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Studying Japanese

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Brief Lesson Summaries
A brief introduction of the lesson will always tell you what this lesson is about and what language level is the intended target. If you're interested in the subject, but might not be able to understand it in full, fear not; we have transcripts of lesson dialogues vocabulary so you can follow along.
IN THIS LESSON
ID: 0555 Upper Intermediate
Are you pouring over your accumulated mountain of Chinese-learning books, now wearing a set of prescription glasses due to Chinese character eye-strain, and dreaming of latin-based languages and the sun-drenched beaches that oft go along with them? This is no time for regrets! This is a lesson to validate Mandarin Chinese-learners everywhere, reaffirming that we made the right decision in taking on this charming language! In this podcast, learn about the agonies of learning Japanese.
Sat Jun 23 2007 | Jenny, John
Awesome Materials
Our lessons contain natural communication in Chinese in video and audio format. We have have lessons focused on video or a podcast format and our lessons have transcripts of Lesson Dialogues, Important Vocabulary, Expanded Materials for a deep dive into the lesson topic and Exercises focused on testing your retention.
Detailed Vocabulary
Each lesson has it's unique vocabulary and will provide you with definitions and recordings so you can practice the pronunciation. You will also be able to grasp the core material of a lesson at a glance. Here we're showing you the Simplified Chinese version.
SIMPLIFIED PINYIN ENGLISH  
岁月不饶人 suìyuè bù ráorén Time and tide wait for no one
费劲 fèijìn to put forth a lot of effort; tiring
琢磨 zuómo to ponder over
平假名 píngjiǎmíng hiragana
啊哟，你这么用功，在学日语！
āyō ，nǐ zhème yònggōng ，zài xué rìyǔ ！
Wow, you're so hard-working, studying Japanese!
嗯，刚开始的。岁月不饶人啊，现在学点东西可真费劲。
ng4 ，gāng kāishǐ de 。suìyuè bù ráorén a ，xiànzài xué diǎn dōngxi kě zhēn fèijìn 。
Yeah, I just started. Time and tide wait for no man. Studying stuff now is really tiring.
日语和汉语不是挺像的嘛。总比学英语容易吧。
rìyǔ hé hànyǔ bù shì tǐng xiàng de ma 。zǒng bǐ xué yīngyǔ róngyì ba 。
But Japanese and Chinese are really similar, right? It's got to be easier than studying English, anyway.
我以前也这么想。现在发现，日语只是开头简单，比如书写、发音什么的。可是想学得深一点就难了。
wǒ yǐqián yě zhème xiǎng 。xiànzài fāxiàn ，rìyǔ zhǐshì kāitóu jiǎndān ，bǐrú shūxiě 、fāyīn shénme de 。kěshì xiǎng xué de shēn yīdiǎn jiù nán le 。
I used to think that. Now I find that Japanese is only easy in the beginning, for writing and pronunciation and stuff. But if you want to dig deeper in your studies it's difficult.
Natural Dialogues
Each lesson is centered around a natural dialogue with key vocabulary directly prepared and translated for your use. You can also listen to each sentence as an individual recording to improve your listening and comprehension skills.
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