Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Peter: Okay, without further adieu, let’s get in today's lesson. Here we go.
Natsuko: おはよう、プラハ。ナツコです。(Ohayō, Puraha. Natsuko desu.)
Yoshi: おはよう、プラハ。ヨシです。(Ohayō, Puraha. Yoshi desu.)
Peter: Peter here. Beginner lesson #69. All right Natsuko, it's Thursday.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: And you know what Thursday means?
Natsuko: What?
Peter: It’s back to the bachelor game.
Natsuko: Oh yeah. Oh yes, this time I am really looking forward to it.
Peter: Well we have everything ready. Things should go off without a hitch today.
Natsuko: Wow!
Peter: So without further adieu, wait, before we jump in, just one more time, how are you feeling today?
Natsuko: 元気ですよ。(Genki desu yo.)
Peter: All right. We will check back in 5 minutes to see how you feel. Yoshi, how are you doing?
Yoshi: 元気です。(Genki desu.)
Peter: All right. So without further adieu, we are going to get into today’s conversation. Here we go.
DIALOGUE
健治 (Kenji) : 夏子さん、お待たせしました。よろしくお願いします。(Natsuko-san, o-matase shimashita. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.)
夏子 (Natsuko) : こちらこそよろしくお願いします。(Kochira koso yoroshiku onegai shimasu.)
健治 (Kenji) : こちらです。どうぞどうぞ。(Kochira desu. Dōzo dōzo.)
夏子 (Natsuko) : 凄い車ですね。格好いいです。え?で、でも。(Sugoi kuruma desu ne. Kakkoii desu. E? De, demo.)
健治 (Kenji) : どうかしましたか。(Dō ka shimashita ka.)
夏子 (Natsuko) : ちょっと。この方は?(Chotto. Kono kata wa?)
健治 (Kenji) : ああ、もちろん、私の父です。(Ā, mochiron, watashi no chichi desu.)
パパ (Papa) : どうも初めまして、夏子さん。話はよく聞きますよ。(Dōmo hajimemashite, Natsuko-san. Hanashi wa yoku kikimasu yo.)
健治 (Kenji) : 私はまだ運転免許はありません。来年から自動車学校へ通います。ね、パパ。(Watashi wa mada unten menkyo wa arimasen. Rainen kara jidōsha gakkō e kayoimasu. Ne, papa.)
夏子 (Natsuko) : は?(Ha?)
パパ (Papa) : うん、健治がいい子で本当に良かったです。(Un, Kenji ga ii ko de hontō ni yokatta desu.)
健治 (Kenji) : ね、パパ、今日は結婚式場の下見に行こう。(Ne, papa, kyō wa kekkon shikijō no shitami ni ikō.)
パパ (Papa) : よし、それじゃ行きましょう。(Yoshi, soreja ikimashō.)
夏子 (Natsuko) : ええ?そんな・・・?(Ee? Sonna...?)
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.)
健治 (Kenji) : 夏子さん、お待たせしました。よろしくお願いします。(Natsuko-san, o-matase shimashita. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.)
夏子 (Natsuko) : こちらこそよろしくお願いします。(Kochira koso yoroshiku onegai shimasu.)
健治 (Kenji) : こちらです。どうぞどうぞ。(Kochira desu. Dōzo dōzo.)
夏子 (Natsuko) : 凄い車ですね。格好いいです。え?で、でも。(Sugoi kuruma desu ne. Kakkoii desu. E? De, demo.)
健治 (Kenji) : どうかしましたか。(Dō ka shimashita ka.)
夏子 (Natsuko) : ちょっと。この方は?(Chotto. Kono kata wa?)
健治 (Kenji) : ああ、もちろん、私の父です。(Ā, mochiron, watashi no chichi desu.)
パパ (Papa) : どうも初めまして、夏子さん。話はよく聞きますよ。(Dōmo hajimemashite, Natsuko-san. Hanashi wa yoku kikimasu yo.)
健治 (Kenji) : 私はまだ運転免許はありません。来年から自動車学校へ通います。ね、パパ。(Watashi wa mada unten menkyo wa arimasen. Rainen kara jidōsha gakkō e kayoimasu. Ne, papa.)
夏子 (Natsuko) : は?(Ha?)
パパ (Papa) : うん、健治がいい子で本当に良かったです。(Un, Kenji ga ii ko de hontō ni yokatta desu.)
健治 (Kenji) : ね、パパ、今日は結婚式場の下見に行こう。(Ne, papa, kyō wa kekkon shikijō no shitami ni ikō.)
パパ (Papa) : よし、それじゃ行きましょう。(Yoshi, soreja ikimashō.)
夏子 (Natsuko) : ええ?そんな・・・?(Ee? Sonna...?)
Yoshi: 今度はピーターの英語が入ります。(Kondo wa Pītā no Eigo ga hairimasu.)
健治 (Kenji) : 夏子さん、お待たせしました。よろしくお願いします。(Natsuko-san, o-matase shimashita. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.)
KENJI: Natsuko, I've kept you waiting. Please be kind to me.
夏子 (Natsuko) : こちらこそよろしくお願いします。(Kochira koso yoroshiku onegai shimasu.)
NATSUKO: Same here. Please be kind to me.
健治 (Kenji) : こちらです。(Kochira desu.)
KENJI: This way.
健治 (Kenji) : どうぞどうぞ。(Dōzo dōzo.)
KENJI: Please, please.
夏子 (Natsuko) : 凄い車ですね。(Sugoi kuruma desu ne.)
NATSUKO: Amazing car, isn't it?
夏子 (Natsuko) : 格好いいです。(Kakkoii desu.)
NATSUKO: It's cool.
夏子 (Natsuko) : え?で、でも。(E? De, demo.)
NATSUKO: Ah, but.
健治 (Kenji) : どうかしましたか。(Dō ka shimashita ka.)
KENJI: Is something wrong?
夏子 (Natsuko) : ちょっと。この方は?(Chotto. Kono kata wa?)
NATSUKO: Uhm, who is that person?
健治 (Kenji) : ああ、もちろん、私の父です。(Ā, mochiron, watashi no chichi desu.)
KENJI: Ah, it's my dad, of course.
パパ (Papa) : どうも初めまして、夏子さん。(Dōmo hajimemashite, Natsuko-san.)
PAPA: Hello, nice to meet you, Natsuko.
パパ (Papa) : 話はよく聞きますよ。(Hanashi wa yoku kikimasu yo.)
PAPA: I often hear about you.
健治 (Kenji) : 私はまだ運転免許はありません。(Watashi wa mada unten menkyo wa arimasen.)
KENJI: I still don't have a driver's license.
健治 (Kenji) : 来年から自動車学校へ通います。(Rainen kara jidōsha gakkō e kayoimasu.)
KENJI: Starting next year, I'll go to driving school.
健治 (Kenji) : ね、パパ。(Ne, papa.)
KENJI: Right, papa?
夏子 (Natsuko) : は?(Ha?)
NATSUKO: Huh?
パパ (Papa) : うん、(Un,)
PAPA: Yes.
パパ (Papa) : 健治がいい子で本当に良かったです。(Kenji ga ii ko de hontō ni yokatta desu.)
PAPA: Kenji is a good boy. I'm so glad.
健治 (Kenji) : ね、パパ、今日は結婚式場の下見に行こう。(Ne, papa, kyō wa kekkon shikijō no shitami ni ikō.)
KENJI: Hey papa, let's go look at wedding halls today.
パパ (Papa) : よし、それじゃ行きましょう。(Yoshi, soreja ikimashō.)
PAPA: OK, let's go.
夏子 (Natsuko) : ええ?そんな・・・?(Ee? Sonna...?)
NATSUKO: Huh? This can't be happening.
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Peter: Okay Natsuko, first word please.
Natsuko: お待たせしました。(O-matase shimashita.)
Peter: I have kept you waiting.
Natsuko: (slow)おまたせしました (o-matase shimashita) (natural speed)お待たせしました (o-matase shimashita)
Peter: Now Natsuko, what kind of Japanese is this? This is extremely polite Japanese, the Tuxedo Japanese we are always talking about, right?
Natsuko: Yes, it is very polite.
Peter: What’s the name of this Japanese?
Natsuko: 敬語 (keigo)
Peter: Honorific Japanese. Now later on, we are going to cover this in great detail but for now, it’s a little bit beyond the scope of this lesson. In the PDF, we are going to have more about this but in the podcast, we are limited with time. So stop by and grab the PDF. Okay Natsuko, what kind of places will you hear this at?
Natsuko: In business and restaurants.
Peter: Yes, you will be waiting for your food and when the food finally comes out, they will say.
Natsuko: お待たせしました。(O-matase shimashita.)
Peter: Or if you are waiting for a seat, when they finally get a seat for you and they get everything ready, they will say to you
Natsuko: お待たせしました。(O-matase shimashita.)
Peter: And that’s the key phrase to know that you are about to be served or you are about to get your seat.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Whenever you go into a building or you go into a place, they always have what? The people at the counter. What do we call that?
Natsuko: 受付 (uketsuke)
Peter: One more time, please.
Natsuko: 受付 (uketsuke)
Peter: And break that down.
Natsuko: (slow)うけつけ (uketsuke)
Peter: And usually rather than letting you go right in, they will have you wait for a minute, they will confirm and then they will say to you
Natsuko: お待たせしました。(O-matase shimashita.)
Peter: Then they will say to you, right this way or show you what’s going on.
Natsuko: So this would usually come with どうぞ。おまたせしました、どうぞ。(Dōzo. O-matase shimashita, dōzo.) Yeah.
Peter: Good point, Natsuko. Now this is the formal way. We mentioned before that this expression is also used informally among friends.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: But not in the same way. What’s the informal intimate way to say this word?
Natsuko: お待たせ。(O-matase.)
Peter: There it is. When you kept your friend waiting you are supposed to meet at Tokyo station, you are supposed to meet in front of a department store at certain time, you would say when you show up late
Natsuko: お待たせ。(O-matase.)
Peter: There you go. Another one of the aces in my arsenal. I always use this one. I am never on time. And it works really well starting with an apology.
Natsuko: It gives you a good feeling. Good excuse.
Peter: There it is, a good excuse. I don’t know about the person waiting but I feel pretty good when I say it.
Natsuko: Umm better than saying nothing, isn’t it?
Peter: Very, very good point. Okay, now be careful. You definitely don’t want to use this with business partners, formal situations, definitely don’t want to use it. Again intimate expression is
Natsuko: お待たせ (o-matase)
Peter: And formal situations is
Natsuko: お待たせしました (o-matase shimashita.)
Peter: Again the only difference between the two is the latter part
Natsuko: しました (shimashita)
Peter: But it means all the difference in the world, all the difference.
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: Okay, what’s next, Natsuko?
Natsuko: 次は、運転免許 (Tsugi wa, unten menkyo)
Peter: Driver’s license.
Natsuko: (slow)うんてんめんきょ (unten menkyo) (natural speed)運転免許 (unten menkyo)
Peter: Now this is made up of two words. What are the two words in there, Natsuko?
Natsuko: 運転 (unten) and 免許 (menkyo)
Peter: Drive and license.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Now what’s the first word, one more time?
Natsuko: 運転 (unten)
Peter: Drive, operate. Now how do we make this into a verb?
Natsuko: 運転する (unten suru)
Peter: Again, we combine
Natsuko: 運転 (unten)
Peter: With
Natsuko: する (suru)
Peter: To make it into a verb. Now Natsuko, how do we say good at driving?
Natsuko: 運転がうまい (unten ga umai)
Peter: Or
Natsuko: 運転が上手 (unten ga jōzu)
Peter: And how do we say bad at or not good at driving?
Natsuko: 運転が下手 (unten ga heta)
Peter: Now Natsuko, are you good at driving or bad at driving?
Natsuko: 私は運転が下手です。(Watashi wa unten ga heta desu.)
Peter: I don’t believe it.
Natsuko: I am.
Peter: Really and you admit it?
Natsuko: Yes, because I usually don’t drive.
Peter: That’s really impressive. You have a chauffeur.
Natsuko: No.
Peter: How do you say chauffeur in Japanese?
Natsuko: 運転手 (untenshu)
Peter: One more time, please.
Natsuko: 運転手 (untenshu)
Peter: All right, Natsuko. How does one get a driver’s license in Japan?
Natsuko: You go to driving school.
Peter: Which is?
Natsuko: 自動車学校 (jidōsha gakkō)
Peter: One more time.
Natsuko: 自動車学校 (jidōsha gakkō)
Peter: Break it down.
Natsuko: (slow)じどうしゃがっこう (jidōsha gakkō)
Peter: Long word.
Natsuko: Yes, but very simple because you can divide it into two words.
Peter: All right. Divide it up, Natsuko.
Natsuko: 自動車 (jidōsha)
Peter: Vehicle.
Natsuko: And 学校 (gakkō).
Peter: School.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Piece of cake.
Natsuko: Uhoo.
Peter: Now we can take out school as we’ve already gone over that one, right?
Natsuko: Yes, right.
Peter: Okay, so what’s the first word?
Natsuko: 自動車 (jidōsha)
Peter: Vehicle.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Can you tell us a little bit about this driving school that you mentioned?
Natsuko: Most people in Japan who want to get a driver’s license will go to this driving school.
Peter: I’ve heard about this. It's very infamous.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Natsuko, how much does the school cost?
Natsuko: I think around 20万円~30万円くらい (ni-jū-man-en kara san-jū-man-en kurai)
Peter: One more time, please.
Natsuko: 20万円~30万円くらいかかります。(Ni-jū-man-en kara san-jū-man-en kurai kakarimasu.)
Peter: All right, Natsuko. Give us the English for that?
Natsuko: It takes about ¥200,000 to ¥300,000.
Peter: Yeah, and we will go with the – we will be kind that the exchange rate will make it 100, roughly $2000 to $3000.
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: $2000 to $3000, Natsuko, you can buy a car for that, a used car?
Natsuko: Yeah right, yes and there is also a thing called 合宿免許 (gasshuku menkyo)
Peter: One more time, please.
Natsuko: 合宿免許 (gasshuku menkyo)
Peter: Now we have 免許 (menkyo), which you explained before. What is the first word?
Natsuko: 合宿 (gasshuku)
Peter: Camp. It’s not just camp, it’s camp with the purpose.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: For school, we go on 合宿 (gasshuku), once a year.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: We go to a different prefecture, we stay overnight and all day long, we’ll discuss about the topics we are studying. Some people, they go on sports 合宿 (gasshuku).
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: They go to a different location, they train there for a week and then come back.
Natsuko: Yes, yes.
Peter: Now
Natsuko: 合宿免許 (gasshuku menkyo)
Peter: Think about this, a camp with the purpose. One more time.
Natsuko: 合宿免許 (gasshuku menkyo)
Peter: Yes. They actually go away to get their license.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: So can you just give us a brief introduction to this?
Natsuko: You go away for umm, I think about two weeks at a minimum and all day long, you take lectures and you do the actual driving lessons and after 合宿 (gasshuku) is over, you are with license.
Peter: Maybe right?
Natsuko: Maybe, hopefully.
Peter: Hopefully. Next.
Natsuko: 次は、通う (Tsugi wa, kayō)
Peter: Commute, to commute.
Natsuko: (slow)かよう (kayō) (natural speed)通う (kayō)
Peter: Example, Natsuko.
Natsuko: 学校に通う (gakkō ni kayō)
Peter: To commute to school, get another one.
Natsuko: 電車で通う (densha de kayō)
Peter: To commute by train. Now notice the particle usage here. Give us the first sentence one more time.
Natsuko: 学校に通う (gakkō ni kayō)
Peter: Commute to school. Next.
Natsuko: 電車で通う (densha de kayō)
Peter: Commute by train. The Chinese character that’s found in
Natsuko: 通う (kayō)
Peter: Appears in many compounds, many, many compounds. Can you give us a few examples?
Natsuko: 通勤 (tsūkin)
Peter: Commute to work.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: With the characters being “commute” and “work”.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: On the same page, we have
Natsuko: 通学 (tsūgaku)
Peter: Commute school, commute to school. This character will appear quite often in moving around towards places.
Natsuko: Yes, right.
Peter: Next.
Natsuko: 次は、パパ (Tsugi wa, papa)
Peter: パパ (papa)
Natsuko: パパ (papa)
Peter: How about Yoshi’s パパ (papa)?
Natsuko: I like the way he says ねえ、パパ (nee, papa).
Peter: I think we are going to make that into a separate track. I better not make any promises but really should.
Natsuko: Special bonus track.
Peter: All right. Stop by and see. We might have the ambition to do it.
Natsuko: Yoshi’s パパ (papa)
Peter: パパ (papa). And then, Natsuko…
Natsuko: What?
Peter: The good news for you. What’s the next word we have?
Natsuko: Oh, yes. 次は、結婚式場 (Tsugi wa, kekkon shikijō)
Peter: Wedding hall.
Natsuko: (slow)けっこんしきじょう (kekkon shikijō) (natural speed)結婚式場 (kekkon shikijō)
Peter: タンタンタタン。(Tan tan ta tan.) Yes, now again, this is made up of two words, first word being
Natsuko: 結婚 (kekkon)
Peter: Marriage. And how do we make this into a verb?
Natsuko: 結婚する (kekkon suru)
Peter: Again, this is another word we add する (suru) to to make it into a verb.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: And the second word
Natsuko: 式場 (shikijō)
Peter: And this is a ceremonial place.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Place of ceremony. Ah put them together and we have your next weekend. Okay Natsuko, what’s next?
Natsuko: 次は、下見 (Tsugi wa, shitami)
Peter: Preview or preliminary inspection.
Natsuko: (slow)したみ (shitami) (natural speed)下見 (shitami)
Peter: Okay, you got an example sentence for us?
Natsuko: うん。デートの下見をする。(Un. Dēto no shitami o suru.)
Peter: What’s this?
Natsuko: To be prepared for a date.
Peter: One more time, give us the sentence.
Natsuko: デートの下見をする (dēto no shitami o suru)
Peter: Now we said preview or preliminary inspection. Now I think we should explain this a bit more because it’s quite an interesting word.
Natsuko: Really?
Peter: Now the Chinese characters for this are below and look.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: So look below. Now my understanding of the example sentence preview a date would be, you kind of do some surveillance.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Say I have a date lined up. I would go to the store I choose, look around, look at the path I would take, kind of do some research.
Natsuko: Yes, right.
Peter: This is the correct meaning?
Natsuko: Yes, and usually you actually go to the place. It’s not only you know looking at information, but you actually go to the place you are planning to go and see with your own eyes.
Peter: I see and you could place little things here and there.
Natsuko: Really?
Peter: Oh somebody dropped this bracelet. It looks so good on you.
Natsuko: Oh I haven’t heard of that but well maybe…
Peter: Right, it will work.
Natsuko: Umm…
Peter: Oh who left these two bicycles here? Let’s go for a ride.
Natsuko: Well umm, whether it works or not, you can do that.
Peter: You can do that.
Natsuko: In 下見 (shitami).
Peter: Interesting word. Okay, today’s point.

Lesson focus

Natsuko: 今日のポイントは、良かった (Kyō no pointo wa, yokatta)
Peter: Now this is the past tense of what word?
Natsuko: 良い (yoi)
Peter: Also found as いい (ii), which is good or nice.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: And we make it into the past tense.
Natsuko: 良かった (yokatta)
Peter: Of course because this is an i-adjective, we drop the い (i) and add
Natsuko: かった (katta)
Peter: So it becomes
Natsuko: 良かった (yokatta)
Peter: Which is also the past tense of い (i). Now why it is today’s point is that this word takes on so many meanings.
Natsuko: Oh yes, right.
Peter: You live in here, sometimes in our dialogues.
Natsuko: 良かったね。(Yokatta ne.)
Peter: Slips in there like inadvertently.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: We were waiting – we were waiting until we covered the past tense to do this but sometimes again inadvertently slips in.
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: Example, Natsuko.
Natsuko: ピーター、元気ですか。(Pītā, genki desu ka.)
Peter: 元気ですよ。(Genki desu yo.)
Natsuko: ああ、良かった。(Ā, yokatta.)
Peter: And in that little exchange there, it’s like ah that’s great. That’s good.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Good to hear, many, many meanings in this context.
Natsuko: Sometimes it can imply the meaning like I am relieved to hear that.
Peter: Yeah.
Natsuko: It’s like ああ、良かった。(Ā, yokatta.)
Peter: Exactly. If your favorite team wins, for example you couldn’t watch the game yesterday, you are kind of wondering whether the team won or not, you ask your friend the next day who won and they won, you can say
Natsuko: ああ、よかった。(Ā, yokatta.)
Peter: That’s good. If your friend passed the test that they were worried about and they tell you I passed the test
Natsuko: 良かったね。(Yokatta ne.)
Peter: That’s good. So while it means that’s good, it can also take on some more meanings. Our best example is in the dialogue.
Natsuko: 健治が良い子で本当に良かったです。(Kenji ga ii ko de hontō ni yokatta desu.)
Peter: 健治 (Kenji) is a good boy and the literal translation is 健治 (Kenji) is a good boy, that’s good but actually this sentence has a nuance of 健治 (Kenji) is a good boy, I am so proud.
Natsuko: Yes, right.
Peter: And it’s great. So again this is one word that is very open to interpretation in Japanese.
Natsuko: Right, in context, it has many translations.
Peter: Exactly. Can you give us one more?
Natsuko: 会えてよかった (aete yokatta)
Peter: And this sentence is, it was nice meeting you.
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: You used it right before as a parting greeting.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Nice meeting you.
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: So again many interpretations of this word. Very common, I hear it very often.
Natsuko: I feel like you know when you said 会えてよかった (aete yokatta), it’s more like I was really lucky to be able to meet you.
Peter: Yeah.
Natsuko: So it’s a very good compliment.

Outro

Peter: Exactly. All right, that’s going to do for today.
Natsuko: じゃあ、また明日ね。(Jā, mata ashita ne.)
Peter: See you tomorrow.

Grammar

Japanese Grammar Made Easy - Unlock This Lesson’s Grammar Guide

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Kanji

Review & Remember All Kanji from this Lesson

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