Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Natsuko: おはよう とうきょう。 [Ohayō Tōkyō. ]
Kazunori: おはよう とうきょう。 [Ohayō Tōkyō. ]
Peter: Good morning Tokyo. We’re back again and we have a great lesson for you today. We’re going to jump right into the conversations because, as always, we’ll bring you practical and basic Japanese, but today, we’re sorry that we had put you through the tough... couple of tough days introducing basis, but now we know that you’re ready to move on to the next step and now we’re gonna have some fun. Right, Natsuko?
Natsuko: Yes.
Petre: Okay. We’re gonna jump right into the conversation and it’s gonna be a three-way conversation involving Natsuko, myself and Kazunori. Without further ado, here we go.
DIALOGUE
Natsuko: わたしは なつこ です。 [Watashi wa Natsuko desu.]
あなたは アメリカじん です か。 [Anata wa Amerika-jin desu ka.]
Peter: はい、わたしは アメリカじん です。 [Hai, watashi wa Amarika-jin desu.]
わたしは ピーター です。 [Watashi wa Pītā desu.]
あなたは にほんじん です か。 [Anata wa Hihon-jin desu ka.]
Kazunori: はい、わたしは にほんじん です。 [Hai, watashi wa Nihon-jin desu.]
Peter: Very nice. Okay; we’re going to have that conversation one more time.
Natsuko: わたしは なつこ です。 [Watashi wa Natsuko desu.]
あなたは アメリカじん です か。 [Anata wa Amerika-jin desu ka.]
Peter: はい、わたしは アメリカじん です。 [Hai, watashi wa Amarika-jin desu.]
わたしは ピーター です。 [Watashi wa Pītā desu.]
あなたは にほんじん です か。 [Anata wa Hihon-jin desu ka.]
Kazunori: はい、わたしは にほんじん です。 [Hai, watashi wa Nihon-jin desu.]
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Peter: Okay; very very nice. I’m sure a bunch of you out there already caught on, but Natsuko, what’s different about today’s lesson?
Natsuko: It’s the question.
Peter: Yes.
Natsuko: Asking someone…
Peter: Yes.
Natsuko: ‘Are you American?’, ‘Are you Japanese?’

Lesson focus

Petre: Yes; very very nice. How do we make the question? What’s the question form in Japanese?
Natsuko: You add the word か [ka].
Peter: Yes, and give it to us one more time, please?
Natsuko: か [ka]
Peter: Yes; very very nice. Add this particle, right?
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: and all of the sudden you have a question.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Now, can you just give me the difference between ‘you are American’, the statement ‘you are American’, and the question ‘are you American’? First give us the statement ‘you are American’. Everyone out there, please listen.
Natsuko: あなたは アメリカじん です。 [Anata wa Amerika-jin desu.]
Peter: Yes; statement form. One more time, please?
Natsuko: あなたは アメリカじん です。 [Anata wa Amerika-jin desu.]
Peter: Very nice. Okay? Now the question form.
Natsuko: あなたは アメリカじん です か。 [Anata wa Amerika-jin desu ka.]
Peter: Yes, very nice. And I liked that little intonation; you go up with that. Correct?
Natsuko: Yes. あなたは アメリカじん です か。 [Anata wa Amerika-jin desu ka.]
Peter: Yes. Notice that ‘up’ at the end. Very very nice. So, that’s it. That’s why we had to put you through the torture yesterday. Now we have questions and, once you have questions, then a conversation starts rolling. So, now what we’re going to do is introduce you to some adjectives. And with these adjectives, now you ha...now we’re gonna have the tools to have a conversation. What do you think the most popular adjective in Japanese is?
Natsuko: What about いそがしい [isogashī]?
Peter: Yes; ‘busy’. One more time?
Natsuko: いそがしい [isogashī]
Peter: ‘Busy’. Okay. And just break it down to the syllables.
Natsuko: い そ が し い [i so ga shi i]
Peter: ‘Busy’. Okay. I noticed that at the end you had the… this adjective ended in い [i].
Natsuko: い [i]
Peter: I would like to clarify that in Japanese there are two types of adjectives; correct?
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: い[i]-adjectives and な[na]-adjectives; correct?
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: So, we’ll explain that in another lesson, but today I know a lot of you out there are gonna wonder why we’re only sticking to adjectives that end in い [i], hence i-adjectives, and the reason is there are two types of adjectives and we have to handle them separately. So, today, it’s just going to be i-adjectives. Let’s make a sentence with the adjective you just told us about.
Natsuko: わたしは いそがしい です。 [Watashi wa isogashī desu.]
Peter: ‘I am busy’. Yes. One more time, please?
Natsuko: わたしは いそがしい です。 [Watashi wa isogashī desu.]
Peter: ‘I am busy’, correct?
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Okay. And how about...why don’t...now, let’s put it...why don’t you ask Kazunori if he’s busy; put it into question form?
Natsuko: あなたは いそがしい です か。 [Anata wa isogashī desu ka.]
Kazunori: わたしは いそがしい です。 [Watashi wa isogashī desu.]
Peter: Okay; very very nice. You see? Now it’s all coming together. Why don’t we try another one? So, today it’s cold, so Natsuko, how can I say ‘I’m cold’?
Natsuko: わたしは さむい です。 [Watashi wa samui desu.]
Peter: Okay.
Natsuko: さむい [samui]
Peter: Yes; okay. ‘Cold’. Break it down for us?
Natsuko: さ む い [sa mu i]
Peter: Very very nice. How about...you ask Kazunori if he’s cold?
Natsuko: あなたは さむい です か。 [Anata wa samui desu ka.]
Kazunori: はい、 さむい です。 [Hai, samui desu.]
Peter: Okay; notice how he didn’t put in the わたしは [watashi wa] because it’s assumed and he just answered. One more time?
Kazunori: はい、 さむい です。 [Hai, samui desu.]
Peter: Very very nice. So far, we have ‘busy’; how do we say ‘busy’?
Natsuko: いそがしい [isogashī]
Peter: Okay. And we have ‘cold’; how can you say ‘cold’?
Natsuko: さむい [samui]
Peter: Okay; we have these two. Now, we’re going to add another one that I know I don’t...you’re not going to use it as much as ‘busy’, but you’re going to use it quite a bit. Can you please give us that one?
Natsuko: おもしろい [omoshiroi]
Peter: Yes; very nice. One more time, please?
Natsuko: おもしろい [omoshiroi]
Peter: Very nice. Break it down by syllables, please.
Natsuko: お も し ろ い [o mo shi ro i]
Peter: Yes. Very very nice. So, can you give us the meaning?
Natsuko: It means ‘fun’ and ‘interesting’.
Peter: Yes. Okay; why don’t we use it? Now, I know Kazunori is a fun guy.
Natsuko: Hm-hum.
Peter: Right? Can you tell me in Japanese that he’s a fun guy?
Natsuko: かずのりは おもしろい です。 [Kazunori wa omoshiroi desu.]
Peter: Very nice. And how about ‘he is’?
Natsuko: かれは おもしろい です。 [Kare wa omoshiroi desu.]
Peter: Okay. One more time?
Natsuko: かれは おもしろい です。 [Kare wa omoshiroi desu.]
Peter: Okay; very good. Now, Kazunori, Natsuko is very fun, right?
Kazunori: なつこは おもしろい です。 [Natsuko wa omoshiroi desu.]
かのじょは おもしろい です。 [Kanojo wa omoshiroi desu.]
Peter: Okay; very nice. Now, how about...there’s another word for ‘fun’, right?
Natsuko: Hm-hum. たのしい [tanoshī]
Peter: Yes. One more time, please?
Natsuko: たのしい [tanoshī]
Peter: Okay. Break it down by syllables, please.
Natsuko: た の し い [ta no shi i]
Peter: Yes; okay? And let’s try it again.
Natsuko: かれは たのしい です。 [Kare wa tanoshī desu.]
Peter: Okay. One more time?
Natsuko: かれは たのしい です。 [Kare wa tanoshī desu.]
Kazunori: かのじょは たのしい です。 [Kanojo wa tanoshī desu.]
Peter: And one more time.
Kazunori: かのじょは たのしい です。 [Kanojo wa tanoshī desu.]
Peter: Hmm, okay. In Japanese, Japanese people like to give compliments, right? A lot of them are fun people and when you meet Japanese, they’re going to say to you ‘you are interesting’, ‘you are funny’. So, what expression are you going to hear a lot?
Natsuko: あなたは おもしろい です。 [Anata wa omoshiroi desu.]
Peter: Okay; one more time?
Natsuko: あなたは おもしろい です。 [Anata wa omoshiroi desu.]
Peter: And now, Kazunori is gonna give it to you.
Kazunori: あなたは おもしろい です。 [Anata wa omoshiroi desu.]
Peter: Okay? How can I ever respond to this? You know, when you get a compliment in Japanese, what's a good way to respond? Can I...how... Can I give it back to you and compliment you too? So, if you said to me…
Natsuko: あなたは おもしろい です。 [Anata wa omoshiroi desu.]
Peter: あなたは おもしろい です。 [Anata wa omoshiroi desu.] How’d that work?
Natsuko: I think you should change to あなたも [Anata mo].
Peter: Perfect. And what does...Can you tell us what this means?
Natsuko: It means ‘you too are interesting’.
Peter: Very very nice. Okay; great. That is perfect, so let’s try it again.
Natsuko: あなたは おもしろい です。 [Anata wa omoshiroi desu.]
Peter: あなたも おもしろい です。 [Anata mo omoshiroi desu.]
Natsuko: Good!
Peter: All right; let’s try it again. Why don’t you tell Kazunori that he’s interesting?
Natsuko: あなたは おもしろい です。 [Anata wa omoshiroi desu.]
Kazunori: あなたも おもしろい です。 [Anata mo omoshiroi desu.]
Peter: Okay; very nice. How about...can you give it to us... ‘busy’?
Natsuko: わたしは いそがしい です。 [Watashi wa isogashī desu.]
Kazunori: わたしも いそがしい です。 [Watashi mo isogashī desu.]
Peter: わたしも いそがしい です。 [Watashi mo isogashī desu.] This could be one of the most...you can use this phrase every day; guaranteed.
Natsuko: Okay.
Peter: Is that correct?
Natsuko: Yes, I guess so.
Peter: Everybody over here is busy.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Okay, so that’s going to wrap it up for today. Let’s just have a recap. We introduced some adjectives and we taught you how to say ‘also’. So can….Natsuko, can you just give it to us one more time ‘I am busy’?
Natsuko: わたしは いそがしい です。 [Watashi wa isogashī desu.]
Peter: Okay? And ‘I am also busy’.
Natsuko: わたしも いそがしい です。 [Watashi mo isogashī desu.]
Peter: Okay. Very very nice. And one time from Kazunori.
Kazunori: わたしは いそがしい です。 [Watashi wa isogashī desu.]
わたしも いそがしい です。 [Watashi mo isogashī desu.]

Outro

Peter: Okay; that’s gonna wrap it up for today, and we will see you tomorrow.
Natsuko: またね [Matane]
Kazunori: またね [Matane]

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