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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Business Japanese for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 15 - Calling in Sick. Eric here.
Natsuko: こんにちは。 奈津子です。
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to request a day off because of illness. The conversation takes place in an office.
Natsuko: It's between Linda and her boss, Mr. Takahashi.
Eric: The speakers are in a boss-subordinate relationship, so the subordinate will be speaking formal Japanese, and the boss will not. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

Linda: おはようございます。リンダです。
Takahashi: あ、おはよう。リンダ。
Linda: すみません。ぐあいが悪いので、今日、お休みしても、いいでしょうか。
Takahashi: 分かった。大丈夫か。お大事に。
Linda: ありがとうございます。
Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Linda: おはようございます。リンダです。
Takahashi: あ、おはよう。リンダ。
Linda: すみません。ぐあいが悪いので、今日、お休みしても、いいでしょうか。
Takahashi: 分かった。大丈夫か。お大事に。
Linda: ありがとうございます。
Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Linda: Good morning, this is Linda.
Takahashi: Hi Linda. Good morning.
Linda: I am not feeling very well today. Would it be okay to take a day off?
Takahashi: Oh, sure. Are you okay? Please take care.
Linda: Thank you very much.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: So Linda called in sick.
Natsuko: Right. I hope she gets well soon. お大事に~。
Eric: Correct me if I’m wrong, but Japanese people don’t take sick days very often, do they? Even if they’re sick, they still come to work coughing.
Natsuko: There are still people like that. But now companies are encouraging their workers to take days off when they’re sick.
Eric: Well...they should. When you’re sick, you’re sick...
Natsuko: That’s true. Culturally, Japanese people tend to be afraid of causing trouble for others, and many people feel guilty when they call in sick.
Eric: I see. That might be the reason they ask for permission. In Japan it would be more appropriate to ask “would it be okay to take a day off?” rather than directly say “I’m sick. I can’t come to work today.”
Natsuko: Right. 今日、おやすみしても、いいでしょうか~ sounds much better than 今日、休みます。
Eric: Is there anything that we should know when we take a sick day off?
Natsuko:Well, in general, you need to call your office before work starts. What you must avoid is 無断欠勤.
Eric: Ah..."absence without notice?"
Natsuko: Right. I think it’s pretty much the same in any country though.
Eric: I think so too. Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson.
Eric: The first word is..
Natsuko: ぐあい [natural native speed]
Eric: condition, health
Natsuko: ぐあい[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: ぐあい [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: 悪い [natural native speed]
Eric: bad
Natsuko: 悪い[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 悪い [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: 休み [natural native speed]
Eric: holiday, time off
Natsuko: 休み[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 休み [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: 大丈夫 [natural native speed]
Eric: alright, okay
Natsuko: 大丈夫[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 大丈夫 [natural native speed]
Eric: And last we have..
Natsuko: お大事に [natural native speed]
Eric: please take care
Natsuko: お大事に[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: お大事に [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is..
Natsuko: いいでしょうか
Eric: meaning "Would it be okay?"
Natsuko: Basically, いいでしょうか means the same thing as いいですか?, but いいでしょうか sounds more formal.
Eric: The ending is the key. でしょう is called “a conjectural form” in grammar terms and makes questions softer or less direct. That’s why it sounds formal.
Natsuko: There’s also an extra polite expression. It’s ... よろしいでしょうか。
Eric: It’s the extra polite version of an adjective meaning "good". Okay, let’s recap. Say “is it okay?” in a polite way, but not too formal.
Natsuko: いいですか。
Eric: Say “would it be fine?” in a more formal way.
Natsuko: いいでしょうか。
Eric: Say “would it be fine?” in an extremely formal way.
Natsuko:よろしいでしょうか。
Eric: Okay, what's the next phrase?
Natsuko: お大事に
Eric: meaning "please take care." Now, o is an honorific prefix. And it comes from a phrase meaning "to take care of."
Natsuko: So the original phrase is お大事になさってください, but なさってください is often omitted and said as お大事に。
Eric: Which is more polite?
Natsuko: お大事になさってください
Eric: So to your bosses or clients, you should say...
Natsuko:お大事になさってください。
Eric:To your coworkers or friends, you should say…
Natsuko: お大事に。
Eric: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to make a request to take a day off because of illness.
Natsuko: The sentences we’re focusing on are...すみません。ぐあいが悪いので、今日お休みしてもいいでしょうか。
Eric: “I am not feeling very well today, so would it be okay to take a day off?” Wow, that’s is a long expression…OK. Firstly we have….
Natsuko: すみません which means “excuse me” or “I’m sorry.”
Eric: Next, we have a long sentence.
Natsuko:ぐあいが悪いので、今日お休みしてもいいでしょうか。
Eric:“I am not feeling very well today, so would it be okay to take a day off?” Since it’s a long sentence, let’s break it down into parts. The first part states the reason...
Natsuko:ぐあいが悪いので、
Eric: Meaning “I am not feeling very well” or “since I’m not feeling well.”
Natsuko: Node is used to give a reason politely. Say the reason first, and add node.
Eric: Can we hear an example using ので?
Natsuko:Sure. 頭が痛いので
Eric: “I have a headache so...” or “as I have a headache.”
Natsuko: Please note that the i-adjective before ので is in the informal form. いたい・ので.
Eric: Also, the verb before node should be informal too.
Natsuko: For example, ねつがあるので、
Eric: “I have a fever so,” Okay. Let’s look at the part after node.
Natsuko: 今日お休みしてもいいでしょうか。
Eric: “Would it be okay to take a day off today?”
Natsuko: きょう means “today.” So おやすみしてもいいでしょうか means
Eric: “Would it be OK to take a day off?” To understand this sentence, we need to know the sentence pattern asking for permission.
Natsuko: The formation is the te form of a verb + mo + ii desu ka?
Eric: It means "Would it be okay to...?" or “May I …?” Let’s explain with examples. How do you say “to rest” or “to take a day off”?
Natsuko: 休む
Eric: Let’s change it to the te-form.
Natsuko:休んで. Then add も いいですか. 休んでもいいですか
Eric: which means “Would it be okay to rest?” or “May I take a day off?” Now, maybe some of you are thinking that it’s not exactly the same sentence as the one in the lesson’s dialogue. You’re right. This is a polite sentence, but Linda said it even more politely.
Natsuko: She used a verb,おやすみする, meaning “to rest” or “to take a day off” which is in itself more polite than 休む. She also saidでしょうか instead of ですか, and this makes the sentence even more polite.
Eric: All right. Let’s show you step by step. What’s the polite verb meaning “to rest” or “to take a day off”?
Natsuko:お休みする
Eric:The te-form is?
Natsuko:おやすみして
Eric: To this, add も いいでしょうか which is the more polite way to say も いいですか
Natsuko:おやすみしてもいいでしょうか。
Eric: “Would it be okay to take a day off?” Since it’s a tongue-twister, let’s practice saying it. Listeners, please repeat after Natsuko.
Natsuko: おやすみしてもいいでしょうか。
Eric: ………. Okay. Finally, let’s put all of this together. Natsuko, can we hear the whole sentence?
Natsuko: All right. すみません。ぐあいが悪いので、今日お休みしてもいいでしょうか。
Eric: “I’m not feeling very well today, so would it be okay to take a day off?” Now listeners, it’s your turn. You’re telling your boss that you have a fever and want to take a day off in Japanese.
Natsuko:Here are some hints. You start off by saying “excuse me…” or “I’m sorry,” and “to have a fever” is 熱がある.
Eric: Okay. Let’s try! ………………….
Were you able to say it? Natsuko, the correct sentences are..?
Natsuko: すみません。ねつがあるので、お休みしてもいいでしょうか。
Eric: “I have a fever, so would it be okay to take a day off?” Did you get the answer right?
Natsuko: We hope you did!

Outro

Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Natsuko: またねー

Grammar

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