Learn how to say where you're from
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| Welcome to Can-Do Japanese by JapanesePod101.com |
| In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say where you're from in Japanese. |
| For example, "I'm from Florida." is |
| しゅっしんは フロリダです。 (Shusshin wa Furorida desu.) |
| Two passengers, Megumi Sasaki and Ken Kobayashi, are seated next to each other on a plane to Japan. |
| Before you hear their conversation, let's preview some of its key components. |
| しゅうしん |
| "hometown" |
| しゅうしん (enunciated) |
| しゅうしん |
| どこ |
| "where" |
| どこ (enunciated) |
| どこ |
| Listen to the conversation, and focus on Megumi’s response. |
| Note: the speakers in this conversation use polite Japanese. |
| Ready? |
| ささきさん、しゅっしんは どこですか。 (Sasaki-san, shusshin wa doko desu ka.) |
| しゅっしんは フロリダです。 (Shusshin wa Furorida desu.) |
| Once more with the English translation. |
| ささきさん、しゅっしんは どこですか。 (Sasaki-san, shusshin wa doko desu ka.) |
| "Ms. Sasaki, where are you from?" |
| しゅっしんは フロリダです。 (Shusshin wa Furorida desu.) |
| "I'm from Florida." |
| Let's break down the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Ken Kobayashi asks, |
| "Ms. Sasaki, where are you from?" |
| ささきさん、しゅっしんは どこですか。 (Sasaki-san, shusshin wa doko desu ka.) |
| First is ささきさん, "Ms. Sasaki." ささきさん. |
| This starts with Megumi’s family name, ささき, "Sasaki." ささき (slow version - breakdown by syllable). ささき. |
| After this is さん, a polite suffix attached to a person’s name. It translates as "Ms." in Megumi’s case. さ-ん. さん. |
| Note: this suffix can be used with any gender. |
| Together, ささきさん, "Ms. Sasaki." ささきさん. |
| Next is the word, しゅっしん, "hometown." しゅ-っ-し-ん. しゅっしん. |
| Remember this word, because you’ll see it again in Megumi’s response. |
| After this is the particle, は, the topic-marking particle. は. は. |
| It marks "hometown" as the topic of the sentence. Think of it like "as for" in the expression "as for your hometown." |
| Together, it’s しゅっしんは, "as for [your] hometown." しゅっしんは. |
| Note: the "your" is understood through context, as the speaker is asking a question. |
| しゅっしん は. |
| Next is the word, どこ, "where." ど-こ. どこ. |
| After this is です. Here, it’s like the "is" in "where is." で-す. です. |
| Last is the particle, か, the question-marking particle. か. か. |
| This particle turns the sentence into a question. |
| All together, it’s ささきさん、しゅっしんは どこですか。This literally means "Ms. Sasaki, as for [your] hometown, where is," but it translates as "Ms. Sasaki, where are you from?" |
| ささきさん、しゅっしんは どこですか。 |
| Remember this question. You’ll hear it again later in this lesson. |
| Now, let’s take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Megumi Sasaki says, |
| "I’m from Florida." |
| しゅっしんは フロリダです。(Shusshin wa Furorida desu.) |
| First is しゅっしん, "hometown." しゅっしん. |
| Next is the particle, は, the topic-marking particle. は. |
| It marks "hometown" as the topic of the sentence. |
| Together it's, しゅっしん は. "As for [my] hometown." しゅっしんは. |
| Note: the "my" is understood through context, as the speaker is responding to a question about his hometown. |
| Next is フロリダ, "Florida." フ-ロ-リ-ダ. フロリダ. |
| Last is です. In this case, it’s like the "is" in "it is." です. |
| All together, しゅっしんは フロリダです。This literally means, "As for [my] hometown, Florida is," but it translates as, "I’m from Florida." |
| しゅっしんは フロリダです。 |
| The pattern is |
| しゅっしん は HOMETOWN です。 |
| "I’m from HOMETOWN." |
| しゅっしん は HOMETOWN です。 |
| To use this pattern, simply replace the {hometown} placeholder with the name of your hometown. |
| Imagine you’re from Sydney. In Japanese, シドニー. シドニー. (slow version - breakdown by syllable) シドニー. |
| Say |
| "I'm from Sydney" |
| Ready? |
| しゅっしんは シドニーです。 (Shusshin wa Shidonī desu.) |
| "I'm from Sydney." |
| しゅっしんは シドニーです。 (Shusshin wa Shidonī desu.) |
| Again, the key pattern is |
| しゅっしん は HOMETOWN です。 |
| "I’m from HOMETOWN." |
| しゅっしん は HOMETOWN です。 |
| Let's look at some examples. |
| Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers. |
| しゅっしんは フロリダです。 (Shusshin wa Furorida desu.) |
| "I'm from Florida." |
| しゅっしんは フロリダです。 (Shusshin wa Furorida desu.) |
| しゅっしんは さっぽろです。 (Shusshin wa Sapporo desu.) |
| "I'm from Sapporo." |
| しゅっしんは さっぽろです。 (Shusshin wa Sapporo desu.) |
| しゅっしんはシアトルです。 (Shusshin wa Shiatoru desu.) |
| "I'm from Seattle." |
| しゅっしんはシアトルです。 (Shusshin wa Shiatoru desu.) |
| しゅっしんは ロンドンです。 (Shusshin wa Rondon desu.) |
| "I'm from London." |
| しゅっしんは ロンドンです。 (Shusshin wa Rondon desu.) |
| しゅっしんは ながさきです。 (Shusshin wa Nagasaki desu.) |
| "I'm from Nagasaki." |
| しゅっしんは ながさきです。 (Shusshin wa Nagasaki desu.) |
| しゅっしんは オーストラリアです。 (Shusshin wa Ōsutoraria desu.) |
| "I'm from Australia." |
| しゅっしんは オーストラリアです。 (Shusshin wa Ōsutoraria desu.) |
| Did you notice the last speaker says a country name in place of a city name? |
| She says |
| しゅっしんは オーストラリアです。 (Shusshin wa Ōsutoraria desu.) |
| "I’m from Australia." |
| しゅっしんは オーストラリアです。 (Shusshin wa Ōsutoraria desu.) |
| The word, しゅっしん, actually has a broader meaning than just one’s home town. You can also use it to talk about your country. |
| This pattern is |
| しゅっしん は HOME COUNTRY です。 |
| "I’m from HOME COUNTRY." |
| You should be aware of this pattern, but for this lesson, we’ll use city names. |
| Let's review the key vocabulary. |
| さっぽろ. "Sapporo." さっ-ぽ-ろ .さっぽろ. |
| シアトル. "Seattle." シアトル. シアトル. |
| ロンドン. "London." ロ-ン-ド-ン. ロンドン. |
| ながさき. "Nagasaki." ながさき. ながさき. |
| Let's review. |
| Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speakers, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Ready? |
| Do you remember how to say "hometown?" |
| しゅっしん. |
| しゅっしん. |
| And the topic-marking particle? |
| は. |
| は. |
| Do you remember how to say "Florida?" |
| フロリダ. |
| フロリダ. |
| And do you remember how Megumi says, |
| "I’m from Florida." |
| しゅっしんは フロリダです。 |
| しゅっしんは フロリダです。 |
| Do you remember how to say "where?" |
| どこ |
| どこ |
| And the question-marking particle? |
| か. |
| か. |
| Do you remember how Ken Kobayashi asks, |
| "Where are you from?" |
| しゅっしんは どこですか。 |
| しゅっしんは どこですか。 |
| Do you remember how to say, "London?" |
| ロンドン. |
| ロンドン. |
| And how to say "Seattle?" |
| シアトル. |
| シアトル. |
| Do you remember how to say "Nagasaki?" |
| ながさき. |
| ながさき. |
| Let's practice. |
| Imagine you're Jack Jones from London or ロンドン (Rondon) in Japanese. |
| Respond to Ken Kobayashi's question. |
| Ready? |
| しゅっしんは どこですか。 (Shusshin wa doko desu ka.) |
| しゅっしんは ロンドンです。 (Shusshin wa Rondon desu.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| しゅっしんは ロンドンです。 (Shusshin wa Rondon desu.) |
| しゅっしんは ロンドンです。 (Shusshin wa Rondon desu.) |
| Let’s try another. |
| Imagine you're Emma Egawa from Seattle, or シアトル (Shiatoru) in Japanese. |
| Ready? |
| しゅっしんは どこですか。 (Shusshin wa doko desu ka.) |
| しゅっしんは シアトルです。 (Shusshin wa Shiatoru desu.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| しゅっしんは シアトルです。 (Shusshin wa Shiatoru desu.) |
| しゅっしんは シアトルです。 (Shusshin wa Shiatoru desu.) |
| Let’s try one more. |
| Imagine you're Kana Kano from Nagasaki, or ながさき (Nagasaki) in Japanese. |
| Ready? |
| しゅっしんは どこですか。 (Shusshin wa doko desu ka.) |
| しゅっしんは ながさきです。 (Shusshin wa Nagasaki desu.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| しゅっしんは ながさきです。 (Shusshin wa Nagasaki desu.) |
| しゅっしんは ながさきです。 (Shusshin wa Nagasaki desu.) |
| In this lesson, you learned how to say where you're from in Japanese. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of introducing yourself. Let’s review. |
| Do you remember how to say |
| "Nice to meet you." |
| はじめまして。 |
| はじめまして。 |
| And how to say |
| "Pleased to meet you." |
| よろしく おねがいします。 |
| よろしく おねがいします。 |
| Do you remember the word for "I?" |
| わたし |
| わたし |
| And the topic-marking particle? |
| は |
| は |
| Do you remember how Megumi Sasaki says, |
| "I'm Megumi Sasaki." |
| わたしは ささきめぐみです。 |
| わたしは ささきめぐみです。 |
| All together, do you remember how Megumi Sasaki introduces herself? |
| はじめまして。わたしは ささきめぐみです。よろしく おねがいします。 |
| はじめまして。わたしは ささきめぐみです。よろしく おねがいします。 |
| Imagine you're Jack Jones, from London. |
| Do you remember how to pronounce "Jack Jones" in Japanese? |
| ジョンズ・ジャック |
| (1) |
| ジョンズ・ジャック |
| Respond to Ken Kobayashi's self-introduction and follow-up question… |
| Ready? |
| はじめまして。わたしは こばやしです。よろしく おねがいします。 (Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Kobayashi desu. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| はじめまして。わたしは ジョンズ・ジャックです。よろしく おねがいします。 (Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Jonzu Jakku desu. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| Listen again, and repeat. |
| はじめまして。わたしは ジョンズ・ジャックです。よろしく おねがいします。 (Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Jonzu Jakku desu. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| はじめまして。わたしは ジョンズ・ジャックです。よろしく おねがいします。 (Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Jonzu Jakku desu. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.) |
| Do you remember how to say "London" in Japanese? |
| ロンドン |
| (1) |
| ロンドン |
| Now respond that you’re from London. |
| しゅっしんは どこですか。 (Shusshin wa doko desu ka.) |
| しゅっしんは ロンドンです。 (Shusshin wa Rondon desu.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| しゅっしんは ロンドンです。 (Shusshin wa Rondon desu.) |
| しゅっしんは ロンドンです。 (Shusshin wa Rondon desu.) |
| Well done! This is the end of this lesson. |
| In this lesson, you learned how to say where you're from, an essential skill for introducing yourself. |
| Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills. |
| What's next? |
| Show us what you can do. |
| When you're ready, take your assessment. |
| You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like. |
| Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results. |
| Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson! |
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