JapanesePod101.com Blog

Hello everyone! みなさん、こんにちは！

With 2011 almost coming to a close, we’d like to let you all know about the great lessons we have coming up for you in 2012.
Here is our 2012 lesson schedule:

Mondays will see a second season of the popular Absolute Beginner Series, along with a brand new series, Upper Beginner (which focuses on keigo used in Japanese announcements).

Tuesdays will see the continuation of the Upper Intermediate series and Advanced Audio Blog series for advanced learners.

Wednesdays will be a break; no lessons will be coming out on this day.

On Thursdays, we will be putting out old lessons selected from the Jpod101 archives. Take a trip down memory lane with these older Jpod101 lessons!

Fridays are reserved for video lessons. We have a great new series, Visual Grammar Bank (Absolute Beginner), that will be coming out first.

Saturdays will be a break; no lessons will be coming out on this day.

And lastly, on Sundays we will continue our News segments that bring you the latest JPod101 and Innovative Language update and promotion information.
That’s our JapanesePod101.com 2012 Lesson schedule.
We hope you continue to enjoy learning Japanese with us in 2012!

JapanesePod101.comを来年もよろしくお願いします！

Better than Black Friday. That comes once a year.

This offer is once in a millennium.

Good through Monday:

Click here to get 1-Month Premium for $11.11
(55% OFF the regular price)

or

Click here to get 1-Year Premium for $111.11
(43% OFF the regular price)

That’s every single one of our audio and video lessons, PDF Lesson Notes, My Flashcards, My Word Bank, Core Word Lists, Lesson Quizzes, Review, Dialogue Only and Expansion tracks and so much more - for $11.11 for a single month, or $111.11 for an entire year!

Don’t let this once in a millennium chance pass you by - it expires Monday, November 14th at midnight! Just pick your deal and get started with our fun and effective Japanese language learning system today!

Click any of the links below to upgrade before it’s gone!

Save 55% on 1-Month Premium — $11.11 for 1-Month

or

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Hello Listener,

Once in a while, we like to pop in out of nowhere and ask:

How you doin’?!

As in, how is your Japanese progress going? How has JapanesePod101 helped you with learning Japanese, school, traveling abroad, or with your Japanese grandmother?

We love stories from our listeners about why they started learning Japanese, the adventures they’ve been on, and how Japanese has become a regular part of their lives. Similarly, we also want to hear about your results and progress!

Whether you have a crazy story for us or just want to drop a few thoughts on how JapanesePod101 improved your language skills – we want to know.

Tell us your story – email us at testimonials@japanesepod101.com

For stories from our other users, click on the “Success Stories” in Categories on the right side of this blog.

Hello Listener,

(For maximum impact, read in Old Spice Guy’s voice)

Look at our homepage. Now back to us.
Now back to our homepage. Now back to us.

Look different? It should! With the help of our wonderful users, like you, we’ve listened to your feedback and came up with this. Designing the homepage has been like watching a baby grow.

Our iTunes logo has also changed. You can see it on our Facebook and Twitter accounts!

So when you download our free audio lessons on iTunes and see a new logo… do not be alarmed. It’s still JapanesePod101.

The Old

The New

We’ve decided it was time for a change here at JapanesePod101.
Why the change? Well, We’re not just a podcast website - but a language learning system.

This design makeover is just one small step towards one giant leap to becoming a complete online learning system.

Thoughts on the design? Feedback? Please let us know in the comments below.

But Wait!
What’s that? Look below. There’s a link.
To our 18% OFF Back To School Sale that you’ve always wanted. Look again!
It’s still there but only until August 26th. Sadly, schools don’t lower their costs and neither do student loans. However, we do.

18% OFF any premium subscription. Use Coupon 2COOL4SCHOOL and save!

If you’re taking Japanese this semester, you’re more than prepared. Just don’t sleep in class, unless you’re dozing off to the sweet sounds of a JapanesePod101 audio lesson.

And If you’re not in school (lucky!) - you’re still a student of Japanese. Join in on the discount too!

Note: The Back to School Sale Ends in 48 hours. Save 18% OFF now because your school never does this.

Premium Members, your Premium Account just got a whole lot more powerful! My Flashcards now allows you to study the Japanese words you want by importing lists from audio and video lessons, your My WordBank and the Japanese Core Word Lists 2000. Here’s a quick rundown of the new features:

My Flashcards Dashboard: My Flashcards have a brand new interface. Import words from any audio and video lesson, My WordBank and the Core Word Lists. Create, edit and delete as many decks as you want!

Create a New Deck: How you want to study is completely up to you! You control what displays on the front and back of cards. Create new decks out of the existing words in My Flashcards. Simple pick the words, name your deck and you’re ready to study.

Front of Card Display: The new My Flashcards load fast and are easy to use. Test yourself with native audio recordings. When you’re ready for the answer, simply click on the card to flip it over.

Back of Card Display: Learning sometimes isn’t as simple as just Right or Wrong. Our smart spaced repetition system will evaluate your progress from the three answer choices so you test more of what you need. Get extra review with sample sentences and audio.

My Stats: We track your progress in My Stats. Don’t just learn new words - master them! This chart will keep you motivated to master all the words in your deck!

My Flashcards is still in beta mode, which means, we’re still working out some kinks. If you’re a Premium Member, head over to My Flashcards under My Tools to try them out. These flashcards are part of your Premium Subscription. Something not working? Send us a message at contactus@japanesepod101.com .

Not a Premium Member? For a limited time only, get 1-Month of Premium Access to JapanesePod101.com for only $5 - that’s even cheaper than our regular priced Basic 1-Month Plan! Use coupon code FLASHCARDS at checkout to get Premium for $5.00. Hurry! This offer ends on June 30th, 2011!

All eyes are on Japan right now. We’ve put together a list of resources we have found particularly helpful over the past week. These links will help you get caught up, stay updated and offer ways to help Japan.

Our Story:
JapanesePod101 After the Quake

Social Media Heroes of the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster

English news from Japanese sources:

NHK World

Kyodo News in English

Wall Street Journal’s Japan Real Time Blog

BBC World News

On Twitter:

hashtags:
#jpquake
#jishin_e

follow:
@TimeOutTokyo
@makiwi
@norishikata

Japan DisasterTwitter Cheat Sheet via The Wall Street Journal

Find Loved Ones:

More Reading on Radiation Issue
U.K.’s Chief Scientific Officer Professor John Beddington

Real Time Radiation Data

Language Assistance
Free Japanese Language Apps for Relief Workers

Disaster Related Vocabulary and Phrases

Make a Donation

JapanesePod101 Fundraiser - We’re donating 50% of every Innovative Language Learning subscription purchase to Japan disaster relief efforts until March 25th, 2011. Click here to support Japan.

Quick links to Japanese Red Cross Society, International Medical Corps, UNICEF and Save the Children

街を行き　子どものそばを　通るとき　みかんの香（か）せり　冬がまた来る
木下　利玄（きのした　りげん）

今回は初冬の短歌を紹介しましょう。

Read the rest of this entry »

「れんが」と呼ばれる部首を知っていますか？
漢字では「連火」と表わし、「れっか（列火）」とも呼ばれます。「火」を表わす記号が漢字の下の部分につく場合、四つの点「灬」になるのです。今日は、この「れんが」を部首に持つ漢字を紹介しましょう。 Read the rest of this entry »

日本食の代表といえば「寿司」。小さく握った酢飯の上に魚介類などを乗せて食べるものですが、店や食材によっては高価な食べ物です。しかし、手ごろな値段で食べたい人や生の魚介類が苦手な人でも楽しめる寿司もあります。それは「助六（すけろく）」。稲荷寿司と太巻き寿司がセットになって、駅やコンビニエンスストアなどで売られています。

稲荷寿司は、油揚げ（豆腐を薄く切り、油で揚げたもの。長方形の一辺を切ると、袋状になっている）を醤油と砂糖で煮付け、その中にご飯を詰めた寿司です。太巻き寿司は、酢飯を海苔で巻いてある寿司のことです。中央にキュウリや玉子焼き、シイタケなどの具が入っています。

さて、この寿司のセットがなぜ「助六」という昔の男性の名前で呼ばれているのでしょうか。 Read the rest of this entry »

凩…この漢字を見たことがありますか？　何と読むのでしょうか。
ヒントは、冬に関係のある漢字であること。さらに、字形をよく見てください。「風」という漢字に似ていますね。

答えは「こがらし」。一般的には「木枯し」と書き表します。
「こがらし」とは、冬の初めに木々の葉を払い落としながら吹く、冷たく強い北風のことです。「凩」の字は「国字（こくじ）」に分類され、中国で作られた漢字にならって、日本で新たに生み出された漢字です。要するに、和製漢字ですね。こがらしとは、「木を枯らすように吹く風（几）」なので「凩」という字形が考え出されたのです。

正月の遊びに使う「凧（たこ）」も国字です。「風（几）」の中にある「巾」は「布」という意味です（「布」という漢字の中にもしっかりと「巾」が含まれていますね）。「風を受けて舞い上がる布」＝「凧」なのです。

では、「風が止まる」と書く「凪」という漢字はどう読むのでしょうか？　これは「なぎ」と読みます。朝夕に風が止まる状態や時間帯を「朝凪（あさなぎ）」「夕凪（ゆうなぎ）」と呼びます。

このように、ことば遊びや連想ゲームにも似た感覚で作り出された国字。友人に、「この漢字、読める？」と教えてあげるのも楽しいですね。
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Have you ever seen the character 凩? How do you read it.
A hint: it’s a kanji related to winter. Also, please look closely at the character’s formation. It looks like the character 風 (kaze), “wind”, doesn’t it?

The answer is こがらし(kogarashi). It’s generally written 木枯し.
こがらし means a cold north wind that blows at the beginning of winter, shaking the leaves from the trees.
The character 凩 is classified as 国字　（こくじ）, or characters newly created in Japan which imitate Chinese kanji. In short, they’re 和製漢字　（わせいかんじ）, or “Japanese-made kanji”. こがらし　is “a wind (几) which blows cold enough to kill the trees”, so hence the character 凩 was devised.

A character used when talking about New Year games, 凧 (tako）, is also Japanese-made. The radical 巾 which can be seen in the centre of 風（几）is equivalent to 布, which means “cloth” (you can also see 巾 in the centre of 布, can’t you?). “Cloth that soars on the wind” = a kite (凧）.

So, how would we read the character meaning “the wind ceasing” (凪）? It’s read なぎ (nagi). A state or period of time in which the wind does not blow from morning to night is called 朝凪（asa nagi), “morning calm” and 夕凪（yuu nagi), “evening calm”.

So as you can see, native Japanese kanji were created in a way that is almost similar to wordplay and word association games. It’s also fun to ask your friends “Can you read this kanji?”, and then teach them how.