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Episode 5- This week, Nihongo To English No Show serves up a Japanese-American Thanksgiving special! Michelle and Michael mix holiday comfort food with cultural flavor — talking about Inari sushi, chicken and mashed potatoes, and how Japanese and American traditions overlap.

They also practice Japanese from the Genki textbook, reviewing words for school, jobs, and family, and explaining how honorifics like san and sensei add respect (and sometimes confusion) to conversations. You’ll even learn how to pronounce countries like Ōsutoraria (Australia) and Kanada (Canada) the Japanese way.

The episode wraps with a heartfelt listener email — a reminder that gratitude, like language, sounds beautiful in any culture.

Highlights

• 🦃 Thanksgiving dishes with a Japanese twist
• 🍣 Nikkei culture in Los Angeles
• 🗾 Country names in Japanese
• 📚 Genki vocabulary: school, work, family
• 💌 Listener letter of thanks and encouragement

Keywords / Tags: learn Japanese, Japanese culture, bilingual podcast, Thanksgiving Japan, Nikkei American, Inari sushi, Japanese vocabulary, Genki, honorifics, Japanese language learning, comedy podcast

Support the show

🎙️ Nihongo To English No Show — a bilingual comedy podcast by Michelle MaliZaki and Michael Allen (GoatVsFish).
💌 Got a language or culture question? Email us at [email protected]

📱 Follow us on Instagram @NihongoToEnglishPodcast for new episodes every 2nd, 12th & 22nd of the month!

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Episode 4 – Kawaii or Kowai? Halloween and Haunted Japanese Grammar
Just in time for October, Nihongo To English No Show gets a little spooky! Michelle and Michael dive into Halloween in Japan, explaining words like kawaii (cute), kowai (scary), obake yashiki (haunted mansion), and go miyashiki (a trash mansion). They discover how the polite “O-” prefix can turn sweet or sinister — from “o-kane” (dirty honorable money) to new phrases born from wordplay.

The pair also unpack Japan’s obsession with cleanliness, folk ghosts (yokai), and campfire tales, and even invent a movie called “The Curse of the Chewing Gum.” 💀 Between jumpscares, they practice formal Japanese greetings like Hajimemashite and compare British “how do you do” with American “howdy.” It’s a mix of language tips, comedy, and ghostly grammar — where every word has a spirit of its own.

Highlights

• 🏮 Halloween and Japanese culture explained
• 👻 Yokai 101 — why everything in Japan can have a spirit (even gum)
• 💸 The mystery of “dirty honorable money” (o-kane)
• 💬 Formal vs casual greetings in Japanese & English
• 🎭 Mini role-play: international student meets Japanese student

Keywords / Tags: #learnJapanese, #Japaneseculture, #bilingualpodcast, #HalloweeninJapan, #yokai, #JapanesehonorificO, #kawaiivskowai, #languagelearningcomedy, #Japanesegrammar, #cross-culturalhumor

Support the show

🎙️ Nihongo To English No Show — a bilingual comedy podcast by Michelle MaliZaki and Michael Allen (GoatVsFish).
💌 Got a language or culture question? Email us at [email protected]

📱 Follow us on Instagram @NihongoToEnglishPodcast for new episodes every 2nd, 12th & 22nd of the month!

Send us a text

In Episode 3 of Nihongo To English, Michelle and Michael dig into the everyday words that textbooks forgot—like how to pay your コーネツヒ (utilities)—and end up building an entire philosophy around ice cream, idols, and enlightenment.

They talk about:
🍵 Early days learning Japanese before Google Translate
📖 Tiny paper dictionaries as accidental fashion accessories
💸 Exchange rates, senbei aging “like whiskey,” and the mystery of 十⼋年もの (18-year-old)
🍦 The viral アイスクリーム (Aisukurīmu) idol song — and the deeper meaning of “yori” vs. “yorimo”
🎤 Their master plan to debut as Language Idols (and Michelle as the “Anti-Aidoru”)
🪷 And finally, enlightenment—Japanese-style humility and how even Buddha might say, “I’m not that enlightened.”

It’s a full scoop of bilingual banter, cultural humor, and linguistic discovery—served with sprinkles of self-awareness.

Japanese words featured:

• コーネツヒ — utilities
• 為替レート — exchange rate
• 十⼋年もの — aged 18 years
• より vs よりも — expressing comparisons
• アイドル／アンチアイドル — idol / anti-idol

✨ Listener homework:
What’s your favorite ice cream flavor—and what would your “idol self” say when fans shout 何が好き⁉︎ (Nanigaski!?)? 🍨

Email: [email protected]

Support the show

🎙️ Nihongo To English No Show — a bilingual comedy podcast by Michelle MaliZaki and Michael Allen (GoatVsFish).
💌 Got a language or culture question? Email us at [email protected]

📱 Follow us on Instagram @NihongoToEnglishPodcast for new episodes every 2nd, 12th & 22nd of the month!

Send us a text

Counting to ten turns into a comedy class as Michelle and Michael riff on 謙遜 (kenson: humble deflection), why shisometimes becomes yon, the “seven ate nine” joke, and the fine line between おごる (to boast / to treat). We wander through Niigata せんべい, “shrimp media,” and a fairy tale where Yuki-hime literally melts from too much politeness—then land on real phrases you can use without sounding… rusty.

What you’ll learn & laugh about

• 謙遜 (kenson): why Japanese compliments often get the humble “no, no, no”
• 錆びている (rusty): when English metaphors don’t quite port to Japanese
• Numbers in Japanese: zero–ten, teens, and counting by tens without traps
• Pronunciation pitfalls: 病院 (びょういん) vs. 美容院 (びよういん)
• おごる two ways: to boast vs. to treat someone to a meal (and how to say it)
• Culture corner: Yuki-hime, politeness, and speaking up before you… melt

Try these phrases

• 「すごいですね。」→ 「いえいえ、まだまだです。」(kenson in action)
• 「今日はご飯を奢ります。」(I’ll treat you to dinner today)
• 「ちょっと熱いです。」(It’s a bit hot) — polite and self-preserving!

Got a question or a clip for us to unpack?
Email the show (as mentioned in the episode): [email protected]

We’ll feature your questions on a future ep!

Support the show

🎙️ Nihongo To English No Show — a bilingual comedy podcast by Michelle MaliZaki and Michael Allen (GoatVsFish).
💌 Got a language or culture question? Email us at [email protected]

📱 Follow us on Instagram @NihongoToEnglishPodcast for new episodes every 2nd, 12th & 22nd of the month!

Send us a text

Ever tried to learn a language by watching TV shows, listening to news program, and that was way too too much!?  Well, this is a show for you! Great for students studying Japanese and Japanese students studying English, OR if you just want some chuckles!  That’s the spirit we bring as two comedians swap Niigata snow stories, and the tiny phrases that make Japanese feel alive off the page. We introduce ourselves as it is our first episode—and move quickly into what the flash cards can’t teach: timing, fillers like nanka, and the quiet power of greetings that bookend a day, from ittekimasu to okaerinasai.

The conversation bends toward identity in a way only language can. Which “I” are you today—watashi, boku, ore—and what does that choice tell the room about age, mood, and intent? We unpack sociolinguistic cues hiding in pronouns, region, and register, then laugh our way through memory hooks like “Don’t touch my mustache” for do itashimashita and “Costco salmon” for gochisousama. Purists might groan, but we make the case for playful mnemonics as scaffolding, not a crutch, and show how to transition from sticky jokes to clean delivery when it counts. Along the way, food becomes a classroom—karaage vs. karikari prompting corrections that sharpen the ear—and Niigata life underscores why small towns can turbocharge fluency: fewer English shortcuts, more real stakes, and nightly reps at the neighborhood izakaya.

Under the humor runs a practical system you can steal. Build scene-based Anki decks, record fixed exchanges, practice one filler until it’s yours, and keep a live list of words textbooks skip but life demands—futsukayoi included. We keep circling our half-joking premise: a “show about nothing” that ends up being about everything that matters in language learning—attention, courage, and the joy of being understood. If this blend of comedy, culture, and practical Japanese helps you feel braver in conversation, hit follow, share it with a friend who’s studying, and drop a review telling us your most memorable mnemonic. What phrase are you claiming next?

Support the show

🎙️ Nihongo To English No Show — a bilingual comedy podcast by Michelle MaliZaki and Michael Allen (GoatVsFish).
💌 Got a language or culture question? Email us at [email protected]

📱 Follow us on Instagram @NihongoToEnglishPodcast for new episodes every 2nd, 12th & 22nd of the month!