Dick and Jane continue to learn more about Hansel and Gretel. Who are they, and where have they come from? And what’s Mr. Brown planning? Find out more!

第　十二　話　やで (PL2)
Episode 12, Dude!
第 【だい】 ordinal prefix
十二 【じゅう・に】 twelve;
話 【はなし】 episode
や[is] this is a regional dialect version of だ. For a more detailed explanation, please refer to:
The Japanese Page
で　 [emphasis]

前回
Previously
前回 【ぜん・かい】 previous installment

何処　から　来ました　か (PL3)
Where are you from?
何処 【ど・こ】 (n) (uk) where
から [from]
来る 【くる】 (vk) to come from. The polite past form is 来ました　(prounounced: きました). For more on this verb, visit the WWWJDIC.

ん　だ　よ　お前 (PL1-2)
What the heck is wrong with you?
ん is short for 何
何 【なん】 what
だ/です is (copula)
よ [emphasis]
For more on the Japanese copula, visit any of these fine links:
Wikibooks
Wikipedia
Nifty
Epocrypha
お前 【お・まえ】 you (familiar, singular)

接客 じゃね～ よ 馬鹿 (PL1)
Don’t “I’m receiving guests” me, you egit!
接客 【せっ・きゃく】 receiving guests
じゃね～ is the colloquial version of じゃない (is not). じゃない is short for では(わ）ない. △△△じゃね～よ often has the meaning of “don’t △△△ me!” Note: there is a tendency, in very slangy Japanese such as that spoken by Jane, for words ending in あい or　おい sounds to have their endings changed to an ええ sound
よ [emphasis]
馬鹿 【ばか】 idiot, egit

今回
This time
今回 【こん・かい】 this time

私達 です か (PL3)
Us?
私達 【わたし・たち】Us
です is (the copula crops up again)
か [question particle]

ってか、他 に 誰 が 居る か (PL2)
Well, who else could it be?
ってか　[Well, like]. Short for って言うか or と言うか. Can also have the meaning of “by the way”.
他【ほか】 other
に [particle] Here, に serves a function similar to that of “-ly” in English; it turns 他 into an adverb so that 他 can modify the verb 居る. In other words, it is helping to describe an action or situation (see #10 on the に entry in the Infoseek Dictionary).
誰【だれ】 who
が　[subject particle]
居る 【いる】 [to be]
か [question particle]
Remember that in Japanese, a particle always acts on the word or words that comes BEFORE it!

厳しい (PL2)
Mean!
厳しい 【きびしい】

まぁ (PL3)
Well

一方
一方 【いっぽう】 Meanwhile

ドイツ　から　来ました (PL3)
We’re from Germany
ドイツ [Germany]
から [from]
来る 【くる】 (vk) to come from.

ハンセル　登場!　最近凄い人気
Enter, Hansel! He’s so hot right now!
ハンセル [Hansel]
登場 【とう・じょう】 (1) entry (on stage); (2) appearance (on screen)
最近 【さい・きん】 lately
凄い 【すごい】 incredible. Technically, 凄い should appear here in its connective form: 凄く (すごく). But this is a common Japanese native speaker “error” — kind of like how Americans often respond to the question “How are you?” with “I’m good” rather than “I’m fine”.
人気 【にん・き】　popular

ドイツ　人　です (PL3)
ドイツ人 [Germans]
We are Germans

何で　ハモって　ん　だ (PL2)
What the speaking at the same time is going on here?
何で 【なんで】 Why? What for?
ハモる (v5r) to be in harmony; to say the same thing at the same time as someone else.
ん here is short for の. For an explanation of this use of の, please refer the following fine sites:
Tae Kim’s “The 「の」 particle as explanation”
だ/です [is] is again, the copula

続く
To be continued
続く 【つづく】 to be continued;

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Wow! Laziness is hard work! As you know, I’ve been tweaking with ways both to create and display Dick and Jane more efficiently…mostly creation really. Anyway, here’s Dick and Jane in the new, shorter format. And now the text is vertical, for added Japanese realness! The excitement is killer, so try to keep your knickers dry while you enjoy this new episode.

Where’s the English? Right here! Here’s the commentary for this Episode.

第　十一　話 や　で (PL2)
だい　じゅう・いち　わ　や　で
Ordinal-prefix 11 Episode [is] [emphasis]
It’s the 11th Episode, man!
■OK, this really probably shouldn’t be in a “beginner” text, but what the heck, who cares — we want to do cool stuff, right?　やで is 関西弁 (Kansai dialect) for だぜ or だぞ. Kansai’s is the biggest “non-standard” dialect of Japanese; it is real Japanese and you will hear it a lot, so you might as well get used to it now. Of course, the Japanese you usually read will be 関東 Kantou/Tokyo “standard” Japanese.
■Why did I put this there? Because it’s cool. It’s something a Japanese author might do. It gives it a funny feel. It’s
■In this case 話 is pronounced わ, not はなし

前回
ぜん・かい
Previous time
Previously

私　は　子供　です (PL3)
わたし　は（わ）　こ・ども　です
I as-for children is
I’m more into children, myself

よし 出発 (PL2)
よし　しゅっ・ぱつ
Right, departure
Right, off we go!
■よし is a word said when the speaker has come to a decision on something and/or is about to take action. Mr. Brown’s is a very common situation in which to use よし.
■Note that 出発 (しゅっぱつ） is not しゅつはつ. 出, in kanji combinations is usually read by its on-yomi, so “しゅつ”, and 発 is read “はつ”. When you mash something that ends in -つwith something else that starts with a consonant, there’s a high probability of getting a doubled consonant, hence しゅっぱつ instead of しゅつはつ. Other examples are 出血 (しゅっけつ） and 出品（しゅっぴん）.
■More often than not, よし comes out sounding like よっし (yosssshh)

嫌 だ (PL2)
いや　だ
Disagreable is
Nooooooooooo
■嫌だ may also be written やだ or やーだ. This is informal, like writing “come on” as “c’mon”.

これ は 危ない (PL2)
此れ　は（わ）　あぶない
This as-for dangerous is
We’re in deep dooh-dooh

今回
こん・かい
This time

御　二人 (PL3-4)
お　ふたり
Honorable　two-people
The two of you…

何処 から 来ました か (PL3)
どこ　から　きました　か
Where from came [question]
Where are you from?
■来る（くる）

ん　だ　よ　お前 (PL1-2)
ん　だ　よ　おまえ
What is [emphasis] you
‘The heck is wrong with you??
■ん is short for 何（なん）
■お前＝御前
■お前 can carry a lot of condescension with it, so don’t go using it. Don’t talk like Jane at all, not until you’re sure who you’re with/where you stand socially and what you’re doing linguistically with the Japanese language. Understand Jane, imitate Dick.

だって　接客　です　もの (PL3)
だって　せっきゃく　です　もの
Because receiving/welcoming-guests is thing/matter
I’m receiving guests
■だって△△△ですもの or だって△△△だもの is a colloquial (i.e. used in speech rather than writing) sentence pattern used to justify one’s actions. It’s most often used by females, so it’s potentially out of character for a male, but not out of character for Dick.

接客　じゃね～　よ　馬鹿 (PL1-2)
せっきゃく　じゃねー　よ　ばーか
Receiving/welcoming-guests is-not [emphasis] idiot
Don’t “I’m receiving guests” me, you egit.
■じゃねえ/じゃねー etc. is a slangy version of じゃない(じゃ無い）. In slangy Japanese, a lot of things that sound like -あい or -おいbecome ええ. It can be a bit “gangsta” or at least thuggish in the impression it gives, so don’t go out and use it (like I used to), but you will see and hear it a LOT, so you need to know what’s up.
■In situations like this, 馬鹿（ばか） will be often be stretched out so it sounds like ばーか

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We catch up with Mr. Brown, now firmly in the present, and discussing his plans and preferences. Mufin and Spot remain in a pickle. Can Dick, Jane, Hansel and Gretel things around?

As always, please feel free to send your questions, suggestions and corrections by way of email or a comment at the bottom of this post.

This is right about the last of the large-file episodes of Dick and Jane. The rest will be smaller episodes with smaller files, for better loading times. Enjoy!

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Muffin and Spot have been found! Well, located. And not by Dick and Jane. By Mr. Brown, who new where they were all along. They’re kidnapped, people! What are Dick and Jane (and Hansel and Gretel) going to do?

As always, please feel free to send your questions, suggestions and corrections by way of email or a comment at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!

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Mr. Brown continues his story. Dick likes to take his time doing things. Asking questions. Doing introductions. Again, it starts to wear on Jane, not so much because she’s a harsh-talking tomboy, but because Muffin and Spot are still missing…which means that Mr. Brown was not talking about the past as he might have implied (starting in Episode 3), but the present.

Who is Mr. Brown and how does he know about the missing pets? The suspense is driving you crazy! Satisfy your curiosity: find out!

As always, please feel free to send your questions, suggestions and corrections by way of email or a comment at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!

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Mr. Brown’s incredibly long-winded story continues in this thrilling new episode of Dick and Jane! Edge-of-your-seat action awaits: Dick and Jane are now doing personal introductions.

By the way, Muffin and Spot are still missing…Hmm…

As always, please feel free to send your questions, suggestions and corrections by way of email or a comment at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!

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