Dialogue

Vocabulary

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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 22 - Talking About Your Hobbies. Eric here.
Natsuko: こんにちは。 奈津子です。
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn expressions you can use to say what your hobby is, or what you like or don’t like to do. The conversation takes place in an office during break.
Natsuko: It's between Linda and her co-worker, Ms. Taniguchi.
Eric: The speakers are co-workers, so they’ll be speaking politely, but not too formally. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

Taniguchi: 沖縄の写真を、見せて下さいね。
Linda: いいですよ。たくさんとりましたよ!写真がしゅみですから。
Taniguchi: そうですか。私も写真が好きです。
: 魚の写真をとりましたか。
Linda: いいえ。。。泳ぎが得意じゃありませんから。
Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Taniguchi: 沖縄の写真を、見せて下さいね。
Linda: いいですよ。たくさんとりましたよ!写真がしゅみですから。
Taniguchi: そうですか。私も写真が好きです。
: 魚の写真をとりましたか。
Linda: いいえ。。。泳ぎが得意じゃありませんから。
Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Taniguchi: Can I see some pictures from Okinawa?
Linda: Yes of course. I took a lot! Taking pictures is my hobby.
Taniguchi: Oh is that so? I love taking pictures too.
: Did you take some pictures of fish?
Linda: ah… no….I’m not good at swimming…
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Eric: So Linda likes taking photos.
Natsuko: I’d say that’s a nice しゅみ or “hobby.” By the way, you don’t use the word “hobby” in English as much as we do in Japanese, right?
Eric: That’s very true. Japanese people often talk about what they do in their spare time as their “hobby,” don’t they?
Natsuko: Right. People often ask しゅみはなんですか meaning “what’s your hobby?” and this is like “what do you like to do in your free time?” in English. 
Eric: Though shumi is translated as “hobby” in English, I feel like it has a broader and more casual connotation than the English word “hobby.”
Natsuko: In Japanese, almost any activity can be しゅみ, such as cooking, reading, or even watching T.V.
Eric: Speaking of しゅみ, I’ve heard some Japanese companies have “in-company club activities" for workers who share the same しゅみ or “hobby.”
Natsuko: I’ve heard of that, they’re called 社内サークル. Those clubs can get money from their companies to pay for equipment and matches. Maybe we should have one in our company too.
Eric: That would be a good idea! Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Natsuko: 写真 [natural native speed]
Eric: photograph
Natsuko: 写真[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 写真 [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: 見せる [natural native speed]
Eric: to show, to display
Natsuko: 見せる[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 見せる [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: たくさん [natural native speed]
Eric: a lot, many, much
Natsuko: たくさん[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: たくさん [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: とる [natural native speed]
Eric: to take (a photo)
Natsuko: とる[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: とる [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: しゅみ [natural native speed]
Eric: hobby
Natsuko: しゅみ[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: しゅみ [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: 好き [natural native speed]
Eric: to like, likable
Natsuko: 好き[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 好き [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: 魚 [natural native speed]
Eric: fish
Natsuko: 魚[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 魚 [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: 泳ぎ [natural native speed]
Eric: swimming
Natsuko: 泳ぎ[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 泳ぎ [natural native speed]
Eric: And last..
Natsuko: 得意 [natural native speed]
Eric: forte, strong point
Natsuko: 得意[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 得意 [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: いいですよ。
Eric: meaning "Sure. Okay."
Natsuko:いい means "good" and です is a copula. So いいです means "it's good."
Eric: We have a sentence ending particle, yo, to indicate a statement of certainty. Altogether,
Natsuko:いいですよ
Eric: literally means “it’s good for sure.” It’s often used as a reply meaning "sure" or "okay" to a request.
Natsuko: If a stranger comes to you and says... すみません。 写真をとってください。
Eric:meaning "Excuse me. Can you please take a picture?”
Natsuko: And if you don’t mind taking pictures, say いいですよ
Eric: meaing “sure.” Now listeners, make sure you pay attention to the tone of the ending. Natsuko, can we hear that phrase again?
Natsuko: Okay. いいですよ。
Eric: Did you realize that intonation went up on the last sound? Can we hear it again?
Natsuko: いいですよ。First, you say いい and then fall in pitch at です and raise the pitch at よ.  いい↓です↑よ。
Eric: Listeners, repeat after Natsuko.
Natsuko: いいですよ。
Eric: (5 sec.) Okay, what's the next phrase?
Natsuko: そうですか。
Eric: meaning "Is that so?" Sou in Japanese means "so" in English, and refers to something mentioned right before. This is used to show a supportive reaction to something that you were told.
Natsuko: There’s a particle, か, at the end of the sentence, but it’s not really a question. So don’t use a rising intonation for か.
Eric: Can we hear the sentence again? Listeners, pay attention to the intonation.
Natsuko:そうですか。You say そう and use falling intonation for です then か.  そう↓ですか。
Eric: Okay, listeners, repeat after Natsuko.
Natsuko: そうですか。
Eric: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you will learn some expressions you can use to say what you like or don’t like to do. The first sentence we’ll be looking at is...
Natsuko: 写真がしゅみです
Eric: meaning “taking pictures is my hobby.”
Natsuko:In order to say what you like to do, use this formation [something]がしゅみです
Eric: Let’s give an example. First, say the name of your hobby or your favorite activity.
Natsuko: If you like playing golf, start the sentence with ゴルフ
Eric: Next, add the particle ga
Natsuko:ゴルフが
Eric: Then add the word meaning “hobby.”
Natsuko:趣味 So, ゴルフが趣味
Eric: Finally, put the polite copula, desu, at the end.
Natsuko:ゴルフが趣味です
Eric: “Golfing is my hobby.” Let’s give another example. How do you say “reading” or “reading books”?
Natsuko: 読書
Eric: And how do you say “My hobby is reading?”
Natsuko:読書が趣味です. Of course, you can simply say 読書が好きです to mean “I like reading.”
Eric: Actually, that’s the second sentence we’ll be looking at.
Natsuko: The sentence pattern is私は something がすきです. For example, if you like “golfing”, 私はゴルフが好きです
Eric: When it’s obvious that you’re talking about yourself, watashi wa is left out.
Natsuko: When you LOVE something, add だい, meaning “big,” in front of すき and say 大好きです
Eric: How do you say “I love sports”?
Natsuko:スポーツが大好きです.
Eric: In this lesson’s dialogue, Ms. Taniguchi said
Natsuko:私も写真が好きです。
Eric: “I like taking pictures too.” Notice that she replaced particle wa with mo meaning “too.”
Natsuko: Right. わたし・も・しゃしんがすきです。 The sentence pattern to say “I like something too” is わたしも---がすきです。
Eric: OK. Let’s practice. Natsuko will tell you what her hobby is or what she likes to do. What you have to do is say “I like it, too.” Are you ready?
Natsuko:ゴルフが趣味です
Eric: (5sec) OK. Listeners, if you said…
Natsuko:私もゴルフが好きす.
Eric: then you’re right. OK. Let’s do one more.
Natsuko:スポーツが好きです
Eric: (5 sec.) Listeners, if you said…
Natsuko:私もスポーツが好きです
Eric: you’re right. Okay. Since we learned how to say what you like to do, let’s also learn how to say what you don’t like to do. Natsuko, can you give us the sentence?
Natsuko: Okay. 泳ぎが得意じゃありません
Eric: This means “I’m not good at swimming.” Let’s break down this sentence.
Natsuko:泳ぎが
Eric: means “swimming” plus ga, a subject marking particle
Natsuko:得意
Eric: meaning “good at”
Natsuko:じゃありません is the negative form of the copula です.
Eric: Can we hear the sentence again?
Natsuko: 泳ぎが得意じゃありません
Eric: which means “I’m not good at swimming.”
Natsuko: The sentence pattern is ---が得意じゃありません
Eric: When you have some activities you don’t like, it sounds more natural to say “I’m not good at something.” or “I don’t like something very much” than “I hate something” in Japanese.
Natsuko: Right. きらいです means “I hate something,” but it sounds very strong, so we usually avoid using it. Instead, we say 得意じゃありません
Eric: “I’m not good at it”, or...
Natsuko: あまり好きじゃありません
Eric: “I don’t like it very much.” Okay. Can we hear some examples?
Natsuko: ゴルフが得意じゃありません。
Eric: It means "I’m not good at golf.”
Natsuko:読書があまり好きじゃあまりません。
Eric:"I don’t like reading books very much.”

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

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