Unfortunately the first Lesson 76 was killed by my computer. Hitomi kindly re-recorded it today, so it's missing the intro music, etc. We're going to take the summer off, but subscription donators will still get episodes sent via email. We'll see you in the fall! Japanese Lesson #76

In order to reward those of you who have set up subscription donations, we've decided to go back to splitting the lessons in half. There is still plenty of great free Japanese to be learned here, but to those of you who donate your hard-earned money to keep us podcasting, we thought it only fair to thank you by making 1/2 the lesson private. Japanese Lesson #75 In this lesson I talked about a great blog post on the site "The Life Nippon" which can be found HERE. You'll also learn a valuable lesson about how to respond appropriately when someone says they aren't feeling well. It's a common mistake made by English speakers, so pay close attention!

This lesson is for you intermediate listeners and you beginners who want to test your vocabulary. Listen carefully and write down any words you don't recognize. Japanese Lesson #74 As I mentioned in the show, here are links to follow us on various social sites: Paul Facebook Twitter FriendFeed MySpace Hitomi Facebook

This week's episode is sponsored by our new friends network. Meet Japanese girls and guys who are looking for language partners, travel partners, pen pals and more. Head over to http://friends.japancast.net Enjoy the show! Japanese Lesson #73

This week's episode is brought to you by the brand new Japancast Friends Network. Head to http://friends.japancast.net and sign up for your free account today to meet Japanese girls and guys who are looking for penpals, language partners and more. In this lesson we cover the often confusing phrase "yoroshiku onegaishimasu". With no direct literal translation, this phrase can often be confusing to learn. We hope you enjoy the lesson. Japanese Lesson #72 As I mentioned in the podcast, we're testing out "User Voice" which gives you the chance to give us ideas and then have other users vote on those ideas. Check out Japancast User Voice.

This week's episode is brought to you by the new Japancast Friends Network. If you're looking to find a Japanese friend, penpal, language partner or even boyfriend or girlfriend, head over to http://friends.japancast.net and sign up now. We hope you had a wonderful Easter. We're on spring break in our school district, so the kids are home making Hitomi's life a bit more busy than usual. We hope you enjoy this lesson. Japanese Lesson #71

Thanks to everyone who's donated to keep this podcast going. We truly appreciate your support. This lesson is based on some suggestions in our forums. Remember, our listeners determine the direction of our lessons, so keep those suggestions coming! Japanese Lesson #70 Over on the right you'll find a widget with a bunch of photos in it. Click that to head over to the new Japancast Social Site. Remember, anyone who creates an account over there AND uploads their photo gets Lesson 70's shownotes. Just send us an email once you've created an account.

Thanks to a listener for coming up with an idea for this weeks lesson. Remember, if you have an idea for a lesson you can create a short (less than 60 seconds) MP3 file and send it in for consideration. Thanks to everyone who donated to make this show possible! Japanese Lesson #69

Hitomi is busy eating bon-bons and drinking martinis at the moment, so you're getting a bona fide lesson for beginners. Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions over at the Japancast Social site. If you haven't visited them take a moment: Japancast Social Finally, here's Beginner Lesson #04

Thanks to everyone for putting up with all the changes and issues over the past couple of weeks. For those of you who only get this in the podcast, we've got a totally new "social" site. Check it out here: Japancast Social. Thanks to all of our supporters as well. Without you, this site would not exist! Japanese Lesson #68

Greetings everyone! Time for our first video podcast. Of course, this didn't go off without problems. Noticeably are the following: The sound just stinks. I left our big screen TV on in the room, so you can see flickering on us. Also, because we're not encoding the show live it took a few days to get it put together. Adobe Premier couldn't read the file generated by our camera, so I ended up bringing the files to work (shhh don't tell my boss!). Hopefully despite all the shortcomings you enjoy our first video podcast. Japanese Lesson #67

Wow - what a delay! Sorry it's taken so long. Well, in this lesson we cover one of the biggest and most common mistake we see our listeners making. Listen carefully! Also, we're giving away a prize in this lesson, so make sure you listen to the entire episode. Thanks for making 2007 so great! Stay tuned for the new Japancast penpal service coming soon! Japanese Lesson #66

This week we're taking on a subject that every beginner and traveler to Japan should know - TIME. Japanese Lesson #65 See you in 2008! Thank you for all of your support. Paul & Hitomi

Christmas List 2007 So for this episode we decided to come up with our Japancast Christmas List 2007. For all your family members who always ask you "what do you want for Christmas" and you never can come up with anything on the spot - this list is for you. First on the list would be Japanese study materials, and for me the best series you can buy is the Pimsleur Comprehensive series: Japanese I - 3rd Ed.: Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur Language Programs (Comprehensive) Japanese II - 2nd Ed.: Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur Language Programs (Comprehensive) Japanese III - 2nd Ed.: Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Language Program) Yes, Pimsleur is very expensive. But I guarantee if you follow their entire program, you will be well on your way to being fluent in Japanese. Next on the list is generally referred to as the Henshall book. This is an excellent place to start learning kanji. Obviously before you move to kanji, you want to be able to read and write hiragana and katakana - but since Japancast has already done free lessons in how to read and write all of the kana, it seems like a waste of money to buy kana books. Henshall's book, therefore is a good place to start once you've mastered the kana: Guide to Rem

In this weeks lesson we have Momotaro for the intermediate-advanced listeners, and donation subscribers get a bonus manga lesson! Japanese Lesson #64 This week's episode is brought to you by donations from listeners like YOU. Thank you to all of you who choose to donate. We truly appreciate your generosity.

hisashiburi desu ne? Well, it's been an interesting couple of weeks. I guess you know you are in bad shape when the first thing the doctor says is "I think I'll start you on some morphine". But we're back! Please enjoy this lesson and we'll do our best to get back on a regular schedule. Japanese Lesson #63

This week's lesson is a special listening comprehension edition. Can you figure out the story Hitomi is reading? Listen carefully! Special Edition 05

This lesson is brought to you by the Japancast Private Lessons program. We're just wrapping up our first session. If you're interested in customized private lessons, use the contact us link on the right of the page. Japanese Lesson #62 For information on what Hitomi was drinking during the lesson, CLICK HERE.

In this lesson you'll learn a really great old saying. One of the best ways to build your fluency in any language is to start learn phrases or sayings that are common to the native speaker, but may be uncommon in your typical language school. This is one of those phrases. Japanese Lesson #61 This is a full lesson this week. Thanks for the patience. I mentioned Veronica Belmont in this weeks episode. You can find her Flickr photos HERE. Also, Veronica works HERE at Mahalo.

Can you believe that we've done 60 regular episodes! That's not counting beginner, advanced and special editions! This week's episode has been brought to you by Korean-Arts.com - please take a moment to visit their site and check out everything they have to offer. Also, during this episode we talked about the Korean Wedding Duck. To read the entire story, click: Korean Wedding Duck Story Enjoy! Japanese Lesson #60

Another fine lesson brought to you by the good folks at Korean-Arts.com This is our last lesson on traveling to Japan. Enjoy! Lesson #59 Links mentioned in the show: Matsuya http://www.matsuyafoods.co.jp/index.pl5 Sukiya http://www.zensho.com/

This lesson is brought to you by Korean-Arts.com. Sorry this is a couple of days late. Enjoy! Lesson #58

This week's lesson is sponsored by Korean-Arts.com who offer the finest selection of Korean celadon pottery, lacquered music boxes, dolls, figurines and paintings. Please support Japancast.net by visiting our sponsor. This week we continue our travel lessons. What happens when things go wrong at the hotel? What if they make a mistake on your bill? Listen and learn what to say. Japanese Lesson #57

Sorry for the delay! This week we learn about checking in to a Japanese hotel. Lesson #56

Enjoy this week's lesson where you'll learn all about how to use the transportation system in Japan. Thanks to Kirone for his posts and photos from Japan. If you haven't seen them and are reading this in iTunes or in another podcatcher, head to Japancast.net and check them out! Japanese Lesson #55 See you next week!

Since we were out at VBS last week, we're making this lesson and show notes available to everyone. Enjoy! Lesson #54 Show notes

Get it while it's hot! And, don't forget to buy Hitomi a cup of coffee! Japanese Lesson 53

We are back from vacation! Thank you for sticking around while we were gone. A special thanks to Will for all his awesome posts for Japan! Today's lesson is a Special Edition. There is no second half, but supporters will still get shownotes. Check your email. Japanese Lesson - Special Edition 04

I just wanted to let everyone know that June 15th is Hitomi's birthday. Feel free to take a moment to wish her a happy birthday. Japanese Lesson #52