Learn how to take a day off because of illness
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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