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Learn Japanese at JapanesePod101.com! What’s the matter with kids today? Two mothers bump into each other at an elementary school open house. Immediately they begin talking about how wonderful each other’s child is… at the expense of their own! Our grammar points are shika… nai and ~to kitara. After listening, stop by JapanesePod101.com and be sure to leave us a post!
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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Lower Intermediate Season 1 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
35 Responses to “Lower Intermediate Lesson #46 - Mothers’ Talk”
Thursday at 6:30 pm
Mina-san, does any of this conversation sound familiar? (笑)
Thursday at 6:51 pm
Yeah this sounds familiar. I was never good enough for my mom. And she especially complained about my writing. So this was really close to home.
Thursday at 7:07 pm
This is really familiar!
My mom is used to invite neighbors and drink some teas at home (I guess she still does….). I was listening to their talking and all moms talk like that.
but they sound never thought wanna finish talking….
Thursday at 7:09 pm
Yeah, this one brought back some memories of my mom and her friends. They were always ripping on us when they thought we weren’t listening. Kinda hard to think about even now…
Thursday at 7:39 pm
I think these expressions could come in handy today:
イングランドときたら、そんなにがっかりしていて、この話を切り上げたいさぁ
Good lesson, this level is well-balanced, and there were some good points today.
Thursday at 10:15 pm
It’s a detail, but what particularly caught my eye was the WA in…
あら、そんなことないわよ
Ara, sonna koto nai wa yo
This is feminine speech, right? I mean, being a guy, I can just say
あら、そんなことないよ
dessho?
Thursday at 11:40 pm
子供の頃から,今も作文を作るのが大好きです。たまに日本語で作る。久しぶりですけど!
Thursday at 11:50 pm
franciscoさん、
そのとおり! you’re exactly right! that’s feminine speech. and in this convo the voice actors are really playing up the おばさん-style! stay away from the obasan わ!
steveさん、yukiさん、burgerさん、
yeah, childhood is full of ups and downs, but look where you are now!!
javizyさん、

この話を切りあげたい is a pretty funny phrase
but since i’ll talk about any subject i don’t try to 切り上げる (finish and leave) in any convo.
so to exit an inconvenient (read: embarrassing) conversation, i prefer to use 耳が痛い話だなぁ, which i think is equally useful. if someone calls out your mistake, try it!! kind of an indirect way, since 切り上げる is a kinda low blow, (implies leaving without saying anything). 耳が痛い話だなぁ is useful cuz you’re being direct and japanese listeners will give you a way out! if you 切り上げる, i think they’ll talk bad about you after you leave.
also you can use 切り上げる if you finish a meeting with no conclusion. the time ran out, but everyone’s got to go. and in this situation, i think it has no rebellious or negative meaning.
actually, i wanna know Yuki’s opinion on this one….
マクシーさん、
マナブ君とトオル君に教えてください!お願いします!!
マーキー
Friday at 12:57 am
まぁ、作文の話はすっかり懐かしいですね。大学で学生として作文をよく書いたが、今は全然書かないことになって、練習なしで下手になってしまった。でも、何となく原稿用紙(げんこうようし)が好きだ。なぜか分からないけど...
And just for kicks, here are a few more ~切る phrases if you’re interested. In general, this suffix add something akin to “all” or “completely” to the meaning of the verb it’s attached to.
売り切る: To sell out, run out
踏み切る:To begin, to launch
— 結婚に踏み切る: To take the plunge and get married
使い切る: To make full use of, to exhaust (a supply of)
— 使い切った: Depleted, used-up
思い切る:To decide, to think something completely
— 思い切った: Drastic, extreme
締め切る: To close
— 締め切り: Deadline
Friday at 1:02 am
:: laughs :: Just realized that I just did that backwards… it’s the “上げる” that’s the suffix this time, not the “切る” part. I guess that’s what I get for never quite getting enough sleep.
Friday at 1:56 am
very good lesson
my parents used to do that all the time
Friday at 2:20 am
I used to think my parents hated me

But then I divorced them!
Friday at 2:22 am
That’s totally a joke, by the way! I still live with my parents now and I love them so much!!
In highschool I thought they talked like that about me. But now I know they didn’t. I was just a paranoid little girl.
Friday at 3:39 am
JP101 crew/listeners!
Kitty-chan
That was a very serious expression about your parents even has a joke ok!
My parents have always been very nice to me because I’m the only girl in the house and the last child from my two older brothers.
I also still live with them now and they trust me in everything about their businesses and I love them very much, thank you for giving me life.
S_R_C
Friday at 3:43 am
Ohhh I forgot to mention that Miki-san is a mother of a child sounds like a very nice mom, what a lucky child!
S_R_C
Friday at 9:53 am
Miki-san has a baby? That’s great! she should post pix of her son!!!
Friday at 9:59 am
Congratulations, Miki!!
I’m sure she’s a great mother!! What’s the name of your son?
Friday at 10:56 am
Miki san has a baby ?
i guess she is going to be away for awhile then
congratulation Miki san
ciao
Friday at 11:22 am
Congratulations Miki!!!
Friday at 11:24 am
ummmm….
Friday at 2:22 pm
this is going to sound dumb but how do i say sorry im late in japanese???? all i know how to say when im late is すみません can anyone help me? if you could that would be great!
Friday at 2:31 pm
おめでとう 美樹さん!
Friday at 2:44 pm
Matthewさん、
遅れてすみません is “i’m sorry i’m late”
お待たせしました is “i’m sorry for making you wait”
and
Miki had a baby?
Friday at 2:50 pm
Wow, that’s great news!! You must be really proud Miki!! I agree with Sindy, I’m sure you’ll be the best mother in Japan!
Friday at 7:07 pm
JPodの皆が美樹先生の事を全然分からないか、誰かが誤解しました!
Either JPod does a terrible job of keeping track of its employees’ extra curricular activities, or there has been a misunderstanding.
Let me ask a direct question:
美樹先生、子供がいるか?
Friday at 7:23 pm
So, this week Miki has managed to have a baby and get a job in a maid cafe
I hope this isn’t affecting her grades at university
Friday at 7:38 pm
mina-san, not sure how this rumor got started, but let me be the first to state OFFICIALLY that miki did not have a baby.
best post EVER
marky
Friday at 9:12 pm
I’m pretty that ‘i’ not being an ‘a’ is what gave birth to Miki’s child
I think Sindy was just trying to say that Miki was convincing as a mother in the lesson.
Friday at 10:51 pm
Javizy-san!
Your right, I was referring to this lesson and Marky-san is correct your post about Miki-san is the best.
If she keeps on this way she would end up not graduate University and like a loser Japanese girl.
But she is smart enough so please Miki-san don’t loose your mind.
S_R_C
Wednesday at 12:47 am
Miki sounded so young in her first lesson appearance that I always think of her as about 18. She did sound like a nice mum in that lesson though.
I have a question about a line in the dialog. Can we break it down?
4 ねんにもなって、1ねんさいみたいなさくぶんしかかけないんだから。
4 nen ni mo natte, 1 nensai mitai na sakubun shika kakenai n da kara.
4 years (also?) becoming, 1 year-like composition nothing but unable to write (therefore? from?)
I’m not sure if that’s a “n da kara” or a “n dakara”.
- why is it 4 nen and not 4 nensai?
- what is the “mo” for in the “mo natte”? Does it add a kind of “even though”-ness?
- why is the verb negative? I would expect it to be “only *can* write like a first grader”. Does the negative verb go together when the “mo” in the first clause?
Wednesday at 12:51 am
Ok, strike the negative verb question. I read the pdf.
Thursday at 2:57 pm
遅くなりました
美樹です。

私の知らないうちに、私に子供がいることになっていましたね
私には子供もいないし、結婚もしていませんよ
でも、たくさんのうれしい言葉をありがとう
Tuesday at 5:59 am
”きちんとした文章じゃないと”
does した mean good here?
この言葉を説明していただけませんか。
Tuesday at 9:43 am
ヤドカリさん,
きちんとした (きちんと + した) is the full phrase, which means “proper”, “orderly”
きちんと means “in a proper fashion” and adding した to it basically turns it into an adjective.
Saturday at 4:18 am
is there lessson for “ni tsuite iu to”
and
“ni tsuite iu to” and “to kitara” both can mean “about”
and if i want say “about something” or “without something” or “all something”
what’s best expression?,and how i can use it with verb
i know “noun +no nuki” mean “without something”so can i use verb instead noun.
how can it be ?
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