Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Chigusa: おはよう、ミネソタ。ちぐさです。(Ohayō, Minesota. Chigusa desu.)
Yoshi: おはよう、ミネソタ。ヨシです。(Ohayō, Minesota. Yoshi desu.)
Peter: Peter here. Beginner lesson #114. All right, we are back with Yoshi-san and Chigusa-san and more informal Japanese. So Yoshi-san, what do you think of yesterday’s conversation on a scale of usefulness?
Yoshi: Ten.
Peter: Well let me just tell you. We are back again with another useful lesson. Now today, we are going to be looking, again, at informal Japanese. The type of Japanese you use among your intimate circle and again that intimate circle will include family members, good friends, boyfriends, girlfriends and other close acquaintances. Again, no concrete rules, kind of give and feel situation but you know what I noticed Yoshi-san, foreigners have a lot more leeway if we make a mistake with the different levels of politeness.
Yoshi: Yes.
Peter: But be careful. That’s not always the case. I have brought people the wrong way by using the wrong level of politeness. So you always want to make sure when in doubt, just always go with the polite Japanese. A good sign is if someone tells you, ah don’t worry about it. Speak informal Japanese. Today’s conversation is a conversation between two co-workers who are good friends both inside and outside the office. Now they are talking about a festival. Again we have the girls first and the guys later. Please listen for the difference between the same conversation. Again same conversation just between two guys and two girls. So listen to the conversations and see what you can pick up. With that said, here we go.
DIALOGUE
(女性形) (Joseikei)
1: 昨日何で麻布十番祭りに来なかったの? (Kinō nande Azabu Jū-ban matsuri ni konakatta no?)
2: 昨日は会社にずっといたの。(Kinō wa kaisha ni zutto ita no.)
1: 日曜日なのに。(Nichi-yōbi na noni.)
2: うん。最近忙しいの。お祭りはどうだった?(Un. Saikin isogashii no. O-matsuri wa dō datta?)
1: すごかったよ。人が多くて食べ物がおいしくて、夏なのに雪の彫刻まであってびっくりした。(Sugokatta yo. Hito ga ōkute tabemono ga oishikute, natsu na noni yuki no chōkoku made atte bikkuri shita.)
2: 雪の彫刻?(Yuki no chōkoku?)
1: うん。戌年だから、犬の形だったよ。(Un. Inudoshi da kara, inu no katachi datta yo.)
2: すごいね。行きたかったな。残念。(Sugoi ne. Ikitakatta na. Zannen.)
Chigusa: 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.)
(女性形) (Joseikei)
1: 昨日何で麻布十番祭りに来なかったの? (Kinō nande Azabu Jū-ban matsuri ni konakatta no?)
2: 昨日は会社にずっといたの。(Kinō wa kaisha ni zutto ita no.)
1: 日曜日なのに?(Nichi-yōbi na noni?)
2: うん。最近忙しいの。お祭りはどうだった?(Un. Saikin isogashii no. O-matsuri wa dō datta?)
1: すごかったよ。人が多くて食べ物がおいしくて、夏なのに雪の彫刻まであってびっくりした。(Sugokatta yo. Hito ga ōkute tabemono ga oishikute, natsu na noni yuki no chōkoku made atte bikkuri shita.)
2: 雪の彫刻?(Yuki no chōkoku?)
1: うん。戌年だから、犬の形だったよ。(Un. Inudoshi da kara, inu no katachi datta yo.)
2: すごいね。行きたかったな。残念。(Sugoi ne. Ikitakatta na. Zannen.)
(男性形) (Danseikei)
1: 昨日何で麻布十番祭りに来なかったの?(Kinō nande Azabu Jū-ban matsuri ni konakatta no?)
2: 昨日はずっと会社にいたから。(Kinō wa zutto kaisha ni ita kara.)
1: 日曜日なのに?(Nichi-yōbi na noni?)
2: うん。最近忙しくて。お祭りはどうだった?(Un. Saikin isogashikute. O-matsuri wa dō datta?)
1: すごかったよ。人が多くて食べ物がうまくて、夏なのに雪の彫刻まであって。(Sugokatta yo. Hito ga ōkute tabemono ga umakute, natsu na noni yuki no chōkoku made atte.)
2: 雪の彫刻?マジで?(Yuki no chōkoku? Maji de?)
1: うん。戌年だから、犬の形だったよ。(Un. Inudoshi da kara, inu no katachi datta yo.)
2: すごいね。行きたかったな。残念。(Sugoi ne. Ikitakatta na. Zannen.)
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.)
(男性形) (Danseikei)
1: 昨日何で麻布十番祭りに来なかったの?(Kinō nande Azabu Jū-ban matsuri ni konakatta no?)
2: 昨日はずっと会社にいたから。(Kinō wa zutto kaisha ni ita kara.)
1: 日曜日なのに?(Nichi-yōbi na noni?)
2: うん。最近忙しくて。お祭りはどうだった?(Un. Saikin isogashikute. O-matsuri wa dō datta?)
1: すごかったよ。人が多くて食べ物がうまくて、夏なのに雪の彫刻まであって。(Sugokatta yo. Hito ga ōkute tabemono ga umakute, natsu na noni yuki no chōkoku made atte.)
2: 雪の彫刻?マジで?(Yuki no chōkoku? Maji de?)
1: うん。戌年だから、犬の形だったよ。(Un. Inudoshi da kara, inu no katachi datta yo.)
2: すごいね。行きたかったな。残念。(Sugoi ne. Ikitakatta na. Zannen.)
Yoshi: 次は、英語が入ります。(Tsugi wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.)
(女性形)
(Feminine) (Joseikei)
1: 昨日何で麻布十番祭りに来なかったの?(Kinō nande Azabu Jū-ban matsuri ni konakatta no?)
1:Why didn't you come to the Azabu Ju-ban festival last night?
2: 昨日は会社にずっといたの。(Kinō wa kaisha ni zutto ita no.)
2: I was at the office all day yesterday.
1: 日曜日なのに?(Nichi-yōbi na noni?)
1: But it was Sunday.
2: うん。最近忙しいの。(Un. Saikin isogashii no.)
2: Yeah, I'm busy these days.
2: お祭りはどうだった?(O-matsuri wa dō datta?)
2: How was the festival?
1: すごかったよ。(Sugokatta yo.)
1: It was great!
1: 人が多くて食べ物がおいしくて、(Hito ga ōkute tabemono ga oishikute,)
1: Lots of people, great food...
1: 夏なのに雪の彫刻まであってびっくりした。(natsu na noni yuki no chōkoku made atte bikkuri shita.)
1: they even had snow sculptures in the summer. I was surprised!
2: 雪の彫刻?(Yuki no chōkoku?)
2: Snow sculptures?
1: うん。戌年だから、犬の形だったよ。(Un. Inudoshi da kara, inu no katachi datta yo.)
1: Yeah, this year was the year of the dog so they had dog snow sculptures.
2: すごいね。行きたかったな。残念。(Sugoi ne. Ikitakatta na. Zannen.)
2: Wow, that sounds great. I wanted to go. It's too bad.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Peter: Natsuko-san, let’s ask Yoshi-san what he thought of today’s conversation?
Natsuko: ヨシさん、今日の会話どう思いましたか。(Yoshi-san, kyō no kaiwa dō omoimashita ka.)
Yoshi: お祭りが楽しそうですね。(O-matsuri ga tanoshisō desu ne.)
Natsuko: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.)
Peter: Yoshi-san, translation please.
Yoshi: The festival sounded like fun.
Peter: And what festival were we talking about?
Natsuko: 麻布十番祭り (Azabu Jū-ban matsuri)
Peter: Break that down first. What’s the location?
Natsuko: 麻布十番 (Azabu Jū-ban)
Peter: And where is this place?
Natsuko: It’s in 港区 (Minato-ku).
Peter: Part of Tokyo, right?
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Located nearby is a famous expat part of Tokyo, right?
Natsuko: Yes, it’s near 六本木 (Roppongi).
Peter: And what’s it famous for? Anything in particular I know there are a lot of embassies there.
Natsuko: Oh yes, I know a great 蕎麦屋 (sobaya) there.
Peter: Really?
Natsuko: Uhoo. It’s the very traditional 蕎麦屋 (sobaya) in Tokyo and it tastes great.
Peter: And they have fresh Wasabi, right?
Natsuko: Yes, and also かきあげ (kakiage).
Peter: What’s that?
Natsuko: It’s a type of 天ぷら (tenpura).
Peter: Oh it sounds good. So you are going to take us there after the show?
Natsuko: Ah….
Peter: I will think that is a yes.
Natsuko: Umm….
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Peter: Can you break the location down for us?
Natsuko: (slow)あざぶじゅうばん (Azabu Jū-ban) (natural speed) 麻布十番 (Azabu Jū-ban)
Peter: And the word for festival is
Natsuko: 祭り (matsuri)
Peter: So usually the location or the name of the festival followed by the word for festival. Can you break the word down?
Natsuko: (slow)まつり (matsuri) (natural speed) 祭り (matsuri)
Peter: Next we have
Yoshi: 雪の彫刻 (yuki no chōkoku)
Peter: Two words in here and a possessive particle. First word is
Yoshi: 雪 (yuki)
Peter: Snow. Break it down.
Yoshi: (slow)ゆき (yuki) (natural speed) 雪 (yuki)
Peter: Snow in the summer. How did that work out? I think this next word will tell us.
Natsuko: 彫刻 (chōkoku)
Peter: Sculpture.
Natsuko: (slow)ちょうこく (chōkoku) (natural speed) 彫刻 (chōkoku)
Peter: So we have the word for sculpture. What verb is this paired with?
Natsuko: 彫る (horu)
Peter: Break it down.
Natsuko: (slow)ほる (horu) (natural speed) 彫る (horu)
Peter: Any others?
Natsuko: 刻む (kizamu)
Peter: Break it down.
Natsuko: (slow)きざむ (kizamu) (natural speed) 刻む (kizamu)
Peter: So we would have
Natsuko: 彫刻を彫る (chōkoku o horu)
Peter: To carve a sculpture.
Natsuko: 彫刻を刻む (chōkoku o kizamu)
Peter: To sculpt a sculpture. Yoshi-san, what’s the word for sculpture?
Yoshi: 彫刻家 (chōkokuka)
Peter: The last character is actually
Yoshi: It means house.
Peter: Again we take the word for sculpture, we attach the character for house which is
Yoshi: 彫刻家 (chōkokuka)
Peter: Sculpture. Next we have
Natsuko: 戌年 (inudoshi)
Peter: Year of the Dog.
Natsuko: (slow)いぬどし (inudoshi) (natural speed) 戌年 (inudoshi)
Peter: Again taken from the Chinese zodiac. Now what we want to point out here is, Natsuko-san, what’s the word for Year?
Natsuko: 年 (toshi)
Peter: But the pronunciation is modified to
Natsuko: どし (doshi)
Peter: And we have
Natsuko: 戌年 (inudoshi)
Peter: Now as we said in the previous JCC, during the festival, they play up whatever year it is. As it’s the Year of the Dog, some festivals have different kinds of things showing this. I went to a festival and they actually had a float of a dog, a huge float.
Natsuko: Oh yes. That will be gorgeous.
Peter: Well I am a dog lover. So it was really nice. Finally we have
Yoshi: 残念 (zannen)
Peter: Regrettable.
Yoshi: (slow)ざんねん (zannen) (natural speed) 残念 (zannen)
Peter: This expression is used as it’s too bad. In many, many cases, that’s too bad.
Natsuko: This phrase is sometimes used as unfortunate like you know, unfortunately I couldn’t go.
Peter: So it has meanings depending on the context.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: For example, if Yoshi-san failed the test.
Natsuko: それは残念でしたね。(Sore wa zannen deshita ne.)
Peter: That’s too bad. The literal translation is “that was regrettable” but when we interpret it, it can be interpreted as that’s too bad. I wasn’t on time for the bus.
Natsuko: 残念!(Zannen!)
Peter: Too bad. That’s a shame. That’s regrettable.

Lesson focus

Peter: Okay, now let’s take a look at the difference. Yesterday we ran really long with the differences between the guys and the girls. So today, going line by line. So today we are just going to pull the different parts between the dialogues. Again the intonation, you can hear. The girls speak much clearer and higher. The guys speak much lower. Yoshi-san speaks a bit high but if you listen to Jun. Jun speaks pretty low. Try to pick up the difference between the voice actors. We have four voice actors in there. In yesterday’s conversation, we talked about うん (un). You see both male and female speakers using this. We are going to go over five points that differ between the male and female conversations. Natsuko-san, what’s the first one?
Natsuko: 昨日はずっと会社にいたの。(Kinō wa zutto kaisha ni ita no.)
Peter: Is what the female speaker said and in the sentence with の (no). Here the male speaker chose.
Yoshi: 昨日はずっと会社にいたから。(Kinō wa zutto kaisha ni ita kara.)
Peter: So Natsuko-san, what’s the main difference here?
Natsuko: The point is the ending の (no), that’s usually used by girls and men doesn’t usually use this phrase.
Peter: In a statement, right?
Natsuko: Yes. So that’s why in the boy’s conversation, he said ずっと会社にいたから (zutto kaisha ni ita kara), but that expression is also used by girls.
Peter: So the girls have the option to use either/or and the guy would not use の (no) at the end of a statement.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: In most cases.
Natsuko: Yes, in most cases.
Peter: And here is the thing. If you are using it at the end of questions, it’s all right but here again, it is a statement.
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: So you will hear guys use
Yoshi: の (no)
Peter: At the end of questions. Yoshi-san, can you give us a few examples?
Yoshi: どこにいるの?(Doko ni iru no?)
Peter: Where are you?
Yoshi: 何するの?(Nani suru no?)
Peter: What will you do? So it’s all right for guys to use
Yoshi: の (no)
Peter: At the end of questions but Yoshi-san, what about using
Yoshi: の (no)
Peter: At the end of statements.
Yoshi: It sounds a little too feminine for guys.
Peter: And that’s the key point. Next we have, next difference, Yoshi-san?
Yoshi: 最近忙しくて。(Saikin isogashikute.)
Peter: Female speaker said.
Natsuko: 最近忙しいの。(Saikin isogashii no.)
Peter: Natsuko-san, again this alludes to what you said previously.
Natsuko: Yes, the same thing. の (no) ending.
Peter: In a statement.
Natsuko: In a statement.
Peter: So to sidestep this, the male speaker ends the statement in
Yoshi: て (te)
Peter: Te-form. Okay, next we have point #3.
Natsuko: 人が多くて食べ物がおいしくて (hito ga ōkute tabemono ga oishikute)
Peter: There were many people and the food was delicious. Natsuko-san, what word did you use for delicious?
Natsuko: おいしくて (oishikute)
Peter: Yoshi-san?
Yoshi: 人が多くて食べ物がうまくて (hito ga ōkute tabemono ga umakute)
Peter: What word did you just use for delicious?
Yoshi: うまくて (umakute)
Peter: The te-form of
Yoshi: うまい (umai)
Peter: So another difference is girls may tend. Again, this word is used by both but we are going with the tendencies and the frequency of use. So girls more frequently would use
Natsuko: おいしい (oishii)
Peter: Where guys in informal situations would use
Yoshi: うまい (umai)
Peter: Now again this isn’t always the case. Guys can use
Natsuko: おいしい (oishii)
Peter: And the girls can use
Yoshi: うまい (umai)
Peter: But we are just going with the frequency. Now if you are in a business meeting, if you are in a formal situation, you are probably better off sticking with
Natsuko: おいしい (oishii)
Peter: For both cases. Fourth point. Yoshi-san, what did you add in?
Yoshi: マジで?(Maji de?)
Peter: Serious as in are you serious? In here we have a word and a particle. The particle is
Yoshi: で (de)
Peter: The word being
Yoshi: マジ (maji)
Peter: Meaning serious and this is taken from, Natsuko-san?
Natsuko: 真面目 (majime)
Peter: Now.
Yoshi: マジで (maji de)
Peter: When used in this context, while the word means serious, the intonation says serious as in are you serious? Asking a question. Hence when you hear
Yoshi: マジで?(Maji de?)
Peter: Are you serious or really? Now again this is used by both males and females.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: So it just happened that our male speaker wanted to interject this into the conversation to give it a more natural feel. If the female was to use this, absolutely no problem. Right, Natsuko-san?
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: And last we had the male speaker left off.
Natsuko: びっくりした。(Bikkuri shita.)
Peter: Now the last two things we pointed out aren’t gender specific. Natsuko-san,
Natsuko: So this is only one of many patterns.
Peter: Yeah, we are just giving you a taste and a feel but hopefully what we are doing is we are showing you details so that when you see it in use in anime, in movies, in conversations going around you, you can pick it up. There aren’t too many set rules and it’s kind of, you have to feel your way around.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: What we want to do is give you as much exposure as possible.

Outro

Peter: All right, with that said, a long day again. We will see you tomorrow. Stop by japanesepod101.com and get the PDF. Stop by the learning center and be sure to leave us a post.
Natsuko: じゃあ、また明日ね。(Jā, mata ashita ne.)
Yoshi: またね。(Mata ne.)

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