Nihongo con Teppei (Beginner) - Ep7: 日本語の勉強は好きですか？
Most Japanese-learning podcasts spend their time teaching you grammar. Episode 7 of Nihongo con Teppei does something different: it asks you a question. "日本語の勉強は好きですか?" — Do you like studying Japanese? — and then keeps digging. What part do you like? The kanji? The katakana? Japanese anime? Music? Ramen? Teppei uses this single casual question as a springboard to model the kind of small talk you'll actually have with Japanese speakers.
The episode opens the way his beginners' podcast always does: a quick check-in on the time of day (it's 11:30 AM in Tokyo when he records), then straight into the topic. From there he walks through a ladder of preferences — Japanese the language, the feeling of studying, katakana (which he admits is genuinely hard, especially with borrowed names like "Arnold Schwarzenegger"), kanji (which, he notes, few people actually enjoy), and finally movies, anime like 『君の名は』, music like Kendrick Lamar, and ramen. It's a masterclass in how native speakers use 好き (like) and 嫌い (dislike) to keep a conversation moving.
For shadowing, this episode is ideal for beginners. The sentences are short, the vocabulary repeats, and the grammar stays at N5 level — question forms (〜ですか), alternatives (それとも), soft tag-questions (〜じゃないですか), and the "try to" pattern (〜てみる). If you've ever frozen up when someone asked you about your hobbies in Japanese, this is the episode to drill. By the end, Teppei lands on his own honest answer: kanji is just "normal" for him — neither loved nor hated.
📚 Grammar Breakdown
Meaning: Don't you...? / Isn't it...? (soft tag question)
In Text: 好きじゃないですか (Don't you like it?), 好きんじゃないですか, pop は好きじゃないですか.
Note: This is the polite negative question used to gently confirm or invite agreement — softer than a flat 好きですか. Teppei leans on it constantly in this episode (好きじゃないですか, 好きんじゃないですか) because he's not asserting, he's drawing the listener in. For shadowing, listen for the rising intonation: it's a question, not a statement. Beginners often over-use the plain 〜ない? — 〜じゃないですか is the politer, more natural choice in spoken Japanese.
Meaning: Or... / Alternatively...
In Text: 日本がメンチを好きですか、それとも、好きじゃないんですか (Do you like the language, or don't you like it?). Also: カタカナそれとも嫌いですかね.
Note: それとも is the question-only conjunction for "or." You can only use it inside a question, never to link two statements (for that you'd use または or 〜か、〜か). Teppei uses it to pivot between two preferences — a great model for how Japanese speakers offer alternatives without repeating the whole sentence.
Meaning: Try doing... / Want to try doing...
In Text: について話してみたいと思います (I'd like to try talking about it).
Note: 〜てみる means "to do something and see what happens" — experience-first. Here Teppei conjugates it to the desire form 〜てみたい (want to try) + と思います (I think I will). This is N5 grammar but extremely high-frequency in conversation: 食べてみる (try eating), 聞いてみる (try asking). Shadow the whole chunk 話してみたいと思います as one rhythm unit.
Meaning: And... / Not only... but also... (connecting reasons/clauses)
In Text: 普通というのは好きでもないし嫌いでもない (Normal — I neither like it nor dislike it).
Note: し links clauses, often giving casual reasons ("because... and also..."). The pattern 〜でもないし〜でもない is the idiomatic way to say "neither A nor B" in spoken Japanese — more natural than the textbook 〜も〜もない. Teppei uses it for his honest verdict on kanji: not loved, not hated, just "normal."
Meaning: A little... / I wonder... (softeners & wondering)
In Text: ちょっと難しいですよ (It's a little difficult), 何が好きかなか (I wonder what I like...).
Note: Two beginner-friendly softeners show up here. ちょっと tones down a negative ("a little difficult" = "kind of hard," less blunt). かな is the sentence-ending particle for wondering aloud — 何が好きかな means "I wonder what I like." Together they make Teppei's speech sound relaxed and conversational, which is exactly the register beginner learners should shadow.