EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

[community.japanese]

Ed san,
Konnichiwa.
That is interesting!
The kanji 緊 has a meaning, きびしい、ゆるみがない.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t have kunyomi reading at the moment…

Yuki 　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

[ec2953]

Yuki 先生, indeed ! This is the original meaning of the kanji ^^

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Interestingly enough, I would like to recall some beginners like me the fact that in Japanese some similar words can actually have some slightly different pronunciation and even kanjis in it. I'm not referring to onyomi or kunyomi here. To make things more complicated, the pitch (tones) can also be very important like in Chinese as the same exact syllables can be read differently and mean something else. For instance: 橋(はし) and はし (chopsticks) or even ただいま could mean two different things depending on how you pronounce it. Not to mention the meaning of Baka whose intensity could vary depending on the tone that is used!

Some examples illustrating my other points:

From the lesson 94 (Order of Action - Beginner S1)

三角形 can be either pronounced さんかくけい or さんかっけい (I guess this is because the "う" sound from く、す etc. are often said so quickly that both ways became commonly accepted.

From the lesson 90 (Telemarketer - Beginner S1)

鶯嬢 = 鴬嬢 (it's not even a matter of traditional/simplified/HK Chinese/Japanese special characters anymore).

[ec2953]

November 25 to 29

96 (~10)

[community.japanese]

ec2953　さん、
今日は。
Thank you for the information.
You are really keen to learn the Japanese language.

Yuki 　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

[ec2953]

Haha, indeed !

To understand people and specific cultures more, one could strive to communicate and read/write as efficiently as he or she can in the language in question

Another logic would be to say that once we've started something, we'd better have to finish it

It will be a matter of time and motivation. Perseverance and methods are key~

I feel extremely lucky to have found Japanesepod101.com and I hope that it is the case for many of us ^.^

I wish to (re)discover a brand new Japan (even though if it's after 2008 - 2011) with new perceptions of the society and the people, no matter if it's good or not so far as it goes, thanks to my future language skills (for however long it will take me to become fluent in Japanese). ✨

[ec2953]

November 30 to December 1, 2014

98 (~12)

[ec2953]

December 2 - 3, 2014

106 (~9)

[ec2953]

Hello everyone !

I would like to know if anyone would be interested in the little notes I am taking in the lessons I am currently learning? The contents are mostly about key vocabulary words / sentences that are mentioned throughout the audio lessons or, more interestingly, sentences that I find particular in terms of structure and/or use of particles (things that may not have been covered yet in the series so far at that point).

If interest is shown, I can list the small notes in my future posts. However, I must mention that I will barely explain anything regarding the content since they will have already been covered in the audio lessons. I could highlight from time to time the "special" structures that might appear, if any.

Let me know

[ec2953]

December 4 to 6

108 (~15)

Once I feel confident with at least 120 lessons, I'll bring out a new text that I'll challenge myself to translate.

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By the way, I recently bought for the very first time a manga in Japanese with its equivalent in my mother tongue. I have not read any manga for years already, but I guess this is also one way or another to make some progress in informal / slang Japanese. I must admit that I can barely smoothly understand much yet, it is way too complicated and time consuming given my actual and current level of mastery of the language. Fortunately, I can grasp more grammatical structures and vocabulary than ever thanks to the progressive lessons that keep enriching my vocab.

For anyone who might want to know what I just purchased, I got the first volume of "神の雫"（かみのしずく）or "Drops of God". It's all about wine

[community.japanese]

ec2953 san,

konnichiwa.
I read that manga until vol11 or 12(?).
It’s all about wine.
However, I think you can see Japanese society, companies, and relationships among people.

Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

[motoko.innovative]

ec2953-san Thanks for your feedback!

Please note in Lesson 73 (Classroom Quizz - Beginner S1) the difference of spelling for "big": 大きな (ooki na)　vs　大きい (ookii)

Yes, we'll fix it but please give us some time!
Thanks,
Motoko
Team JapanesePod101.com

[ec2953]

Yuki 先生,

Well said !

The manga is indeed very informative so far as to how people are mingled and and interacting together in the Japanese corporate life and society

In some countries, the hierarchy structure is not that steep except in some industries, but I wonder if it goes the same way with Japanesepod101 The impression that is given from the Beginner lessons I've listened to so far is that despite the feeling of a gradual relative hierarchical flatness and informality that may lie behind the scenes, the founders (ie. Mr. Peter Galante and Ms. Natsuko Kawamoto) were trying to benevolently lead and show the way at least in the first series, especially and naturally Peter whose mother tongue is English, but then thereafter allowing slowly and steadily more leeway and flexibility as the teams became more autonomous and rigorous. Practice and proper habits make it perfect, right? ^.^
On the other hand, my good guess is that most people from the earlier podcasts are becoming more busy doing many other things or simply left, which explains their absence in the new series (it's been already more than 8 years since the website's inception come on ! ). Moreover, we never heard about Mr. Eran Dekel who was also one of the original creator of JP101.

Of course, it goes without saying that an incredible amount of time, work and effort is required to bring out such amazing lessons. And a super solid team is required for that, which is all of you Which explains why I personally find that Japanesepod101 is seemingly going and pushing further than its more recent counterparts in other languages so far, without regard to their inception date (but shhh, don't tell it to them .

[ec2953]

Motoko さん、

こんにちは~

Well, in fact I was not indicating a spelling issue here, because it is correct I simply wanted to draw people's attention to the two different ways to write it (dependent on the presence of な or not).

[ec2953]

December 7 to 10

A bit busy lately.

114 (~17)

[community.japanese]

ec2953 san,
konnichiwa.
You can learn the Japanese language and culture through the manga!

Thank yes, practice makes perfect and persistence will pay off.

Yuki　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com