Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Natsuko: おはよう、フィラデルフィア。ナツコです。(Ohayō, Firaderufia. Natsuko desu.)
Haruyo: おはよう、フィラデルフィア。大江です。(Ohayō, Firaderufia. Ōe desu.)
Peter: Peter here. Beginner lesson #112. Natsuko-san, welcome back.
Natsuko: Yes. It’s been a while.
Peter: Too long.
Natsuko: I am sorry.
Peter: And you brought someone with you. Who is with you today?
Natsuko: 大江さんです。(Ōe-san desu.)
Haruyo: Hello.
Peter: Natsuko-san, can we ask Ooe-san to introduce herself?
Natsuko: 大江さん、自己紹介をお願いします。(Ōe-san, jiko shōkai o onegai shimasu.)
Haruyo: 私は大江はるよです。東京出身です。写真が趣味です。(Watashi wa Ōe Haruyo desu. Tōkyō shusshin desu. Shashin ga shumi desu.)
Peter: Now in English, please.
Haruyo: My name is Haruyo Ooe. I am from Tokyo. My hobby is taking pictures.
Peter: Welcome to the show.
Natsuko: よろしくお願いします。(Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.)
Haruyo: よろしくお願いします。(Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.)
Peter: Ooe-san. How should we refer to you?
Haruyo: はるよと呼んでください。(Haruyo to yonde kudasai.)
Natsuko: はい、わかりました。はるよさん。(Hai, wakarimashita. Haruyo-san.)
Peter: And can you just break that down for us?
Haruyo: はるよ (Haruyo)
Peter: Haruyo. Okay, today we have another great show for you. Last week, we looked at
Natsuko: くなる (ku naru)
Peter: Today we are going to take a look at
Natsuko: になる (ni naru)
Peter: Another extremely important grammatical structure. Now that you know what we are looking for, please try and pick it up in the conversation. We have specifically crafted and molded this conversation maybe too much, Natsuko-san.
Natsuko: Maybe.
Peter: Try and pick it up because it comes up a lot in there and let us know if we went a little too overboard. Now one more thing. The following conversation does not represent the views and opinions represented by japanesepod101.com. Right, Natsuko-san?
Natsuko: Really aa aa!
Peter: Yeah, I guess we did write it.
Natsuko: Oh really!
Peter: Okay, it does. So anyway, into the conversation. Here we go.
DIALOGUE
レポーター (repōtā) : まもなく、石川さんにインタビューを行います。あ、彼女が来ました!石川さん、何で歌手になりましたか。(Mamonaku, Ishikawa-san ni intabyū o okonaimasu. A, kanojo ga kimashita! Ishikawa-san, nande kashu ni narimashita ka.)
石川 (Ishikawa) : う〜ん。音楽が好きだからです。(Ūn. Ongaku ga suki da kara desu.)
レポーター (repōtā) : 子供の頃について教えてください。(Kodomo no koro ni tsuite oshiete kudasai.)
石川 (Ishikawa) : そうですね。子供の頃、夢が三つありました。(Sō desu ne. Kodomo no koro, yume ga mittsu arimashita.)
レポーター (repōtā) : その三つとは何でしょうか。(Sono mittsu to wa nan deshō ka.)
石川 (Ishikawa) : 第一に、有名になって、第二に、綺麗になって、最後に、お金持ちになることです。馬鹿馬鹿しいでしょう。(Daiichi ni, yūmei ni natte, daini ni, kirei ni natte, saigo ni, o-kanemochi ni naru koto desu. Bakabakashii deshō.)
レポーター (repōtā) : いいえ、その三つの夢は叶いました!(Iie, sono mittsu no yume wa kanaimashita!)
はい、最後の質問です。これから何をしたいですか。(Hai, saigo no shitsumon desu. Korekara nani o shitai desu ka.)
石川 (Ishikawa) : そうですね。幸せになりたいです。(Sō desu ne. Shiawase ni naritai desu.)
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.)
レポーター (repōtā) : まもなく、石川さんにインタビューを行います。あ、彼女が来ました!石川さん、何で歌手になりましたか。(Mamonaku, Ishikawa-san ni intabyū o okonaimasu. A, kanojo ga kimashita! Ishikawa-san, nande kashu ni narimashita ka.)
石川 (Ishikawa) : 音楽が好きだからです。(Ongaku ga suki da kara desu.)
レポーター (repōtā) : 子供の頃について教えてください。(Kodomo no koro ni tsuite oshiete kudasai.)
石川 (Ishikawa) : そうですね。子供の頃、夢が三つありました。(Sō desu ne. Kodomo no koro, yume ga mittsu arimashita.)
レポーター (repōtā) : その三つとは何でしょうか。(Sono mittsu to wa nan deshō ka.)
石川 (Ishikawa) : 第一に、有名になって、第二に、綺麗になって、最後に、お金持ちになることです。馬鹿馬鹿しいでしょう。(Daiichi ni, yūmei ni natte, daini ni, kirei ni natte, saigo ni, o-kanemochi ni naru koto desu. Bakabakashii deshō.)
レポーター (repōtā) : いいえ、その三つの夢は叶いました!(Iie, sono mittsu no yume wa kanaimashita!)
はい、最後の質問です。これから何をしたいですか。(Hai, saigo no shitsumon desu. Korekara nani o shitai desu ka.)
石川 (Ishikawa) : そうですね。幸せになりたいです。(Sō desu ne. Shiawase ni naritai desu.)
Natsuko: 次は、ピーターさんの英語が入ります。(Tsugi wa, Pītā-san no Eigo ga hairimasu.)
レポーター (repōtā) : まもなく、石川さんにインタビューを行います。(Mamonaku, Ishikawa-san ni intabyū o okonaimasu.)
REPORTER: In a moment, we're about to interview Ms. Ishikawa.
レポーター (repōtā) : あ、彼女が来ました!(A, kanojo ga kimashita!)
REPORTER: Oh, here she comes!
レポーター (repōtā) : 石川さん、何で歌手になりましたか。(Ishikawa-san, nande kashu ni narimashita ka.)
REPORTER: Ms. Ishikawa, why did you become a singer?
石川 (Ishikawa) : う〜ん。音楽が好きだからです。(Ūn. Ongaku ga suki da kara desu.)
ISHIKAWA: It's because I like music.
レポーター (repōtā) : 子供の頃について教えてください。(Kodomo no koro ni tsuite oshiete kudasai.)
REPORTER: Can you tell us about when you were a child?
石川 (Ishikawa) : そうですね。子供の頃、夢が三つありました。(Sō desu ne. Kodomo no koro, yume ga mittsu arimashita.)
ISHIKAWA: Okay. When I was a child, I had three dreams.
レポーター (repōtā) : その三つとは何でしょうか。(Sono mittsu to wa nan deshō ka.)
REPORTER: What were those three dreams?
石川 (Ishikawa) : 第一に、有名になって、(Daiichi ni, yūmei ni natte,)
ISHIKAWA: First, to become famous.
石川 (Ishikawa) : 第二に、綺麗になって、(daini ni, kirei ni natte,)
ISHIKAWA: Second, to become beautiful.
石川 (Ishikawa) : 最後に、お金持ちになることです。(saigo ni, o-kanemochi ni naru koto desu.)
ISHIKAWA: And last, to become rich.
石川 (Ishikawa) : 馬鹿馬鹿しいでしょう。(Bakabakashii deshō.)
ISHIKAWA: Foolish, right?
レポーター (repōtā) : いいえ、その三つの夢は叶いました!(Iie, sono mittsu no yume wa kanaimashita!)
REPORTER: No, those three dreams came true.
レポーター (repōtā) : はい、最後の質問です。これから何をしたいですか。(Hai, saigo no shitsumon desu. Korekara nani o shitai desu ka.)
REPORTER: Okay, last question. What do you want to do from now on?
石川 (Ishikawa) : そうですね。幸せになりたいです。(Sō desu ne. Shiawase ni naritai desu.)
ISHIKAWA: Hmmm, I want to become happy.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Peter: Natsuko-san, let’s ask Haruyo-san what she thought of today’s conversation?
Natsuko: はるよさん、今日の会話、どう思いましたか。(Haruyo-san, kyō no kaiwa, dō omoimashita ka.)
Haruyo: 夢が叶ってよかったと思います。(Yume ga kanatte yokatta to omoimasu.)
Natsuko: そうですね。本当に叶ったのかな?この人。(Sō desu ne. Hontō ni kanatta no ka na? Kono hito.)
Peter: Natsuko-san, can you translate what Haruyo-san just said?
Natsuko: She said that she is glad that her dreams came true.
Peter: As in the singers, right?
Natsuko: I guess.
Peter: So I guess.
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Peter: All right, with that said, let’s get into today’s vocabulary. Lots of good stuff in there. Natsuko-san, give us the first word, please.
Natsuko: 最初のキーワードは、インタビュー (Saisho no kīwādo wa, intabyū)
Peter: Interview.
Natsuko: (slow)インタビュー (intabyū) (natural speed) インタビュー (intabyū)
Peter: And notice the long vowel at the end. Natsuko-san, a few lessons back, we had a different word for “interview.” This one is obviously taken from the English word, interview. Which is the Japanese word we had that also means interview?
Natsuko: 面接 (mensetsu)
Peter: Now what’s the difference between these two words?
Natsuko: 面接 (mensetsu) is usually used for like job application or some kind of a test qualification. インタビュー (intabyū) is for news reports or entertainment articles just asking people questions.
Peter: So can you give us an example?
Natsuko: For example, on magazines or news show, you see lots of 独占インタビュー (dokusen intabyū).
Peter: Exclusive interview. What’s the first word meaning exclusive?
Natsuko: 独占 (dokusen)
Peter: Break it down.
Natsuko: (slow)どくせん (dokusen) (natural speed) 独占 (dokusen)
Peter: Meaning exclusive or monopoly. Can you give us an example sentence?
Natsuko: この雑誌には、ジョニー・デップの独占インタビューが載ってますよ。(Kono zasshi ni wa, Jonī Deppu no dokusen intabyū ga notte masu yo.)
Peter: This magazine has an exclusive interview with Johnny Depp. Can you give us that example sentence, one more time?
Natsuko: この雑誌には、ジョニー・デップの独占インタビューが載ってますよ。(Kono zasshi ni wa, Jonī Deppu no dokusen intabyū ga notte masu yo.)
Peter: One thing we want to point out with this is, give us that verb that came in that sentence.
Natsuko: 載る (noru)
Peter: And does this mean to ride?
Natsuko: Well not actually. It means to run some articles.
Peter: So the kanji is different from the character to ride a train or something.
Natsuko: Yes, different.
Peter: And that’s what we want to point out. You will often hear an article runs in a newspaper, you hear the verb
Natsuko: 載る (noru)
Peter: But it’s not the same as to ride which is also
Natsuko: 乗る (noru)
Peter: All right. Next we have
Haruyo: 頃 (koro)
Peter: Around the period, around the time.
Haruyo: (slow)ころ (koro) (natural speed) 頃 (koro)
Peter: Natsuko-san, example sentence, please.
Natsuko: 高校生の頃、バンドに入っていました。(Kōkōsei no koro, bando ni haitte imashita.)
Peter: Around the time I was a high school student, I was in a band. And notice the first part here, Natsuko-san,
Natsuko: 高校生の頃 (kōkōsei no koro)
Peter: We have a noun which is
Natsuko: 高校生 (kōkōsei)
Peter: High school student. Possessive particle
Natsuko: の (no)
Peter: Followed by
Natsuko: 頃 (koro)
Peter: Around the time. Around the time I was a high school student. Now what we are going to point out about this is it can be used for periods of time as in the time when I was in high school or a long block of time but it can also be used this way.
Natsuko: 今晩、帰りは何時頃ですか。(Konban, kaeri wa nan-ji goro desu ka.)
Haruyo: 六時頃です。(Roku-ji goro desu.)
Peter: One more time, please.
Natsuko: 今晩、帰りは何時頃ですか。(Konban, kaeri wa nan-ji goro desu ka.)
Peter: Tonight, around what time will you return?
Haruyo: 六時頃です。(Roku-ji goro desu.)
Peter: Around 6. Here it’s used around the time to give the approximate time. Approximately 6, around 6. So what’s unique about this is we can use it with actual time as in the time of day and also in a time of one’s life or a period of one’s life or period altogether. So this unique dual usage. Next we have
Natsuko: 夢 (yume)
Peter: Dream.
Natsuko: (slow)ゆめ (yume) (natural speed) 夢 (yume)
Peter: In the dialogue, we had
Natsuko: 夢が三つありました。(Yume ga mittsu arimashita.)
Peter: The literal translation is there were three dreams and again what we want to point out here is the literal translation is there is a dream which is
Natsuko: 夢がある (yume ga aru)
Peter: But when we interpret this into English, it’s to have a dream. When we fulfill this dream, we use the verb
Natsuko: 叶う (kanau)
Peter: Which is actually to live up to but when used with the dream, it becomes to fulfill the dream, to live up to the dream. And we can also use this with
Natsuko: 希望 (kibō)
Peter: Hope. Break it down.
Natsuko: (slow)きぼう (kibō) (natural speed) 希望 (kibō)
Peter: And the structure would be
Natsuko: 希望が叶う (kibō ga kanau)
Peter: To have one’s hope fulfilled and finally
Natsuko: 願い (negai)
Peter: Wish. And if this sounds familiar, it should, this is the noun form of the root verb
Natsuko: 願う (negau)
Peter: Which can be found in
Natsuko: お願いします。(Onegai shimasu.)
Peter: Yes. So to have one’s wish fulfilled is
Natsuko: 願いが叶う (negai ga kanau)
Peter: And notice the common structure. We have the particle
Natsuko: が (ga)
Peter: And we can also use
Natsuko: は (wa)
Peter: Depending on what precedes it followed by
Natsuko: 叶う (kanau)
Peter: All right. Next up we have
Haruyo: 馬鹿馬鹿しい (bakabakashii)
Peter: Silly, laughable.
Haruyo: (slow)ばかばかしい (bakabakashii) (natural speed) 馬鹿馬鹿しい (bakabakashii)
Peter: Now Natsuko-san, is this a bad word?
Natsuko: Well, umm not really bad. You know, not insulting. It’s more like, you know, a funny thing.
Peter: Foolish.
Natsuko: Yes, oh yes that’s a good word.
Peter: Now the base of this comes from the word, fool.
Natsuko: 馬鹿 (baka)
Peter: And the funny thing about this word, the context and the way you say it determines whether it’s a really bad word?
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Or a playful joking word.
Natsuko: Aaha!
Peter: Now there is a difference between these two words, right?
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: 馬鹿馬鹿しい (bakabakashii) and 馬鹿 (baka)
Natsuko: Yes, different.
Peter: Now we think the latter 馬鹿 (baka) is a bit crude.
Natsuko: Yes, I heard that you know people in Kansai feels very insulted when they hear 馬鹿 (baka).
Peter: Ah!
Natsuko: Because they usually use アホ (aho).
Peter: Natsuko! All right, yes are we going to get into the slang lesson now?
Natsuko: No, no, no, no, no just for your information.
Peter: Just for your information, yes, and again we should actually do something about these words because I think while it’s not appropriate to teach them, I think it’s appropriate to know…
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: What they mean.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: But we want to get to this word we gave you today can’t be used in the same negative way.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: There is this nuance that it’s a verb just meaning foolish and no matter how you cut it or which way you say it, it won’t have that same sharp cutting edge as the words we talked about previously.
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: So with that said, Natsuko-san, can you give us an example?
Natsuko: 馬鹿馬鹿しい話 (bakabakashii hanashi)
Peter: Foolish talk, foolish conversation. We are a noun for these at japanesepod101.com
Natsuko: Really?
Peter: We argue about the most foolish of things. Next we have
Haruyo: 馬鹿馬鹿しいことをする。(Bakabakashii koto o suru.)
Peter: To do a foolish thing.
Haruyo: あの本は馬鹿馬鹿しいよ。(Ano hon wa bakabakashii yo.)
Peter: That book is foolish. Okay, now Natsuko-san, is this a common adjective?
Natsuko: Yes, I think it’s common but maybe it differs by region.
Peter: Got it. Let’s take a look at some key points in the dialogue. Natsuko-san, what’s the first key point?
Natsuko: まもなく (mamonaku)
Peter: About to, something is about to happen. Break it down.
Natsuko: (slow)まもなく (mamonaku) (natural speed) まもなく (mamonaku)
Peter: You hear this expression very often. For example, when the train comes, if you are standing on the platform, what expression do we hear every day?
Natsuko: まもなく電車が参ります。(Mamonaku densha ga mairimasu.)
Peter: The train is about to come. When I first heard this expression on the news, it’s always linked to this one phrase and it’s not a very happy or very positive subject but when someone passes away. When they are – apparently they are taken to the hospital and they pass away and this phrase is always used.
Natsuko: Right. 救急車で運ばれましたが、まもなく死亡致しました。(Kyūkyūsha de hakobaremashita ga, mamonaku shibō itashimashita.)
Peter: In this case, what does it mean?
Natsuko: Almost immediately.
Peter: Thank you very much. So the person was taken to the hospital. The person was carried to the hospital and died almost immediately…
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Upon arrival.
Natsuko: Yes, and if you look at this phrase literally, it means without a pause.
Peter: Break it down. What’s the pause in there?
Natsuko: ま (ma)
Peter: Then も (mo) is the particle.
Natsuko: Yes. And なく (naku).
Peter: The なく (naku) form of
Natsuko: ない (nai).
Peter: Wow! I had no idea.
Natsuko: Oh, really?
Peter: Now that’s really interesting.
Natsuko: Yes, maybe convenient for memorizing.
Peter: Yeah, a really good way to memorize, without pause.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: All right. Yeah, but I didn’t want to bring the happy atmosphere down.
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: It’s just like I always find this set phrase together. These words just are always together.
Natsuko: Right. You always hear them on the news show.
Peter: Yeah. Well maybe those are the only two words I can pick out of the news show but…
Natsuko: No, no, no….
Peter: Yes, this is almost like a set phrase.
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: Next we have ordinal numbers. Now we were talking about dreams. She had three dreams, the first, second and third. Natsuko-san, how do we cover this in the dialogue?
Natsuko: 第一に (daiichi ni)
Peter: First. Now we have a particle in there, the particle being
Natsuko: に (ni)
Peter: But the phrase first here is
Natsuko: 第一 (daiichi)
Peter: Second is
Natsuko: 第二 (daini)
Peter: Notice the pattern here. What stays the same, Natsuko-san?
Natsuko: 第 (dai)
Peter: And what's changing?
Natsuko: The numbers.
Peter: So can you run through five for us, 1 to 5 first, please?
Natsuko: 第一、第二、第三、第四、第五 (daiichi, daini, daisan, daiyon, daigo)
Peter: Excellent. Now let’s look at “foolish,” isn’t it. Now we always talk about でしょう (deshō) as it’s used sometimes to mark degree of probability but here it’s used as a tag question. Give it to us, one more time.
Natsuko: 馬鹿馬鹿しいでしょう。(Bakabakashii deshō.)
Peter: So when she says this, she is asking for the listener’s opinion and you can also use でしょう (deshō) in this way, too. When you want to get another person’s opinion, you can add this at the end and this lets them know that you want input from them.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Input from the listener.
Natsuko: Right.

Lesson focus

Peter: All right. With that said, on to today’s grammar point. Natsuko-san, what’s today’s grammar point?
Natsuko: になる (ni naru)
Peter: This expresses that someone or something becomes something or becomes a state and can be used with na-adjectives and nouns. Now it’s similar to what we covered last week with i-adjectives.
Natsuko: くなる (ku naru)
Peter: Now to form this construction, just attach
Natsuko: になる (ni naru)
Peter: Directly to a noun or na-adjective.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: It’s that easy. Now let’s take a look at the dialogue. We also want to point out that when this occurs, the verb
Natsuko: なる (naru)
Peter: Is treated like a regular verb. This is best exemplified by the dialogue. Give us the last line of the dialogue. What does Ishikawa want to become?
Natsuko: 幸せになりたいです。(Shiawase ni naritai desu.)
Peter: I want to become happy. The na-adjective in there is
Natsuko: 幸せ (shiawase)
Peter: Then we attach
Natsuko: になる (ni naru)
Peter: To become happy. Once it’s in this state, the verb
Natsuko: なる (naru)
Peter: Can be conjugated just like any other regular verb and here we turn it into
Natsuko: なりたい (naritai)
Peter: To express desire.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Also if we go up a few lines, we have
Natsuko: 有名になって (yūmei ni natte)
Peter: The te-form of the verb. We also have it another time right after that.
Natsuko: きれいになって (kirei ni natte)
Peter: So you can see the way this works. Once this is attached, the verb
Natsuko: なる (naru)
Peter: Is treated just like any other verb. Now in the dialogue, we have multiple examples of na-adjectives. What example do we have of a noun?
Natsuko: お金持ち (o-kanemochi)
Peter: Rich. So we take the noun which is
Natsuko: お金持ち (o-kanemochi)
Peter: We just add
Natsuko: になる (ni naru)
Peter: To become rich. Now the interesting thing about the word for rich which is
Natsuko: お金持ち (o-kanemochi)
Peter: The characters in here are
Natsuko: 金 (kane)
Peter: Money and
Natsuko: 持つ (motsu)
Peter: To hold.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: So the one who holds money is rich.
Natsuko: Yes. The one who holds this is
Peter: Good point, yeah. I guess holding is just not enough.
Natsuko: Yes, maybe holding someone else’s money.
Peter: All right. So with that said, this is probably a really good way to remember it, the one possessing the money is rich.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: We also had
Natsuko: 歌手 (kashu)
Peter: Singer. We have the noun singer. We attach
Natsuko: になる (ni naru)
Peter: To become a singer. In the dialogue, we had
Natsuko: 歌手になりました。(Kashu ni narimashita.)
Peter: The polite past of the verb
Natsuko: なる (naru)
Peter: And this represents that that person has achieved or had achieved that state.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: She became a singer.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: She was able to do it.
Natsuko: Yes.

Outro

Peter: So long lesson today but lots of really good information in there. With that said, that’s going to do for today.
Natsuko: また明日ね。(Mata ashita ne.)
Peter: See you tomorrow.

Grammar

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Kanji

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