Today I will be reviewing the Japanese conversation podcast ことのは (Kotonoha) by Yamamo-sensei and Kibi-sensei. They have episodes for all levels, separated by JLPT level N5-N1 and labeled so you can determine which episodes best suit your level or challenge yourself with a higher level.
Do I currently listen to this podcast?: Yes, I like this podcast a lot and listen to it frequently.
General Overview
Good For Levels: Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced
In this series, Yamamo and Kibi, two Japanese language teachers based in Japan, speak on a variety of topics in a conversation style of podcast. The conversation-style format is good for training your ear to listen to questions and responses, and every day banter between two speakers. They talk about Japanese culture and their own personal experiences which gives listeners an insight to the particulars of daily life in Japan.
Length of Episodes ★★★★★
The podcasts are usually around 20-30 minutes long. This is ideal for a commute or when you have some down time. They cover 2-3 subtopics within each topic they pick, so the conversations are very interesting and catch my attention and they don’t seem too short or too long. They plan out each conversation topic carefully and keep it interesting and informative.
Level of Engagement ★★★★★
The conversation format is very engaging because they cover 2-3 subtopics within the main topic and structure the conversation to focus on each point of the topic. They keep the listener engaged with carefully planned-out topics and conversations, and there is obviously a lot of work that goes into their podcast. They match the vocabulary and pace of speaking with the level they are targeting, but even in the higher level podcasts I believe beginners would be able to catch the general flow of the conversation and challenge themselves to understand the content.
Episode Frequency ★★★★★
New podcasts come out once a week, and with the planning that goes into each episode it’s a very good pace. There is also a lot of episodes already produced so you can go through them fairly quickly without running out of material.
Overall ★★★★★
This podcast is designed by two Japanese language teachers to convey information about Japanese culture completely in Japanese. The episodes are labeled by JLPT difficulty and I find the label system to be very accurate. It is a good podcast with which to practice your listening skills for every day conversation and to learn a bit more about Japanese culture.
Thanks for the detailed review, exactly what I’m looking for. I’ll listen to this episode today!
I take classes once a week so it usually starts with my teacher asking:
では、週末は何をしましたか？ What did you do on the weekend?
何が予定がありますか？ Do you have anything planned?
先週は何をしましたか？ What did you do last week?
Main reason is 語彙が足りない
語彙 (ごい) が足りない (たりない): Not enough vocabulary
Examples
I had a health checkup recently, I know health is 健康 (けんこう) but don’t have the words to say checkup. If I knew the word, it’s just 健康診断 (しんだん) に行きました。It make sense to not know all of the words such as 採血 (さいけつ) or 血液 (けつえき) 検察, but at least I can say something like 血を取られた, but at that time I can’t even remember 血。
Saying I need to travel around the end of February, all I can remember is 二月中旬 (ちゅうじゅん) and not have the vocabulary for 下旬 (げじゅん), which is supposed to be a pretty common word when talking about my activities.
Explaining things that’s too hard for me
Recently, I’ve watched 陰の実力者になりたくて (The Eminence in Shadow) and am having trouble to explain what the anime is about. I feel it’s okay-ish for not being able to say it in Japanese because I’m even having a hard time saying it in English.
The main character is actually really strong, but has severe 中二病. He also has a hobby of acting like a background character that you usually see in anime. I tried to explain the “what you see usually” part as: like being the first one to get injured, and stuff like that.
It’s hard for me to explain it clearly, I should’ve focused on how the main character hides his powers and stop there.
覚ます (さます) – to wake someone up 彼は早く目を覚ます必要があります。 He needs to wake up early.
直接 (ちょくせつ) – direct, directly 彼は直接社長に報告しました。 He reported directly to the president.
爆発 (ばくはつ) – explosion 彼女は昨日の爆発で亡くなった。 She passed away in yesterday’s explosion.
詰まる (つまる) – to be clogged, to be blocked 流しの排水管が詰まっている。 The sink drain is clogged.
放す (はなす) – to release, to let go 鳥を空に放した。 They released the bird into the sky.
我慢 (がまん) – patience, endurance 彼女は痛みを我慢した。 She endured the pain.
戦う (たたかう) – to fight, to battle 彼は正義のために戦う。 He fights for justice.
拝む (おがむ) – to pray, to worship 彼女は毎日神社で拝む。 She prays at the shrine every day.
虹色 (にじいろ) – rainbow-colored 空には美しい虹色が広がっていた。 A beautiful rainbow color spread across the sky.
山門 (さんもん) – the main gate of a temple 古い寺の山門は立派だった。 The old temple’s main gate was magnificent.
wow, thank you for transcribing them and giving examples!
I’m putting this particular vocabulary deck together myself based on things I’m encountering in my daily life, songs I like, as well as vocabularies from my grammar deck, so it’s great to see more examples using them.
That’s what initially drawn me to this post because I have a feeling this is where the vocabulary is coming from 🥳
As I touched on in my japanese goncharov post, it’s amazing how much novel research, entertainment, and art are locked behind a language barrier. Even though as english speakers, we are privileged to have many things translated into our language, it’s a simple fact that most things will not be translated into most languages.
I am a huge fan of ゆる言語学ラジオ, a japanese podcast about linguistics. The hosts recently released a book, 言語沼, which goes into detail about some of the subconscious rules native japanese speakers follow but aren’t consciously aware of (an english equivalent might be that adjective-ordering rule we follow e.g. big brown cow, not brown big cow). I’m finding it fascinating, and I wanted to discuss some of it here in english, because I think people learning japanese would find some of these things really useful. It’d be a shame if this knowledge stayed stuck behind the japanese language barrier when the people who would find it the most useful can’t speak japanese fluently enough to read it!
The book talks about how most Japanese people will think of 「あのー」 and 「えーっと」 as having the exact same meaning – they’re both “meaningless” filler words. Despite their belief that they’re the same, those same native speakers will subconsciously only use あのー in one particular type of situation and 「えーっと」 in another, and even feel confused or annoyed if they hear another speaker use one in the wrong context.
So what’s the actual difference? 「えーっと」 is used when the speaker is taking time to remember or solve something. For example, the following exchange is very natural:
Person A: 7 x 5は？ Person B: えーっと、35だ
This makes it a pretty versatile filler word! You can use it pretty much anywhere. Another example would be when you’re talking to yourself, trying to remember where you left your keys.
えーっと、鍵どこ置いたっけ？
On the other hand, あのー is much more specific. It can only be used when you’re taking time to figure out the best way to phrase something. For example, when you’re trying to get a stranger’s attention.
あのー、ちょっといいですか？
In contrast, if Person A was addressed with 「えーっと、ちょっといいですか？」by Person B, they’d feel it was rude because instead of considering how to say something, B is considering what to say, which gives the impression that they hadn’t even figured out what they needed to ask before addressing Person A.
This gives 「あのー」 a more ”polite” feeling than 「えーっと」, even though neither is actually more polite than the other. They’re just used in different circumstances.
Let’s quickly look at the example with the lost keys again. If you replace the filler word:
あのー、鍵どこ置いたっけ？
It is very unnatural. The authors of the book jokingly say that it sounds like you’re talking to a ghost, because 「あのー」 is only used when you’re figuring out how to phrase something, and you wouldn’t worry about that if you’re talking to yourself.
Also, did you know even japanese children properly use each filler word in the correct situation? Despite almost all japanese people (even as adults) being unaware of this rule, they’re subconsciously abiding by it even as children – just from listening to their parents follow the same rules!
It really is amazing how good your subconscious mind is at acquiring language, and how terrible your conscious mind is at it. If you’re not already, I highly recommend integrating a lot of simple language content (e.g. youtube, kids shows, etc) into your study routine – listening to people talk is simply the fastest way to become fluent in your target language.
Amazingly I could feel あのー、鍵どこ置いたっけ？sounds weird. Perhaps the years of anime watching helps?
Will make the notes for 0320 class into two parts. This part was because I shared with my sensei that I had my wisdom tooth extracted, so we talked about it.
Vocabulary
親知らず (おやしらず) – Wisdom teeth. In Japanese, this phrase literally means “parent-not-know.” The idea behind the name is that wisdom teeth typically appear much later in life, often between the ages of 17 and 25. By the time these teeth emerge, it is traditionally thought that the individual is older and presumably wiser, and possibly living away from home—hence, the parents may not be aware (“not know”) of these new teeth appearing.
仕方がない (しかたがない) – “It can’t be helped” or “There’s no way around it” This expression is used when a situation is out of one’s control and must be accepted.
一応 (いちおう) – “Just in case,” “For now,” or “Tentatively” Use this word to indicate that something is being done provisionally or as a precaution.
壊れる: 自動詞; 壊す: 他動詞 テレビが壊れた。 (てれびがこわれた。) – The TV broke. 子供がおもちゃを壊した。 (こどもがおもちゃをこわした。) – The child broke the toy.
Grammar
Noun + に基づいて (にもとづいて) – “Based on” or “According to” This grammar point is used to express that an action or decision is made in accordance with a specific standard, rule, or information. Example sentences:
法律に基づいて行動する (ほうりつにもとづいてこうどうする) – To act based on the law.
彼の意見に基づいて計画を立てた (かれのいけんにもとづいてけいかくをたてた) – I made a plan based on his opinion.
んです (んです) – Providing an explanation or reason Use this grammar point in both questions and answers to seek or give more information. Q: なぜ遅刻したんですか? (なぜちこくしたんですか?) – Why were you late? A: 電車が遅れたんです。 (でんしゃがおくれたんです。) – The train was delayed.
