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 7 - How was Your Japanese Meeting? Eric here.
Natsuko: こんにちは。 なつこです。
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn what to say when you come back to the office after you’ve been out for a meeting. The conversation takes place at an office.
Natsuko: It's between Linda and her co-worker, Ms. Taniguchi.
Eric: The speakers are co-workers, so they’ll be using formal Japanese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

Linda: ただいま帰りました。
Taniguchi: おかえりなさい。お疲れ様でした。会議は、どうでしたか。
Linda: うまく行きましたよ。
Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Linda: ただいま帰りました。
Taniguchi: おかえりなさい。お疲れ様でした。会議は、どうでしたか。
Linda: うまく行きましたよ。
Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Linda: Hi, we are back.
Taniguchi: Hi Linda. You must be tired. How was your meeting?
Linda: It went well, thank you.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: Natsuko, it seems like the group is very important for Japanese people.
Natsuko: That’s very true. We care about the people in the groups we belong to.
Eric: People often work in groups in Japanese companies, right?
Natsuko:That’s right. In offices, people from the same section usually sit close together. They arrange their desks to form one big island.
Eric: I see. I guess that's why appropriate greetings and Goodbyes are very important.
Natsuko: Yes. If you’re working at a Japanese office, you should tell your co workers when you are leaving or returning, as well as where you’re going.
Eric: It’s all in the spirit of teamwork, right?
Natsuko: Right. So that your co-worker can handle sudden situations, visitors or phone calls for you.
Eric: That makes sense. Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Natsuko: ただいま [natural native speed]
Eric: right now
Natsuko: ただいま[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: ただいま [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: 帰る [natural native speed]
Eric: to return, to go home, V1
Natsuko: 帰る[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 帰る [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: おかえりなさい。 [natural native speed]
Eric: Welcome back., Welcome home.
Natsuko: おかえりなさい。[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: おかえりなさい。 [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: お疲れ様 [natural native speed]
Eric: thank you, hello (greeting at work), good work
Natsuko: お疲れ様[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: お疲れ様 [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: うまく [natural native speed]
Eric: well
Natsuko: うまく[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: うまく [natural native speed]
Eric: And last we have..
Natsuko: 行く [natural native speed]
Eric: to go; V1
Natsuko: 行く[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 行く [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is..
Natsuko: ただいま
Eric: Which means “right now”or “just now”. It emphasizes the meaning of “now”. It’s used in formal situations. Natsuko, can you give us an example?
Natsuko: ただいま参ります。
Eric: ..which means “I'm coming.”
Natsuko: ただいま is “right now” and まいります is “to come.”
Eric: まいります is a humble expression meaning “to come.” Okay, what's the next phrase?
Natsuko: うまく行く
Eric: which means “(something) goes well”.
Natsuko: うまく is an adverb meaning “good” or “well” and いく means “to go”. So うまくいく literally means “to go well.”
Eric: You can use this phrase when something goes well, like a meeting, negotiation, or project.
Natsuko: For example, プロジェクトはうまくいきました。
Eric: “The project went well.” Natsuko, how do you say “the negotiation went well”?
Natsuko: Negotiation is 交渉, so...交渉はうまくいきました。
Eric: ...means “the negotiation went well”. Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn some useful expressions you will use or hear when you come back to the office. The first expression is....
Natsuko: ただいま帰りました。
Eric: Which means “I’ve just come back” or “I’m back now”. Let’s break it down.
Natsuko: ただいま
Eric:“right now” or “just now”
Natsuko:帰りました
Eric: “came home.” Can we hear the expression again?
Natsuko: ただいま帰りました。
Eric: “I’m back now”
Natsuko: Some people might say ただいまもどりました.
Eric: Right. もどりました is the past tense of a verb もどる meaning “to return”.
Natsuko: ただいま帰りました and ただいまもどりました are both formal expressions, and are equally polite, but these phrases are slightly different. 帰りました is usually used in reference to the home or workplace, while もどりました can refer to anywhere.
Eric: What’s the casual expression?
Natsuko: Just leave out the verb and say ただいま. We often say Tadaima when we get home.
Eric: So it’s like saying “I’m home.”
Natsuko: Right.
Eric: Let’s recap a little. Say “I’m back now” in a formal way.
Natsuko: ただいま帰りました
Eric: or
Natsuko: ただいまもどりました。
Eric: But in a casual situation, you say…
Natsuko: ただいま
Eric: Okay. Our next phrase is...
Natsuko: おかえりなさい。
Eric: which means “welcome back”. You’ll hear this from your colleagues as an answer to...
Natsuko: ただいまかえりました。
Eric: “I’m back now”.
Natsuko: I recommend that you memorize ただいまかえりました and おかえりなさい as a set.
Eric: Natsuko, tell us about the politeness level of おかえりなさい. 
Natsuko:おかえりなさい is somewhat polite, but not polite enough to use with your boss.
Eric: So what would you say to your boss?
Natsuko:Add ませ at the end. おかえりなさいませ means “welcome back.”
Eric: Does it have a casual version?
Natsuko: Yes, it does. That’s おかえり “welcome back.”
Eric: Okay. Now it’s time for a recap. When saying “welcome back” to your boss, it’s...
Natsuko: おかえりなさいませ
Eric: And to say “welcome back” to your co-worker, it’s...
Natsuko: おかえりなさい
Eric: In a casual situation, you’d say…
Natsuko: おかえり. Eric, I’d like to introduce お疲れ様でした to listeners. Because お疲れ様でした is often used with おかえりなさい.
Eric: Good idea.
Natsuko: But I can’t really translate おつかれさまでした into English...
Eric: There isn’t really an equivalent in English. But おつかれさまでした is an expression to show your appreciation for the work or effort of the person you’re talking to.
Natsuko: おつかれ is an honorific prefix [o] plus 疲れ meaning “tiredness”. 様 is the honorific suffix and でした is the the past tense of the copula です
Eric: So, おつかれさまでした literally means “it was tiredness”, but you can translate it as “You must have been tired.” or “I appreciate your hard work.”
Natsuko: Anyway, this おつかれさまでした is often used to greet someone who has returned to the office from somewhere.
Eric: Can you give us a sample sentence?
Natsuko: Sure. おかえりなさい。お疲れ様でした
Eric: “Welcome back. You must be tired.”
Natsuko: People might just say お疲れ様でした without おかえりなさい .
Eric: I see. OK Natsuko, can give our listeners a sample sentence that covers the grammar from this lesson?
Natsuko: Sure thing! おかえりなさい。お疲れ様でした。会議は、どうでしたか。
Eric: “Hi. You must be tired. How was your meeting?”

Outro

Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Natsuko: お疲れ様でした!

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