Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Naomi: なおみです。 (Naomi desu.)
Yūichi: ゆういちです。(Yūichi desu.)
Peter: Peter here. Onigiri Prince Part 1.
Naomi: おにぎり王子。(Onigiri ōji.)
Peter: Rice ball prince.
Yūichi: その通りです。(Sono tōri desu.)
Naomi: Who wrote the story?
Yūichi: 僕です。(Boku desu.)
Peter: So we have the writer here in the studio. ゆういちさん (Yūichi-san) wrote the story. Now this story will be about
Yūichi: おにぎり王子の話です。(Onigiri ōji no hanashi desu.)
Peter: So a story about a rice ball prince. Now I think, well let’s just wait and see what happens but what grammar point are we going to focus on today?
Naomi: ことがある (koto ga aru)
Peter: Which means there are occasions when one does something or something happens.
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.)
Peter: Okay, the conversation takes place at
Yūichi: The streets.
Peter: On the street. And the conversation is between?
Naomi: アオ (Ao) and 一番 (Ichiban). Are they common names, Yuichi-san? Who named them?
Peter: Are they male, female or what are they?
Yūichi: アオ (Ao) is female, 一番君 (Ichiban-kun) is a man.
Naomi: Did you name them?
Yūichi: Yes, I did.
Peter: Okay, nice name and are they friends?
Yūichi: Yeah, very close friends, I think.
Peter: So we will be using casual Japanese.
Yūichi: Yes.
Peter: Okay. So Onigiri prince part 1 by Yuichi. Here we go.
DIALOGUE
アオ (Ao) : 一番君、「おにぎり王子」知っていますか。(Ichiban-kun, “Onigiri ōji” shitte imasu ka.)
一番 (Ichiban) : はい、僕は昔から、大ファンなんですよ。ファンクラブにも入っていて、時々ファンレターを出すことがあります。彼のコンサートに行くこともあるんですよ。(Hai, boku wa mukashi kara, daifan nan desu yo. Fan kurabu ni mo haitte ite, tokidoki fan retā o dasu koto ga arimasu. Kare no konsāto ni iku koto mo aru n desu yo.)
アオ (Ao) : へー、熱烈なファンですね。私は、おにぎり王子より、おにぎり王女の方が好きです。(Hē, netsuretsu na fan desu ne. Watashi wa, Onigiri ōji yori, Onigiri ōjo no hō ga suki desu.)
一番 (Ichiban) : えっ、あの噂の!?(E, ano uwasa no!?)
アオ (Ao) : はい、おにぎり王子の彼女の。だって、可愛いじゃないですか。(Hai, Onigiri ōji no kanojo no. Datte, kawaii ja nai desu ka.)
一番 (Ichiban) : あっ!!!あれは、もしかして…。(A!!! Are wa, moshikashite…)
Naomi: もう一度、お願いします。今度は、ゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do, onegai shimasu. Kondo wa, yukkuri onegai shimasu.)
アオ (Ao) : 一番君、「おにぎり王子」知っていますか。(Ichiban-kun, “Onigiri ōji” shitte imasu ka.)
一番 (Ichiban) : はい、僕は昔から、大ファンなんですよ。ファンクラブにも入っていて、時々ファンレターを出すことがあります。彼のコンサートに行くこともあるんですよ。(Hai, boku wa mukashi kara, daifan nan desu yo. Fan kurabu ni mo haitte ite, tokidoki fan retā o dasu koto ga arimasu. Kare no konsāto ni iku koto mo aru n desu yo.)
アオ (Ao) : へー、熱烈なファンですね。私は、おにぎり王子より、おにぎり王女の方が好きです。(Hē, netsuretsu na fan desu ne. Watashi wa, Onigiri ōji yori, Onigiri ōjo no hō ga suki desu.)
一番 (Ichiban) : えっ、あの噂の!?(E, ano uwasa no!?)
アオ (Ao) : はい、おにぎり王子の彼女の。だって、可愛いじゃないですか。(Hai, Onigiri ōji no kanojo no. Datte, kawaii ja nai desu ka.)
一番 (Ichiban) : あっ!!!あれは、もしかして…。(A!!! Are wa, moshikashite…)
Naomi: 今度は、英語が入ります。(Kondo wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.)
アオ (Ao) : 一番君、「おにぎり王子」知っていますか。(Ichiban-kun, “Onigiri ōji” shitte imasu ka.)
AO: Ichiban-kun, do you know the Onigiri prince?
一番 (Ichiban) : はい、僕は昔から、大ファンなんですよ。(Hai, boku wa mukashi kara, daifan nan desu yo.)
ICHIBAN: Yes, I have long been a big fan of his.
一番 (Ichiban) : ファンクラブにも入っていて、時々ファンレターを出すことがあります。彼のコンサートに行くこともあるんですよ。(Fan kurabu ni mo haitte ite, tokidoki fan retā o dasu koto ga arimasu. Kare no konsāto ni iku koto mo aru n desu yo.)
ICHIBAN: I'm a member of his fan club and sometimes I write him fan-mails. I also go to his concert.
アオ (Ao) : へー、熱烈なファンですね。(Hē, netsuretsu na fan desu ne.)
AO: Golly, you are an ardent fan.
アオ (Ao) : 私は、おにぎり王子より、おにぎり王女の方が好きです。(Watashi wa, Onigiri ōji yori, Onigiri ōjo no hō ga suki desu.)
AO: I like the Onigiri princess better than the Onigiri prince.
一番 (Ichiban) : えっ、あの噂の!?(E, ano uwasa no!?)
ICHIBAN: What? The one I keep hearing about?
アオ (Ao) : はい、おにぎり王子の彼女の。だって、可愛いじゃないですか。(Hai, Onigiri ōji no kanojo no. Datte, kawaii ja nai desu ka.)
AO: Yeah, the girlfriend of the Onigiri prince. Because she is cute, isn't she?
一番 (Ichiban) : あっ!!!あれは、もしかして…。(A!!! Are wa, moshikashite…)
ICHIBAN: Oh my god!! Could that be…
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Peter: なおみ先生。(Naomi-sensei.)
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Peter: どう思いましたか。(Dō omoimashita ka.)
Naomi: I think such and such 王子 (ōji) is one of 流行語 (ryūkōgo).
Peter: A trendy word.
Naomi: はい。(Hai.) Like ハニカミ王子 (Hanikami ōji), ハンカチ王子 (Hankachi ōji).
Peter: ハニカミ王子?(Hanikami ōji?) What’s that?
Naomi: Bashful prince, shy prince.
Yūichi: His smile is so cute.
Naomi: The real name of ハニカミ王子 (Hanikami ōji) is Ryo Ishikawa. He is 16 years old. He is a professional golfer.
Peter: Ah…Recently he participated in a very big tournament and did terribly.
Naomi: Oh really?
Peter: Yes. Actually.
Yūichi: He is the youngest professional golfer in Japan.
Peter: Yeah and they had big hopes for him but maybe they rushed him just a little bit.
Yūichi: He is still a high school student in Japan.
Peter: Yeah. I remember he was in a very, very big tournament and won a world tournament.
Naomi: The other prince is ハンカチ王子 (Hankachi ōji).
Peter: One more time?
Naomi: ハンカチ王子。(Hankachi ōji.)
Peter: And what does that mean?
Naomi: Prince Handkerchief?
Yūichi: Handkerchief prince.
Naomi: What’s his name?
Yūichi: Saito Yuki.
Peter: And why is he the handkerchief prince?
Naomi: He became famous because of his good looks and pitching and his team took first or second, I am not sure, in a high school baseball tournament and the way he wipes sweat off his face became like, was kind of unique.
Peter: Oh Naomi, that is just so lovely.
Naomi: Like he always used blue – blue handkerchief?
Yūichi: Yeah blue handkerchief.
Naomi: Like usually the athletes wipe their sweat using their like sleeves or…
Yūichi: Jerseys…
Naomi: Jerseys but he didn’t do that. He used a blue handkerchief. So that captured a woman’s heart.
Peter: So this 王子 (ōji) meaning prince is kind of used in combination with a term that is associated with these guys?
Naomi: そうですね。おにぎり王子は?(Sō desu ne. Onigiri ōji wa?)
Yūichi: アイドルです。(Aidoru desu.) He is a pop idol.
Peter: So it’s a real person?
Yūichi: No, I made it up.
Peter: Oh okay. So okay now it kind of makes sense but when we think about the おにぎり王子 (Onigiri ōji) and we use kind of the methodology of the handkerchief prince, the ハンカチ王子 (Hankachi ōji), we can kind of assume that this Rock star or singer is always eating Onigiri.
Yūichi: He is kind of a unique character who likes onigiri a lot and yeah.
Peter: 頭の形が三角?(Atama no katachi ga sankaku?)
Naomi: You will find out in the later lessons.
Peter: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) So his head looks like onigiri.
Yūichi: The point A is he loves onigiri very much.
Peter: Okay, let’s take a look at some of the vocabulary.
VOCAB LIST
Yūichi: 王子 (ōji)
Peter: Prince.
Yūichi: (slow) おうじ (ōji) (natural speed) 王子 (ōji)
Peter: Next.
Naomi: 昔 (mukashi)
Peter: A long time ago.
Naomi: (slow) むかし (mukashi) (natural speed) 昔 (mukashi)
Peter: Next.
Yūichi: ファンクラブ (fan kurabu)
Peter: Fan club.
Yūichi: (slow) ファンクラブ (fan kurabu) (natural speed) ファンクラブ (fan kurabu)
Peter: Next.
Naomi: 時々 (tokidoki)
Peter: Sometimes.
Naomi: (slow) ときどき (tokidoki) (natural speed) 時々 (tokidoki)
Peter: Next.
Yūichi: コンサート (konsāto)
Peter: Concert.
Yūichi: (slow) コンサート (konsāto) (natural speed) コンサート (konsāto)
Peter: Next.
Naomi: 熱烈な (netsuretsu na)
Peter: Passionate, ardent.
Naomi: (slow) ねつれつな (netsuretsu na) (natural speed) 熱烈な (netsuretsu na)
Peter: Next.
Yūichi: 王女 (ōjo)
Peter: Princess.
Yūichi: (slow) おうじょ (ōjo) (natural speed) 王女 (ōjo)
Peter: Next.
Naomi: 噂 (uwasa)
Peter: Rumor, gossip.
Naomi: (slow) うわさ (uwasa) (natural speed) 噂 (uwasa)
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Peter: Okay, let’s take a closer look at some of the phrases and vocabulary that appear in today’s lesson. なおみ先生、お願いします。(Naomi-sensei, onegai shimasu.)
Naomi: 王子 (ōji)
Peter: Prince.
Naomi: 王女 (ōjo)
Peter: Princess.
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) 王 (ō) means king. なので、王様の子供なので prince。(Nanode, ō-sama no kodomo na node “prince.”)
Peter: Just to clarify. So the first character is 王 (ō) meaning king and the second character is 子 (ji) meaning child. So the king's child, prince.
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) King’s girl is princess.
Peter: So let’s just finish off the rest of the royal family. What do we have for the king?
Naomi: 王 (ō)
Peter: King.
Yūichi: 女王 (joō)
Peter: Queen.
Naomi: そうですね。Woman king ですね。(Sō desu ne. “Woman king” desu ne.)
Peter: Queen and the whole royal family?
Naomi: 王家 (ōke)
Peter: 王家 (ōke)
Naomi: 家 (ke) means house and/or sometimes people say 王族 (ōzoku).
Peter: The royal family and 族 (zoku) is kind of like...
Naomi: Group.
Peter: Yes.
Naomi: Like as in 家族 (kazoku), right?
Peter: Yes.
Naomi: So 王族 (ōzoku).
Peter: 王族 (ōzoku)
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Peter: And what’s the word for nobles?
Yūichi: 貴族 (kizoku)
Peter: And the reason I brought this up is because this is – we are talking about western culture here now.
Naomi: This 王 (ō) and 王女 (ōjo), 王子 (ōji) things cannot apply to Japanese royal family.
Peter: They have different names altogether.
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) These are only for western or like other countries' royal families.
Peter: So fairy tales that have made it over from western culture. This is things that would be so King Arthur and things like this.
Naomi: Or Queen Bee とかね (toka ne).
Yūichi: なんですか、それは?(Nan desu ka, sore wa?)
Naomi: 女王蜂とか。女王蜂とかって言いますね。(Joōbachi toka. Joōbachi toka tte iimasu ne.)
Peter: King Arthur, Queen Bee のほかないですけど。はい、次。(“King Arthur” “Queen Bee” no hoka nai desu kedo. Hai, tsugi.)
Yūichi: 時々 (tokidoki)
Peter: Sometimes.
Yūichi: 時 (toki) means time and the next Chinese character that repeats the previous kanji. So 時-時 (toki-toki) but you have to pronounce the latter とき (toki). So どき (doki) so 時々 (tokidoki).
Peter: Sometimes.
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) From time to time. っていう感じですかね。(Tte iu kanji desu ka ne.)
Peter: Like the song. Actually the song is “time after time” but it could be a good way to remember. Time, time.
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.)
Peter: Time after time, sometimes.
Naomi: I think the kanji for time is interesting. If you take a close look at the kanji, you will see 日 (nichi) on the left side. 日 (hi) which means sun, right? And you will find a temple on your right side. So back in the Edo era, temples let people know what time it was.
Peter: How so?
Naomi: Like they rang the bell at the temple. So at the temple, the Buddhist monks show the sun and tell people the time.
Peter: Interesting, great mnemonic. Okay, next we have?
Yūichi: 熱烈な (netsuretsu na)
Peter: Ardent and can we have a sample phrase?
Yūichi: 熱烈なサッカーファン (netsuretsu na sakkā fan)
Peter: An ardent or a passionate soccer fan.
Naomi: イギリスには熱烈なサッカーファンがたくさんいますよね。(Igirisu ni wa netsuretsu na sakkā fan ga takusan imasu yo ne.)
Peter: So there are a lot of passionate soccer fans in England.
Yūichi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.)
Naomi: 有名ですよね。(Yūmei desu yo ne.)
Peter: World famous fans in England. Okay, let’s take a look at today’s grammar point. なおみ先生、お願いします。(Naomi-sensei, onegai shimasu.)

Lesson focus

Naomi: Today’s grammar point is ことがある (koto ga aru).
Peter: Now this is a phrase used to indicate that there are occasions when one does something or something happens, okay. Now please note in this case, we are using the non-past plain form and please don’t confuse this with I have done something. I have had that experience.
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.)
Peter: Which is past plain plus ことがある (koto ga aru) but for now, let’s just take a look at the first one we talked about. The non-past plain plus ことがある (koto ga aru) which talks about occasions when someone does something or something happens. なおみ先生、お願いします。(Naomi-sensei, onegai shimasu.)
Naomi: 見る (miru) is to see. 見ることがある。(Miru koto ga aru.)
Peter: There are times when one sees.
Naomi: For example. 映画を見ることがある。(Eiga o miru koto ga aru.)
Peter: So I sometimes watch movies is how we would translate it but literally there are times, there are occasions when I watch movies. We also have
Yūichi: 話すことがある。(Hanasu koto ga aru.)
Peter: There are times when one talks. How about a sample sentence?
Naomi: 大きい声で話すことがある。(Ōkii koe de hanasu koto ga aru.)
Peter: Sometimes I talk in a loud voice. Sometimes I scream and again there are occasions when I talk in a big voice but again we simplify this by saying sometimes.
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) And you should be careful that you cannot use the polite form before ことがある (koto ga aru).
Peter: Yes, always the plain.
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) 見ますことがある、は...。(Mimasu koto ga aru, wa…) You can’t say that.
Peter: So remember the final verb of the sentence decides the politeness level. Okay now, we touched on this earlier and we don’t want to confuse you too much but some of you may have been exposed to the grammatical structure for I have something, I have been to Japan, which is
Yūichi: 日本に行ったことがある。(Nihon ni itta koto ga aru.)
Peter: And before the ことがある (koto ga aru), we have a verb in the plain past. Now this means I have experienced something. This can cause some confusion. So we are going to clarify it all in the next lesson but for now, we are covering remember, the plain non-past form of the verb plus ことがある (koto ga aru), 見ることがある (miru koto ga aru). I sometimes see 食べることがある (taberu koto ga aru), I sometimes eat or there are times when one eats.
Naomi: I think it’s covered in a PDF but other verbs of frequency are often used with this grammar, like 時々、見ることがある (tokidoki, miru koto ga aru). 時々、映画を見ることがある。たまに、映画を見ることがある。よく、映画を見ることがある。(Tokidoki, eiga o miru koto ga aru. Tama ni, eiga o miru koto ga aru. Yoku, eiga o miru koto ga aru.)

Outro

Peter: All right, that is going to do for today.
Yūichi: さよなら。(Sayonara.)
Naomi: またね。(Mata ne.)

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Intro

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