Learn Japanese Pod

In this lesson you’ll learn common useful Japanese phrases used to cheer up and motivate your friends. Everyone struggles from time to time and a word of encouragement can always mean a lot to someone. And in Japan, where teamwork is seen as a virtue, motivating other members in your group to do their best is an important part of building relationships. You’ll find motivational phrases in manga, anime, J-pop and also in casual conversation with your friends. So check out the dialogue and extra phrases in this lesson. Main Dialogue (Japanese) A:　どうしたの？元気なさそうだね。 B:　最近日本語が全然上達しないんだ。 A:　日本語上手じゃん！ B:　いや、思うように話せないんだよね。もうだめだ。 A:　大丈夫、大丈夫。塵も積もれば山となる、だよ。 B:　それどういう意味？ A:　少しずつ頑張って行けば願いは叶うという意味だよ。 B:　わかった！頑張るよ！ Main Dialogue (Pronunciation) A: Dōshita no? Genki nasasō da ne. B: Saikin, Nihongo ga zenzen jōtatsu shinain da. A: Nihongo jōzu jan! B: Iya, omou yō ni hanasenain da yo ne. Mō dame da. A: Daijōbu, daijōbu. Chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru da yo. B: Sore dōiu imi? A: Sukoshi zutsu gambatte ikeba negai wa kanau toiu imi da yo. B: Wakatta! Gambaru yo! Main Dialogue (English) A: What’s the matter. You don’t seem very well/happy. B: Recently my Japanese hasn’t improved at all. A: Your Japanese is great! B: No, I can’t express myself the way I want to. It’s no good. A: It’s OK, it’s OK. Even dust when piled up becomes a mountain. B: What does that mean? A: It means if you try little by little you can realize your dreams. B: Got it. I’ll give it a shot! Extra Motivational Phrases Here are some extra motivational phrases. These phrases are featured in both the main podcast lesson and the extra drill audio file. Check out Learn Japanese Pod to download the podcast and extra drill audio. 1. 頑張って！ Gambatte! Do your best. 2. ファイト！ Faito! Come on, you can do it! 3. 元気出して。 Genki dashite. Cheer up! 4. 大丈夫、大丈夫。君ならできるよ。Daijōbu, daijōbu. Kimi nara dekiru yo. It’s OK. You can do it. 5. 前向きにね。Mae muki ni ne. Be positive. 6. 焦らないでね。少しずつね。Aseranaide. Sukoshi zutsu. Don’t rush. Do it little by little. 7. 願えば叶うよ。 Negaeba, kanau yo. If you wish it, it will come true. Random Phrase of the Week なんとかなる – Nan toka naru Things will work out somehow 今の会社を辞めてもなんとかなるよ – Ima Kaisha o yamete mo nan toka naru yo Even if you quit your job things will work out そんな心配しないで、なんとかなるさ – Shinpai shinai de, nan toka naru sa Don’t worry, things will work out you know. Learn

In this podcast, Ami and Alex teach you about Aizuchi or phrases you can use to interject in conversation to show interest in the speaker. For more Japanese language learning podcasts visit Learn Japanese Pod

In this podcast lesson you’ll learn about 相槌 Aizuchi, which are words used to show interest during a conversation. In English you might say things like “Uh-huh” and “really?” during a conversation to show you are listening to the speaker. Japanese is no exception and has a lot of these Aizuchi which are used frequently in conversation. So if you can learn and use these when speaking to your friends, your conversations will go more smoothly and you’ll sound a lot more natural in Japanese.  Main Dialog (Japanese) A:　ね、お茶の入れ方教えてくれる？ B:　まず、急須に茶葉をいれる。 A:　うん B:　で、沸騰したお湯を湯呑みにいれる。 A: 　本当？湯呑みにいれるのか。 B:　そう、温度を下げるのがポイントだよ。 A:　そうなんだ。 B:　渋みがとれるから。 A:　ヘェ〜。 B:　次に湯呑みのお湯を急須にいれる。 A:　ふぅん。 B:　30秒後お茶を注ぐ。 A:　なるほどね。お茶って奥が深いよね。 B:　まあね。 Main Dialog (Pronunciation) A:　Ne, ocha no irekata oshiete kureru? B:　Mazu, Kyuusu ni chaba o ireru.  A:　Un. B:　De futtō shita oyu o yunomi ni ireru.  A:　Hontō? Yunomi ni ireru no ka. B:　Sō, ondo o sageru no ga point da yo.  A:　Sō nan da.  B:　Shibumi ga toreru kara. A:　Heeh. B:　Tsugi ni yunomi no oyu o kyuusu ni ireru. A:　Fuun. B:　Sanjuu byō go ocha o sosogu.  A:　Naruhodo ne. Ocha te oku ga fukai yo ne.  B:　Maa ne.  Main Dialog (English) A:　Hey, will you teach me how to make tea? B:　First put tea leaves in the teapot.  A:　Uh huh.  B:　Then put boiling water in the tea cups. A:　Really? You put it in the tea cups? B:　That’s right. The trick is to lower the temperature.  A:　Oh really.  B:　You can take away the bitterness.  A:　Ahh.  B:　Next, put the water from the cups into the teapot.  A:　Uh huh.  B:　Pour the tea after 30 seconds.  A:　I see. Tea’s really deep.  B:　Yeah, I guess so.   List of Aizuchi Here’s a list of the Aizuchi featured in this lesson. Use these phrases to show you are really listening to the speaker.  うん – Un – Uh huh 本当？ – Hontō – Really? そうなんだ – Sō nan da – Is that so? ヘェ〜 – Heeh – Ahh ふぅん – Fuun – Uh huh なるほどね – Naruhodo ne – I see

In this podcast I interview Katheryn Gronauer who is a coach specializing in cross cultural communication for foreigners living in Japan. She is the author of Confessions of a Yo Yo Dieter and runs ThriveTokyo a consultancy helping foreigners settle into their lives and work in Japan. For more podcasts, visit Learn Japanese Pod

In this podcast, Ami and Alex teach you how to have a conversation with your friends about a past trip to Japan. For more Japanese language learning podcasts visit Learn Japanese Pod

These are the dialogues for podcast #33 “Talking about a trip to Japan. In this lesson you will learn how to talk about a past trip to Japan with your friends. Main Dialog (Japanese) A: 日本の旅行はどうだった？ B: 超楽しかったよ。 A: 何をしたの？ B: 東京と京都で観光してきた。 A: 食べ物はどうだった？ B: 寿司が美味しかったけど… A: 高かった？ B: いや、そうじゃなくて、メニューが読めなかったんだよね。 A: 食べたい物に指差して、「これください」そう言えばいいじゃん。 B: そうだね。覚えとく。   Main Dialog (Pronunciation) A: Nihon no ryokō wa dō datta? B: Chō tanoshikatta yo.  A: Nano o shita no? B: Tōkyō to kyōto de kankō shitekita. A: Tabemono wa dō datta? B: Sushi wa oishikatta kedo… A: Takakatta? B: Iya, sō janakute, menyuu ga yomenakattan da yo ne.  A: Tabetai mono ni yubi sashite, kore kudasai sō ieba ii jan. B: Sō da ne. Oboetoku.    Main Dialog (English) A: How was your trip to Japan? B: It was so fun. A: What did you do? B: I did some sightseeing in Tokyo and Kyoto.  A: How was the food? B: The sushi was delicious but… A: It was too expensive? B: No, not that. I couldn’t read the menu you know.  A: Just point at the food you want and say “this please”. B: Right. I’ll remember that!

In this podcast Ami and Alex teach you how to make dinner plans with a friend. For more Japanese language learning podcasts visit Learn Japanese Pod  

These are the dialogues for podcast #32 “Making dinner plans with a friend” In this lesson you will learn the following: How to make dinner plans with a friend How to talk about a restaurant you regularly frequent Introduction In this podcast you will learn how to make dinner plans at a restaurant you regularly frequent. You’ll learn some natural phrases for making plans that native speakers commonly use. Check out the dialogue and grammar notes below for a detailed explanation. Main Dialog (Japanese) A: もしもし B: もしもしアレックス、明日夜ご飯食べに行かない？ A: ごめん、明日はちょっと無理なんだ。土曜日なら行けるよ。 B: じゃあ土曜日の７時にいつものお寿司屋さんで！ A: あみは本当にお寿司飽きないねー！ Main Dialog (Pronunciation) A: Moshi moshi B: Moshi moshi, Arekkusu, ashita yoru gohan tabe ni ikanai? A: Gomen, ashita wa chotto muri nan da. Doyōbu nara ikeru yo. B: Jaa, doyōbi no shichi ji itsumo no osushi ya san de. A: Ami wa hontō osushi ni akinai ne. Main Dialog (English) A: Hello? B: Hi, Alex, do you wanna go out to eat dinner tomorrow? A: Sorry, tomorrow’s not possible. If it’s Saturday I can go. B: OK then, Saturday at 7 o’clock at the usual sushi place. A: Ami, you never get sick of sushi do you!? Grammar point and drills Here is a breakdown of the main grammar pattern featured in the dialogue: 土曜日の７時にいつものお寿司屋さんで Doyōbi no shichiji ni itsumo no osushiyasan de (Let’s meet on) Saturday at 7 o’clock the usual sushi place. Here are some more example drills: 1) 金曜日の６時半にいつものラーメン屋さんで。 Kinyōbi no roku ji ni itsumo no raamenyasan de. (Let’s meet on) Friday at 6 at the usual ramen place. 2) 日曜日の６時にいつものイタリアンで。 Nichiyōbi no rokuji ni itsumo no itarian de. (Let’s meet on) Sunday at 6 at the usual Italian place. 3) 木曜日の８時にいつもの居酒屋で。 Mokuyōbi no hachiji ni itsumo no izakaya de. (Let’s meet on) Thursday at 8 at the usual Izakaya. 4) 土曜日の７時にいつものカラオケで。 Doyōbi no shichiji ni itsumo no karaoke de. (Let’s meet on) Saturday at 7 at the usual Karaoke place.   Random Phrase of the Week The random phrase of the week is where we teach you a random Japanese phrase to make your friends laugh and ask “where did you learn that from?!” 行き当たりばったり – Ikiatari battari Meaning: unplanned and making decisions on the fly / Playing it by ear. It’s generally used in a negative way but there are some exceptions Example sentences: 1) 行き当たりばったりでなんでも決めちゃう。 Ikiatari battari de nandemo kimechau. To make decisions in a random or unplanned way 2) 行き当たりばったりな旅だった。 Ikiatari battari na tabi datta It was an unplanned trip. 3) 行き当たりばったりにレストランを選んだ。 Ikiatari battari resutoran o eranda. I randomly chose a restaurant. For more podcasts on how to learn to speak natural fluent Japanese visit Learn Japanese pod

This is the Fun Friday edition of Learn Japanese Pod. This is where we speak to cool people doing cool things in Japan. In this episode I talk to Japan veteran Andy about life in Japan during the Coronavirus. For more podcasts visit http://learnjapanesepod.com  

In this podcast Ami and Alex teach you some useful Japanese phrases you can use when visiting a convenience store. For more podcasts visit http://learnjapanesepod.com