Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Natsuko: おはよう、テグシガルパ。ナツコです。(Ohayō, Tegushigarupa. Natsuko desu.)
Yoshi: おはよう、テグシガルパ。よしです。(Ohayō, Tegushigarupa. Yoshi desu.)
Peter: Peter here. Beginner lesson #123. Now for today’s conversation, we are continuing on with the volitional form but this time we are going to cover class 1 verbs, also known as 五段動詞 (go-dan dōshi). So as always, we are going to give you the conversation followed by a slower version of the conversation and lastly, we will give you the conversation with the translation. So we had a very interesting conversation today. Three good friends, university friends are on a road trip and well, they don’t have a car navigation. So they are trying to find their way on their own and a slight problem arises. So please listen to the following conversation. Again three friends. So you notice it’s an informal conversation. See what you can pick up. Here we go.
DIALOGUE
1: ええと、ちょっと待ってください。(Eeto, chotto matte kudasai.)
(右、左、どっち?)(Migi, hidari, dotchi?)
2: また迷ってるの??(Mata mayotte ru no??)
1: いや、迷ってない。ただ方向を確かめてるの。(Iya, mayotte nai. Tada hōkō o tashikamete ru no.)
3: 迷ってる!でも大丈夫、私が分かってるから。まっすぐ行こう。(Mayotte ru! Demo daijōbu, watashi ga wakatte ru kara. Massugu ikō.)
2: まっすぐ?違うよ。右に曲がろう。(Massugu? Chigau yo. Migi ni magarō.)
3: 右じゃない。よし、じゃんけんで決めよう。(Migi ja nai. Yoshi, janken de kimeyō.)
2&3: じゃんけんぽん。(Jankenpon.)
2: よし右。お前いつも出すの一緒だよな。(Yoshi migi. Omae itsumo dasu no issho da yo na.)
1: もう、男は単純なんだから。(Mō, otoko wa tanjun nan da kara.)
Yoshi: もう一度お願いします。ゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do onegai shimasu. Yukkuri onegai shimasu.)
1: ええと、ちょっと待ってください。(Eeto, chotto matte kudasai.)
(右、左、どっち?)(Migi, hidari, dotchi?)
2: また迷ってるの??(Mata mayotte ru no??)
1: いや、迷ってない。ただ方向を確かめてるの。(Iya, mayotte nai. Tada hōkō o tashikamete ru no.)
3: 迷ってる!でも大丈夫、私が分かってるから。まっすぐ行こう。(Mayotte ru! Demo daijōbu, watashi ga wakatte ru kara. Massugu ikō.)
2: まっすぐ?違うよ。右に曲がろう。(Massugu? Chigau yo. Migi ni magarō.)
3: 右じゃない。よし、じゃんけんで決めよう。(Migi ja nai. Yoshi, janken de kimeyō.)
2&3: じゃんけんぽん。(Jankenpon.)
2: よし右。お前いつも出すの一緒だよな。(Yoshi migi. Omae itsumo dasu no issho da yo na.)
1: もう、男は単純なんだから。(Mō, otoko wa tanjun nan da kara.)
Yoshi: 次は、ピーターさんの英語が入ります。(Tsugi wa, Pītā-san no Eigo ga hairimasu.)
1: ええと、ちょっと待ってください。(Eeto, chotto matte kudasai.)
1: Umm, hang on.
(右、左、どっち?)(Migi, hidari, dotchi?)
(Right or left, which is it?)。
2: また迷ってるの??(Mata mayotte ru no??)
2: Are you lost again??
1: いや、迷ってない。ただ方向を確かめてるの。(Iya, mayotte nai. Tada hōkō o tashikamete ru no.)
1: No, I'm not lost. I'm just getting my bearings.
3: 迷ってる!でも大丈夫、(Mayotteru! Demo daijōbu,)
3: You are lost! But it's okay,
3: 私が分かってるから。まっすぐ行こう。(watashi ga wakatte ru kara. Massugu ikō.)
3: because I know the way. Let's go straight.
2: まっすぐ?違うよ。右に曲がろう。(Massugu? Chigau yo. Migi ni magarō.)
2: Straight? No. Let's turn right.
3: 右じゃない。よし、じゃんけんで決めよう。(Migi ja nai. Yoshi, janken de kimeyō.)
3: No, not to the right. Okay, let's decide by rock, paper, scissors.
2&3: じゃんけんぽん。(Jankenpon.)
2&3: Rock, paper, scissors.
2: よし右。お前いつも出すの一緒だよな。(Yoshi migi. Omae itsumo dasu no issho da yo na.)
2: Alright, to the right. You always put out the same thing
1: もう、男は単純なんだから。(Mō, otoko wa tanjun nan da kara.)
1: Ugh, guys are so simple.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Peter: All Right Yoshi-san, let’s ask Natsuko-san what she thought of today’s conversation. I don’t know if I am expecting big things from this one but let’s give it a try.
Yoshi: ナツコさん、今日の会話はどうでしたか。(Natsuko-san, kyō no kaiwa wa dō deshita ka.)
Natsuko: 私もよく迷いますけど、じゃんけんで決めた事はないですね。(Watashi mo yoku mayoimasu kedo, janken de kimeta koto wa nai desu ne.)
Peter: English, please.
Natsuko: I often get lost too but I never decide it with rock, paper and scissors.
Peter: How do you decide?
Natsuko: Think.
Peter: So revolutionary.
Natsuko: Yes. Just think.
Peter: Yoshi, how do you decide?
Yoshi: I think, too.
Peter: You are copying.
Natsuko: Or maybe I ask someone.
Peter: Yeah.
Yoshi: Me too.
Peter: All right. Well let’s ask someone about today’s vocab because we have a few new terms in there. A lot of review, but we are going to cover class 1 volitional. So we are just going to take a quick look at the vocabulary. Yoshi-san, first word please.
VOCAB LIST
Yoshi: 迷う (mayō)
Peter: To be lost, to be perplexed.
Yoshi: (slow) まよう (mayō) (natural speed) 迷う (mayō)
Peter: Now in the dialogue, they were lost as if they lost their bearings. They didn’t know which way to go but as was said in the definition, this can also mean lost spiritually or some other way. So it has more than one meaning. So what we are going to do now is give you an example of each. Natsuko-san, can you give us the first meaning of lost as in to lose one’s bearings?
Natsuko: 新宿でよく道に迷う。(Shinjuku de yoku michi ni mayō.)
Peter: I often get lost in Shinjuku and that’s very understandable – chaos.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: So many train lights coming in there, people everywhere. So lots and lots of streets. Natsuko-san, did you see the comments for the last news show we did?
Natsuko: Oh no.
Peter: One of our listeners wrote about Yoshiism, kind of spiritual, something based on Yoshi and his personality. So now Yoshi is going to give us a bit of Yoshiism in this next example sentence because he is a very deep person.
Natsuko: Oh, I see.
Peter: So he is going to give us something very philosophical. How do we say philosophy in Japanese?
Natsuko: 哲学 (tetsugaku)
Peter: How do we say philosophical?
Natsuko: 哲学的 (tetsugakuteki)
Peter: So let’s have Yoshi-san give us a philosophical example sentence. Natsuko-san, can you ask Yoshi that?
Natsuko: よしさん、一つ哲学的なのをお願いします。(Yoshi-san, hitotsu tetsugakuteki na no o onegai shimasu.)
Yoshi: はい、わかりました。人生に迷う時もあるけど、笑っていれば大丈夫。(Hai, wakarimashita. Jinsei ni mayō toki mo aru kedo, waratte ireba daijōbu.)
Peter: There are times in your life when you get confused but if you are smiling, it will be okay. Words to live by by Yoshi. Speaking of Yoshi, we are going to take questions for Ask Yoshi starting today. So if you have a question…
Natsuko: Oh yes.
Peter: Oh yes.
Natsuko: Yes, yes, yes I remember that.
Peter: Natsuko, would you like to be the first person to ask Yoshi a question?
Natsuko: Ah I don’t think I can make it. You know people are waiting for this, right?
Peter: Okay, so start sending them in and we are going to get that segment up ASAP. Next we have
Natsuko: 方向 (hōkō)
Peter: Direction.
Natsuko: (slow) ほうこう (hōkō) (natural speed) 方向 (hōkō)
Peter: Natsuko-san, sample sentence, please.
Natsuko: あの方向に煙が見えました。(Ano hōkō ni kemuri ga miemashita.)
Peter: I was able to see smoke in that direction.
Natsuko: 私は方向音痴です。(Watashi wa hōkō onchi desu.)
Peter: I have no sense of direction.
Natsuko: And that’s about myself.
Peter: Really?
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Do you have a good story for us? Oh yes, you do. お願いします。(Onegai shimasu.)
Natsuko: Well like you know, I get into a building and do my business there and come out and go directly in the opposite direction.
Peter: That you came.
Natsuko: From where I came.. yeah and my friends are usually very surprised.
Peter: I would like to see that very much. Now this word you gave us. Can you give it to us one more time for a person with no sense of direction?
Natsuko: 方向音痴 (hōkō onchi)
Peter: Now the first word we established was direction. The second word is
Natsuko: 音痴 (onchi)
Peter: Can you break this down for us?
Natsuko: (slow) おんち (onchi) (natural speed) 音痴 (onchi)
Peter: Now this word originally means someone out of tune like myself. Now it’s my turn, Natsuko-san. Again when I go to karaoke…
Natsuko: Karaoke.
Peter: Ah 音痴 (onchi), I cannot hold the tune. Now it’s interesting that this word is actually attached to other words.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: To show that that person is poor at the thing we are talking about. For example
Natsuko: 方向音痴 (hōkō onchi)
Peter: A person who has no sense of direction. Yoshi-san, can you give us another one?
Yoshi: 運動音痴 (undō onchi)
Peter: Someone not good at sports. And there are lots of words to describe them but I think we will put them in the PDF because we don’t want to get a bad reputation. Okay, next we have
Yoshi: 確かめる (tashikameru)
Peter: To confirm.
Yoshi: (slow) たしかめる (tashikameru) (natural speed) 確かめる (tashikameru)
Peter: To ascertain. Example sentence, please.
Yoshi: 飛行機の出発時間を確かめる。(Hikōki no shuppatsu jikan o tashikameru.)
Peter: To confirm a flight’s departure time. Next we have
Natsuko: 曲がる (magaru)
Peter: To turn, to bend.
Natsuko: (slow) まがる (magaru) (natural speed) 曲がる (magaru)
Peter: Again you have to get the meaning through context. As we said in the definition, to turn, to bend. So please listen to the following two sentences.
Natsuko: あの角を右に曲がります。(Ano kado o migi ni magarimasu.)
Peter: To turn right at that corner. So you can tell from that sentence, the context that here it means to turn because we are talking about a corner and turning in a direction. Now if you’ve seen my picture,
Yoshi: ピーターの鼻が曲がっている。(Pītā no hana ga magatte iru.)
Peter: Peter’s nose is crooked. Thanks, Yoshi-san. Ah yes, Yoshi-san definitely has the best example sentences. Now here it’s in a state of being bent. So it represents the state but again, you have to judge from the context of the sentence which meaning 曲がる (magaru) takes, as the Chinese character is the same. Next we have
Yoshi: 単純 (tanjun)
Peter: Simple.
Yoshi: (slow) たんじゅん (tanjun) (natural speed) 単純 (tanjun)
Peter: This is made up of two characters. The first character means
Natsuko: Single.
Peter: Second character
Yoshi: Pure.
Peter: And I think of it as the single most pure thing, the simplest thing and what kind of adjective is this?
Peter: Na-adjective.
Peter: So when placing this adjective in front of a noun, you need to put a な (na) in between the two. Okay, with that said, one quick thing we want to look at in the dialogue. When the winner of rock, paper, scissors proclaims his victory, he says to his friend,
Yoshi: お前いつも出すの一緒だよな。(Omae itsumo dasu no issho da yo na.)
Peter: He refers to his friend as
Yoshi: お前 (omae)
Peter: We’ve been emphasizing this since we’ve been teaching informal Japanese. This is – Natsuko-san, what would you say about using this to address somebody else?
Natsuko: They should be really close friends.
Peter: Really, really close friends. Even if you are really close friends, be sure that all the politeness levels are there because this is a very, very strong way to refer to someone.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Fighting words.
Natsuko: You don’t usually use it on someone in a higher position than you.
Peter: Yeah, or to a stranger.
Natsuko: No.
Peter: Because it could result in some serious consequences but again we say that when you are in your intimate circle that you can use these things because you are that good a friends but again you have to feel the situation out and even I’ve been in Japan for a long time and even with my close friends, I don’t use this. It has to do – some of my friends are a bit older than me. I had a friend who is the same age as me and we were extremely close friends and なつ (Natsu) I use this with.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Again there are certain things and if you are not completely 100% sure about using this, we recommend – really kind of insist you, don’t attempt it.
Natsuko: Yes.
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Peter: Unless you have guidance from a very good friend who is going to help you through this. Okay, now on to today’s grammar point. Today’s grammar point is class 1 informal volitional. Now Natsuko-san, yesterday we covered class 2.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Class 1 is formed by replacing the う (u) column with the
Natsuko: お (o)
Peter: Column and attaching
Natsuko: う (u)
Peter: So it’s almost like you are dropping the respective お (o) column hiragana in between the original dictionary form.
Natsuko: Ah I see, yeah.
Peter: Now to explain this best, let’s take the verb to meet.
Natsuko: 会う (au)
Peter: This ends in
Natsuko: う (u)
Peter: Now this is the う (u) column. We replace this with
Natsuko: お (o)
Peter: So now we have
Natsuko: あお (ao)
Peter: And then to that we attach
Natsuko: う (u)
Peter: And it becomes
Natsuko: 会おう (aō)

Outro

Peter: And that’s how you form the informal volitional with class 1 verbs. Again inside the PDF, we are going to have a big write up about this. In addition, the second to last sentence has a little bit of complex grammar in there, which we’re also going to cover in the PDF. So you want to stop by and pick up the PDF. A big explanation in there plus inside the learning center, quizzes, contents, lots more to bring it all together. That’s going to do it for today.
Natsuko: じゃあ、また明日ね。(Jā, mata ashita ne.)
Yoshi: またね。(Mata ne.)

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