hey, this is cool... it tells you the origin of japanese words and phrases and how and when to use them!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...8268199751#

It does look interesting

yeah!! i half listened to the whole thing last night while doing something else, and i still learned tons!!! it focuses a lot on situations where the grammar of something seems a little weird, and that's really helpful for foreign listeners i think, because it also helps you learn what seems right as well.

Not only that, but it tells you how many people say things that might be considered as grammatically "wrong" vs. the "correct" way, and gives little helpful bits about different dialects. Also, there's bits about kanji usage, and bits about what small parts of words mean. Really useful show!!!

Looks really good, thanks for posting. It's a bit over my head at the moment, but I've bookmarked it for later.

[Katsuo]

Wikipedia has an index for the Kotoba Ojisan programs. NHK used to have a handy web site accompanying the series, but it seems to have gone.

cool, thanks!!! is this the site? http://www.nhk.or.jp/kininaru-blog/
i just found it from links from links from links from that wiki entry...

That is awesome!! I love watching TV programs on Japanese, in Japanese (I wish Japonica Logos hadn't ended. T-T). Definitely bookmarking.

[Katsuo]

That is the site, but links to older material have gone; those 5-minute programs ran until March 2010. A couple of years ago I saved the older links in a document, but checking it now the links no longer work.

There are a couple of books covering the early programs in the series titled "ナットク日本語塾".

And Kotoba Ojisan sings too: これってホメことば？