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 24 - Going to Karaoke With Your Coworkers. Eric here.
Natsuko: こんにちは。 奈津子です。
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn some survival expressions for a karaoke session. The conversation takes place in a karaoke room.
Natsuko: It's between Linda and her co-worker, Mr. Ito.
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

Linda: 伊藤さんは、いつも、どんな歌を歌いますか。
Ito: じつは、歌は、得意じゃありません。
: リンダは、どんな歌を歌いますか。
Linda: 英語の歌を歌います。
Ito: 英語の歌は、こっちの本ですよ。
Linda: あ、ありがとうございます。
: 伊藤さんも、歌いましょうよ。
: どれにしますか。
Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Linda: 伊藤さんは、いつも、どんな歌を歌いますか。
Ito: じつは、歌は、得意じゃありません。
: リンダは、どんな歌を歌いますか。
Linda: 英語の歌を歌います。
Ito: 英語の歌は、こっちの本ですよ。
Linda: あ、ありがとうございます。
: 伊藤さんも、歌いましょうよ。
: どれにしますか。
Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Linda: Mr. Ito, what do you usually sing?
Ito: To be honest, I’m not a very good singer.
: What kind of songs do you sing, Linda?
Linda: I sing English songs.
Ito: English songs are in this book.
Linda: Oh, thank you.
: Let’s sing together, Mr. Ito.
: What do you want to sing?
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: In Japan karaoke is quite popular, isn’t it? You can find a karaoke place on just about every street corner in the entertainment districts.
Natsuko: Right. But that doesn’t mean that everyone likes singing. There are a lot of people like Mr. Ito.
Eric: Well, he said he’s not a good singer, but he didn’t say he hates it. So he probably likes singing.
Natsuko: Ah...you may be right. But people actually come to karaoke even if they don’t like singing. Especially if it’s a company related party.
Eric: Interesting. But doesn’t it kill the mood if someone doesn’t want to sing?
Natsuko: Yeah, so if you don't like singing but still have to go to karaoke, grab maracas or clap your hands and warm up the party.
Eric:That’s a good tip for surviving karaoke. Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Natsuko: いつも [natural native speed]
Eric: always, usually
Natsuko: いつも[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: いつも [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: どんな [natural native speed]
Eric: what kind of
Natsuko: どんな[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: どんな [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: 歌 [natural native speed]
Eric: song
Natsuko: 歌[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 歌 [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: 歌う [natural native speed]
Eric: sing
Natsuko: 歌う[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 歌う [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: じつは [natural native speed]
Eric: to be honest, actually
Natsuko: じつは[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: じつは [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: 得意 [natural native speed]
Eric: forte, strong point
Natsuko: 得意[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 得意 [natural native speed]
Eric: And last..
Natsuko: どれ [natural native speed]
Eric: which
Natsuko: どれ[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: どれ [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: 歌いましょう
Eric: "let's sing."
Natsuko: The masu- stem plus ましょう is called the “formal volitional form” and it means “let’s…”
Eric: We’ll show you with an example. “To sing” in Japanese is?
Natsuko:歌う
Eric: What’s the corresponding masu form?
Natsuko: 歌います
Eric: Now get the masu stem.
Natsuko: 歌い
Eric:Then it becomes...
Natsuko:うたい・ましょう
Eric: It’s a formal volitional form and うたいましょう is translated as “let’s sing” in English.
Let us show you one more example. “To go” in Japanese is?
Natsuko: いく
Eric: The masu form is?
Natsuko:いきます
Eric: Now the masu stem is...
Natsuko:いき
Eric: And add mashou,
Natsuko:いきましょう
Eric: It means “let’s go.” In this lesson’s dialogue, Linda said...
Natsuko: 歌いましょうよ
Eric: meaning “let’s sing!” She put a particle, yo, at the end of the sentence. You can add this to strengthen the meaning of a suggestion or proposal. Can we hear an example sentence using the polite volitional form of a verb and the particle?
Natsuko: Okay. 映画に行きましょうよ。
Eric: "Let's go to the movies." Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn some survival expressions for karaoke.
Natsuko: You’ll be able to ask your co-workers what songs they like to sing and tell them what song you want to sing.
Eric: First, let’s take a look at how to say what kinds of songs you usually sing.
Natsuko: In this lesson’s dialogue, Linda said 英語の歌を歌います。
Eric: meaning “I sing English songs.”
Natsuko: 英語 means “English” and の is a particle that indicates possession. うた is “song.” So 英語の歌 means “English songs.”
Eric: To say what kind of songs you sing, you can describe them by language or musician.
Natsuko: such as language の うた or musician の うた. And after that, add a particle, を, and the verb 歌います.
Eric: Can we hear the sentence, again?
Natsuko: 英語の歌を歌います
Eric: “I sing English songs.” Now, if you sing a certain musician’s songs, use the same sentence pattern.
Say you sing Beatles’ songs. “Beatles’ songs” in Japanese is?
Natsuko:ビートルズの歌. ビートルズの歌を歌います。
Eric: It means “I sing Beatles’ songs.” If you sing any specific music genre, say that genre.
Natsuko: For example, ロックを歌います。
Eric: meaning "I sing rock." Okay, let’s take a look at the expression to ask your co-worker what he or she usually sings.
Natsuko: In the dialogue, Linda asked Mr. Ito いつも、どんな歌を歌いますか。
Eric: meaning “What kind of songs do you usually sing?” Let’s break down this sentence.
Natsuko:いつも
Eric: meaning “usually”
Natsuko:どんなうた. どんな means “what kind of” and うた ...
Eric: means “song” or “songs.” So it means “what kind of songs.”
Natsuko:を
Eric:is the particle
Natsuko:歌いますか
Eric: means “to sing,” and it finishes with the question particle ka, so it means “do you sing?” Altogether, we have…
Natsuko:いつも、どんな歌を歌いますか
Eric: which means “what kind of songs do you usually sing?” Listeners, repeat after Natsuko. “What kind of songs do you usually sing?”
Natsuko:いつも、どんな歌を歌いますか
Eric: (5 sec.) Okay. Lastly, let’s learn how to ask which song your co-worker wants to sing.
Natsuko: In the dialogue, Linda said どれにしますか
Eric: meaning “which would you like?” or “what would you like?” First of all, let’s explain the usage of the phrase ni shimasu. When you say what you’ll take or what you’ve decided on, you can use this phrase.
Natsuko: For example, if you want to say “I’ll do this one,” you would say これにします.
Eric: So, in a karaoke situation, when you decide on which song you want, you say “I’ll sing this song” in Japanese which is…
Natsuko: “This song” is この歌 so… この歌にします.
Eric: If you want to sing Beatles’ songs, you would say…
Natsuko:ビートルズの歌 に します。
Eric: Now let’s go back to the sentence in the dialogue. The question Linda asked was...
Natsuko: どれにしますか。 It’s どれ, which means “which,” plus にします with a question marking particle, か.
Eric: Can we hear the sentence again?
Natsuko: どれにしますか
Eric: This literally means “which will you take?” and naturally means “what would you like?” in this situation, “what would you like to sing?” Now, listeners, repeat after Natsuko.
Natsuko:どれにしますか
Eric: (5sec.) Okay. Time to recap. You went to karaoke with your co-workers. Ask your co-worker what kind of songs he or she usually sings.
Natsuko: Start the sentence with the word いつも, meaning “usually.”
Eric: (5 sec.) Natsuko, how do you say “what kind of songs do you usually sing?”
Natsuko: いつもどんな歌を歌いますか。
Eric: Listeners, what kind of songs do you usually sing? Please let us know in the comment section!
Natsuko:待ってます。We’ll be waiting for your comments!

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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