Nihongo Quick Lesson is a former program on NHK World; it was canceled in the spring of 2011. Its purpose was to teach the Japanese language in a 10 minute segment. It was usually shown right before Sense of Japan.
The program consisted of segments showing interactions between the main character, Paul, and others, followed by segments in his word choice was studied. There were also short segments in which Kanjiyama Mime mimed a Japanese word or concept, and some form of Japanese onomatopoeia was demonstrated.
Plot[]
The show would start off with presenter Rena Yamada and her robot co-host, Mr. K, followed by an introduction by Prof. Kindaichi, briefly explaining what the word will be about for the episode and its usuage.
It would then segway into a skit about Paul, a foreigner who has been in Japan for 6 months and is still getting used to learning the language. It usually involves him interacting with his landlord, Japanese friends, his boss or his fellow co-workers at the office and then a word from that segment is shown as the word to be studied for the episode. It is then followed up by two more clips of Paul in different situations where he can use the word in a different context.
Afterward, Rena and Mr. K explain what was said in the 3 clips (as it is not subtitled and all in Japanese) and the word for the episode to be studied. She would then ask a question about how to use the word to Mr. K, who becomes confused and instead passes it along to Prof. Kindaichi, who fully explains the proper usuage of the word.
Next, it would move to another segement called "Feel It! Grab It!", hosted by Kanjiyama Mime. It that segement, he gives the viewer a couple of Japanese words and acts as a mime to show what they mean.
After that, it would segway into "Onomatopeia and Mimetic Words" showing clips to demonstarte onomatopoeia.
Then it would return back to Rena and Mr. K to show a couple of additional segements with Paul to demonstrate additional ways the word for the episode can be used. Prof. Kindaichi then comes back for further explanation of what was said and its proper usuage in different situations.
Finally, it would finish up with "Lets Try Counting", which would show how to use Japanese counters.
Cast[]
- Rena Yamada - Presenter
- Jeffrey Rowe - Paul
- Natsu Suzuki - Landlady
- Hiroshi Teruya - Paul's boss
- Matthew Masaru Barron - Mr. K (voice)
- Prof. Hideho Kindaichi (Professor of Linguistics, Kyorin University) - Himself
- Cyrus Nozomu Sethna - English translation of Prof. Kindaichi
- Takeo Fujikura - Kanjiyama mime