JapanesePod101.com Blog

Hey everyone! My name is Jonathan. While a lot of the crew has been busy creating lessons and content, I’ve been working on a few initiatives for JapanesePod101.com.

Here are some of fantastic things we’ve done in the past few weeks to share JapanesePod101.com with the world:

1) Solutions Page – We’ve added a section for those interested in using our podcasts and content for schools, companies, and government agencies. Check it out!

2) Wikipedia – We recently created a wiki entry on Wikipedia! Now, you can read all about your favorite Japanese language podcast here.

3) Facebook – In addition to our MySpace and Frapper pages, we now have a Facebook group! Find us by searching us under Group Pages, and add us today!

4) Stars & Stripes Ad - For all of our listeners in the military, look for our upcoming ad in Stars & Stripes’ annual advertising supplement to be published soon!

Special thanks to Peter, Eran, and the JPod101 crew for their extremely helpful input!

More to come soon! Please don’t hesitate to contact me at jonathan@japanesepod101.com with any comments & questions. And if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them!

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

Poking around youtube, as I am often of wont to do, I came across ピタゴラスイッチ¹, a kids TV show. The main demographic of ピ・ス seems to be Japanese first graders, which suits me fine, as my Japanese is at about that level. I found a series called 「なにしてるの？」² Each short clip is only a minute or so, and I have learnt something from every single one.

In each one, three boys are seen in a playground. One notices an adult doing really weird exercises, and is heard to remark 「何してる」³. Eventually one succumbs to the others’ badgering of 「聞いて来いよ」⁴, wanders over and asks 「おじさん、何やってるの？」⁵ He explains the weird procedure he is going through, and a clip explains it a bit better.

I discovered the verb which 愛香⁶ explained to me as the verb ‘to spray’, a new way of eating noodles, and a game involving snatching cards.

These clips not only help me learn vocab, but appeal to my Monty Python sense of humour.
The vocabulary is explained in such a unique way (a guy in a tracksuit acts them out in a playground) that I’m sure I’ll never forget these words. And I haven’t even seen all the episodes yet!

So if you’re interested, head to youtube and search for 「なにしてるの」 if you’re interested!

Do you have any youtube clips that help you learn 日本語？

¹Pitagorasuichi, or in English form, Pythagoras Switch.
²Nani shiteru no? What are you doing?
³Nani shiteru? What are you doing? Almost the same meaning as 2.
⁴Kiite Koi yo. Go and ask him.
⁵Ojisan, nani yatteru? Old man, what are you doing?
⁶Aika, my girlfriend.