Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Natsuko: おはよう、サントドミンゴ。ナツコです。(Ohayō, Santo Domingo. Natsuko desu.)
Yoshi: おはよう、サントドミンゴ。よしです。(Ohayō, Santo Domingo. Yoshi desu.)
Peter: Peter here. Beginner lesson #124. Natsuko-san,
Natsuko: はい。(Hai.)
Peter: Have you seen the script?
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: What do you think of the script?
Natsuko: Well yeah I can imagine some couples doing this, the same thing.
Peter: Really?
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: So it’s very practical you’d say. Okay, I am getting a little carried away here. Now the point of this conversation is this is one that – well you are going to want for the iLearning center. You want this in your iPod so you can go line by line over and over. This is a really good performance. Now it’s a married couple and their pet. Now this is going to give you a lot of informal Japanese. Okay in addition, now the pet is thinking. So his lines will be in a distinct thought and audible and a distinct manner. So please pay attention. Even if you don’t pick up everything, we think you can pick up where the pet is thinking. What do you think, Natsuko?
Natsuko: The pet is thinking.
Peter: Yeah.
Natsuko: How unique!
Peter: And well, it’s audible.
Natsuko: Okay.
Peter: So let’s get a glimpse inside the head of a pet and what he thinks about some humans, a dog named Kojiro. Oh boy! So much thinking of our characters in the recent episodes.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: But I think it’s really good to get this distinction. Here we go.
DIALOGUE
パパ (Papa) : 家のワンちゃんはパパとママ、どっちが好きかな?(Uchi no wan-chan wa Papa to Mama, dotchi ga suki ka na?)
ママ (Mama) : 当然ママよ!(Tōzen Mama yo!)
パパ (Papa) : いや、そんなことはない。(Iya, sonna koto wa nai.)
ママ (Mama) : じゃ、決める方法があるわ。ママはこっち。パパはあっち。犬は真ん中。よし、スタート。(Ja, kimeru hōhō ga aru wa. Mama wa kotchi. Papa wa atchi. Inu wa mannaka. Yoshi, sutāto.)
パパ (Papa) : こっち来い、小次郎。パパが愛してるよ。いい子だから。(Kotchi koi, Kojirō. Papa ga aishite ru yo. Ii ko da kara.)
こっち、こっち来て。小次郎ちゃん、お願い。(Kotchi, kotchi kite. Kojirō-chan, onegai.)
ママ (Mama) : こっち来て、小次郎ちゃん、おやつあげるわよ。こっち、こっちよ、こっちでしょ。(Kotchi kite, Kojirō-chan, oyatsu ageru wa yo. Kotchi, kotchi yo, kotchi desho.)
小次郎 (Kojirō) : もう毎週同じだワン。つまらないワン。でもおいしいご飯のために、仕方ない、演技するワン。じゃあ先週はパパの方だったから、今週はママだワン。ワンワン。(Mō maishū onaji da wan. Tsumaranai wan. Demo oishii gohan no tame ni, shikata nai, engi suru wan. Jā senshū wa Papa no hō datta kara, konshū wa Mama da wan. Wan wan.)
ママ (Mama) : 小次郎ちゃん、やっぱりいい子ね。(Kojirō-chan, yappari ii ko ne.)
パパ (Papa) : 小次郎め、この裏切り者。(Kojirō me, kono uragirimono.)
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.)
パパ (Papa) : 家のワンちゃんはパパとママ、どっちが好きかな?(Uchi no wan-chan wa Papa to Mama, dotchi ga suki ka na?)
ママ (Mama) : 当然ママよ!(Tōzen Mama yo!)
パパ (Papa) : いや、そんなことはない。(Iya, sonna koto wa nai.)
ママ (Mama) : じゃ、決める方法があるわ。ママはこっち。パパはあっち。犬は真ん中。よし、スタート。(Ja, kimeru hōhō ga aru wa. Mama wa kotchi. Papa wa atchi. Inu wa mannaka. Yoshi, sutāto.)
パパ (Papa) : こっち来い、小次郎。パパが愛してるよ。いい子だから。(Kotchi koi, Kojirō. Papa ga aishite ru yo. Ii ko da kara.)
こっち、こっち来て。小次郎ちゃん、お願い。(Kotchi, kotchi kite. Kojirō-chan, onegai.)
ママ (Mama) : こっち来て、小次郎ちゃん、おやつあげるわよ。こっち、こっちよ、こっちでしょ。(Kotchi kite, Kojirō-chan, oyatsu ageru wa yo. Kotchi, kotchi yo, kotchi desho.)
小次郎 (Kojirō) : もう毎週同じだワン。つまらないワン。でもおいしいご飯のために、仕方ない、演技するワン。じゃあ先週はパパの方だったから、今週はママだワン。ワンワン。(Mō maishū onaji da wan. Tsumaranai wan. Demo oishii gohan no tame ni, shikata nai, engi suru wan. Jā senshū wa Papa no hō datta kara, konshū wa Mama da wan. Wan wan.)
ママ (Mama) : 小次郎ちゃん、やっぱりいい子ね。(Kojirō-chan, yappari ii ko ne.)
パパ (Papa) : 小次郎め、この裏切り者。(Kojirō me, kono uragirimono.)
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.)
パパ (Papa) : 家のワンちゃんはパパとママ、どっちが好きかな?(Uchi no wan-chan wa Papa to Mama, dotchi ga suki ka na?)
DAD: Do you think our doggy likes Daddy or Mommy better?
ママ (Mama) : 当然ママよ!(Tōzen Mama yo!)
MOM: Of course, it's Mommy.
パパ (Papa) : いや、そんなことはない。(Iya, sonna koto wa nai.)
DAD: Nope, I don't think so (lit. no such thing).
ママ (Mama) : じゃ、決める方法があるわ。(Ja, kimeru hōhō ga aru wa.)
MOM: Okay, there's a way to settle this.
ママ (Mama) : ママはこっち。パパはあっち。犬は真ん中。よし、スタート。(Mama wa kotchi. Papa wa atchi. Inu wa mannaka. Yoshi, sutāto.)
MOM: Mommy is here. Daddy is over there. The dog is in the middle. Alright, go!
パパ (Papa) : こっち来い、小次郎。パパが愛してるよ。いい子だから。(Kotchi koi, Kojirō. Papa ga aishite ru yo. Ii ko da kara.)
こっち、こっち来て。小次郎ちゃん、お願い。(Kotchi, kotchi kite. Kojirō-chan, onegai.)
DAD: Come here, Kojiro. Daddy loves you. Good boy. This way. Come here. Kojiro, please.
ママ (Mama) : こっち来て、小次郎ちゃん、おやつあげるわよ。こっち、こっちよ、こっちでしょ。(Kotchi kite, Kojirō-chan, oyatsu ageru wa yo. Kotchi, kotchi yo, kotchi desho.)
MOM: Come here. Kojiro, I'll give you some treats. This way, here, come on.
小次郎 (Kojirō) : もう毎週同じだワン。つまらないワン。(Mō maishū onaji da wan. Tsumaranai wan.)
KOJIRO: It's the same thing every week-woof. It's boring-woof.
小次郎 (Kojirō) : でもおいしいご飯のために、仕方ない、演技するワン。(Demo oishii gohan no tame ni, shikata nai, engi suru wan.)
KOJIRO: But for a good meal, what can you do? I'll put on an act-woof.
小次郎 (Kojirō) : じゃあ先週はパパの方だったから、今週はママだワン。ワンワン。(Jā senshū wa Papa no hō datta kara, konshū wa Mama da wan. Wan wan.)
KOJIRO: Hmm, last week was Papa, this week will be Mama-woof. Woof, woof.
ママ (Mama) : 小次郎ちゃん、やっぱりいい子ね。(Kojirō-chan, yappari ii ko ne.)
MOM: Kojiro, I knew it - you're a good boy.
パパ (Papa) : 小次郎め、この裏切り者。(Kojirō me, kono uragirimono.)
DAD: Kojiro, you traitor.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Peter: All right, Yoshi-san, let’s get Natsuko’s opinion about today’s lesson.
Yoshi: ナツコさん、今日の会話はどうでしたか、ワン。(Natsuko-san, kyō no kaiwa wa dō deshita ka, wan.)
Natsuko: 私は猫の方が好きなんですけどね。(Watashi wa neko no hō ga suki nan desu kedo ne.)
Peter: English please.
Natsuko: I like cats better.
Peter: Now before you think we are all crazy, there is a point to this lesson. There are a few of them. Natsuko-san, if we were reading something and it was a cat thinking or a cat speaking, what suffix would likely be attached or would possibly be attached to the cat’s words.
Natsuko: にゃあ (nyā)
Peter: There it is. In Japanese, when certain animals speak, there are certain suffixes attached to enable the reader or the person listening to know that it’s an animal speaking or thinking.
Natsuko: そうだワン (sō da wan)
Peter: So let’s just take a look at that first. How does a dog bark in Japanese?
Natsuko: ワンワン (wanwan)
Peter: Hence the first vocabulary word.
Natsuko: ワンちゃん (wan-chan)
Peter: The intimate suffix attached to the sound that the dog makes when it barks.
Natsuko: ワン (wan)
Peter: And the suffix
Natsuko: ちゃん (chan)
Peter: So there it is. And again, わん (wan) is what Japanese people use to mimic the dog sound. The bark of a dog. So can you break this down for us?
Natsuko: (slow) わんちゃん (wan-chan) (natural speed) ワンちゃん (wan-chan)
Peter: Now what’s the proper name for a dog?
Natsuko: 犬 (inu)
Peter: Break that down.
Natsuko: (slow) いぬ (inu) (natural speed) 犬 (inu)
Peter: And this word has a Chinese character.
Natsuko: dog
Peter: Very easy to remember. Same character as big except for a little dot.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Right in the upper right corner. So if you want to call that spot and we often call the dog spot in English, I don’t know why. Come here, Spot! That could be a good mnemonic to memorize that. Now we were just talking about some animals, the sound that the Japanese use to mimic can be attached to the end of what they say to show that the animal is speaking or thinking. So we had dog, which was
Natsuko: わん (wan)
Peter: Then you gave us a cat.
Natsuko: にゃあ (nyā)
Peter: にゃあ (nyā) One more time.
Natsuko: にゃあ (nyā)
Peter: Can you give us the full meow with a cat?
Natsuko: ニャアニャア (nyānyā)
Peter: And they usually come in pairs, correct ワンワン (wanwan)?
Natsuko: Yeah usually.
Peter: ニャアニャア (nyānyā). Yoshi-san, what do you have for us?
Yoshi: ケロケロ (kerokero)
Peter: Which one is that?
Natsuko: 私の嫌いなものだ。(Watashi no kirai na mono da.)
Peter: That’s something you hate?
Natsuko: Yes, I detest frogs.
Peter: No, Natsuko-san.
Natsuko: Don’t come near me.
Peter: You can’t. They are so cute.
Natsuko: No.
Peter: You never played the game Frogger?
Natsuko: No!
Peter: Okay, okay. Let’s change the topic here. Can you give us the Japanese word for the sound frogs make, one more time?
Yoshi: ケロケロ (kerokero)
Peter: And if a frog was speaking, he would say at the end of his words possibly depending on the writer or the speaker at the end of what a frog says, one can attach
Yoshi: そうですねケロ (sō desu ne kero)
Peter: So this was one of the goals of the lesson to introduce you to some of the Japanese words used when referencing animal noises.
Natsuko: So now you know how Japanese dogs and cats speak.
Peter: The sounds they make. Quite different from English.
Natsuko: Yeah, right.
VOCAB LIST
Peter: Okay, now that we started on the vocabulary, let’s continue. Next we have
Yoshi: 方法 (hōhō)
Peter: Method.
Yoshi: (slow) ほうほう (hōhō) (natural speed) 方法 (hōhō)
Peter: Two long vowels in it. It’s just hold it ほうほう (hōhō) and let’s take a look at the dialogue to get this word in context.
Yoshi: じゃあ、決める方法があるわ。(Jā, kimeru hōhō ga aru wa.)
Peter: There is a way to decide. Now if we take a look at this, the first word in there is じゃあ (jā) and it’s equivalent to the okay, a filler. Basically while you are thinking, you want to fill that space instead of dead air, you can throw in じゃあ (jā), followed by the verb to decide.
Yoshi: 決める (kimeru)
Peter: And this is transitive. So we have to decide. Next.
Yoshi: 方法 (hōhō)
Peter: A way, a method. To decide a way, a method but again in Japanese, flip it around, a way to decide, a method to decide. Now to help better understand this, maybe we could look at the Chinese characters, the kanji to really help us out. What does the first character mean?
Natsuko: Direction.
Peter: And what does the second character mean?
Natsuko: Law.
Peter: A decided way to go. It’s this way or this method that you use. And then we can use this by putting a verb in its plain form in front of it and in the dialogue we had a way to decide.
Natsuko: 新宿へ行く方法を教えてください。(Shinjuku e iku hōhō o oshiete kudasai.)
Peter: Please teach me and again I think the better English translation here is please tell me the way to go to Shinjuku and you could even turn this into please tell me the way to get to Shinjuku but again that 方法 (hōhō) is the way. Yoshi, isn’t this fun? Come on Yoshi, tell me how fun this is, this word, 方法 (hōhō)!
Yoshi: It sounds like the owls speaking.
Natsuko: なるほどね。(Naruhodo ne.)
Peter: Hoot, hoot. We can’t get off the animals today, can you?
Yoshi: Not enough.
Peter: Give me more. I don’t know what it is but today is a great day. Natsuko-san, next word.
Natsuko: 真ん中 (mannaka)
Peter: Center, middle.
Natsuko: (slow) まんなか (mannaka) (natural speed) 真ん中 (mannaka)
Peter: What does the first character mean in this word?
Natsuko: True.
Peter: True. And what does the second character mean?
Natsuko: Center.
Peter: The true center.
Natsuko: So right in the middle.
Peter: Right in the middle and this ま (ma) is the same as in まっすぐ (massugu).
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Straight-ahead. So this is literally dead center.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Right in the middle. Do you have a sample sentence?
Natsuko: そのボールを真ん中に置いてください。(Sono bōru o mannaka ni oite kudasai.)
Peter: Please put that ball in the middle. Sounds like basketball; I don’t know what we are talking about here. Kind of a vague sentence.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Put the ball in the middle. So I imagine like if you have a big bulls eye in a gymnasium and you tell the kid to go put it right in the middle.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: All right, next we have
Yoshi: スタート (sutāto)
Peter: Start.
Yoshi: (slow) すたーと (sutāto) (natural speed) スタート (sutāto)
Peter: So this is taken from English but the nuance here is go as in ready, set go! It’s used to let someone know someone is about to do something and waiting for permission to do it. It’s letting them know that they can proceed. Now Natsuko-san, what kind of situations we use this in besides fighting over your dog’s love. Which you know for some people, it’s quite important.
Natsuko: Yeah in sports, race.
Peter: Yoshi-san.
Yoshi: Yes.
Peter: How about – what is that called? You know the Japanese or a noun because of that guy Kobayashi for eating the most in a short amount of time, 早食い (hayagui)?
Natsuko: ああ、早食い競争。(Ā, hayagui kyōsō.)
Peter: That’s a speed eating contest but how about like if you are with your friends and you are having some kind of competition, eating competition.
Natsuko: Eating competition with your friends?
Peter: Natsuko, we should come up with that sometime, yeah. Obviously but not to the degree of the professionals but…
Natsuko: Umm…
Peter: You can just say
Natsuko: スタート!(Sutāto!)
Peter: Okay. Next we have
Natsuko: おやつ (oyatsu)
Peter: A snack between meals, between meals snack.
Natsuko: (slow) おやつ (oyatsu) (natural speed) おやつ (oyatsu)
Peter: Now this is some good Japanese, really good Japanese.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: And how do we ask for the snack, this おやつ (oyatsu)?
Yoshi: おやつください。(Oyatsu kudasai.)
Peter: The magic words. Please memorize this phrase. It will come in very handy.
Natsuko: Well please be careful. It sounds like a little child begging for some treat.
Peter: As long as you get that treat, it’s okay. Okay yes, we should point out a few things. This is a common expression used with kids. Now Natsuko-san, this word, would I be able to use it if I said to my wife, おやつください (oyatsu kudasai.)
Natsuko: That sounds sweet.
Peter: Sweet.
Natsuko: Doesn’t it?
Peter: But I think so and I ask it every day but…
Natsuko: You actually do.
Peter: Yeah. I am not hiding anything here. Umm but what is this word kind of associated with? Is it a grown up word or…
Natsuko: Yes, it’s usually used by children.
Peter: Usually.
Natsuko: Usually.
Peter: Natsuko-san, do you have a favorite おやつ (oyatsu)?
Natsuko: Yes. I like chocolate.
Peter: Chocolate.
Natsuko: Uhoo…
Peter: Really all right, let’s ask Yoshi-san what his favorite おやつ (oyatsu) is.
Natsuko: よしさん、どんなおやつが好きですか。(Yoshi-san, donna oyatsu ga suki desu ka.)
Yoshi: カステラが好きです。(Kasutera ga suki desu.)
Peter: English please.
Yoshi: I like カステラ (kasutera).
Peter: Yes, famous in Kyushu, right?
Natsuko: Ah, right.
Yoshi: Yeah, I am just trying to promote Nagasaki.
Peter: Keep your corporate stuff off the podcast. How many times did I tell you?
Yoshi: Sorry.
Peter: Come on, get in one more. Give us your best commercial.
Yoshi: カステラは美味しいバイ。(Kasutera wa oishii bai.)
Peter: What did you say in that word?
Yoshi: バイ (bai)
Peter: That is.
Yoshi: It’s like です (desu).
Peter: In?
Yoshi: In Japanese.
Natsuko: I am sure it’s Japanese.
Yoshi: And in Nagasaki dialect.
Peter: Yeah, that’s the key. That’s in the Nagasaki dialect from half of the Nagasaki connection. In regular Japanese, it would be
Yoshi: カステラは美味しいです。(Kasutera wa oishii desu.)
Peter: Okay. Next up we have. Ah we are going to have to let Yoshi handle this one because this is a specialty.
Natsuko: Yes.
Yoshi: おやつ (oyatsu) Ah, sorry. 演技 (engi)
Peter: Acting, act.
Yoshi: (slow) えんぎ (engi) (natural speed) 演技 (engi)
Peter: And how do we make this into a verb, to act?
Yoshi: 演技する (engi suru)
Peter: Attach する (suru) and this falls into the category of する (suru) verb. Natsuko-san, how do we say Yoshi’s acting is amazing?
Natsuko: よしさんの演技はすごい。(Yoshi-san no engi wa sugoi.)
Peter: One more time, nice and slow.
Natsuko: よしさんの演技はすごい。(Yoshi-san no engi wa sugoi.)
Peter: Now this is informal among friends. Now if we were in a more formal situation, say we went out to dinner with some business colleagues or if it was a bit more formal situation and we just want an amazing performance, how would we get that across to the person we are speaking with?
Natsuko: よしさんの演技は素晴らしいですね。(Yoshi-san no engi wa subarashii desu ne.)
Peter: Notice the copula です (desu) and the final particle.
Natsuko: ね (ne)
Peter: To let the listener know that you’d like some kind of response. Notice the polite form of the copula at the end there. One more time, Natsuko-san.
Natsuko: ですね (desu ne)
Peter: Okay. More about the particle inside our grammar bank. We have that entry in there now and it’s a long one. Finally we have
Natsuko: 裏切り者 (uragirimono)
Peter: A traitor.
Natsuko: (slow) うらぎりもの (uragirimono) (natural speed) 裏切り者 (uragirimono)
Peter: And this is actually made up of two words in there. The first word being
Natsuko: 裏切り (uragiri)
Peter: And this is the noun form of the verb
Natsuko: 裏切る (uragiru)
Peter: To betray. Next we have
Natsuko: 者 (mono)
Peter: Which is
Natsuko: Person.
Peter: So we put these together, “to betray person” and then “betray person.”
Natsuko: Yes, so betraying a person.
Peter: Interpreted as traitor.
Natsuko: Right.
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Peter: Okay, now into today’s grammar point. Lots covered there. Today’s grammar point covers the informal way to refer to over here, which is
Natsuko: こっち (kotchi)
Peter: This is informal for
Natsuko: こちら (kochira)
Peter: In this direction. Now inside the PDF, we have a big write up about this. Now our second point we want to cover today is the imperative for “to come.” Now 来る (kuru) is another class 3 verb which in Japanese is the class for irregular verbs. Now in modern Japanese, there are very, very few irregular verbs and 来る (kuru) happens to be one of them. Last week, we went over the imperative form of the other commonly used class 3 verb する (suru) which was, Natsuko-san?
Natsuko: しろ (shiro)
Peter: So する (suru) becomes
Natsuko: しろ (shiro)
Peter: Now what happens for 来る (kuru)?
Natsuko: 来い (koi)
Peter: くる (kuru) becomes こい (koi). Break it down for us.
Natsuko: (slow) こい (koi) (natural speed) 来い (koi)

Outro

Peter: Now the reason we are covering this. 来る (kuru) is used quite often as an auxiliary verb. So when you have imperatives with this attached, it’s quite important. So with that said, a lot is covered today. Animals thinking, speaking, married couples going back and forth but again this is really good for your knowledge about Japanese because this type of Japanese is used in anime and other things. That’s going to do for today.
Natsuko: じゃあ、また明日ね。(Jā, mata ashita ne.)
Yoshi: またね。(Mata ne.)

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