Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Intro

Jessi: Hi everyone, ジェシーです (Jeshī desu)。Jessi here!
Motoko: こんにちは (Kon'nichiwa)、Motokoです (desu)。
Jessi: Going to Japan by Way of Mexico. Thanks for joining us again for the Absolute Beginner Season 2 series. All right, so in the last lesson, we learned how to ask how much something is.
Motoko: Yes, we learned いくらですか (ikura desu ka)。 How much is it?
Jessi: That's right. And in this lesson, we'll learn how to ask when someone is going somewhere. For example, when are you going to Japan?
Motoko: Yes. Jessi, what's happening in the conversation?
Jessi: Taylor and Kaori are still talking on Skype, and they'll be talking about Taylor's upcoming trip.
Motoko: Okay! Let's listen to the conversation.
Dialogue
かおり:いつ にほん に きますか。
Kaori: Itsu Nihon ni kimasu ka.
テイラー:6がつです。メキシコ と にほん に いきます。
Taylor: Roku-gatsu desu. Mekishiko to Nihon ni ikimasu.
かおり:メキシコ?
Kaori: Mekishiko?
テイラー:はい。いもうと の けっこんしき に いきます。そのあと、にほん に いきます。
Taylor: Hai. Imōto no kekkonshiki ni ikimasu. Sono ato, Nihon ni ikimasu.
かおり:あー!
Kaori: Aa!
Jessi: Let’s listen to the conversation again slowly.
かおり:いつ にほん に きますか。
Kaori: Itsu Nihon ni kimasu ka.
テイラー:6がつです。メキシコ と にほん に いきます。
Taylor: Roku-gatsu desu. Mekishiko to Nihon ni ikimasu.
かおり:メキシコ?
Kaori: Mekishiko?
テイラー:はい。いもうと の けっこんしき に いきます。そのあと、にほん に いきます。
Taylor: Hai. Imōto no kekkonshiki ni ikimasu. Sono ato, Nihon ni ikimasu.
かおり:あー!
Kaori: Aa!
Jessi: Now let’s listen to it with the translation.
かおり:いつ にほん に きますか。
Kaori: Itsu Nihon ni kimasu ka.
Jessi: When are you coming to Japan?
テイラー:6がつです。
Taylor: Roku-gatsu desu.
Jessi: June.
テイラー:メキシコ と にほん に いきます。
Taylor: Mekishiko to Nihon ni ikimasu.
Jessi: I'm going to Mexico and Japan.
かおり:メキシコ?
Kaori: Mekishiko?
Jessi: Mexico?
テイラー:はい。
Taylor: Hai.
Jessi: Yes.
テイラー:いもうと の けっこんしき に いきます。
Taylor: Imōto no kekkonshiki ni ikimasu.
Jessi: I'm going to my younger sister's wedding.
テイラー: そのあと、にほん に いきます。
Taylor: Sono ato, Nihon ni ikimasu.
Jessi: After that, I'm going to Japan.
かおり:あー!
Kaori: Ā!
Jessi: Ahh!
Vocabulary and Phrase Usage
Jessi: Taylor's going to Mexico AND Japan! That sounds like the best trip...
Motoko: Yeah! He'll be really, really, busy.
Jessi: First, he'll be going to Mexico...
Motoko: In Japanese, メキシコ (Mekishiko)
Jessi: and after that, Japan!
Motoko: In Japanese, 日本(にほん) (Nihon).
Jessi: He'll be going to Mexico for his sister's wedding, right?
Motoko: そうです (Sō desu)。 Right. His younger sister's wedding.
Jessi: After he said that, Kaori said あー (ā)! as she had just remembered.
Mtoko: Yes, I think maybe she forgot...
Jessi: Right, Taylor had actually told her that he was going to Mexico before, but it looks like it may have slipped her mind. Okay, so, Kaori asks him when he'll be going. Let's review the word for when.
Motoko: いつ (itsu)
Jessi: いつ (Itsu), when. We'll be using this one a lot later in the lesson, so keep it in mind.
Motoko: Jessi, where can the listeners review more question words?
Jessi: Oh, good question! We've put a list of more question words in the PDF, so please check that out to review!
Motoko: Let's talk about months.
Jessi: Yes, how to say the months.
Motoko: Do you remember numbers 1 to 10?
Jessi: We hope so, because if you know these, it makes the names of the months super easy. Motoko, how do we form the names of the months?!
Motoko: You take the number of the month, and then add がつ (gatsu).
Jessi: Number of the month, plus がつ (gatsu). For example?
Motoko: For example, January is one, いち (Ichi), plus がつ (gatsu). 1月(いちがつ) (ichi-gatsu).
Jessi: 1月(いちがつ) (ichi-gatsu])。 January. Okay, let's go through the rest of the months. February is...
Motoko: 2月(にがつ) (ni-gatsu)
Jessi: March is...
Motoko: 3月(さんがつ) (san-gatsu)
Jessi: April is...
Motoko: 4月(しがつ) (shi-gatsu)
Jessi: May is...
Motoko:  5月(ごがつ) (go-gatsu)
Jessi: June is...
Motoko:  6月(ろくがつ) (roku-gatsu)
Jessi: July is...
Motoko:  7月(しちがつ) (shichi-gatsu)
Jessi: August is...
Motoko:  8月(はちがつ) (hachi-gatsu)
Jessi: September is...
Motoko:  9月(くがつ) (ku-gatsu])
Jessi: October is...
Motoko: 10月(じゅうがつ) (jū-gatsu])
Jessi: November is...
Motoko:  11月(じゅういちがつ) ([jū-ichi-gatsu)
Jessi: And December is...
Motoko:  12月(じゅうにがつ) ([jū-ni-gatsu)
Jessi: Okay, great. Now, there are three irregular numbers. If you remember when we learned how to tell time, the numbers that were irregular then are also irregular here.
Motoko: Yes. Four becomes し、しがつ (shi, shi-gatsu). Seven becomes しち, しちがつ (shichi, shichi-gatsu)。 Nine becomes く, くがつ (ku, ku-gatsu)。
Jessi: So again, our pattern is number, plus がつ (gatsu) to create the names of the months. To see this list again, take a look at the Lesson Notes for this lesson. All right; let's move onto the lesson.
Grammar Point
Jessi: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask when someone is going somewhere.
Motoko: We will use the word いつ (itsu), meaning "when".
Jessi: Yes, remember that いつ (itsu) is a question word that means "when".
Motoko: There are two more words I want to review.
Jessi: Okay, what are those?
Motoko: Two verbs. The first is 行(い)きます (ikimasu)
Jessi: 行(い)きます (ikimasu)。 This is a verb that means "to go".
Motoko: [slowly] 行(い)きます (ikimasu)
Jessi: And the next?
Motoko: 来(き)ます (kimasu)
Jessi: 来(き)ます (kimasu)。 And this is a verb that means "to come". It sounds very similar to いきます (ikimasu), doesn't it?
Motoko: Yes, this one is slightly shorter. 来(き)ます (kimasu)
Jessi: [slowly] 来(き)ます (kimasu).
Motoko: Hey Jessi, let's talk about the difference between "coming" and "going".
Jessi: Ahhh, good idea! Listeners, have you ever thought about the difference in meaning between these two verbs? In Japanese, there is actually a big difference. For 行(い)きます (ikimasu), to go, you are talking about someone “going” somewhere. That movement is away from the current location of the speaker. 来(き)ます (kimasu), to come, is used when someone is coming to the current location of the speaker. It will make a lot of sense once we look at some examples.
Motoko: I think so. Let's look at our 2 patterns. The first one is いつ (Itsu) [place] に行(い)きますか (ni ikimasu ka)。
Jessi: [slowly] いつ (itsu) [place] に行(い)きますか (ni ikimasu ka)。So, if you are asking someone this directly, it means "When are you going to [place]?"
Motoko: Right. Let's put a place name in there.
Jessi: How about... 東京(とうきょう) (Tōkyō), which is Tokyo? So, if I were to put 東京(とうきょう) (Tōkyō) into the pattern, it would be...?
Motoko: いつ東京(とうきょう)に行(い)きますか。 (Itsu Tōkyō ni ikimasu ka.)
Jessi: Let's break this down.
Motoko: いつ (Itsu) (Jessi - when) とうきょう (Tōkyō) (Jessi - Tokyo) にいきますか (ni ikimasu ka)。 (are you going?)
Jessi: Listeners, repeat after Motoko. When are you going to Tokyo?
Motoko: いつ東京(とうきょう)に行(い)きますか。 (Itsu Tōkyō ni ikimasu ka.)
[pause]
Jessi: Okay, excellent. Now, let's use our other verb to ask "When are you coming to [place]?"
Motoko: Sounds good. That would be... いつ (itsu) [place] に来(き)ますか (ni kimasu ka)。
Jessi: [slowly] いつ (itsu) [place] に来(き)ますか (ni kimasu ka)。So, if you are asking someone this directly, it means "When are you coming to [place]?" So, for example, let's pretend Motoko is in the US, and she's asking me "When are you coming to the US?" That would be...
Motoko: いつアメリカに来(き)ますか。(Itsu Amerika ni ki masu ka.)
Jessi: Let's break this down.
Motoko: いつ (Itsu) (Jessi - when) アメリカ (Amerika) (Jessi - the US) にきますか (ni kimasu ka)。 (are you coming?)
Jessi: Listeners, repeat after Motoko. When are you coming to the US?
Motoko: いつアメリカに来(き)ますか。 (Itsu Amerika ni kimasu ka.)
[pause]
Jessi: Okay, now let's take a look at the examples in the dialogue.
Motoko: Kaori is in Japan, so she asked Taylor - いつ にほん に きますか (Itsu Nihon ni kimasu ka)。
Jessi: When are you coming to Japan? Yes, notice how it's 来(き)ます (kimasu) because Kaori is already in Japan.
Motoko: That's right.
Jessi: Okay listeners, are you ready to try one? It's time for you to make a sentence. Imagine that you are speaking with an acquaintance that you know is going to Canada, and you want to ask them when they're going.
Motoko: How do you say "When are you going to Canada?" Remember that the pattern is いつ (itsu) [place] に行(い)きますか (ni ikimasu ka)。
Jessi: And here's a hint: Canada is カナダ (Kanada).
[pause]
Jessi: Okay, the answer is?
Motoko: いつカナダに行(い)きますか。 (Itsu Kanada ni ikimasu ka.)
Jessi: いつカナダに行(い)きますか。 (Itsu Kanada ni ikimasu ka.) Listeners, please repeat.
Motoko: いつカナダに行(い)きますか。 (Itsu Kanada ni ikimasu ka.)
[pause]

Outro

Jessi: All right, sounding good everyone. How did you find this lesson?
Motoko: Be sure to read the Lesson Notes if you need more help.
Jessi: Also, feel free to ask us if you have any questions! Okay; that's going to do it for this lesson. Thanks for listening!
Motoko: じゃまた。 (Ja mata.)

Grammar

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