Nihongo con Teppei (Beginner) - Ep9: どんな食べ物が好きですか？
Episode 9 of Nihongo con Teppei opens with Teppei doing his usual live check-in — it's 8 p.m. in Tokyo, and he immediately asks the listener the most relatable question possible: have you eaten? He tells us he had udon for dinner, then spins that single fact into the episode's real topic: どんな食べ物が好きですか (what kind of food do you like?).
From there it's a fast, friendly world tour of food words. He walks through Japanese food — washoku, tempura, tonkatsu, natto, tofu — then Italian (pizza, pasta, carbonara), American (hamburgers, Krispy Kreme donuts), and even Spanish (pan con tomate). He models the core beginner pattern 〜が好きですか over and over, names his own favorites (Japanese and Italian, with a soft spot for Spanish), and is honest that Starbucks lattes aren't really his thing. Every dish is a chance to drill a new noun plus the like / don't-like frame.
For shadowing, this is one of the most useful early episodes for building a real food vocabulary. You'll lock in 〜について (about), the が好きですか question, the listing particle とか (such as), the additive 〜も (also), and the negative-preference phrase あんまり〜じゃない (not really). If you've ever frozen at a restaurant trying to say what you like in Japanese, this episode hands you the entire starter menu.
📚 Grammar Breakdown
Meaning: I like ~ / Do you like ~? (preference)
In Text: うどんは好きですか, 日本の食べ物が好きですか, イタリア料理が好きです.
Note: The key beginner trap: liking takes the subject marker が, NOT を. It's 食べ物が好き (food is likable to me), never 食べ物を好き. Teppei repeats this pattern across every cuisine — udon, ramen, Japanese food, pizza, Italian — so this episode is basically a が好きですか drill. Shadow each one; the intonation on ですか is your cue for a real question.
Meaning: Such as / And so on / ~and stuff
In Text: 焼きそばとか, 唐揚げとか, 豆腐とか, ピザとか, ハンバーガーとか.
Note: とか is the casual listing particle — softer than と (which implies a closed, complete list) because it signals "for example, among others." Teppei stacks it while rattling off foods: 焼きそばとか, 唐揚げとか. For beginners, とか is your safest tool for name-dropping examples without committing to a full list.
Meaning: Also / Even ~ (additive emphasis)
In Text: 豆腐もいいですね, 納豆も美味しいですよ, スペイン料理も好きですね.
Note: も replaces は/が/を to mean "also / too." Teppei uses it to keep adding foods to his list — tofu も, natto も, Spanish food も — so the episode doubles as a drill for this high-frequency particle. Listen for も as the "and another one" signal that keeps a list growing.
Meaning: Not really ~ / Not that much ~ (softened negative preference)
In Text: あんまり好きじゃないです (I don't really like it), そんなに好きじゃないですね (I don't like them that much).
Note: To say you don't like something politely, Japanese pairs あんまり/そんなに (not much) with a negative: 〜じゃない. Teppei uses it about Starbucks lattes — a natural, conversational way to express mild dislike without being blunt. This is the flip side of が好きですか, and shadowing both makes your food opinions sound genuinely Japanese.