With this lesson comes my first complaint about this course.  I did great up until this lesson, with a learning curve that perfectly matched my abilities for learning Japanese.  In the lessons prior to this, you learned a few phrases per lesson, and using them in conversational sentences became able to learn their context and usage appropriately. 

Note that this course was designed to be an individual 30 minute lesson per day, with the student occasionally repeating the lesson if they are having trouble that day.  I repeat the same lesson 4 times per day, with the first two being my learning the phrases and the second two being reviews for good measure (after all I really do want to pick up and become good at this language).

This lesson, however, does a serious instant change to the learning curve, and if the future lessons in this series are like this one, then my learning Japanese is about to slow down considerably.  Overnight, the learning curve was literally tripled, with the lesson not only tossing new phrases about husband and wife at me, but water, milk, expensive and referring to third party desires to eat and drink.  Each of these also came with multiple forms and contexts as well. 

I think Pimsleur, to keep in tune with the learning curve of this course, would have done better to save the husband and wife bit for another lesson and stick to tossing us only a few phrases like usual while using them in conversation.  This lesson, compared to the others, was major overkill, and even after 4 sessions with this lesson, I will be repeating it tomorrow another 4 times and still can’t remember anything I was taught today due to the overkill. 

I was comfortable with the other lessons . . . “Here you are.  Here are a few phrases and let’s practice them in conversation you already learned.” . . . However with this lesson it was: “We’ll practice a phrase or two you have already learned but let’s slam you with entirely new conversation today.”  It made me frustrated and uncomfortable.

I do not plan on quitting, but the updates to this site are about to slow way down if this is the case, so please bear with me as I struggle through this.

OH! And P.S.: Why the hell are we just now learning “water” and “milk” and spent the first 17 lessons blabbering on about Sake and Beer? I don’t even drink. I have an odd feeling when it comes to social activities that concern liquid consumption I am going to offend more than one Japanese person when I get over there.

Conversation

ジョジ。
joji.
なん ですか。

nan desu ka.
なにか かいたいん ですが。
nanika kaitai n desu ga.

なにか かいたいん ですか。
nanika kaitai n desu ka.

ぼうし。 にほんの ぼうし。
boushi. nihon no boushi.

にほんの ぼうし？ いくら？
nohon no boushi? ikura?

たかく ありません。 せんえん です。
takaku arimasen. sen en desu.

せんえん？ じゅうドル ですね。 たかく ありませんね。
sen en? juu doru desu ne. takaku arimasen ne.
じゃあ、 おかねを ください。

jaa, okane o kudasai.
はい。 せんえん です。 じゅうぶん ですか。
hai. sen en desu. juubun desu ka.

はい、 じゅうぶん です。 わたしも おかねおを もって います。 ありがとう。 じゃあ, いってき ます。
hai juubun desu. watashi mo okane o motte imasu. arigatou. jaa, ittekimasu.

Vocabulary

たかい
takai
Expensive

たかく ありません
takaku arimasen
Not expensive

もっと
motto
More

はなして ください
hanashite kudasai
Please speak

しゅじん
shujin
Husband (speaker’s)

ごしゅじん
goshujin
Husband (someone else’s)

かない
kanai
Wife (speaker’s)

おくさん
okusan
Wife (someone else’s)

みず
mizu
Water

のみたがって いるん ですが
nomitagatte iru n desu ga
Wants to drink (3rd person)

わたしの かないは みずを のみたがって いるん ですが
watashi no kanai wa mizu o nomitagatte iru n desu ga
my wife wants to drink water

ミルク
miruku
Milk

ぼうし
boushi
Hat

にほんの ぼうしが かいたい です
nihon no boushi ga kaitai desu
I want to buy a Japanese hat

せん
sen
1000

にせん
nisen
2000

ごせんにじゅうよん
gosen nijuu yon
5024