Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Introduction
Jessi: Can You Take My Japanese Order? ジェシーです。(Jeshii desu.) Jessi here.
Naomi: こんにちは!なおみです。(Kon'nichi wa! Naomi desu.) Naomi here and thanks again for being here with us for this Absolute Beginner Lesson.
Jessi: In the last lesson, we learned how to say "Excuse me" and "I'm sorry." One phrase covered them both!
Naomi: Yes, and that phrase was すみません (sumimasen). Jessi, what are we going to learn in this lesson?
Jessi: In this lesson, which is the last of the five Introduction lessons, you'll learn how to ask for something in Japanese.
Naomi: Like, if you're at a restaurant, and want to say "Can I get a menu?"
Jessi: Or "Can I get some water?" It's actually really easy to say.
Naomi: You will hear a short conversation at a restaurant.
Jessi: It takes place between a customer and a waiter. Okay, let's listen in.

Lesson conversation

客:すみません!メニュー、おねがいします。(Sumimasen! Menyū, onegai shimasu.)
店員:はい。 (Hai.)
客:すみません、みず、おねがいします。 (Sumimasen, mizu, onegai shimasu.)
店員:はい。 (Hai.)
客:すみません、ちゅうもん、おねがいします。 (Sumimasen, chūmon, onegai shimasu.)
店員:はーい。 (Hāi.)
客:すみません!メニュー、おねがいします。(Sumimasen! Menyū, onegai shimasu.)
店員:はい。 (Hai.)
客:すみません、みず、おねがいします。 (Sumimasen, mizu, onegai shimasu.)
店員:はい。 (Hai.)
客:すみません、ちゅうもん、おねがいします。 (Sumimasen, chūmon, onegai shimasu.)
店員:はーい。 (Hāi.)
English Host: Now let’s listen to it with the translation.
客:すみません!メニュー、おねがいします。(Sumimasen! Menyū, onegai shimasu.)
Jessi: Excuse me, can I get a menu?
店員:はい。 (Hai.)
Jessi: Sure.
客:すみません、みず、おねがいします。 (Sumimasen, mizu, onegai shimasu.)
Jessi: Excuse me, can I get some water?
店員:はい。 (Hai.)
Jessi: Sure.
客:すみません、ちゅうもん、おねがいします。 (Sumimasen, chūmon, onegai shimasu.)
Jessi: Excuse me, can you take my order?
店員:はーい。 (Hāi.)
Jessi: Sure!

Lesson focus

Jessi: It sounds like the waiter is having a bit of a tough time with that table...
Naomi: She has to keep going back. The customer kept saying すみません~ (sumimasen~) すみません~ (sumimasen~).
Jessi: Listeners, you remember this, right? From the last lesson? One of the meanings of すみません (sumimasen) is "excuse me." So, "Excuse me, excuse me, can I get some help here?" Kind of like that.
Naomi: Right. Okay. So let's look at what he asked for.
Jessi: The first new word is...
Naomi: メニュー (Menyū)
Jessi: Menu. If it sounds exactly the same, that's because it is! You'll find that a lot of words in Japanese come straight from English. Just like this one.
Naomi: Just, the pronunciation might be different.
Jessi: Right. In most cases, it will be very different. But in this case...
Naomi: メニュー (Menyū)
Jessi: メニュー (Menyū) sounds just like "menu". And the next word?
Naomi: 水 (mizu).
Jessi: 水 (mizu) is "water," and after that...?
Naomi: 注文 (chūmon).
Jessi: 注文 (chūmon) is "order." Don't worry about trying to memorize all these now. Just keep them in the back of your brain. We'll be using them in the next section.
Naomi: There's one more word I want to cover.
Jessi: The one the waiter kept saying, right?
Naomi: Yes! That word is はい!(Hai!)
Jessi: はい!(Hai!) We talked about this in the last lesson where it was almost like a question - はい? (Hai?) Yes? This time it's just a straightforward "yes" or "sure."

Lesson focus

Jessi: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask for something in Japanese.
Naomi: There's one phrase you will learn for that in this lesson.
Jessi: And you actually already know it! Do you remember the phrase you learned when introducing yourself? The one you say at the end after your name?
Naomi: よろしくお願いします。(Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.)
Jessi: That's it! よろしく お願いします.(Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) That second part, お願いします (onegai shimasu), is what we'll be using today.
Naomi: On its own, you can think of it as meaning "please."
Jessi: Yes, as in "menu please", "water please", and so on. Okay so Naomi, what is the formation?
Naomi: Very simple. Just say the item you want and add お願いします (onegai shimasu).
Jessi: So that's item plus お願いします (onegai shimasu)
Naomi: Exactly.
Jessi: So like we had in the dialogue...
Naomi: メニューお願いします (menyū onegai shimasu)
Jessi: Literally, "menu please". In more natural English we'd say "Can I get a menu?" And the next one?
Naomi: 水お願いします (mizu onegai shimasu)
Jessi: "Can I get some water?" Let's practice those, shall we?
Naomi: Okay!
Jessi: Repeat after Naomi. Can I get a menu?
Naomi: メニューお願いします (menyū onegai shimasu)
[Pause]
Jessi: And now, can I get some water?
Naomi: 水お願いします (mizu o onegai shimasu)
[Pause]
Jessi: Now, a menu and water are both physical objects. So you can use this お願いします (onegai shimasu) for actual tangible things. BUT you can also use it for not-so-tangible things.
Naomi: Ahh, like... a service.
Jessi: Right. Can you give us the example that we had in the dialogue?
Naomi: Sure. 注文お願いします (chūmon onegai shimasu).
Jessi: 注文 (chūmon) is order, and お願いします (onegai shimasu) is like “please.” So literally, it's like saying "Order please." You may think it means something like, "Can I have my order please?" But what it really means is, "Can you take my order please?"
Naomi: So you're asking them to do something.
Jessi: Yes. Quite handy, this お願いします (onegai shimasu).
Naomi: Okay, let's try a small roleplay!
Jessi: Okay! How about you and I first and then you with the listeners?
Naomi: Sounds good! I'll be the waitress.
Jessi: And I'll be the customer. Okay, I've just settled down in this nice looking restaurant, what do I want to eat... hmm? I don't see a menu. I better get the waitresses attention... あの...すみません~ (Ano… Sumimasen~)
Naomi: はい!(Hai!)
Jessi: メニューお願いします。(Menyū onegai shimasu.)
Naomi: はーい。 (Hāi.)
Jessi: Yay, I got my menu! Okay, listeners, your turn! You've just sat down at your table. First, get the attention of the waitress.
[Pause] (あの...)すみません
Naomi: はい!(Hai!)
Jessi: Ask the waitress for a menu.
[Pause] メニューお願いします (Menyū onegai shimasu.)
Naomi: はーい。 (Hāi.)
Jessi: Very nice! How about a small bonus one? Here comes Naomi with your menu. She hands it to you and you thank her by saying...?
[Pause]
Jessi: If you said...
Naomi: ありがとうございます! (Arigatō gozaimasu!)
Jessi: Give yourself an extra point.
Naomi: Thanks for listening! ありがとうございます!(Arigatō gozaimasu!)
Jessi: See you all next time!

Lesson conversation

客:すみません!メニュー、おねがいします。(Sumimasen! Menyū, onegai shimasu.)
店員:はい。 (Hai.)
客:すみません、みず、おねがいします。 (Sumimasen, mizu, onegai shimasu.)
店員:はい。 (Hai.)
客:すみません、ちゅうもん、おねがいします。 (Sumimasen, chūmon, onegai shimasu.)
店員:はーい。 (Hāi.)

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