(I will add every question / comment about the lessons that I wrote and got answered. I think it can become even more useful that way for people who might want to ask the same things. I am sometimes somehow picky and usually don't leave behind what I would no perfectly understand ^^)Tons of thanks and my best wishes to Yuki Sensei, Natsuko Sensei and Engla for their generous replies =D (and of course the rest of the team that is doing such an awesome and huge work !!) LESSON 10 (Last Episode of The Year ! - Beginner S1) ec2953OCTOBER 28TH, 2014 AT 9:01 AM
Hi guys ! Well, regarding お年玉 (O-toshidama), if it helps, 玉 means “jade” in Chinese, which conclusively refers to money. I think it could be more understandable that way (rather than thinking in terms of “balls”), just in case
JapanesePod101.comNOVEMBER 2ND, 2014 AT 3:20 PM
ec2953san,
konnichiwa.
お年玉 was written御年魂in old days.
In Shinto religion 8,000,000 gods exist and each nature has spirit.
It is said that the reason why we celebrate oshougasu is New Year god is coming and it can impart it’s spirit to everyone.
The part, actually white rice cake was called 御年魂.
I don’t why the kanji changed. It may be a bit difficult…
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com
LESSON 51 (The Dating Game - Beginner S1)ec2953NOVEMBER 10TH, 2014 AT 5:15 AM
Hello~
I’d like to ask if anyone knows the difference between 了解 (りょうかい)and 理解(りかい)?
There’s also a difference in Chinese, which I can sort of little bit understand, but I am not sure whether it does translate in the same way in Japanese?
Thank you !
Ed
JapanesePod101.comNOVEMBER 12TH, 2014 AT 10:01 PM
Ed-san,
konnichiwa!
The biggest difference between 了解 and 理解 is that 了解 is not just “to understand” what
someone says, but it also means the person who does 了解 “gives the permission to execute it”.
This is also the reason why you cannot use 了解 to someone you should pay respect to.
Hope this helps!
Natsuko (奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
LESSON 78 (Toppings Galore - Beginner S1) ec2953NOVEMBER 12TH, 2014 AT 11:01 AM
Hello there,
I have a question about the vocabulary expansion.
It’s about the pineapple thing:
“パイナップルのせハンバーガーが好きだ”
I couldn’t manage to get anything about the meaning of のせ / せ in many dictionaries. Could anyone help me out? I’d appreciate that, thanks =)
JapanesePod101.comNOVEMBER 12TH, 2014 AT 10:37 PM
> ec2953-san,
konnichiwa!
のせ is from the verb のせる meaning “to put [something] on [something]”.
So we use のせ to describe “something on something else” especially when we refer to
topping of food and/or food presentation.
Hope this helps!
Natsuko (奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
LESSON 81 (Rainy Season Getaway II - Beginner S1)Ec2953NOVEMBER 15TH, 2014 AT 11:42 AM
Hello everyone!
Hope all is well
I’ve got a question about a sample sentence from the PDF (I guess it’s the same example that appears in the vocab expansion part)!
It’s about:
タコが海を泳いでいる
My failure to understand concerns the use of the particle を in this particular context. Why isn’t で or something like の中には used here? I don’t get the grammatical meaning behind を here.
Thanks for your lights!
Ed
JapanesePod101.comNOVEMBER 18TH, 2014 AT 4:26 PM
Ec2953-san,
konnichiwa!
Good question!
The particle to mark “the place of action” is usually で, like you know.
However, in the sentence 海を泳いでいる, this を marks rather “place to go through”.
The particle を is often used with intransitive verbs which involves transfer/moving from
one place to another, and it’s then mark the “path”.
In summary, grammatically both 海で泳いでいる and 海を泳いでいる are both correct, but
their meanings and/or nuance are different.
(”Octopus is swimming “through” the ocean.” vs “Octopus is swimming “in” the ocean.
although you might not say “through in English.)
Hope this helps!
Natsuko (奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com