Seven episodes of real-life Japanese — and today the arc closes with the most human skill of all: asking for help. You will learn お願いします (the all-purpose please), the polite request form てもらえますか (could you~?), すみません as a request opener, and the direct call for help 助けてください. With a full politeness spectrum — from the blunt to the beautifully polite.

JLPT Level: N5 | Duration: 08:45

Grammar covered: Request Help Expressions

Vocabulary: お願いします, てもらえますか, すみません, 助けて, 助けてください, 助けてもらえますか, ちょっと待ってもらえますか

Key sentences:

• 助けてもらえますか。
• ちょっと待ってもらえますか。
• すみません、これをお願いします。
• 助けて。

Full transcript and practice at jivx.com

Walk into a real Japanese scene — a Saturday café meet-up with a friend — and pick up five words that let you describe where things are and who you're with. 友達と (with a friend), 近く (near), 隣 (next to), 前 (in front of), and 一緒に (together). All sit before the verb, marked by に. One predictable structure that covers every spatial situation you'll need.

JLPT Level: N5 | Duration: 09:22

Grammar covered: Location Togetherness

Vocabulary: 友達と, 近く, 隣, 前, 一緒に, 会います, あります, 座ります, 飲みます

Key sentences:

• 友達と会います。
• 駅の近くにあります。
• 友達の隣に座ります。
• 前にメニューがあります。

Full transcript and practice at jivx.com

Four adverbs that color your verbs with frequency — いつも (always), よく (often), たまに (sometimes), ぜんぜん (not at all). Each anchored to a vivid scene so the abstract word becomes concrete and memorable. Learn where they sit in a sentence, and why ぜんぜん requires a negative verb every time.

JLPT Level: N5 | Duration: 08:39

Grammar covered: Frequency Degree Adverbs

Vocabulary: いつも, よく, たまに, ぜんぜん, 起きます, 読みます, 作ります, 飲みます

Key sentences:

• いつも六時に起きます。
• たまにパンケーキを作ります。
• ぜんぜん食べません。
• 朝はいつもコーヒーを飲みます。

Full transcript and practice at jivx.com

Japanese has a counter for almost everything — long thin things, flat things, people, small animals. But before all that, there is a universal native counter that works for almost any object: 一つ, 二つ, 三つ, 四つ, 五つ. Learn the counter chant, use it in real sentences, and get a first look at how to ask and say what time something happens.

JLPT Level: N5 | Duration: 07:50

Grammar covered: Time Counter Expressions

Vocabulary: 一つ, 二つ, 三つ, 四つ, 五つ, 何時, 何時に, りんご, コーヒー, ください

Key sentences:

• 一つ
• 二つ
• 三つ
• 四つ

Full transcript and practice at jivx.com

Four grammar points. Eight drills. This review closes the Expressions & Sequencing arc — too much with すぎる, sensations with がする, time sequencing with のあとで, and connecting with と. Walk back through all four and make sure they land cleanly in your mouth.

JLPT Level: N5 | Duration: 06:58

Key sentences:

• このジャケットは小さすぎます。
• 昨日食べすぎました。
• 音がします。
• いい匂いがします。

Full transcript and practice at jivx.com

The particle と does three jobs. It lists things as equals — rice and fish, bread and coffee. It marks the person you do something beside — I talk with friends, I go shopping with my mother. And in its third form, it shows what happens naturally as a consequence — when spring comes, cherry blossoms bloom. One particle, one core idea: beside.

JLPT Level: N5 | Duration: 08:22

Grammar covered: To And With

Vocabulary: と, ごはん, 魚, パン, コーヒー, 友達, 母, 買い物, 公園

Key sentences:

• パンとコーヒー
• 友達と話します。
• 母と買い物に行きます。
• 春になると桜が咲きます。

Full transcript and practice at jivx.com

Time sequencing in Japanese. のあとで lets you string events together — after this, then that. The kanji 後 means 'behind' or 'back,' which makes it a spatial metaphor for time: you are standing behind the first event, in the position where the second one happens. This episode covers the noun pattern, the verb variant, a contrast with から, and closes with a milestone moment for the fiftieth episode.

JLPT Level: N5 | Duration: 08:16

Grammar covered: No Ato De After

Vocabulary: のあとで, 食事, 散歩, 晩ご飯, 仕事, 歯を磨く

Key sentences:

• 食事のあとで散歩します。
• 仕事のあとでビールを飲みます。
• 晩ご飯のあとで寝ます。

Full transcript and practice at jivx.com

English says 'I smell something.' Japanese says 'a smell is doing its thing.' The little phrase がする flips the subject — the sensation itself takes center stage, and you become the observer. This episode is a sensory tour: sounds, smells, dizziness, and strange tastes — all expressed through this elegant pattern.

JLPT Level: N5 | Duration: 08:42

Grammar covered: Ga Suru Sensation

Vocabulary: がする, 音がする, 匂いがする, いい匂いがする, めまいがする, 変な味がする

Key sentences:

• 音がします。
• いい匂いがします。
• 変な味がします。
• 寒い気がします。

Full transcript and practice at jivx.com

One suffix. Infinite complaints — and compliments. Attach すぎる to an adjective stem or verb stem and suddenly 'too sweet,' 'too bitter,' 'ate too much,' 'drank too much' are all in reach. This is one of the most satisfying patterns in Japanese.

JLPT Level: N5 | Duration: 07:49

Grammar covered: Sugiru Too Much

Vocabulary: すぎる, 甘すぎる, 苦すぎる, 小さすぎる, 大きすぎる, 食べすぎる, 飲みすぎる, 長すぎる

Key sentences:

• 食べすぎました。
• 飲みすぎました。
• この映画は長すぎます。

Full transcript and practice at jivx.com

Four grammar points. Eight drills. This review closes the Te-form Extensions arc — permission, the 'not doing / coming' patterns, going somewhere to do something, and purpose. Walk back through every room of the te-form house.

JLPT Level: N5 | Duration: 06:49

Key sentences:

• ここで食べてもいいですか。
• これを使ってもいいですか。
• 見ていません。
• 歩いてきました。

Full transcript and practice at jivx.com