JapanesePod101.com Blog

Thank you everyone for your outpouring concern for the safety of our staff. The unfolding events of the last week have been stressful, but compared to others, we have been very lucky. For the time being, the Innovative Language Learning office has closed until after the long weekend. This is a precautionary measure, as many of us have worried family members back home and other affairs to attend to post-quake. We hope you understand and we do look forward to resuming normal (or as normal as can be) operations soon. Many of you have been asking for updates. Here are a few pictures to share of the JapanesePod101 office after the earthquake hit Japan on Friday. Upstairs of our office, some bookshelves toppled over. Thankfully, no one... Show more

Friday was a dark day in Japan. A massive earthquake struck Japan at 2:46pm and life here changed forever. While the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks gave us quite a scare in downtown Tokyo, where our office is located, everyone escaped unscathed. Now that we've had the weekend to reflect on the situation, we'd like to give a shout out to a few of this weekend's unsung heroes and also share our experience with you. First, let's talk about Skype. At a time, when one would pay any price to know about their loved ones, Skype provided this service for FREE. Of course, the 3G network remaining intact was instrumental. Amplifying the importance of the service Skype provided was the fact the Japanese telephone system crashed right... Show more

You have probably heard about the tragic events of March 11, 2011 in Japan. (Learn more.) First, our deepest condolences to all the people who have suffered losses from the tragic event. Fortunately, here at our Tokyo office everyone is okay. We can't thank you enough for all of your encouraging and supportive messages. It really meant a tremendous amount to us during yesterday's events, and even more as the true scale of the disaster unfolded. Unfortunately, Japan was hit very hard. The scale of the damage is not fully understood, but the damage in Northern Japan seems extensive. Yesterday was spent tending to our families and friends and ensuring everyone was okay. We are now ready to do everything in our power to help the... Show more

Hello everyone! We here at JapanesePod101.com hope you had a wonderful holiday season! We'd like to let you all know about the great lessons we have coming up for you in 2011. Here is our 2011 lesson schedule: JapanesePod101.com 2011 Lesson ScheduleMondays: (rotation) → Absolute Beginner Season 1  / Beginner Season 6 Tuesdays: (rotation) → Lower Intermediate Season 6 (all year) + New Feature Lessons (early 2011) / Keigo lessons (late 2011) Wednesdays: No Lessons Thursdays: Throwback Thursday: Old lessons from the archive Fridays: Learn With Video Lessons Saturdays: No Lessons Sundays: News (2~3 times a month) / Audio Blog Season 4 (once a month) Mondays will see a brand new series for beginners: Absolute Beginner... Show more

Have you used your Word Bank lately? Inspired by your emails, requests and suggestions, we upgraded the My Word Bank feature to make it even easier for you to study vocabulary on JapanesePod101.com! My Word Bank is a Premium feature that allows you to add vocabulary words from our lessons and word dictionary to a personalized central list for you to study from. Create online flashcards and hear native audio pronunciation with every entry. With the new My Word Bank features, you can organize, sort, export, and completely manage all of your vocabulary. Here is a complete rundown of the new features: 1. Group Words Into Lists – You wanted lists? You got it! Now you can organize your words with lists and labels. Create, edit and delete... Show more

Our annual Reverse Christmas countdown begins today with the biggest savings of the year! Save 50% off any Basic or Premium subscription until midnight EST tonight with our Secret Santa Holiday Countdown Tomorrow, the daily deal drops below 50% OFF, so upgrade to Basic or Premium right now. Just click the link below: Half off JapanesePod101 until midnight EST? Sign me up right now! Everyday until Christmas, we’re offering a daily deal on our Basic and Premium subscriptions. Act early and save more. It’s as easy as that! We can’t tell you what tomorrow’s deal will be, but we can tell you that it won’t be as good as today’s. New seasons of JapanesePod101.com begin on January 3rd, so there’s no better time than now to upgrade to... Show more

This lesson Will teach you some of the most commonly used and most hopeful expressions in Japanese. sō ieba (そういえば) "speaking of which" or "now that you mention it, and you use it when you are reminded of something and want to talk about it. toriaezu (とりあえず) A handy phrase that means, "in the meantime" or "for now." Use it to talk about some kind of action you take or decision you make "in the meantime" because for now, you feel like it's better than doing nothing. ryōkai desu (了解です) Ryōkai is a word that means "comprehension" or "consent." It is often used as an exclamation in the following ways: by itself (ryōkai!), with the copula desu (ryōkai desu!), and with the past tense verb shimashita (ryōkai... Show more

In this lesson, we'll offer tips to help you overcome some common errors that learners of Japanese make. Don't Attach -san to Your Own Name! One of the first things English speakers learn in Japanese is name suffixes used when addressing other people. The most common one is -san, which we attach to people's first or last names to show respect. Because we use -san to show respect for others, you should never use it to refer to yourself. Watch Your Politeness Level! One of the unique aspects of Japanese is the varying politeness levels that change according to a number of factors: age and status of the speaker and listener, the speaker's relationship with the listener, and so on. It is important to... Show more

The focus of this lesson is teaching you some very common Japanese expressions you might not learn from a Japanese teacher. すごい (Sugoi) - An adjective meaning "wow," "amazing," or "great." This word is commonly heard and is often used when one hears or sees something interesting or unusual. バカ (Baka) -  A noun meaning "idiot" or "fool." When used as baka na (バカな), it becomes an adjective meaning "stupid." This word can either be insulting or playful depending on how it is used. When used in a serious manner, it can come across as a strong insult, so it's better to exercise caution with this word. うそ！  (Uso!) - literally means "lie," but when used as an exclamation, it corresponds to "No way!" or "Really!?" in... Show more

In this lesson, we'll teach you the top five useful classroom phrases in Japanese, and then some! "Please say it." / "Please repeat." Itte kudasai (言っ てください) means "please say it." As a variation, you might also hear ripīto shite kudasai (リピートしてください), which means "please repeat (after me)," when teachers want you to repeat exactly what they have said. "Please look."  Mite kudasai (見てください) means "please look," and when an object comes before the phrase, it means "please look at (object). "Please read."  Yonde kudasai (読んでください) means "please read." You can expect to hear this phrase if a teacher wants you to practice reading some word, phrase, or passage. "Please write it."  Kaite kudasai (書いてください)... Show more