Ohayou gozaimasu. Good morning. Sumimasen, kyou Ocha and chat dekimasen. Sorry, I can't do Ocha and Chat this morning. I'm not feeling well. Mata raishuu! See you next week! Joe Sensei.

Are you able to make next week's Ocha and Chat Weekly Live Call? Vote in the poll below. There were some technical difficulties which left me on a live call alone for 25 minutes (I almost had to talk to my wife!). But in the end we had a chat about going to Japan, including hiking the nakasendo, playing competitive card games and visiting Aomori ken. Ocha and Chat: 〜たい (want to do) Verb (ます-stem) + たいですDōshi (masu-sutemu) + tai desu - たべます → たべたいです tabemasu → tabetai desu (want to eat) - いきます → いきたいです ikimasu → ikitai desu (want to go) Example Verbs (Action Words) 食べる 食べます 食べたいです tabetai desu want to eat 飲む 飲みます 飲みたいです nomitai desu want to drink 行く 行きます 行きたいです ikitai desu want to go 見る 見ます 見たいです mitai desu want to see 買う 買います 買いたいです kaitai desu want to buy 話す 話します 話したいです hanashitai desu want to talk 勉強する 勉強します 勉強したいです benkyō shitai desu want to study する します したいです shitai desu want to do Example Places (〜に / 〜へ) 日本 Nihon Japan 東京 Tōkyō Tokyo 京都 Kyōto Kyoto カフェ kafe café レストラン resutoran restaurant うち uchi home がっこう gakkō school こうえん kōen park デパート depāto department store えき eki station Example Sentences (Model Answers) - 日本に行きたいです。 Nihon ni ikitai desu. - カフェでコーヒーを飲みたいです。喫茶店　きっさてん　kissaten Kafe de kōhī o nomitai desu. - 東京で買いものをしたいです。 Tōkyō de kaimono o shitai desu. - レストランでラーメンを食べたいです。 Resutoran de rāmen o tabetai desu. - うちで日本語を勉強したいです。 Uchi de Nihongo o benkyō shitai desu. 🗣️ Ocha & Chat Pair Practice (Short Script) A: こんにちは。 Konnichiwa. なにをしたいですか。 Nani o shitai desu ka. B: こんにちは。 Konnichiwa. わたしは カフェでコーヒーを飲みたい です。 Watashi wa kafe de kōhī o nomitai desu. {A}-さんは？ {A}-san wa? A: わたしは 日本にまた行きたい です。 Watashi wa Nihon ni mata ikitai desu. B: いいですね！ ii desu ne! そうですよね。 Sentence ending in level of emphasis: Sou desu. Sou desu ne Sou desu yo Sou da ze

Konnichiwa!! Let's try Paired Speaking Practice 2. Attached is the dialogue in Japanese and English. If you have any questions about the words or phrases, please feel free to ask them here! Also there is an audio file to read along with. I recommend listening and reading aloud many times. We want to have speakers that are committed to try to turn up and pairs that can work together easily. So, if you are keen to participate, can you please comment on this post (I'm in or sanka shimasu!). And add your timezone or city too please. In 48 hours, I'll announce the pairs and we can practise the new dialogue and support each other! @Anna Aguilar @Ev Ginguene @Rebeca G. @Karen Claire Patdu @Flo Ginguene @J. Alexander Bennett @Blaize Agena @Harry Lewis @Fenny Kirmil @Psych Butterfly @Tyson Sk @Layyen C @Cicely Love

Konnichiwa! In today's Ocha and Chat, we talked about the beauty of Kabuki theatre and the excitement of Japanese Pro-Wrestling, we discussed gender roles in Japan and the dangers of overworking (過労死)! We practised an introduction dialogue, looked at the hiragana speed test and attempted the Hiragana black belt grading. Congratulations to @Fenny Kirmil and @Ev Ginguene who become Hiragana black belts!!! (non-violent versions!!) Arigatou gozaimashita!! Joe Sensei.

メリークリスマス、みなさん！ (Merī Kurisumasu! — Merry Christmas!) I started this group with one simple goal: to help people learn Japanese. You are helping me to achieve that goal!!! Thanks to everyone who has joined, posted, spoken up and practised — you’ve turned this from just a study space into a real community. In Japanese, “Merry Christmas” is written in katakana like this: 🎄 メリークリスマス Merī Kurisumasu Feel free to reply with: メリークリスマス！ Or a message about how you’re spending Christmas 🎁 (even if you're working or you don't celebrate)! Thank you for being part of this journey. ありがとう！！ Let’s keep learning Japanese together into the new year 🇯🇵✨