that are outside your front door would be difficult and you wouldn't learn that for ages.

Rob: Well that's the fundamental flaw of dividing a language up in levels it's got nothing to do with levels. It's got to do with...in the sense of Japanese you need to learn whatever comes first...You're thinking about one thing and that's the teaching itself and I'm thinking of...I'm on a slightly different train of thought which is about what kind of a language Japanese is.

Alex: Go for it

Rob: And I think that whereas to be fluent in any language, of course that involves opening your mouth and communication involves...when you're a child as you're growing up acquiring a first language you start with listening and speaking although the visual cues are there from the beginning. It's not reading but it's like you're connecting words to some...to an object but I think that in Japanese, I think, the part of Japanese I think that intrigues a lot of people is the visual part.

Alex: Right

Rob: Right ?

Alex: And it's a visual country isn't it?

Rob: I think there's a really clear connection between Manga and Anime and people who are into it and the whole cosplay thing and it's a very, very visual language, I think. And therefore I'm always surprised at how many people are really into studying their kanji.

Alex: I was like that when I first came to Japan.

Rob: That's what I'm saying, you connected with that part. I only connected with it in the sense that "wow, I wonder if I could ever get to the point where I could read this language someday". Listening to it, I was like "this makes sense, this is easy".

Alex: You came to it through a more conversational practical angle. I came to Japanese through a very academic visual kind if literary way.

Rob: In the beginning I was interested in the writing. I definitely am not into the sound or the rhythm of the language. I much prefer Spanish, Portuguese or French for speaking and the way it sounds. Like I'm really not into the way Japanese sounds the same way with German. I'm just not into the way German sounds.

Alex: I'm into the way Japanese sounds simply more for the exoticness of it the fact that it isn't related to European languages at all.

Rob: But I think if you were going for the sound, I think, you for Asian languages, Thai or Vietnamese or Chinese sounds more exotic to me. Japanese, the vowel consonant vowel thing sounds like Spanish or Italian to me without the Latin blood.

Alex: I see two different trajectories through the way we've studied Japanese. I think you came to Japanese "Right, let's meet people, let's communicate" which is actually I think the best way to do it. I came through...I came to Japanese in more of an academic nerdy way. I was Mr Kanji King, I would sit down everyday, I would learn a hundred kanji a week, you know and we had these kanji contests. And what that meant was that for me, my Japanese was very academic. I could reel off these really nice sounding textbook Japanese phrases...that Japanese people "Oh you know so and so author or whatever..." But then take me to an Izakaya and my Japanese would kind of break down whereas you...

Rob: That was my starting point.

Alex: Yeah that was your starting point. And so for the longest time I had this really "good vocabulary" Like I knew äå?ååãpopulation density and I could order a beer in a bar but there was loads of like really "simple vocabulary" that I just didn't know. A lot of really simple stuff. And actually I find my Japanese...I've learned it the wrong way round, I started with all the difficult stuff first and now I'm actually starting to learn loads of easy stuff, you know...easy everyday stuff that most Japanese people learn. So my Japanese studies have been a bit bizarre.

Rob: By the time I got to Japan, I was 27 I think and I was done studying anything. If I do it, it's because I'm having fun and it's interesting and no pressure. Actually, when I studied French, I had no pressure on me because I was already trilingual. I was like, you know what, if I don't get this French thing who cares ? Like France is nothing special. Well you know it's like the whole mystique of Japan fades away after a couple of years of becoming more or less fluent and being able to read and write a little. And it was the same way with France. It was like the mystique was gone after two months of, oh they have swear words too, you know, it's like, all off a sudden it's not such a beautiful sexy language when you realize, what they're saying is not really that profound.

Alex: One thing I've found, especially with mass media in Japan is that there is always less than meets the eye. And you study Japanese for ages and ages and one of my goals was I wanna...I want to understand the news. And actually that's not so hard because they're using repeating phrases again and again like it doesn't take that long to understand the weather forecast 'cos it's textbook NHK. But then my next one was like OK now I want to understand comedians and that is hard. Because it's you know they're using slang, and colloquialisms and stuff like that but when you start to understand what they're saying it's like, that's all they're talking about ? That's it ? You know ? So it's always less than meets the eye.

OK well, I'll cut it off there seeing as we really did start to side track and talk about bike racing and Italy. But I hope you got some interesting and hopefully useful perspectives on learning Japanese. In conclusion I guess there is no single way to study Japanese. We all learn differently and in different circumstances for example learning in a pub verses doing an academic university course. Japanese is quite a visual language and it's great if you want to study kanji but I wished I had spent a little less time in kanji books and more in pubs or in the street at least for my spoken Japanese. Try not to focus too much on levels of difficulty and try to learn what you need as it turns up in everyday life. Maybe that advice is obvious but I hadn't really worked that out when I first came to Japan. Just think about all the Japanese you would learn passively in the street, reading signs, listening to conversations etc.

Well that's it for now, I hope that helped some of you out there.

Be sure to check out the forums at learnjapanesepod.com/forum and register on the main site to get access to lessons and the newsletter that will be sent out about twice a month.

ææèéåã?ã?ã??ã?ã?ã?ãã?ã?ã?ã?æåãã

#53: Using an electronic Japanese menu

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:25:00 GMT

Why bother to learn Kanji when you can just use pictures ? In more and more restaurants today in Japan you can order food using portable electronic menus. The menu is an A4 touch screen device that sits on a charger on the table and can also be detached and hand held. It's quite a sturdy piece of electronics that looks like it can handle a few splashes of beer or yakiniku sauce. The screen has an easy to navigate user interface with pictures and various menus for you to touch and order. Once you have selected your food you can touch the confirm promt and it will send a relay to the kitchen for your food to be prepared and served to you. It's an ingenious system that must save a lot of time and labour although you will need to read a little Japanese to use it. Here is a list of the basic kanji you will need to navigate around the menu.

ææïã?ãã?ããïOrder
ææçè?ïã?ãã?ããã?ã??ã?ãïConfirm your order
èïã?ã??ïMeat
éïã?ã?ã?ïFish
è?ïã?ã?ïVegetables
æ?ïã?ã?ïFried food
éïã?ã?ïDrinks
ããããïDessert

I was going to release this video as a Fun Friday episode but I thought why wait. Check it out.

Don't forget to join the forums
Also you can get the newsletter by registering on the main site

Fun Friday: How to eat an Onigiri

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:49:00 GMT

Rob and Alex show you how to open an Onigiri packet. The onigiri is a rice ball wrapped in seaweed which is very popular in Japan. It comes in a variety of flavours including plum, tuna, salmon to name a few. They are cheap and delicious but opening the packaging can be a little confusing especially if you can't read the instructions on the packaging.

I hope this video saves someone in an onigiri crisis...

Subscribe to the newsletter

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:40:00 GMT

Subscribe to the new newsletter to get the latest information on podcasts, Japanese study tips and web resources.

You can now join the news letter from the main site HERE

(You can register in the bottom left corner)

#52: Ippai

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 03:49:00 GMT

In this week's lesson, Beb teaches us how to use the word "Ippai". Listen to the conversations and example sentences to get an idea of how to use this word.

Don't forget to join the forums

And sign up for the newsletter here

#52 Lesson notes

All lesson notes

New site up

Mon, 8 Oct 2007 13:33:00 GMT

Yet again we have a new main site up at Learnjapanesepod.com
I have played around with quite a few designs but this one is the most interactive and content packed. I will continue to update it.

Hope you like it.

Frapper Map

Mon, 8 Oct 2007 06:29:00 GMT

I got a pleasant shock when I had a look at the Frappr Map all the way down at the bottom of the blog page and found that there are over 400 members ! Amazing.

Thu, 4 Oct 2007 09:07:00 GMT

I have just started a new newsletter for this site. This will give you information on upcoming events and other information to help you improve your Japanese.

You can click on this link and subscribe: http://learnjapanesepod.com/newsletter/newsletter.html

You will be able to unsubscribe anytime.

Live pod show this weekend !

Thu, 4 Oct 2007 08:33:00 GMT

We're coming at you live this weekend so listen in and join the madness.
We will be streaming live with some Japanese, music, news and views. The time is Sat/6th 09:00 Japan time which means...

London: Sat/6th 01:00
New York: Fri/5th 20:00
Los Angeles Fri/5th 17:00

You can access the live broadcast from this address: http://std1.ladio.livedoor.jp:8100/gen.m3u

We'll also put a link up on the main site

Contact us live:
Skype: japanesepodcast (we maybe able to have a phone in)
Forums: http://learnjapanesepod.com/forum
Email: mail@alexbrooke.com

Hope you can listen in. We will be putting up the recorded version later as a downloadable podcast.

Hope you enjoy it !

Also don't forget to join our new newsletter. You can unsubscribe at anytime.
http://learnjapanesepod.com/newsletter/newsletter.html

Alex

#51: Beb interviews Makikomo

Wed, 3 Oct 2007 03:40:00 GMT

This week we took a little departure from our usual lesson format and listened to Beb interview Makikomo about her her various creative exploits which include handmade soap. You can see them here at Makikomo.com

Because this was entirely in Japanese, beginners might find this challenging however I have included the entire transcript with kanji, hiragana and an English translation.

Transcript for lesson 51

All lesson notes

Sado Island adventure

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:15:00 GMT

If you are interested in traveling around Japan you might want to hear this account of a trip Sado island by Rob Holbrook on his News from the other side podcast. It\'s quite long at 40 minutes but an interesting listen. dozo.

MP3 Direct download

Read

Hiragana: ã?/A

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:00:00 GMT

Lesson #50: Emphasizing adjectives in Japanese

mail@alexbrooke.com — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 04:00:00 GMT

In this week's podcast Rob, Makikomo and Beb teach us how to emphasize adjectives in casual conversations. Well we tried but the wine, ice cream and coffee didn't help. WARNING: one or two expletives.

We also talked about people from Tokyo trying to speak in Osaka dialect, Japanese as spoken by high school students and Beb's new track called "dancing"

Links:
Lesson notes for #50
Beb's new track "dancing"
Brought to you by Makikomo.com the finest handcrafted soaps in Japan

Learn Japanese Pod Community on Facebook

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:27:00 GMT

Even though Mixi is much better, I have made a Learn Japanese Pod community on Facebook. I thought it would be fun to keep in contact with you Japanese learners in Facebook land. Now if only Facebook were as good as mixi !

Yoroshiku very much.

Fun Friday: The Nova scandal bunny

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:21:00 GMT

This week I hung out with Rob in Tokyo at his place in Kagurazaka. We talked about...

1) Latest news and riding round the Yamanote line
2) Overcoming hurdles in studying Japanese
3) Japanese sentence patterns for effective communication
4) Nova English Language school

Hope you enjoy !

Poll: Who will be the next Japanese Prime Minister ?

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 04:24:00 GMT

Who do you think the next Japanese Prime Minister will be ? Aso ? Fukuda ? A carboard cut out ? Take the poll here.

Fun Friday from a secret location in Kanagawa

Fri, 7 Sep 2007 04:00:00 GMT

I'm all on my own this week's Fun Friday as Beb, Waka sensei and Rob are all scattered across the globe. The intro music is by Ulfuls from their album Banzai. Here are this week's topics...

1) Latest Japanese pod news

2) Learning Japanese with The A-Team

3) "Dogs and Demons" by Alex Kerr

4) A TV Haiku

5) Hiking in Japan and the Hyakumeizan

Enjoy !

Fun Friday Pachinko Symphony

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 07:06:00 GMT

This is a video I took of a Pachinko and Video game center in Osaka near Beb's house. It was visual and aural stimulation on overload so I only lasted five minutes in there. Behold the madness !

News from the other side

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 08:10:00 GMT

A contributor to Learn Japanese is Rob who has his own podcast called News From The Other Side. Check out the promo here.

Fingerprinting foreigners in Japan

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 10:07:00 GMT

Thinking of visiting Japan ? From November 2007, all foreigners visiting Japan will be required to have their photograph and fingerprints taken. Fingerprinting of foreigners was previously stopped in 2000 due to public protests over personal privacy.

Terrorism and crime were the main reasons cited for reintroducing the system even though all terrorist acts in Japan have been committed by Japanese: The Aum cult in 1995 and The Red Army.

One might indeed ask who would bother to plot some terrorist atrocity in Japan. Foreigners who have had the indignity of having their prints taken might be angry enough.

Check out this kooky public information video including foreigners with criminally bad acting skills. On second thoughts, maybe fingerprinting these knuckle heads might not be such a bad idea.

Sellout

Billy's Boot camp hits Japan

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 04:27:00 GMT

If you don't know what Billy's Boot Camp is, you may have been living in a cave or Mexico. And living in Japan is no excuse either. This set of workout DVDs has become the latest craze to hit Japan and has sold over a million copies since July 2007. Check out this video of my good friend Ken taking part in what could be described as, oh gosh I don't know...behold ! Shout out to Rob from Newsfromtheotherside.com for putting this on my radar.

Lessson #49 Natsubate

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 10:03:00 GMT

In this lesson, Waka sensei teaches us how to talk about Natsubate or feeling exhausted from the summer heat. Here is the transcript for the dialog below. A downloadable PDF file will be available soon. You might also want to check out lesson #42 which deals with hayfever and similar vocabulary.

Kanji

A: ããã??ã?äã?ã?ããåæï

B:ãã?ãã?ã?å?ã?ã

A:ãççã?ï

B:ãéæã?ã?ã??ã?ã?äã?ã?ãã??ã?ã?çãã?ããã?ã

A:ãã?åäã?ã?ã

Hiragana and Romaji

A: ããã??ã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ããã?ãã??ï Ya, hisashiburi. Genki ?

B:ãã?ãã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ãChotto Natsubate

A:ãã?ãã?ã?ãã?ã?ïShohjyoh wa ?

B:ãã?ãã??ãã??ã?ã?ã??ã?, Shokuyoku ga nakute,

ã?ãã?ã?ã?ã, karada ga darukute,

ã?ã?ã?ãã?ããã?,tsukareterun da.

A:ãã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ã? Odaiji ni ne

English Translation

A: Hey, long time no see. How are you ?

B: I've got "natsubate"

A: What are the symptoms ?

B: I have no appetite, I have no energy and I'm tired

A: Take care !

Buy Beb's music

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:06:00 GMT

If you like this podcast then why not show your appreciation by buying Beb's sexy single ? It costs $3 and we will throw in an extra mysterious Karaoke track and the theme music to this podcast. So please buy her track so Beb can be a famous J Pop star and eat ! This will also help us with various internet/bandwidth costs. Yoroshiku very much ! After paying you will be directed to a download page. (14megabytes) If you have any problems, please email at mail@alexbrooke.com Here's a sample of the track here

Fun Friday: How to eat sushi

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:16:00 GMT

In today's episode, Waka sensei and myself talk about sushi etiquette. After doing some research on the subject I found out some interesting and surprising facts about how to eat sushi "properly". Don't worry, you shouldn't be arrested by the sushi police for violating these rules but it's interesting to know what the done thing is. You can check out a previous video of Beb and I when we went to eat sushi near her house in Osaka. "Know your sushi"

Enjoy!

The top 10 downloads on Learn Japanese

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:36:00 GMT

It's always good go through old files and see which ones are being downloaded and which aren't. While going through the files I decided to make the top 10 most popular downloads from this site. Here they are in reverse order.

10) Lesson #5 Asking someone out

9) Lesson #15 Wait a moment Mr Postman

8) Lesson #16 Movie Japanese

7) Lesson #4 Counting

In this lesson we learned to count with waka sensei.

6) Lesson #14 Mukatsuku

This was my favorite show and has been popular ever since we released it.

5) Fun Friday Kansai Dialect

Recently all the Fun Friday episodes have been more popular than the normal lessons.

4) ALT RAP by Rob Holbrook

This rap about life as an English teacher was written by Rob and the music was produced by me. This video has continued to be quite popular all over the net.

3) Lesson #2 Basic questions

2) Lesson #1 How are you ?

But wait for it. Drum roll please, the single most popular download on Learn Japanese was...

1) Days of the week Video

Is Japanese difficult to learn ?

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 04:50:00 GMT

So is Japanese that hard to learn ? Read about it here in our new articles section of Learn Japanese Pod.

Is Japanese a difficult language to learn ?

Free Japanese Lesson 02: When to use the particles WA and GA

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 06:45:00 GMT

Lesson: "WA or GA "
Today's lesson looks at one example of when to use the particle WA and when to use GA.

Examples

1. ã?ãã?ãã?ã?ããã?ã?ã

kare ni yatte moratta - He did it for me

2. ã?ãã?ãã?ã?ã??ãã?ã

Kare ga yatte kureta - He did it for me

Although both sentences can be roughly translated to mean the same thing it is important to note you use the particle "NI" with the verb MORATTA and "GA" with KURETA. There are many more rules regarding how to use WA and GA however this lesson should help you to start brushing up your particles. More lessons coming soon !

Any mistakes here ? Any suggestions to improve the site ? Email us @ mail@alexbrooke.com. Also, don't forget to join the forums @ http://learnjapanesepod.com/forum/

New Learn Japanese site up

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 01:09:00 GMT

We have updated the main site up for Learn Japanese which can be found at http://learnjapanesepod.com

This blog at Libsyn is very functional and easy to use but it's just not very sexy to be honest. Also, as part of an ongoing project to increasingly vary the content on the site we should be adding more free Japanese online lessons, tests and maybe some articles about travel, food and life in Japan. Things should start looking pretty different soon. If you have any suggestions for extra content other than the podcasts please email us at mail@alexbrooke.com.

It should be good fun. So keep studying, join the forums and good luck with your Japanese.

Here's a video from last time we updated the sight, just for you !

Free Japanese lesson 01: URUSAI !

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 18:07:00 GMT

Welcome to a new series of free Japanese lessons here. We will be regularly posting interesting and useful vocabulary and grammar for you to improve your Japanese.

Lesson: "Urusai"
Today's word is "URUSAI" which is a really useful word which can mean annoying, noisy or being fussy or particular about something.

Examples

1. ã?ã?å?ã?ã?ã?ã??ã?ãã?ã?ã?ã?ã

ano ko wa sugoku urusai desu - That kid is so noisy ( or annoying )

2. èã?ããããã?ã?ãã?ã?ã

kuruma no engin wa urusai - The car engine is noisy

3. A: ã?å?ã?ã?ã?ï?

omae wa baka ! - You are an idiot !

B: ã?ãã?ã?ï?

Urusai ! - Shut up ! (Lit. You are being noisy )

4. ã?ã?äã?éäã?ã?ãã?ã?ã

Ano hito ha shokuji ni urusai - That guy is picky about his food

Any mistakes here ? Any suggestions to improve the site ? Email us @ mail@alexbrooke.com. Also, don't forget to join the forums @ http://learnjapanesepod.com/forum/

Fun Friday by the pool in Puerto Escondido

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 23:28:00 GMT

Waka sensei and myself sat by the pool and practiced our poor Spanish. We're terrible at the language but enjoying studying it and the locals have been very patient with us.

Now, what was the Spanish for "Help! I think there's a scorpion in my room"?

#48 Rainy season

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 02:37:00 GMT

Meccha hisashiburi ! We've been away for a while but we're back this time podcasting to you from Mexico. And why not ? With the power of the internet, anything is possible ! Here is today's rainy lesson;

a) ææã?ãã?æéåãã?ã?ã?
ãnihon wa moh tsuyu iri shita ne
The rainy season has just started in Japan

b) ã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ãã?
jime jime shiteiru ne
It's humid, isn't it ?

a) äæãéé?ãã?ã?ï
Kyoh mo ame furu ka na ?
I wonder if it's going to rain today

b) åæäåã?ã?éã?é?ãã?ã?èã?ã?ã?ã
tenki yoho dewa ame ga furu te itteta yo
According to the weather forcast, it's going to rain

ææéã?é?ãã?ã?ã?
kinoh ame ga furimashita/futta

äæéã?é?ã?ã?ã?ã?ã?
kyoh ame ga futte imasu/futteiru

ææã?éã?é?ãã?ã?ãã?
Ashita wa ame ga furu deshou/furu kamo Meccha hisashiburi ! We've been away for a while but we're back this time podcasting to you from Mexico. And why not ? With the power of the internet, anything is possible ! Here is today's rainy lesson;

a) ÃïÂÃïÂÃïÂÃïïÃïïÃÂïÃïÂÃïÂÃïïÃïïÃïïÃïÂ
Ãïïnihon wa moh tsuyu iri shita ne
The rainy season has just started in Japan

b) ÃïïÃïïÃïïÃïïÃïïÃïÂÃïïÃïÂ
jime jime shiteiru ne
It's humid, isn't it ?

a) ÃÂïÃïÂÃïïÃïÂÃïïÃïïÃïïÃïÂÃÂï
Kyoh mo ame furu ka na ?
I wonder if it's going to rain today

b) ÃÂÂÃÂïÃÂïÃ ÂÃïÂÃïÂÃïÂÃïïÃïïÃïïÃïÂÃïÂÃÂïÃïÂÃïÂÃïïÃïï
tenki yoho dewa ame ga furu te itteta yo
According to the weather forcast, it's going to rain

ÃïÂÃïÂÃïÂÃïïÃïïÃïïÃïÂÃïïÃïï
kinoh ame ga furimashita/futta

ÃÂïÃïÂÃïïÃïïÃïÂÃïÂÃïïÃïÂÃïï
kyoh ame ga futte imasu/futteiru

ÃïïÃïÂÃïÂÃïÂÃïïÃïïÃïïÃïÂÃïïÃïïÃïï
Ashita wa ame ga furu deshou/furu kamo

Fun Friday for 26th May 2007

Fri, 25 May 2007 17:35:00 GMT

Today, Rob, Makiko and myself talked about the following topics;

1) Learnjapanesepod forums
2) The top 10 most common Japanese names in Japan
3) Mixi

We recorded the show with me in Osaka and Rob and Makiko in Tokyo.

Enjoy !

Domo Kun paper toy by Ben

Tue, 22 May 2007 23:17:00 GMT

I love this...Learn Japanese Pod is proud to present this cool new Domo Kun paper toy made by the designer and all round talented Ben, check out his website @ http://yoitsben.com/ You can download the PDF below and make your own toy. Why not take a picture of the finished product and post it on the forums? Hope you like it. He's a clever fellow that Ben.
http://www.yoitsben.com/DomoKunPaperToy.pdf

New forum

Sun, 20 May 2007 01:14:00 GMT

I have uploaded a fresh, new, crisp clean forum for you lovely listeners.

The new forum address is...

http://learnjapanesepod.com/forum/

The new forum looks nicer, will have more features such as posting flash files and should be better at spam protection since new members need approval to join. Apologies for the hassle BUT this is a much better forum.

Hope you like it.

I am also looking for a way to transfer the old user data to the new forums so old members don't have to re-register. Wish me luck !

Fun Friday (Saturday edition?!)

Sat, 19 May 2007 14:52:00 GMT

Apologies for the poor sound quality and recording this a day late, but hey, it's a good podcast. Some of the topics we covered today included Osaka VS Tokyo, baby dumping, Heidi, Ishihara's plan to destroy cedar trees and rude Japanese people pretending to be French. Doesn't make any sense ? Listen and it will. This podcast is not suitable for children or adults.

Recorded in Osaka and Tokyo with the help of Rob .

Enjoy.

Other links mentioned:
News from the other side
Japan Probe

Adam and Joe Go Tokyo

Mon, 14 May 2007 12:13:00 GMT

"Adam and Joe Go Tokyo" is a pretty funny program on Tokyo and all things Japanese. In each episode they check out various things the city has to offer and interview some pretty big names. It does pedal the cliched stereotype of the Japanese being weird, wacky and gadget obsessed but it is pretty funny and well produced. Definitely worth a look at on Youtube. In this episode they examine the salaryman drinking experience. Of course, not all Japanese business men are stressed out alcoholics as this program would have you belive...oh well, may be they are. Enjoy !

Maiko Makeover

Sat, 12 May 2007 14:41:00 GMT

A Maiko is a woman under 20 who is training to be a Geiko (or Geisha) in Japan. Tourists can have a one day Maiko makeover in various make up studios around Kyoto. In this video, you can see the amazing make up and beautiful Kimonos worn by Maikos. This was filmed at Yume Koubou in Kyoto. http://yumekoubou.info

Accordian, guitar & musical saw performance in Osaka

Thu, 10 May 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Last week I performed with Le Jardin de Luxembourg a female Japanese accordian group in Minami Semba in Osaka.

You can read more about it here.

You can download it to your ipod and watch the mpeg video here.

This is featured on News From The Other Side, a podcast I sometimes help Rob Holbrook out with from time to time. Rob filmed the video.

#47 What do you like to do ?

Wed, 9 May 2007 12:36:00 GMT

In today's Learn Japanese lesson we wanted to do a basic podcast on åã??(suki) a useful word to describe something you like. Today's key phrase is ã?ã?ã?ã?äïã?ã?ïã?ãã?ã?åã??ïã?ã??ïã?ã?ã? ? / Anata wa nani suru no ga suki desu ka ? / What do you like doing ?

So, what do you like doing ?

Enjoy the show !

Samurai swords

Tue, 8 May 2007 16:16:00 GMT

On a trip to Kyoto, Waka sensei, my friend Naho and I stumbled on a shop that stocks swords and samurai armor called Tozando. It was a treasure trove that the makers of Kill Bill would be proud of. In fact, the craftsmen who made the armor stocked in the shop also made the armor used in "The Last Samurai" with Tom Cruise. According to the guy we spoke to, the armor and swords were all made recently but the armor was modeled in the style of the Sengoku period or "Warring states period" roughly 1478 to 1605. The craftsmanship was just incredible.

The owners of Tozando kindly let us film in their shop and patiently answered all my questions. If you are in Kyoto it is worth checking out.

Forums and comments

Mon, 7 May 2007 16:07:00 GMT

Due to a lot of spam recently, all comments left on this site will have to be approved by me. Just leave your comments as usual and I will try to approve them as soon as possible.

Also, don't forget to join the forums. We're starting to get a really good community of Japanese learners there helping each other out. So come and join here !

FORUMS

Fun Friday Cocolo FM interview part 1

Sat, 5 May 2007 23:14:00 GMT

Last week Rob from News from the other side and myself were interviewed at Cocolo FM, one of the major radio stations in the Osaka area. The DJs were Yui and Chiyako who are also known as Yaneka, a band we featured on this podcast previously.

Our friends Makikomo and Jonny Heart Breaker sat in on the proceedings. You can hear their interviews on Cocolo FM in the Osaka area on Thursday 10th and 17th from 2am to 4am.

We'll be posting more Cocolo FM videos soon.

Cocolo FM 765

Wed, 2 May 2007 19:25:00 GMT

It's 4:12 am here in Japan and I just got back from being interviewed on Cocolo FM one of the main radio stations in Kansai. The show is hosted by Yaneka a band from Nara and we talked about Learn Japanese, News from the other side and various other projects with my partners in internet crime El gringo a.k.a Rob Holbrook, Jonny Heartbreaker and Makikomo. The next shows can be heard on Cocolo FM in the Kansai region if you tune into 76.5 fm from 2am to 4am on Thursday 10th and 17th May. Hopefully we'll get a recording we can put out as a podcast, if not we shot some videos which I will put up on Fun Friday.

Stay tuned for more info !

Fun Friday Interview with Beb

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 04:00:00 GMT

It's the interview you've been waiting for ! 10 questions for Beb.

Here they are in English.

1) Which do you like better, cats or dogs?
2) What couldn't you live without on a desert island for a year?
3) What is your favorite colour?
4) What is your favorite food?
5) What annoys you?
6) What would you do if you only had 24 hours to live?
7) What part of your body would you change?
8) What do you want to teach your children for the future ?
9) a What makes you happy?
b what makes you sad?
10) What question would you liked to be asked the most?

HOMEWORK: How would you say these in Japanese?

#46 Shouting at old ladies

mail@alexbrooke.com — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 04:00:00 GMT

This week you can learn how to shout angrily at those you love or hate in the Osaka dialect. Beb teaches us some fighting talk. So buckle up and get ready for some head on collisions.

#45 Chotto...

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Show notes coming soon !

New Japanese Wiki

Thu, 5 Apr 2007 13:53:00 GMT

I've created a new Wiki based on Japan. You can post anything you want to on it as long as it has something to do with Japan.

Show the world your amazing knowledge of Japan ! Be the first to get something up there before it explodes over the internet.

You'll need to read the instructions on how to do it but it's not too hard to work out.

it's here !

http://learnjapanesepod.com/wiki/

Learn Japanese pod forums have moved

Tue, 3 Apr 2007 10:58:00 GMT

The forums have moved to a new location. apologies to those who have joined but you will need to go to the new location and re-register here...

FORUMS 2.0

http://learnjapanesepod.com/forums/

If you haven't joined...why not ?

Yoroshiku !

Fun Friday Karaoke time

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 17:25:00 GMT

Break out the microphones and cheesy 1980s subtitled videos, it Karaoke time with Beb and Alex...and a little help from Ben.

#44 Give it to me baby !

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 18:48:00 GMT

Today's lesson: asking for things and different levels of politeness
Show notes

Fun Friday

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:28:00 GMT

Today my brother and I went on a botanical adventure or perhaps a Kanji safari. Join us in our expedition into the beyond at a rather posh herb garden in Kobe. This is an enhanced podcast which means you can view photos along with the audio.

Buy Beb's new track!

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 05:49:00 GMT

If you like this podcast then why not show your appreciation by buying Beb's new sexy single ? It costs $3 and we will throw in an extra mysterious Karaoke track and the theme music to this podcast. So please buy her track so Beb can be a famous J Pop star and eat ! This will also help us with various internet/bandwidth costs. Yoroshiku very much ! After paying you will be directed to a download page. (14megabytes) If you have any problems, please email at mail@alexbrooke.com

Let's call the whole thing off "Dotakyan"

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 13:55:00 GMT

Don't you just hate it when you make an appointment with someone and they cancel at the last minute ? Well they have a word for that in Japanese and it is "Dotakyan". Beb explains...

Osaka castle chat

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 06:27:00 GMT

Here's a video Beb and I recorded last July when it was boiling hot in Osaka castle park. Hope you like the video. We have another brand new video coming soon !

#43 Ordering a pizza

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 15:41:00 GMT

This week's lesson: Ordering pizza

New show notes from Yoitsben !

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 01:39:00 GMT

Thanks to the dedicated work of "Yoitsben", we now have a show notes mirror for most of the show notes in PDF format ! And check out the little link on the right of the blog page.

You can download them HERE: SHOW NOTES

You might also want to check out his homepage, it looks rather good, let's make him famous !

Thanks a lot "Yoitsben" or I take it, it's just Ben, right ?

Yo! It's Ben !

I will keep working to finish the rest of the notes we don't have up yet...

NEWS !

Sun, 4 Mar 2007 14:15:00 GMT

There's amazing new stuff ! Check it out in our mini news cast.

Too big for your boots ?

Sat, 3 Mar 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Finding big shoes in Japan can be hard. However, thanks to Beb's shopping radar, we managed to find some shoes big enough for my feet. And that's no small feat. Sorry for the pun.

The shop in question is called Otto and you can find them here.

OTTO

And here's a map

enjoy !

The Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show

Fri, 2 Mar 2007 16:40:00 GMT

Oh...my...god

Fun Friday "YABUISHA"

mail@alexbrooke.com — Fri, 2 Mar 2007 05:00:00 GMT

It's fun friday again. This week, why don't you listen in and find out what YABUISHA means...FUN

#42 Hayfever

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 05:00:00 GMT

This week's show: Talking about hayfever

Fun Friday "Fermented beans and sex"

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Love it or hate it, you've gotta hate it, NATTO. Actually, there are millios of strange people who like this weird food. Mind you, I like Marmite so I can't really complain.

Waka sensei and I talk about this and sex education in Japan.

enjoy

#41 Valentines

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 05:00:00 GMT

This week's show: Valentine's day

Fun Friday

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 10:40:00 GMT

Ohisashiburi but WE'RE BACK. Beb and I have been super busy but we've been cooking up new ideas for you lovely listeners to make learning Japanese even more fun and interesting.

Today's featured band is Bo-peep you can check them out on myspace here and at their main homepage here. These ladies seriously rock, so throw away your Shonen Knife CDs, Bo-peep will rock ya !

#40 Happy New Year !

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 06:30:00 GMT

Happy New Year everyone ! We're back and fresh for 2007 coming at you with some cool new Japanese. This week Beb and I are talking about the New Year.

A big shout out to The National Pool and their song "Japan" that is featured at the end of this podcast. Check them out on Myspace.

So shake off the cob webs and let's hit the books again at Learn Japanese.

Note 1:I mentioned in the podcast that New Year's resolutions were ÃïÂÃÂÂÃïÂÃÂï(shin nen moku hyou). However Beb tells me that a better phrase would be ÃïÂÃÂÂÃÂïÃÂï (shin nen houfou).

Note 2: During our conversation I forgot to translate ÃÂïÃÂÂÃïïÃïÂ(engi mono) which is something that brings luck. Each different food in Osechi is said to attract various things such as health, luck and fertility. You can read more about it here. Osechi Ryori

And show notes coming very soon...

#39 The Christmas cake incident

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT

This week's lesson: Having an arguement over Christmas

#38 More Kansai dialect

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT

This week's show: Kansai dialect

#37 Autumn leaves

Wed, 6 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT

This week's show: talking about autumn leaves

#36 Going to the doctor

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 05:00:00 GMT

This week's show: Going to the doctor

Fun Friday Would you like a cup of tea ?

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 10:20:00 GMT

This week's Fun Friday episode focuses on the phrase "èã?ã?ã??ï" ( Cha shibaku ) which means "would you like to go out and have a cup of tea?". A varient on that is "èã?ã?ã?ã?ãï" (Cha shibakehen?). This phrase is used only in casual situations between good friends in Osaka. Perhaps you shouldn't use it with older people of those of a higher status.

Enjoy using this Osaka street slang !

Fun Friday Kaiten sushi video

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 02:58:00 GMT

This video is great. I didn't shoot it and I wish I had. Some guys in Osaka thought it would be a good idea to place a video camera on the conveyor belt of a sushii restaurant. The customers' reactions are pretty funny to watch. Enjoy !

The Goo dictionary

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 02:41:00 GMT

OK Here's another great resource for you guys and gals and that comes in the form of the GOO online dictionary. It's just simple and easy to use. It has Japanese to English, English to Japanese and a standard Japanese dictionary. One cool feature I really like about this dictionary is the ÃïïÃïÂÃÂïÃïÂÃïïand the ÃÂïÃïÂÃÂïÃïÂÃïïfunction. This enables you to look up a single Kanji and get a list of words which start or end with that kanji. If only I had had that function in my old kanji dictionary, the hours I could have saved ! Anyway, check it out and see what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

Goo dictionary

Cool Kanji Review site

Thu, 9 Nov 2006 02:29:00 GMT

With the impending Japanese Language Proficiency Test upon us I thought we should devote some time to learning some vocabulary and drilling some Kanji. First off is a site that should be very useful for your Kanji practice. With this site you can test you ability to read the kanji ( on yomi and Kun yomi ). It also tests you on the meanings of the kanji and will give you a report on how well you did. Added to that, it will test you again on the kanji you were struggling with. Definitely a great free resource to get started on getting your kanji down. Check it out.

KANJI REVIEW SITE

Fun Friday, How to shout at your children

Fri, 3 Nov 2006 00:40:00 GMT

No children were harmed in the making of this episode, may only a little emotionally scarred. I joke of course. Learn some words to shout at naughty people in Japanese with Beb !

Halloween special !

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 15:53:00 GMT

Welcome to this spooky edition of Learn Japanese. This week Beb and I talk about the Loop Line Halloween party that is held every year on the JR trains in Osaka. If you want to find out more about it try Bikeclubosaka.com for some interesting stories and pics.

We hope you enjoy this week's special podcast !

Ken Gestures 3

Sat, 14 Oct 2006 01:24:00 GMT

Here are a few more getures with Ken. Can you guess what he is trying to convey ?

Anytime by Beb

Fri, 6 Oct 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Here's another video for you guys and girls to check out. This video is called "Anytime" and was produced in the classic Beb style.

Hope you enjoy it.

Gestures with ken 2

Mon, 2 Oct 2006 22:17:00 GMT

Here is the 2nd video where Ken teaches us some new gestures. Can you guess what they mean ?

Rikaichan pop-up Kanji dictionary

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 04:00:00 GMT

I just found out about this new incredible tool for reading kanji on the web. It's called Rikaichan and gives you a pop-up hiragana reading and English translation of any kanji you roll your mouse pointer over. I think this will be of particular use for anyone who wants to escape text book Japanese and get into some really high level reading. It's fast, easy to use albeit a little fiddly to install. So I made this little instructional video on how to use it. I also hope this will be useful for those cramming for the impending Japanese Language proficiency test. Good luck with the program and your studies. I hope this helps.

This program can be downloaded for free here.

Fun Friday Beb's new video

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 04:00:00 GMT

Here is Beb's new video filmed in her unique style. If people are interested I can post lyrics. Hope you enjoy it !

#35 Personality counts

Wed, 6 Sep 2006 09:37:00 GMT

This week's show: talking about personality

#34 Classroom Japanese

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 04:00:00 GMT

This week's show: , Beb sensei has her nerves tested by some "baka students". Learn some useful phrases to use in your Japanese class

Gestures with Ken

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 04:00:00 GMT

For the next three weeks, Ken will be teaching us some interesting and useful everyday gestures. This week's gesture is...well, you'll just have to watch the video and see. Thanks for your help Ken !

Fun friday "Take anything you want" the mega mix

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 04:00:00 GMT

OK, this was inspired by a Japanese workout video which I posted up here. Anyway, I remixed the music and here is the new "Take anything you want" mega mix. Enjoy !

All the learn Japanese videos are here !

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 04:00:00 GMT

Just to make it easier for you to find, I have put all the learn Japanese videos HERE !

If you have any ideas for Japanese language themed videos you would like to see then drop me a line at mail@alexbrooke.com

DOZO YOROSHIKU ONEGAISHIMASU

Know your sushi !

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 04:00:00 GMT

You know you are in Japan when you can order Sushi from a touch panel screen that gives you an estimate of how many minutes your order will take to prepare. Beb and I experienced this technology the other day when we went out for Sushi in the Johtoh district in Osaka. I had never seen this technology before and felt somewhat of a country bumpkin as I tried to figure out how to use the ordering system. There is even a hole for you to dump your used plates which it counts and then automatically bills you at the end. Incredibly each sushi dish was 100 yen each which works out to a little less than a dollar. As Beb said, it's fast , cheap and delicious. I'll have to check it out again sometime soon.

How they learn English in Japan

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 04:00:00 GMT

There is a myriad of texts, videos, CDs and podcasts for Japanese people wanting to learn English. Some are good, some are not so good and every now and then there is pure genius. This video is genius...albeit unintentional.

BEHOLD !

Fun Friday TENJIN MATSURI

mail@alexbrooke.com — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 04:00:00 GMT

Here's a video of the Tenjin Matsuri I went to last month. The Tenjin Matsuri is one of the "Big three" festivals in Japan attracting somewhere in the region of half a million visitors every year. It was packed and boiling and the police weren't quite in control of the situation. I think it was a little more work than fun but it was well worth the experience. Luckily there wasn't a stampeed and I survived to tell the tail with video evidence to boot. The Tenjin Matsuri is over a thousand years old and is observed by the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine in Osaka. The origins of the festival come from Shinto pruification ceremonies for diseases and infections which spread easily throughout the summer months.

(The video size is a little large !)

Just click the picture.

#33 "Sono mama de ii" (the edited version...GOMEN NASAI)

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 08:37:00 GMT

Well first off, yes, I am a complete idiot. Last Tuesday I put up the unedited version of show 33 for all of you to hear. After thousands of downloads I realised. Secondly GOMEN NASAI. Sorry. So here is the final edited version for you to enjoy. Maybe people can sample the first one I put up and make some sort of music mash up.

In this lesson, Beb teaches us "sono mama de ii" a very useful phrase you will use in everyday life.

Sono mama de ii kana ?

The show notes are HERE !

Kanji Video Places

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 04:00:00 GMT

This week's Kanji video is about places. This video was produced by Stan Fairbank.

Japanese Language proficiency study aids

Tue, 8 Aug 2006 12:15:00 GMT

After posting the last article on passing the JLPT I got a few emails asking me what kind of study aids I recommend. I had a search around in my library and came up with these texts. First off are the mock tests which are a must if you are thinking of taking the test. These tests are good for giving you an idea of your abilities and what to work on for the exam. The books are a little expensive but I think worth it. Unicom have published some good texts including mock exams such as these.

I bought the 2 kyu and the 1 kyu and found them to be quite helpful. They also have the answers with explanations in the back to help you out. The other general texts they have are quite good for studying. The ååããããseries is quite good although a little long and dry. If you're not sure how to get your hands on these books then the Unicom site has a good list of book stores that stock them here.

Those books are definitely a good start to your JLPT studies. If you are looking for books make sure they have all the components of the test in them. Before you get the ååããããseries check out exactly what is in them. I once bought one of their books which came with a recordings of straight readings of the grammar points, totally useless and quite expensive ! They do have good texts but make sure you get the right one.

The next books are not directly linked to the JLPT but should help you somewhat with your general Japanese studies.

All about Particles is a nice little portable book that helped me a little in trying to untangle the mystery of Japanese particles. I'm not sure I totally mastered it but I learned a few tricks. Check it out.

Finally, a word about kanji flip cards. To be honest I made flip cards myself, that way I could write one everytime I came across a new phrase or kanji. This was tailored to my own level and knowledge. If you want all the hard work done for you, try these kanji cards. I haven't actually used these before but I have heard good things about them. See what you think.

Of any of you have some suggestions about JLPT study aids then send in your ideas ! Good luck with the test.

How to pass the Japanese language proficiency test...or not.

Mon, 7 Aug 2006 04:00:00 GMT

There's a fair amount on the web and in books on how to pass the Japanese language proficiency test but I wanted to put a few ideas out there that helped me not only pass the test but take a step back and get a deeper understanding of Japanese. So without further ado here are some tips that I hope will bring you JLPT enlightenment.

Tip no.1
Don't study at all, go out the night before the test and drink a lot of beer

This somewhat reckless method was successfully employed by my good friend Umbeke before passing the 1Kyu exam. (The names have been changed to protect the guilty) This anecdote illustrates a somewhat interesting if a little extreme attitude to learning Japanese. He believed that the JLPT should be seen merely as a gauge of your Japanese ability. Therefore, if it was a gauge of one's ability then specifically studying for the test was cheating.

Now, I don't fully agree with his ideas. First of all, of course people want to pass this test and they are going to get the mock tests and other JLPT study aids on offer. Mock tests will also help you with your exam strategy with is another important aspect of the test. However, by not using any specific test materials, you are forced to learn Japanese from Newspapers, TV, radio, the internet and form many other areas. I would argue that this will give you a little more of a holistic and more realistic knowledge of Japanese as opposed to the rather academic and sometimes obscure Japanese that can be found in the 2 kyu test and especially the 1 kyu. While I was a student at International Christian University in Tokyo, we took the 1 Kyu and 2 Kyu mock tests as a gauge of our progress throughout the year. The important point was that we never actually studied for it.

Now, I am not suggesting you burn your books, but Umbeke's attitude can at least give you a wider perspective about what learning Japanese is all about. It's more about getting out of the classroom and learning "real" Japanese. How did Umbeke pass ? Was it beer ? Of course not, he got a Mombusho scholarship to study in a Japanese university and wrote his thesis in Japanese. He certainly worked very hard. However, he got a rich learning experience and got the 1 kyu without having to study for it directly.

Tip No.2
Study really damn hard for a long time and fail miserably

This was the method I chose. I spent a load of money on text books, studied really hard for a year, took the test and failed miserably. Why ? I had underestimated how hard the listening was and managed my time really badly during the test. I panicked and lost the plot. My kanji score was about 95%, my grammar, not too bad but the reading comprehension and listening were awful.

That was a great experience in teaching me about time management and also making me aware of how bad my listening really was. I went out, bought the tapes, practiced and did a bunch of mock exams. The next year I passed. So there you have it, do the mock tests early so you know where you stand. Fail so you can succeed or at least don't make the same mistake I did.

Tip no.3
"Panicking is an amateur's move"

Another thing that helped me were the words above taught to me by the infamous Umbeke. Time management is quite a challenge especially in the reading section. The 2nd time I took the 2 Kyu I could feel myself panicking but all of a sudden, Umbeke's Asahi Super Dry inspired words rang out in my head. I immediately calmed down, found my inner ninja and finished the exam like a true samurai warrior. I think these words had an affect on me coming partly because they came from a man who had passed the 1 kyu with flying colours and a few cans of beer. So don't panic.

Tip No.4
Yo, flip me some cards !

My final tip for learning grammar points, vocabulary and kanji are flip cards. They're small, easy to carry and you can study them anywhere. They were honestly the main reason I passed most of my Japanese tests as an exchange student in Tokyo. Thank you oh honorable flip cards, I bow in your general direction.

Well, that is my take on the JLPT. If you have any comments or ideas then please leave a comment.

Good luck with your Japanese !

A blast from the past "Days of the week"

Sun, 6 Aug 2006 08:53:00 GMT

I've recently noticed that a lot of people have been downloading the days of the week video which I posted last year, also some people had had trouble downloading it so I have been transfering some videos to Revver.

Would you like to see another video like this ? Email some suggestions and I'll make a new video just for you !

Hope you enjoy it !

Kanji Video Time

Wed, 2 Aug 2006 04:00:00 GMT

This week's Kanji video is about time. This video was produced by Stan Fairbank.

#32 ii desu ! It's all good å?ç´

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 04:00:00 GMT

Back to basics with a lesson on "ii". It's interesting that such a seemingly simple word has so many different uses and meanings including "it's good", "it's enough", "sure, go ahead" and it can also be used to express envy. This is a great little word which is useful for so many everyday conversations and situations. Hope you enjoy the show.

The hilarious sushi video

Sun, 30 Jul 2006 14:53:00 GMT

I think this video was taken down from most Japanese pages I have looked at but it seems to still be floating around on Youtube. This is some pretty hilarious stuff. Hope you enjoy it.

Japanese TV On Demand

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 23:27:00 GMT

Japanese TV on demand has been around for a while, at least in a limited sense with downloadable bulletins from NHK. All that changed last April with the launch of Gyao, a new free internet TV service which has everything from TV dramas to J-pop to cooking shows and anime. This is great for anyone curious about modern Japanese culture and of course students of Japanese. Now you can see the good, the bad and the ugly of the Japanese mass media entertainment complex for better or for worse.

Browsing through the shows I would say that this is probably best for Japanese language students of intermediate and higher levels since the content is for native Japanese. Beginners might be breaking out into a sweat but you can learn some new vocab and check out the eye candy that is Japanese TV. The great thing for me are the news bulletins which can be watched repeatedly for better understanding and retention of new vocabulary. Just one click and you watch the whole bulletin again, no sweat. Remember back in the day when you had to use VHS video ? No ? Never mind, but believe me it was a pain in the oshiri and so you students have no excuse not to improve you vocabulary, comprehension skills and general knowledge on Japanese culture.

For high level students and maybe those studying simultaneous translation you have the option of "shadowing" (listening and repeating) the shows. Intermediate students might find it a little struggle but it's some of the best practice for speaking and processing Japanese like a native.

It's also great for language learners because of the wide variety of content. Not sure how to improve your Japanese ? Find something that you are into such as anime, J-pops, samurai dramas or if you're a nerd like me the news. If you can study something that fascinates you, your motivation will be higher along with your Japanese level. So there you have it, the tools to immerse yourself in the Japanese language and culture are at the end of your mouse.

Here is a list of some other internet TV sites.

NHK

WWITV ( some good free Japanese TV streaming )

NTK 2 ( You have to read Japanese and sign up for this service, a bit of a hassle to get working )

Happy screen sucking.

Alex Brooke

Learn Japanese Videos on Revver

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 13:54:00 GMT

I've started to transfer the Learn Japanese videos onto revver.com If you ever had any problems viewing the videos you shouldn't now they are on Revver.

Check them out below, enjoy.

Fun Friday interview by Max

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 04:00:00 GMT

Fun Friday is back, this time with a great interview that Max sent in. Thanks a lot Max and if there is anyone else with their Japanese language audio or video files, send them in and we'll put them up for you. Thanks Max !

Kanji Video People

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 04:00:00 GMT

This week's Kanji video is about people. This video was produced by Stan Fairbank.

Podcast Survey !

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 04:00:00 GMT

It's always great to get your emails, blog comments and general feedback. They are so essential to improving this show. So, how can we imrpove this show ? Is there anything you want to see more of ? Less of ? Any new ideas for the show ? You can leave your comments on the blog here, mail me at mail@alexbrooke.com or alternatively take the Learn Japanese Podcast poll. Your comments are always essential ! Thanks !

Just click HERE to take the poll. You can click HERE to see the results so far.

mail@alexbrooke.com — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 04:00:00 GMT

Today Beb and I escaped the Learn Japanese studio and went to Osaka castle to get blown around by the approaching typhoon. Oh the things we do for our dear listeners. Anyway this is a basic introduction into talking about the weather in Japanese. Hope you like it. In the future we might do another more advance lesson about the weather. Please feel free to leave you comments and ideas on the blog or mail us at: mail@alexbrooke.com

DOZO YOROSHIKU ONEGAISHIMASU !

Japan Zine article

Sun, 23 Jul 2006 03:12:00 GMT

We've been up pn the web for about 9 month and it looks like this little baby is getting famous now. Learn Japanese got a mention in Japan Zine, a pretty big magazine in Japan that's also online. You can check out the article here.

Thanks for the mention guys !

Fun Friday, Hanging out at Osaka castle

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 08:56:00 GMT

Ohisashiburi ! It's been a while since we did a Fun Friday post but here it is. Today Beb and I ventured outside into the swealtering heat and hung out at Osaka castle. We haven't posted much recently but that's because we have a whole new set of exciting projects coming up. Yoroshiku !

#30 What a waste ! ãã?£ã?ã?ã?ªã?ã?ªï¼?

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 14:59:00 GMT

Waste not want not as they say. And in Japanese they would say "Mottainai na". This week Beb teaches us about this useful everyday Japanese phrase.

Fun Friday "I like meat!"

Fri, 9 Jun 2006 11:35:00 GMT

I like this video by the famous El Gringo A.K.A Rob Holbrook. You get to hear some interesting Osaka dialect and see a typical Japanese yakiniku party. This video first made an appearnce on www.newsfromtheotherside.com however El Gringo has kindly lent it to us to use on Learn Japanese. Thanks Rob !

By the way, if you liked this podcast then why not show your appreciation by sending us a small donation to help with bandwidth and other running costs. It's that little cute button on the top right below "links".

Thanks for your support !

WORLD CUP PREDICTION !

Thu, 8 Jun 2006 12:35:00 GMT

So, it seems that everyone is jumping on the World Cup band wagon to get a little cheap fame. Well, that's what I'm hoping ! So, here is the question for you. How far do you think Japan can get in the world cup ?

Take the poll here and see the results here.

YOROSHIKU VERY MUCH !

KANJI VIDEO 3 NATURE

Tue, 6 Jun 2006 04:00:00 GMT

This week's video is about nature

THE GREAT JAPANESE PODCAST SURVEY

Mon, 5 Jun 2006 11:45:00 GMT

We are launching a poll to find out who is listening to this podcast and why. It would be wonderful if you could take a minute or two to fill out the poll and add your comments. Your feedback is so important to keeping this project fresh and connected to all of you wonderful people.

Just click HERE to take the poll. You can click HERE to see the results so far.

#29 The family

Wed, 31 May 2006 04:00:00 GMT

This week Beb teaches Rob and I about the members of the family in Japanese. I had a browse on the web for some resources for learning about the family. Check out this link for the family.

Alt rap revisted

Thu, 25 May 2006 14:39:00 GMT

A new gimmick for the blog page

Thu, 25 May 2006 14:01:00 GMT

Check out this new way to see video on Learn Japanese !

KANJI VIDEO 2 COLOURS

Wed, 17 May 2006 11:36:00 GMT

It's video time again and this week we are studying numbers. This video was created by the multi talented Mr Stan Fairbank. If you liked this video then check out Kanji videos 1, Makiko's self intro, Drinking with Beb, What's your favorite word ? days of the week and the famous ALT Rap ! You can also see a veritable cornucopia of videos relating to life in Japan and more at our sister site News From The Other Side.

Yoroshiku very much !

Beb Links

Mon, 15 May 2006 04:00:00 GMT

Just to confuse you even more here are some Beb links for fans of the multi-talented lady. Apart from Bebandalex, Beb has another two blogs called Bebgo!go! and Beb!Goody!Goody!. Dont ask. Bebgo!go! is a voice blog of Beb's random ramblings and Beb!Goody!Goody! has her music. Well worth a listen to.

Beb and Alex

Sat, 13 May 2006 04:00:00 GMT

The other day Beb and I hung out in Osaka castle park and tried the delicious Thai food stalls. AROI ! Read about it here. Watch it here. All in Japanese.

Makiko Jikoshoukai

Fri, 12 May 2006 04:00:00 GMT

Find out about the wonderful Makiko in her own words for this week's installment of Friday Fun and Jikoshokai (self introduction). The transcript is here. We will be featuring more self introductions in the future on the Friday Fun segment. If you want to find out more about Makiko's home made soap you can email her here

What Japanese textbooks do you use ?

Thu, 11 May 2006 05:21:00 GMT

What Japanese textbooks do you use ? Which are the better ones and the ones that should be used as door stops ? Feel free to leave your constructive comments and opinions so we can share some good info on Japanese learning resources. YOROSHIKU ! (^_^)

#28 BETA !

Wed, 10 May 2006 04:00:00 GMT

This week we are looking at the word ãã"BETA". It's a hard one to explain but Beb gives it a go. The lesson notes are here

MANGARAMA !

Sun, 7 May 2006 05:11:00 GMT

A big thanks to Rudy D from the Netherlands for giving me a heads up on "Mangarama". This is a great resource for learning fun, conversational Japanese in Manga form. You'll need quicktime to view the various manga which cover a lot of topics, all entertaining and funny. Definitely worth a look. Check out Mangarama

Drinking with Beb

Wed, 3 May 2006 13:01:00 GMT

It's Golden week in Japan and the Learn Japanese team are letting their hair down. On an invite by Rob we went to Maruchika, a nice little Tachinomiya (standing bar) near Nodahanshin in Osaka. Beb filmed and edited the video. She also sang and composed the music. We'll be back to our usual program next week. In the mean time, Kampai !

News from the Other Side

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 09:45:00 GMT

If Learn Japanese is our day job, then News form the Other Side is how we really let our hair down. Check out these videos on our bike tour of the JR loop line

KANJI VIDEO 1 NUMBERS

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 04:00:00 GMT

All credit goes to artist and designer Stan Fairbank who is collaborating with Learn Japanese to make these great videos for learning Kanji. You can check out his excellent website at www.endless.com This week we are studying numbers.

#27 éãsake

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 10:42:00 GMT

Heaven help us, Rob and Alex have had a few too many and Beb is on the hard stuff...green tea. Listen to their mad ramblings and learn how to order a beer in Japan.

To Kansai ben or not, that is the question...

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 12:47:00 GMT

Well the Sakura made a show but Spring has made to make a convincing appearance here in Osaka. Heavy rain and cold winds, what's up with that ? This week I got a few emails asking if I could explain some of our dialogs using the standard Kanto dialect and the short answer to that is...well...no. The people kind enough ( and foolish enough ? ) to appear on Learn Japanese are usually from Osaka. The lovely Beb our main Sensei on the show is a 110% Kansai jin and I think that is a great opportunity to learn this fascinating dialect. Since we all live in Osaka it makes sense to study the Kansai dialect. There are a million and one text books and courses that teach Japanese in the "standard" dialect so I don't feel we need to add to the mass of media out there. Of course where possible in some episodes I'll mention the difference between "Honto" and Honma" or perhaps "Shimatta" and Shimoten" but for us the Kansai dialect is fun, so expressive and the Japanese I need to know to live here. I hope you all are enjoying listening to the podcasts. We're certainly having fun recording them !

COMPETITION RESULTS

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 09:52:00 GMT

CONGRATULATIONS TO JASON HENWOOD FOR WINNING THIS WEEK'S COMPETITION YEAH !

#26 ZURUZURU BAN YA MON !

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 04:00:00 GMT

This week you can hear tell us her tales of woe when she decided to take on a flight of stairs in JR Momodani station. SHOW NOTES

COMPETITION

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 13:34:00 GMT

Don't forget the prize draw on Wednesday. Take part and win yourself a spanking new copy of "Catchy Japanese Phrases". So to win yourself this prize answer the following question. The KOJIKI is the oldest surviving historical record of Japan. But what year was it written in ? If you don't know, go to Jlist.comand do a search for Kojiki. They might just have the answer. Send your answers to JAPANESEPODCAST@GMAIL.COM and the winner will be announced on 12th April. Good luck !

#25 YAPPARI !

Wed, 5 Apr 2006 04:00:00 GMT

I knew we'd have to study YAPPARI one day, yappari ne. SHOW NOTES

#24 MECHAKUCHA !

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 15:03:00 GMT

It's all MECHAKUCHA today. Beb tells us what this useful phrases means. SHOW NOTES

#23 THE MATRIX

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Learn how to kick ass Matrix style in Japanese with the help of Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Beb. SHOW NOTES

Book review

Sat, 18 Mar 2006 05:00:00 GMT

If you need an interesting supplement to your dry Japanese grammar book I highly recommend getting "Catchy Japanese Phrases" published by the Otemachi Language Group. What's good about it ? 1) It's packed full of natural conversational expressions that I have actually heard spoken by my friends and on TV. I can't stress this point enough. Why is it that so much Japanese language education teaches you a separate academic language different to 80% of what you will use in your daily life in Japan ? 2) It is printed in such a way you can cut out individual expressions and turn them into flash cards 3) It's small and portable and because of the one phrase format it's really easy to study 4) It has Korean, Chinese and English translations. Also I found some deceptively simple phrases including "GOCHISO SURU YO" or "It's my treat". I say deceptively simple because although it is simple, I had never come across it in my previous studies. It is used in everyday conversation. Ultimately, for me this book reflects what I am trying to do with the Learn Japanese Podcast. That is, to present natural, "catchy" and situationally based bite sized lessons. I think this better reflects the reality of spoken Japanese. Of course this can't replace your university text books but it is an essential supplement to spice up your Japanese and make the learning experience that much more enjoyable. You can get a copy at Jlist.com

Fun Friday with Nathan Millar

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Learn some Japanese idiomatic expressions HERE in Nathan Miller's excellent vlog Bicycle-sidewalk. Nathan is pretty regular with his vlog and has quite a prolific number episodes, over 100 in just a few months. If you want to find out about the sights, sounds and experiences of daily life in Japan this is well worth a click.

#22 Dama is YABAI DE !

Thu, 16 Mar 2006 07:19:00 GMT

This week Dama is back from his holiday in Mexico to teach us some Japanese street slang. Dama has been living in New York since last year and you can catch up with his latest exploits in his blog. Not only does he have some great photos but it's really interesting to see some original insights into life in New York as seen through the eyes of Japanese guy. It's in Japanese so gambatte kudasai.

CLICK !

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 15:46:00 GMT

#21 Carnaval !

Wed, 8 Mar 2006 00:04:00 GMT

Bon Dia ! The carnaval is over, but Beb and I are still partying with Roberto ! Check out this three person introduction. Show notes up soon. Vem estudar japones com a gente! äæã?ïäã?çäã?ã?ã?ãããããã?ããããã?ãã?é?ã?ã?ï?

#21 Show notes

Tue, 7 Mar 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Beb goes Solo

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 11:54:00 GMT

Bebã?ããã?ääã?ãããããã?ææã?ã?ã?ã?ãã?ã?ã?ã?é?çã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ã?èãã?ã?ã?ã?ã?æé?è?ã?ã?ã??ã?ã?ã?ãã?ã?ã?ã?ï?ãã??ã?ã?Bebã?ã?ã?ãäçæåæãäæã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ãååã?éæãããã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ï?

Advanced students of Japanese and fans of Beb can hear her first solo podcast on Beb and Alex. Seemingly she liked episode 9 so much she recorded it again ! Beb is a prolific composer and you might be interested to check out her music blog here.

Fun Friday with Wes

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 05:00:00 GMT

It's fun Friday and we have some news, emails and an interview with Wes. He gives us some useful info on taking the Japanese proficiency test. IIf you want to find out more about Wes's musical exploits check out another interview with him here.

#20b Hanging out with a flamboyant hair dresser

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Get your G.I Jane buzz cuts here !

#20b Show notes

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Beb and Alex

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 16:11:00 GMT

For you advanced listeners, Beb and I are doing another podcast called The Beb and Alex Show. It's a collection of music, interviews and us talking about everything and nothing done entirely in Japanese. It's done in quite a free and easy way and just for fun. Check out the latest show here!

BAD LINK !!!

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 12:46:00 GMT

Show 8 went A.W.O.L for a while but we did a manhunt and found it so it should be working now. Check it out. It's quite a funny show if I do say so myself. We hear the wonderful Waka sensei teach us how to count. YOROSHIKU !

#20a More words

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Here are some useful words for getting your hair cut. Study them for Wednesday's lesson

What's your favorite word ?

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Find out the weird and wonderful words revolving around the brains of those wonderful Kansai people ! äçåã??ã?èèã?ã?ãã?ã?ãã?ïã?ã?èå?ãéèã?äã?è?ã??ã?ã?ã?ãã?ã?ã?ï?

New video coming up !

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Thu, 9 Feb 2006 14:02:00 GMT

We have a new video for you for Friday fun. All we had was a camera and some martini's in the right company...Check it out tomorrow !

#19b HAI ?!

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Wed, 8 Feb 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Did you know that the word "HAI" can be translated as 1) yes, 2) what ? 3) Here you are 4) Oh whatever ! Well check this out !

#19b Show notes: Hai?

Wed, 8 Feb 2006 05:00:00 GMT

gestures

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 6 Feb 2006 13:57:00 GMT

Can you guess what this gesture means ? Check out this video !

#19a TANGO !

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 6 Feb 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Check out these cool new words for Wednesday's lesson !

news from the other side

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Wed, 1 Feb 2006 12:13:00 GMT

Check out this new video podcast filmed in and around Osaka. DOZO YOROSHIKU ONEGAISHIMAS. news from the other side Check out this video with the famous Rob riding round the loop line in Osaka. Loop line adventure

#18b Speading your wings

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Wed, 1 Feb 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Here is a cool idiom lesson for you ! Why not spread your wings ?

#18a TANGO !

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Here are some new words for you to learn for Wednesday's podcast.

#18a Show notes: Tango

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 05:00:00 GMT

COMPETITION RESULTS

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Sat, 28 Jan 2006 02:47:00 GMT

COMPETITION RESULTS ! Thanks to everyone who sent in their answers. Sorry if you didn't win anything but there will be more chances to win soon !

#17b WAKARU ?

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Do you understand ? I hope you do. Great free give away today !

#17b Show notes: Wakaru?

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 05:00:00 GMT

#17 TANGO !

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Here is a vocabulary lesson for you to help with the following lesson.

#17 Show notes: Tango

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 05:00:00 GMT

NEW SHOWS !

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 14:53:00 GMT

We have great new stuff for you ! Vocabulary lessons, video, prize giveaways and more ! This Thursday and Friday ! Check them out !

NEW SHOW NOTES UP !

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 14:48:00 GMT

OK I've got HTML show notes up for you. Check them out on the right hand part of the blog page. Tell me what you think. I'll be adding the past show notes later. ãã?ã?ã??ã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ï?

#16 Movie Japanese

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Hey guys ! Here's some cool Japanese for you to use at the movies.

Lesson#16 Show notes

#16 Show notes: Movie Japanese

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 05:00:00 GMT

#15 Wait a minute Mr Postman !

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Here is some useful Japanese for use at the post office. Lesson#15

#15 Show notes: Wait a minute Mr Postman

Wed, 11 Jan 2006 05:00:00 GMT

HAPPY NEW YEAR

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 9 Jan 2006 17:40:00 GMT

Happy New Year to you all, for 2006 we have all sorts of new things in store for you lovely people. After a week's break we will be back up and running on Wednesday 11th January. And don't forget to vote for this podcast at PODCAST ALLEY, just click on that little red and black button at the top. Thanks for your support. See you soon ! Alex

#14 MUKATSUKU !

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 05:00:00 GMT

Thanks to Dama for helping me out with this cast ! http://libsyn.com/media/japanese/SHOW_NOTES_FOR_SHOW_14.doc

#14 Show notes: Mukatsuku

Wed, 28 Dec 2005 05:00:00 GMT

FUN FRIDAY with BEB

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 05:00:00 GMT

It's Fun Friday with Beb ! http://bebshooting.seesaa.net/

#13 Taking a taxi

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 05:00:00 GMT

Here is show 13 and useful phrases when stuck in a taxi. Shout out to all those who have helped with this cast, you know who you are ! Check out these sites...Tim's amazing Japanese blog...http://ameblo.jp/tim/...and check out Heather's great blog for students of Japanese...http://japanesejapanese.com/...and finally Emma's blog can be found at...http://www.piczo.com/MeMiSeLfAnDi?g=5723996&cr=1...THANKS GUYS ! <<<>>>http://libsyn.com/media/japanese/SHOW_13_NOTES.doc

#13 Show notes: Taking a taxi

Wed, 21 Dec 2005 05:00:00 GMT

#12 Sae sings for her supper

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 14:32:00 GMT

"WINE RED NO KOKORO" (Tamaki Koji) Exclusively performed for us by SAE (AMANADAMA) LYRICS IN ROMAJI: Motto katte ni koi shitari, motto Kiss o tanoshindari, wasureso na omoide o sotto daitte iru yori, wasurete shimaeba, ima ijo sore ijo ai sareru noni, anata wa sono suki totta hitomi no mama de, ano kiesoni moeso na wine red no kokoro o motsu anata no onegai ga kanau noni...ãã?ã?å?æã?æ?ã?ã?ã ãã?ã?Kissãæã?ãã?ã åãã??ã?ã?æã?åãã??ã?ã?æã?ã?ã?ããã åãã?ã?ã?ã?ã? äääã??ãääæã?ããã?ã? ã?ã?ã?ã?ã??ã?é?ã??éã?ã?çã?ã?ã?ã? ã?ã?æã?ã??ã?ã?çã?ã??ã?ã?ããããããã? åãæ?ã?ã?ã?ã?ã?éã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ã?ã?...If anyone has a good English translation of this please let me know ! Also still waiting for those intereviews of yours to arrive !!!

#12 Show notes: Sae sings for her super

Mon, 12 Dec 2005 05:00:00 GMT

#11 Interview with Sae

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 5 Dec 2005 11:10:00 GMT

This week's show: Interview with Sae

#11 Show notes: Interview with Sae

Mon, 5 Dec 2005 05:00:00 GMT

Here are the show notes for the interview with Sae. Check out her Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/saemurakami

#10 Miyazaki dialect

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 10:34:00 GMT

This week's lesson: Miyazaki dialect

#10 Show notes: Miyazaki dialect

Mon, 28 Nov 2005 05:00:00 GMT

ALT Rap

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 05:00:00 GMT

ALT RAP LYRICS: HOLBROOK & SANDERS MUSIC: ALEX BROOKE A Cafe Velo production This is a fun rap about teaching as an ALT ( assistant language Teacher ) on JET ( Japan Exchange Teaching program ) in Osaka. I tried submitting this to the online JET forum but got banned by the administrator ! Hopefully you JETs might get a kick out of this. Big shout to Rob who appeared in the video and co-wrote the lyrics. Also a big shout out to John Sanders in washington state! We filmed this near Nakatsu by the Yodo river in Osaka. If you want me to put up the lyrics, I can. my email: imunique999@yahoo.co.uk Rob's email: robholbrook@mac.com

#9 Eating out at a restaurant

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 05:00:00 GMT

Today's lesson: At a restaurant

#09 Show notes: Eating out at a restaurant

Mon, 21 Nov 2005 05:00:00 GMT

Fun Friday Kansai dialect

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 05:00:00 GMT

Fun Friday: Kansai dialect

Show notes: Fun Friday Kansai dialect

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 05:00:00 GMT

#8 More counting !

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 05:00:00 GMT

Today's lesson: Counting objects

#08 Show notes: More counting!

Mon, 14 Nov 2005 05:00:00 GMT

#7 Asking someone out-intermediate

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Sun, 6 Nov 2005 16:07:00 GMT

This week's lesson: asking someone out (intermediate level)

#07 Show notes: Asking someone out-intermediate

Sun, 6 Nov 2005 05:00:00 GMT

#6 Ordering a coffee

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 13:41:00 GMT

Today's lesson: Ordering coffee at a cafe

#06 Show notes: Ordering a coffee

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 05:00:00 GMT

#5 Asking someone out

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 12:39:00 GMT

Today's lesson: Asking someone out

#05 Show notes: Asking someone out

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 04:00:00 GMT

#4 Counting

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 16:44:00 GMT

Today's lesson: Counting

#04: Show notes: Counting

Sun, 23 Oct 2005 04:00:00 GMT

#03: Show notes: Days of the week

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 03:59:00 GMT

#3 Days of the week (VIDEO)

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 17:18:00 GMT

VIDEO LESSON: Days of the week

#02 Show notes: Basic Questions

Sun, 16 Oct 2005 13:21:00 GMT

#2 Basic questions

imunique999@yahoo.co.uk — Sun, 16 Oct 2005 11:09:00 GMT

Today's show: Basic questions

#01 Show notes: How are you?

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 13:08:00 GMT

#1 "How are you ?"

hunyaga@hotmail.com — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 10:18:00 GMT

This week's lesson: "How are you?" and other basic greetings