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Archive for the ‘Japanese for Traveling’ Category

Toilets in Japan: The good, the bad, and the ugly.

October 26th, 2009

Thanks for visiting us at ispeakjapanese.net! Aaron and I are back with our latest episode of Happy Hour Japan.

A couple of months ago, we received an email from one of our viewers asking us to do an HHJ episode on Japanese toilets. At first we thought it might be a little inappropriate, but we’ve since realized that it’s a really important topic to cover…especially if you plan to visit or live in Japan.

We’ll talk about the high-tech ‘washlet’ toilets as well as the more traditional eastern-style toilets that have terrorized foreigners visitors to Japan for decades!

Kanpai,

Kevin

 
icon for podpress  Toilets in Japan: The good, the bad, and the ugly [12:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Going to Japan? Bring cash!!!

October 4th, 2009

Hi there, and thanks for stopping by!

Every time I visit Japan, I inevitably learn or realize something new about the country and its culture. I recently got back from a trip to Japan and this time around was certainly no exception. In fact, I ran into a very unexpected and unfortunate surprise when I ran out of cash while on my trip. Through this experience, I realized just how important cash is in Japan and the troubles visitors to the country often encounter when trying to access their bank accounts back home!

If you have any future plans to visit the country, I highly recommend you watch this episode!

Kanpai and until next time!

Kevin

 
icon for podpress  Going to Japan? Bring cash!!! [12:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Sun in Seattle? + Commonly mispronounced Japanese words.

August 13th, 2009

You may not realize it, but you’re probably using a lot of Japanese words in day-to-day life. With the rising popularity of Japanese culture, food, and ideas, we English-speakers are getting more and more exposure to the Japanese language. Don’t believe me? How about the words “sake,” “samurai,” “mottainai,” “kaizen,” “kimono,” “anime”….I’m sure you’ve used or heard at least a couple of these words recently.

Unfortunately, many of these Japanese words are mispronounced by English-speakers :( In this episode, Aaron and I cover just a few of these commonly mispronounced words and go over how they should be pronounced. Although it’s not 100% necessary to pronounce Japanese words “authentically” all the time, we figured that it would be good information to pass along to anyone learning Japanese and to those who want to travel to Japan in the future.

Enjoy & Kanpai!

Kevin

 
icon for podpress  Commonly mispronounced Japanese words. [7:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Happy Hour Japan, Japanese Vocabulary, Japanese for Traveling , ,

Cramming into Trains

December 18th, 2008

Okay, so I have never seen this from the outside, but I know what it feels like from inside the train! You have to experience it at least once in your life… but it would get really old if you had to live with it every day.

Here are some useful japanese vocabulary words related to trains

  • Densha: train
  • Kakueki-teisha or futsu-densha: local train
  • Kaisoku: rapid
  • Kyuko: express
  • Shinkansen: super express (bullet train)
  • Eki: station

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