Guzen Radio - A taste of life in Japan

[The Frankensteiner]

Hey everyone!

I love all this learning Japanese. But after I finish the newest lesson here at Japanesepod101.com I like to swing on over to http://guzenradio.com/ for a different type of show. "Guzen" means "By chance" and it was by Guzen that I found this great show.

Guzen radio talks about what it is like to live, work and play in Japan.
The format of this show is very casual and usually completely improvised on the spot. It is hosted by Chaz, an English teacher stationed in Shizuoka who originally came over from the U.S. through the JET program 10 years ago and was lucky enough to get a permanent placement.

Basically Chaz and his friends, and sometimes his students, discuss what is going on in their lives in Japan. They always have very entertaining stories to tell.

Some nice features are things like video. Chaz takes a lot of video of school functions and interesting localations that give you a first hand look at just what goes on there. Also, one of my favorite things are the "sound tours". This is when he takes a microphone with him and just tours Japan. If you sit back and close yours eyes and plop on some headphones you'll swear you're riding the Shinkansen or listening to great local music at the street festival in Shizuoka.

So if you want to take a small break from cramming your brain full of Kanji and vocabulary for a little while and learn what it's like to actually live there, give Guzen a try.

Overall I give the show two thumbs up and it is tied with Japanesepod101 for the coveted spot of my favorite podcast.

Check it out!

[SuiteOne]

Thanks for the suggestion! I will definitely check it out and see how I can use it to supplement my Japanese studies!

Nicole

[The Frankensteiner]

You're welcome.

It's really helped me learn more about what it's like to live in Japan. Now I won't be so surprised if I see certain things when I get there. Haha. Plus it's just a fun show to listen to.

[esp]

Cool, i've listened to a few episodes and it seems quite good so far.

[The Frankensteiner]

Yeah, it's great stuff. Thanks for checking it out!
I like the show a lot and wanted to share it with you guys. I was starting to become afraid no one was interested though.

Make sure you start at the back and work your way up to the newer episodes. That way you'll be all the more sad when you watch the Gokce and Steven farewell video.

[esp]

Yeah, it's great stuff. Thanks for checking it out!
I like the show a lot and wanted to share it with you guys. I was starting to become afraid no one was interested though.

Make sure you start at the back and work your way up to the newer episodes. That way you'll be all the more sad when you watch the Gokce and Steven farewell video.

I started at exchange student week 7 & 8 on itunes havent seen the farewell video yet but I read about some of it on the forum. i'll try to get through them all in the summer it seems a lot of the episodes are quite long so I don't really have time to properly listen to them at the moment.

[The Frankensteiner]

Oh, I forgot until I just went back to check the episode you started with. The sound quality on some of the early shows varies greatly. One episode in particular, Gokce's laugh will blow your ear drums if you're wearing headphones. After that episode though it's fine, they fix it. (They got some complaints about it)

[esp]

Oh, I forgot until I just went back to check the episode you started with. The sound quality on some of the early shows varies greatly. One episode in particular, Gokce's laugh will blow your ear drums if you're wearing headphones. After that episode though it's fine, they fix it. (They got some complaints about it)

Yeah I noticed some fuzziness or buzzing in the background in sounds of japan and some of the others although most of the time what they were saying was audible enough

[The Frankensteiner]

Did anyone check out this episode yet?
http://media.libsyn.com/media/guzenradi ... dio_23.mp3

It's probably one of my favorite. I love hearing all the local music as Chaz walks around the Shizuoka street art & music festival. I'd love to get some music from a few of these bands, especially the first one you hear.

[esp]

Listened and watch some more episodes and I love it. It's greaat to hear some unscripted Japanese and to see what a highschool in Japan is like. Makes me kind of regret not starting to learn Japanese earlier and doing some kind of exchange although I might be able to do the same kind of thing with a Japanese university which might be even better.
Thanks for bringing Guzen to my attention. Makes me want to learn more Japanese even more than before now.

[The Frankensteiner]

Hey you're welcome!

That's exactly how I felt. After listening to all the episodes I was really jealous of Steven and Gokce. It's too late for me to go as a student, but maybe I can be a teacher like Chaz? They just seem like they are enjoying life so much more than I am.

[esp]

One thing the podcasts have shown me is how extremely formal and polite the Japanese i'm being taught is. It's probably going to take a while to get used to slangy terms and casual speaking used so much in Japan.

[surGeonFFS]

awesome find. love this.

[The Frankensteiner]

Glad you like it!
It's a great show.

[jdniii]

I love this show, it is what I have always been looking for! I have listened to about 15 of the shows in the last 2 days! It has inspired me to go to Japan!