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 8 - Leaving Your Japanese Office At the End of the Day. Eric here.
Natsuko: こんにちは。 なつこです。
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn what to say to your co-workers when you leave the office before them. The conversation takes place in an office.
Natsuko: It's between Linda and Mr. Sasaki.
Eric: The speakers are co-workers, so they’ll be using formal Japanese, but it's not overly formal. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

(チャイム)
Linda: もう、6時。佐々木さんは、残業ですか。
Sasaki: はい。残業です。リンダは?
Linda: 私は、今日は、帰ります。お先に失礼します。
Sasaki: お疲れ様でした。
Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
(チャイム)
Linda: もう、6時。佐々木さんは、残業ですか。
Sasaki: はい。残業です。リンダは?
Linda: 私は、今日は、帰ります。お先に失礼します。
Sasaki: お疲れ様でした。
Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
(The bell for 6:00pm is ringing)
Linda: Oh, It’s 6:00 o’clock already. Are you going to work late today Mr. Sasaki?
Sasaki: Yes, I have to do some overtime work. How about you, Linda?
Linda: I’m going now for today. See you tomorrow.
Sasaki: See you tomorrow.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: Natsuko, do you think working overtime is common in Japan?
Natsuko: Well it really depends on the company and situations are changing, but I’d say it’s still common. Some people work until midnight and even on the weekends.
Eric: But they can get extra payment for working overtime, right?
Natsuko: Not always. Again, it depends on the company. Of course there are labor standard laws in Japan too, but not all companies follow the law, unfortunately.
Eric: And there are always loopholes in laws...
Natsuko: That’s right. Anyway, here’s a good bit of vocab to know. “Unpaid overtime work” is called [ sābisu zangyō ] (サービス残業).
Eric: Interesting word! サービス means “free” or “no charge”. And 残業 is “overtime” So… サービス残業 means “not charged overtime” or “unpaid overtime”. I hope the situation will change for the better! Ok, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Natsuko: もう [natural native speed]
Eric: already (Adv.)
Natsuko: もう[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: もう [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: 残業 [natural native speed]
Eric: overtime (work)
Natsuko: 残業[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 残業 [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: 先 [natural native speed]
Eric: ahead, before
Natsuko: 先[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 先 [natural native speed]
Eric: And last we have..
Natsuko: 失礼 [natural native speed]
Eric: rude, impoliteness (Adj, noun)
Natsuko: 失礼[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 失礼 [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 phrase is..
Natsuko: リンダは?
Eric: meaning “How about you Linda?”
Natsuko: The structure here is very simple. It’s [Name] plus the topic marking particle [wa?].
Eric: When you want to ask questions like “How about someone?” or “How about you?”, say the name of a person, then add the particle [wa].
Natsuko: You have to raise the intonation at the end since it’s a question. [は?]
Eric: Can we hear an example?
Natsuko: Sure. コーヒーお願いします。桜井さんは?
Eric: ..which means “Coffee, please. How about you, Mr. Sakurai?”
Natsuko: Listeners, please avoid using あなた meaning “you”. When you want to say “how about you?”, use the person’s name instead of saying あなたは?
Eric: Right. Calling someone あなた can be rude. So be careful.
Natsuko: You can ask many other things using this pattern.
Eric: For example?
Natsuko: Nyū Yōku wa?
Eric: which means “How about New York?” Okay, what's the next phrase?
Natsuko: お先に
Eric: This means “Before someone”. Let’s break it down.
Natsuko: お
Eric: which is an honorific prefix.
Natsuko: Then 先 に
Eric: さき means “ahead” or “before”. に is a particle. Together, さきに means “before someone” “before you”.
Natsuko: You can just sayさきに. But when you want to be polite, add お and say おさきに.
Eric: Actually, it is hard to translate this in English, but [O-saki ni ] is a phrase informing someone that you’re going to do something before him or her.
Natsuko: In our dialog, Linda said to Mr. Sasaki...
Natsuko: お先に しつれいします
Eric: Literally, おさきに“Before you” しつれいします“Excuse me”, or “I’m leaving before you.” You’ll learn more about this sentence in the lesson focus.
Natsuko: Eric, I’d like to introduce another useful phrase using おさきに.
Eric: Okay, what is it?
Natsuko: おさきにどうぞ。
Eric: Ah yes, that’s a good phrase to know.
Natsuko: おさきにどうぞ means “after you” or “please go ahead”.
Eric: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you will learn some useful expressions for when you leave the office. What’s the first one?
Natsuko: お先に失礼します。
Eric: Natsuko, let's break down this phrase to see the meaning of each word.
Natsuko: Sure. お先に
Eric: an adverbial phrase which means “ahead of you” or “Before you”
Natsuko: 失礼します
Eric: “Excuse me.” Actually, this phrase implies an apology, such as “I'm sorry to leave before you.”
Natsuko: I guess it’s a cultural thing, but some Japanese people feel guilty about leaving an office while others are still working.
Eric: You can simply use おさきにしつれいします as a Goodbye phrase at the office even if you don’t feel guilty, right?
Natsuko: Right. But please say おさきにしつれいします to the people who are staying.
Eric: OK. What do you have next?
Natsuko: お疲れ様でした。
Eric: In lesson 7’s dialog, Ms. Taniguchi said to Linda..
Natsuko: お疲れ様でした。
Eric: to show appreciation for Linda’s hard work when she came back from the meeting outside. However, you can also use this phrase as a Goodbye expression. ...So if someone leaving the office says…
Natsuko: おさきにしつれいします
Eric: to you, you can reply with...
Natsuko:お疲れ様でした.
Eric: Natsuko, is おつかれさまでした more common than saying さようなら or じゃ、また?
Natsuko: I’d say it’s more common. おつかれさまでした and おさきにしつれいします are the essential Goodbye phrases in the office.
Eric: Let’s review a little. When your co-worker leaves the office earlier than you, he or she will say…
Natsuko: お先に失礼します。
Eric: And to that person, you’ll say…
Natsuko: お疲れ様でした。
Eric: OK, Natsuko. What if you and your co-worker leave the office at the same time?
Natsuko: In that case, we say おつかれさまでした to each other.
Eric: I see. Can you give us a sample sentence?
Natsuko: Sure! 6時ですので、お先に失礼します。
Eric: which means “It's six o'clock. So I'm going.”

Outro

Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Natsuko:おつかれさまでした

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