Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Natsuko: おはよう、ヴィエンチャン。ナツコです。(Ohayō, Vienchan. Natsuko desu.)
Take: おはよう、ヴィエンチャン。タケです。(Ohayō, Vienchan. Take desu.)
Peter: Peter here. Beginner lesson #108. All right, Natsuko-san, today is our last episode.
Natsuko: For giving and receiving.
Peter: Verbs. Now today, we are going to introduce
Natsuko: てくれる (te kureru)
Peter: As always, first the conversation followed by a slow version, then conversation plus the translation. We are going to go over the vocab. Finally we are going to go over the grammar point in detail. Now what we want to do from yesterday on is we want to get you adjusted to the different politeness levels. Now today’s conversation is between two co-workers. Natsuko-san, how do we say that in Japanese?
Natsuko: 同僚 (dōryō)
Peter: So this is “co-workers.” Now, Natsuko-san, depending on their relationship, what kind of Japanese would you use?
Natsuko: They usually use polite Japanese among them but when they become very intimate in a private way, they might speak casual language to each other.
Peter: So for today’s conversation, what we are going to give you now is not such a close relationship. We are going to give you a conversation between two co-workers, a male and a female. Now the male had a date yesterday with a girl and now he wants to send an email, a text message to her. So he is asking another female co-worker for some advice. Now they are not that close. So Natsuko-san, what are we going to use?
Natsuko: Polite language.
Peter: With that said, let’s get into today’s lesson. Here we go.
DIALOGUE
たけ (Take) : ね、山野さん、ちょっと手伝ってくれませんか。(Ne, Yamano-san, chotto tetsudatte kuremasen ka.)
山野 (Yamano) : いいですよ。なんでしょうか。(Ii desu yo. Nan deshō ka.)
たけ (Take) : 昨日はひろこさんと初デートでした。今からメールを送りたいです。これはどうですか。(Kinō wa Hiroko-san to hatsu dēto deshita. Ima kara mēru o okuritai desu. Kore wa dō desu ka.)
「ひろこさん、やー、昨日はどうも!横浜は楽しかったです。じゃ、また。たけ」("Hiroko-san, yā, kinō wa dōmo! Yokohama wa tanoshikatta desu. Ja, mata. Take")
どう思いますか。(Dō omoimasu ka.)
山野 (Yamano) : う〜ん。何も言うことはありません。でも、これはどうですか。(Ūn. Nani mo iu koto wa arimasen. Demo, kore wa dō desu ka.)
「ひろこさん、昨日、一緒に横浜へ行ってくれてありがとうございました。ひろこさんのおかげで、昨日はすべてが輝いて見えました。また会いましょう。よろしくお願いします。たけより」("Hiroko-san, kinō, issho ni Yokohama e itte kurete arigatō gozaimashita. Hiroko-san no okage de, kinō wa subete ga kagayaite miemashita. Mata aimashō. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu. Take Yori")
たけ (Take) : さすが山野さん。(Sasuga Yamano-san.)
Natsuko: 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.)
たけ (Take) : ね、山野さん、ちょっと手伝ってくれませんか。(Ne, Yamano-san, chotto tetsudatte kuremasen ka.)
山野 (Yamano) : いいですよ。なんでしょうか。(Ii desu yo. Nan deshō ka.)
たけ (Take) : 昨日はひろこさんと初デートでした。今からメールを送りたいです。これはどうですか。(Kinō wa Hiroko-san to hatsu dēto deshita. Ima kara mēru o okuritai desu. Kore wa dō desu ka.)
「ひろこさん、やー、昨日はどうも!横浜は楽しかったです。じゃ、また。たけ」("Hiroko-san, yā, kinō wa dōmo! Yokohama wa tanoshikatta desu. Ja, mata. Take")
どう思いますか。(Dō omoimasu ka.)
山野 (Yamano) : 何も言うことはありません。でも、これはどうですか。(Nani mo iu koto wa arimasen. Demo, kore wa dō desu ka.)
「ひろこさん、昨日、一緒に横浜へ行ってくれてありがとうございました。ひろこさんのおかげで、昨日はすべてが輝いて見えました。また会いましょう。よろしくお願いします。たけより」("Hiroko-san, kinō, issho ni Yokohama e itte kurete arigatō gozaimashita. Hiroko-san no okage de, kinō wa subete ga kagayaite miemashita. Mata aimashō. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu. Take Yori")
たけ (Take) : さすが山野さん。(Sasuga Yamano-san.)
Take: 次は、ピーターさんの英語が入ります。(Tsugi wa, Pītā-san no Eigo ga hairimasu.)
たけ (Take) : ね、山野さん、ちょっと手伝ってくれませんか。(Ne, Yamano-san, chotto tetsudatte kuremasen ka.)
TAKE: Hey, Ms. Yamano, can you help me out a bit?
山野 (Yamano) : いいですよ。なんでしょうか。(Ii desu yo. Nan deshō ka.)
YAMANO: Okay. What is it?
たけ (Take) : 昨日はひろこさんと初デートでした。(Kinō wa Hiroko-san to hatsu dēto deshita.)
TAKE: Yesterday was my first date with Ms. Hiroko.
たけ (Take) : 今からメールを送りたいです。(Ima kara mēru o okuritai desu.)
TAKE: From now on, I want to send her a text message.
たけ (Take) : これはどうですか。(Kore wa dō desu ka.)
TAKE: How is this?
たけ (Take) : 「ひろこさん、やー、昨日はどうも!("Hiroko-san, yā, kinō wa dōmo!)
TAKE: "Hiroko, hey! Thanks for yesterday.
たけ (Take) : 横浜は楽しかったです。じゃ、また。たけ」(Yokohama wa tanoshikatta desu. Ja, mata. Take")
TAKE: Yokohama was fun. Alright, see ya! Take"
たけ (Take) : どう思いますか。(Dō omoimasu ka.)
TAKE: What do you think?
山野 (Yamano) : う〜ん。何も言うことはありません。(Ūn. Nani mo iu koto wa arimasen.)
YAMANO: I'm speechless.
山野 (Yamano) : でも、これはどうですか。(Demo, kore wa dō desu ka.)
YAMANO: But, how about this?
山野 (Yamano) : 「ひろこさん、昨日、一緒に横浜へ行ってくれてありがとうございました。("Hiroko-san, kinō, issho ni Yokohama e itte kurete arigatō gozaimashita.)
YAMANO: "Hiroko, thank you for accompanying me to Yokohama yesterday.
山野 (Yamano) : ひろこさんのおかげで、昨日はすべてが輝いて見えました。(Hiroko-san no
okagede, kinō wa subete ga kagayaite miemashita.)
YAMANO: Thanks to you, yesterday everything looked dazzling.
山野 (Yamano) : また会いましょう。よろしくお願いします。たけより」(Mata aimashō. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu. Take Yori")
YAMANO: Let's meet again. I'm looking forward to it. From Take"
たけ (Take) : さすが山野さん。(Sasuga Yamano-san.)
TAKE: Just as I expected, Ms. Yamano!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Peter: Natsuko-san, let’s ask Take-san what he thought of today’s lesson.
Natsuko: タケさん、今日の会話はどう思いましたか。(Take-san, kyō no kaiwa wa dō omoimashita ka.)
Take: タケさんはセンスがないんですね。(Take-san wa sensu ga nai n desu ne.)
Natsuko: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.)
Peter: English, please.
Natsuko: Take-san has no sense.
Peter: I can relate to you. It’s been said about me too quite often.
Natsuko: ピーターさんはセンスがないですね。(Pītā-san wa sensu ga nai desu ne.) Yes, I remember saying that very often.
Peter: Yeah. So it’s good to have you on my team.
Natsuko: Oh oh!
Jun: そういうことか。(Sō iu koto ka.)
Peter: With that said, let’s get on to today’s vocabulary. Here we go.
VOCAB LIST
Peter: Joining us for vocab today is
Chigusa: ちぐさです。(Chigusa desu.)
Peter: And
Jun: ジュンです。(Jun desu.)
Peter: All right. Now, today, we don’t have that many words, right Chigusa-san?
Chigusa: Right. Only two actually.
Peter: Just two but what we are going to do is take an in depth look at these two. Chigusa-san, what’s the first one?
Chigusa: 初 (hatsu)
Peter: First. Now this character is often found as the first kanji in a compound word. What we are going to do now is give you some examples. Chigusa-san, what’s the first one we have for everybody?
Chigusa: 初デート (hatsu dēto)
Peter: Now this was in the dialogue and it is
Chigusa: First date.
Peter: Wow, I can’t remember that far back. Following up on this topic, we have
Chigusa: 初恋 (hatsukoi)
Peter: First love. Break this down for us.
Chigusa: (slow)はつこい (hatsukoi) (natural speed) 初恋 (hatsukoi)
Peter: First love and the two kanji that make up this word. Of course, first we have
Chigusa: 初 (hatsu)
Peter: And second
Chigusa: 恋 (koi)
Peter: Which is
Chigusa: Love.
Peter: So you see a pattern here. First date, first love. Next we have
Jun: 初耳 (hatsumimi)
Peter: First time I want to hear something. Now the two characters in this word, Chigusa-san?
Chigusa: 初 (hatsu)
Peter: First and
Chigusa: 耳 (mimi)
Peter: Ear. So first time, to enter your ears. It’s the first time you’ve heard of it. So if you really want to impress your Japanese friends, the next time you hear a piece of news for the first time, you can say
Chigusa: 初耳!(Hatsumimi!)
Peter: And this is the informal way among friends. If you want to make it polite, you can still use this word. You just have to attach
Chigusa: です (desu)
Peter: So it would go like this
Chigusa: 初耳です。(Hatsumimi desu.)
Peter: Next we have, continuing on with this topic.
Jun: 初来日 (hatsurainichi)
Peter: First time in Japan. First visit to Japan. First character as always
Chigusa: 初 (hatsu)
Peter: Followed by
Chigusa: 来日 (rainichi)
Peter: Two characters. First character
Chigusa: 来 (rai)
Peter: To come. Second
Chigusa: 日 (nichi)
Peter: The first character in Japan. First visit to Japan. Now this is a really good word. You will see this in the newspaper a lot and usually when celebrities or famous politicians come to Japan, they will have an article in the newspaper with this if it’s their first time to Japan. All right, on to our second word.
Jun: 輝く (kagayaku)
Peter: To sparkle, to dazzle.
Jun: (slow)かがやく (kagayaku) (natural speed) 輝く (kagayaku)
Peter: Chigusa-san, example phrase, please.
Chigusa: 輝く未来 (kagayaku mirai)
Peter: Bright future, sparkling future. Can we say that, Chigusa-san?
Chigusa: Yeah.
Peter: Yeah. All right, you and Yoshi have a sparkling 輝く未来 (kagayaku mirai) in the entertainment business. That was a great video last week.
Chigusa: Thank you.
Peter: No, no, no thank YOU.
Chigusa: The script was good.
Peter: The acting was better.
Chigusa: Yeay!
Peter: All right. Next we have, oh here we go! This one is exclusively for Jun. Now for all you Romeos out there, we are going to give you the line of lines. Let’s get Chigusa-san’s opinion. Chigusa-san, what do you think of this next example phrase?
Chigusa: Good.
Peter: Are you not that impressed?
Chigusa: No, I will be, if someone would tell this to me.
Peter: All right. There you go. Chigusa would be impressed, Jun. Give all the guys out there their fighting chance.
Jun: 彼女は世界で一番まぶしい笑顔をしている。(Kanojo wa sekai de ichi-ban mabushii egao o shite iru.)
Peter: She has the brightest smile in all the world. All right, let’s get this one, one more time a little slow. Here we go.
Jun: 彼女は世界で一番まぶしい笑顔をしている。(Kanojo wa sekai de ichi-ban mabushii egao o shite iru.)
Peter: Now if you do try this out, we’d love to hear how it works out. Again no guarantees, no guarantees whatsoever but we would like to hear some good stories. Now remember, it's the only approach. Just don’t go out you know well, you’ll know what you’re doing.
Chigusa: Peter, the vocab word is 輝く (kagayaku). What does this sentence have to do with it?
Peter: Ah... I just like it. It’s a good sentence but let’s move on.
Chigusa: Okay.
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Peter: Now we are going to take a quick look at a few phrases that came up in today’s conversation. The first one being
Chigusa: なんでしょうか。(Nan deshō ka.)
Peter: Now we’d like to compare this with
Chigusa: なんですか。(Nan desu ka.)
Peter: Chigusa-san, help us out here. What’s the difference?
Chigusa: なんでしょうか (nan deshō ka) is a little bit more polite.
Peter: Yeah. So if you want to take it up a level and make it a little more polite depending on who you are speaking with, you can substitute.
Chigusa: なんですか。(Nan desu ka.)
Peter: For
Chigusa: なんでしょうか。(Nan deshō ka.) Please notice how なに (nani) is substituted by なん (nan) followed by でしょうか (deshō ka).
Peter: So the なに (nani) actually becomes
Chigusa: なん (nan)
Peter: Okay. Next we have. This is actually – we are going to start getting to grammar now and the first thing we have on the grammar list is
Chigusa: おかげで (okage de)
Peter: “Thanks to.” The way we form this grammatical construction is before
Chigusa: おかげで (okage de)
Peter: We add the particle
Chigusa: の (no)
Peter: And preceding the particle の (no), we have
Chigusa: Noun.
Peter: In the conversation we had
Chigusa: ひろこさんのおかげで (Hiroko-san no okage de)
Peter: Thanks to Ms. Hiroko. So again we have おかげで (okage de). This is preceded by the particle
Chigusa: の (no)
Peter: Preceded by
Chigusa: A noun.
Peter: Okay, let’s get an example sentence, please.
Chigusa: 先生のおかげで問題の答えがわかった。(Sensei no okage de mondai no kotae ga wakatta.)
Peter: Thanks to the teacher. I understood the answer to the problem. All right, next we have
Chigusa: 言うことはありません。(Iu koto wa arimasen.)
Peter: We translated this as speechless. I have nothing to say. There is nothing to say. Now again remember when we attach
Chigusa: こと (koto)
Peter: To a verb, it nominalizes it. Then we have the verb in this case
Chigusa: ありません (arimasen)
Peter: The negative, it doesn’t exist. So this thing to say doesn’t exist. Then we add on
Chigusa: なにも (nani mo)
Peter: Nothing. There is nothing to say.

Lesson focus

Peter: Okay, now on to today’s grammar point. Today’s grammar point is
Chigusa: てくれる (te kureru)
Peter: When used with the te-form of verbs, くれる (kureru) is used as an auxiliary verb. Now this is used when someone does a favor for the first person or someone in the first person’s group. Now usually the first person is I or we. The general sentence structure is as follows. The giver is marked with
Chigusa: は (wa)
Peter: The receiver
Chigusa: に (ni)
Peter: The object
Chigusa: を (o)
Peter: And followed by
Chigusa: てくれる (te kureru)
Peter: All right Chigusa-san, please give us an example sentence.
Chigusa: お母さんは家族みんなにご飯を作ってくれる。(O-kā-san wa kazoku minna ni gohan o tsukutte kureru.)
Peter: Mother makes food for everyone in the family. One more time give us that sentence, Chigusa-san?
Chigusa: お母さんは家族みんなにご飯を作ってくれる。(O-kā-san wa kazoku minna ni gohan o tsukutte kureru.)
Peter: Who is the giver?
Chigusa: お母さん (o-kā-san)
Peter: Marked by
Chigusa: は (wa)
Peter: Who are the receivers in this case?
Chigusa: 家族みんな (kazoku minna)
Peter: Marked by
Chigusa: に (ni)
Peter: Next we have
Chigusa: ご飯 (gohan)
Peter: The object and
Chigusa: を (o)
Peter: Finally
Chigusa: 作ってくれる (tsukutte kureru)
Peter: And this is the verb to make in its te-form plus
Chigusa: くれる (kureru)
Peter: All right. Let’s get one more sentence. Jun-san.
Jun: 先生はみんなに英語を教えてくれる。(Sensei wa minna ni Eigo o oshiete kureru.)
Peter: The teacher teaches everyone English. One more time, slowly please.
Jun: 先生はみんなに英語を教えてくれる。(Sensei wa minna ni Eigo o oshiete kureru.)

Outro

Peter: That’s going to do it for today.
Chigusa: またね。(Mata ne.)
Jun: またね。(Mata ne.)

Grammar

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