Dialogue

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Becky: Hi everyone! Welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Japanese for Everyday Life, Lower Intermediate Series, Lesson 25 - Offering Your Help.
Kaori: こんにちは!古橋香織 です!Hi everyone, Kaori Furuhashi here!
Becky: I'm Becky. In this lesson, you'll learn a useful skill for offering help - How to offer your help at a party.
Kaori: Becky さん、パーティの準備をみんなでやったりしますか。
Becky: Yes, I sometimes help out for house parties at my friend’s place.
Kaori: 皆でパーティの準備をするときって、リーダーがいるとうまく進みますよね。
Becky: Right, when you work together to prepare for a party, you can do it better if you have a leader.
Kaori: ひとつの仕事が終わって、手が空いたら(E- if you are free)、リーダーに、何か手伝おうかと、聞くと、いいですね。
Becky:Once you finish one task and you're free, you should ask the leader what you can do for them.
Kaori:「今、手が空いてるんだけど、何か手伝おうか?」と言うといいですね。
Becky:It literally means, “Shall I help you with something, as I’m free now?”
Kaori: 今、手が空いてるんだけど、何か手伝おうか?
MODEL DIALOG
Becky: Listen to the dialogue and participate when prompted by speaking aloud in Japanese. Use the patterns of Japanese you studied in the Beginner-level lessons. After you speak, you'll hear a model line of dialogue. Your answer doesn't need to be exactly the same, but do compare your response to the model line. In this lesson, you'll play the role of a person who is helping out with the preparations for a party. Your goal is to offer your help to get ready smoothly.
Becky: You're helping out with the preparations for a party at your friend’s place. Say to your friend, “I’m free right now, shall I help you with something?"
(PAUSE)
You : 今、手が空いてるんだけど、何か手伝おうか。
Your friend: じゃあ、この椅子を並べてくれる?
Becky: Your friend asked you to set out these chairs. Say, “OK!" first. And after finishing it, say, “I’m done with arranging the chairs. Is there anything I can do next?”
(PAUSE)
You : いいよ。(Interval)
You: 椅子並べるの、終わったけど、次、何かある?
Your friend: そうねぇ。
Becky: Your friend said “Let’s see.” Say to your friend, “Shall I set out dishes?”
(PAUSE)
You : 料理、並べようか?
Your friend: 料理は、もうちょっと待ってて。あ、パーティの様子を撮ろうと思ってるんだけど、ビデオカメラをセットしてもらえる?
Becky: Your friend said “Wait a moment on setting out the food. I'm thinking of filming the party, so can you set up a video camera?”. Answer him with, “A video camera... I’m not really familiar with them, but I’ll try to do it."
(PAUSE)
You : ビデオカメラか。。あんまり詳しくないけど、やってみるよ。
VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Becky:Here are some useful words and phrases for this task. The first word is,
Kaori: 手が空いている、
Becky:It literally means “hands are free”.
Kaori:忙しくない、手伝いができる状態だという時に、「手が空いている」と言います。
Becky:It’s a phrase you can use to mean “not busy, but free to do something else.”
Kaori: 手が空いている、 (slow), 手が空いている、
Becky:The phrase with an opposite meaning is,
Kaori: 手が離せない
Becky:It literally means “can’t get hands off”. Naturally its meaning is, “busy” or “tied up”
Kaori: 手が離せない、 (slow), 手が離せない
Becky:Next is,
Kaori:詳しい
Becky:Its basic meaning is “detailed,” but it means “familiar with something” when it’s used with “something (J- に)”
Kaori: ビデオに詳しい
Becky:"familiar with video cameras"
Kaori: パソコンに詳しい
Becky:"familiar with computers"
Kaori: このレッスンのダイアローグでは、「ビデオカメラか。。。あんまり詳しくないけど」と言っていましたね。「あんまり詳しくない。」
Becky:"not really familiar with"
Kaori: この会話では、ビデオカメラが話題になっていることは明らかなので、「ビデオカメラにあんまり詳しくない」とは言わないで、「ビデオカメラに」の部分を省略しています。
Becky:In this dialog, it’s clear you're talking about “a video camera”, so you can omit (J- ビデオカメラに) out of (J- ビデオカメラにあんまり詳しくない)

Lesson focus

Becky:Now, this task requires a key expression, "shall I help you with something?”
Kaori:何か手伝おうか。
Becky:First is the phrase "something”
Kaori:何か
Becky:Next,(J- 手伝おう)is a volitional form of a verb meaning “to help” (J- 手伝う)
Becky:It's followed by a question-marking particle,
Kaori: か
Becky:Altogether they are,
Kaori: 何か手伝おうか。
Kaori: この会話で、「料理、並べようか」と言っていましたね。これも同じような文ですね。「料理、並べようか。」
Becky:"Shall I set out the dishes?"
Becky:(J- 並べよう) is a volitional form of the verb meaning “to set”
(J- 並べる)
Becky:So, the sentence structure you can use when you offer your help is, [volitional form of a verb ] plus (J- か).
Becky:Let’s practice. Say “Shall I set glasses on the table?”
(Pause)
Kaori: テーブルにグラスを並べようか?
Becky:Say, “Shall I go and buy drinks?”
(Pause)
Kaori:飲み物を買ってこようか?
Becky:What if you want to ask, "What shall I do next?"
Kaori: 次、何しようか?
Becky:(J- しよう) is a volitional form of the verb (J- する)
Kaori: 「次、何しようか」は、次にやることを指示してもらう時に便利な表現ですよね。
Becky:This is a useful expression when you need instruction about what to do next. Another version is,
Kaori:次、何かやることある?
Becky:"Is there anything that I should do next?"
Becky:Here's a shortened version of this expression.
Kaori: 次、何かある?
Becky:Literally "Is there anything next?"
Becky:Ask “What shall I do next?”
(Pause)
Kaori: 次、何しようか。
Becky:Ask “Is there anything I should do next?”
(Pause)
Kaori: 次、何かやることある?
Becky:The next key expression for this task is, “I’ll try to do that, although I’m not familiar with it.”
Kaori: あんまり詳しくないけど、やってみるよ。
Becky:The first part of this sentence is a clause meaning “I’m not really familiar with it”
Kaori: あんまり詳しくないけど、
Kaori: 「ビデオカメラにあんまり詳しくない」という意味ですが、ここでは、「ビデオカメラに」が省略されています。ビデオカメラについて話していることがはっきりしているからでしたね。
Becky:It's clear you're talking about a video camera here, so the phrase (J- ビデオカメラに)is omitted. And it’s just said as
Kaori: あんまり詳しくないけど
Becky:After this is a phrase meaning “I’ll try to do that.”
Kaori:やってみる
Becky:(J- やって)is the te-form of a verb meaning “to do” (J- やる)
Becky:It's followed by a verb meaning "to try"
Kaori:みる
Becky:They make a phrase meaning “to try to do”
Kaori:やってみる
Becky:It’s followed by a sentence-ending particle indicating declaration.
Kaori: よ
Becky:Altogether they are,
Kaori: あんまり詳しくないけど、やってみるよ。
Kaori: 何か頼まれたとき、うまくできる自信 (E- confidence) はないけどやってみると言うとき、「やってみる」を使います。
Becky:When you're asked to do something, but you don’t have confidence that you can do it, you say “I’ll try to do it” (J- やってみる)
Becky:Say, “I have no confidence, but I’ll try to do that.”
(Pause)
Kaori: 自信はないけど、やってみるよ。
Becky:Say, “I’m not sure if I can do it, but I’ll try to do it.”
Kaori: 出来るかわからないけど、やってみるよ。
PRACTICE OF DIALOG
Becky:Now try to participate in the dialogue using some alternative words you learned in this lesson. Use as many of the expressions you learned in this lesson as possible. Let's get started!
Becky: You're helping out with the preparations for a party at your friend’s place. Say to your friend, “I’m free right now, shall I help you with something?"
(PAUSE)
You : 今、手が空いてるんだけど、何か手伝おうか。
Your friend: じゃあ、このグラスを並べてくれる?
Becky: Your friend asked you to set out these glasses. Say, “OK!" first. And after finishing it, say, “I’m done with setting out the glasses. Is there anything I should do next?”
(PAUSE)
You : いいよ。(Interval)
You: グラス並べるの、終わったけど、次、何かやることある?
Your friend: そうねぇ。
Becky: Your friend said “Let’s see.” Say to your friend, “Shall I go and buy drinks?”
(PAUSE)
You : 飲み物、買ってこようか?
Your friend: 飲み物は買ってあるから大丈夫。あ、パーティで、プロジェクタを使うんだけど、プロジェクタをセットしてもらえる?
Becky: Your friend said “It's OK. We've got drinks already. I'm thinking of using a projector, can you set up the projector?”. Answer him with, “A projector... I’m not sure if I can do it, but I’ll try to do it."
(PAUSE)
You : プロジェクタか。。できるかわからないけど、やってみるよ。

Outro

Becky:Okay, That’s all for this lesson.
Kaori:パーティの準備などで、友達に手伝いを申し出たことはありますか。どんな手伝いを申し出ましたか。コメント欄で教えてくださいね。
Becky:Also, this is the end of this series. You've learned many phrases and expressions you can use in everyday life in Japan.
Kaori: こんなシーンで使える日本語を教えてほしいというリクエストがあったら、教えてくださいね。
Becky:Right! Please let us know if you have any requests for scenes or situations you want to know how to talk about.
Kaori: それではまた!
Becky:See you all next time!

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