Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Matt: Hi everyone, and welcome to JapanesePod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 2, Lesson 1 - Can You Talk About Your Daily Routine in Japanese? I’m Matt!
Natsuko: こんにちは。 I'm Natsuko.
Matt: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about your daily routine. The conversation takes place on a lunch break at work.
Natsuko: The conversation is between John and Mr. Tanaka.
Matt: The speakers are co-workers, so they’ll be using formal Japanese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

たなか: ジョンさん、いつもいっぱい食べますね。
ジョン: 毎日、午前中、おなかがペコペコです。
たなか: 朝ごはんは、毎日食べますか。
ジョン:はい、食べます。そして、ジムに行きます。それから、会社に行きます。
たなか: へぇ、毎日ですか。すごいですね。
ジョン:たなかさんは、うんどうしますか。
たなか:わたしは、ときどき、プールに行きます。
Matt: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
たなか: ジョンさん、いつもいっぱい食べますね。
ジョン: 毎日、午前中、おなかがペコペコです。
たなか: 朝ごはんは、毎日食べますか。
ジョン:はい、食べます。そして、ジムに行きます。それから、会社に行きます。
たなか: へぇ、毎日ですか。すごいですね。
ジョン:たなかさんは、うんどうしますか。
たなか:わたしは、ときどき、プールに行きます。
Matt: Listen to the conversation with the English translation
Tanaka: John, you always eat a lot, don't you?
John: I'm hungry in the morning every day.
Tanaka: Do you eat breakfast?
John: Yes, I do. And I go to gym, and then come to work.
Tanaka: Wow. You go to the gym everyday? That's great.
John: Do you do exercise, Mr. Tanaka?
Tanaka: I sometimes go swimming.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Matt: So John goes to the gym every morning before work. He sounds very active!
Natsuko: Yeah! Matt, do you know the word, 朝活 asa katsu? It literally means "activities in the morning."
Matt: I think I’ve heard of that. That’s the activities people do before they go to work in the morning to improve their ability or health, such as participating in a reading club or going to a gym.
Natsuko: That’s right. It's getting more popular among workers who are very motivated.
Matt: Do you do “asa katsu”?
Natsuko: I tried to get up early in the morning to study, but it was really hard to keep doing it. I think many people try to do "朝活" but give it up quickly.
Matt: I think you might be right! Can you say this word again?
Natsuko: 朝活 
Matt: meaning "using early morning time for some useful activity". Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Matt: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
Matt: The first word is..
Natsuko: いつも [natural native speed]
Matt: always, usually
Natsuko: いつも [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: いつも [natural native speed]
Next we have..
Natsuko: 毎日 [natural native speed]
Matt: every day
Natsuko: 毎日 [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 毎日 [natural native speed]
Next we have..
Natsuko: 午前 [natural native speed]
Matt: a.m.
Natsuko: 午前 [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 午前 [natural native speed]
Next we have..
Natsuko: おなか [natural native speed]
Matt: stomach
Natsuko: おなか [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: おなか [natural native speed]
Next we have..
Natsuko: ぺこぺこ [natural native speed]
Matt: starving
Natsuko: ぺこぺこ [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: ぺこぺこ [natural native speed]
Next we have..
Natsuko: そして [natural native speed]
Matt: and
Natsuko: そして [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: そして [natural native speed]
Next we have..
Natsuko: それから [natural native speed]
Matt: and, and then
Natsuko: それから [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: それから [natural native speed]
Next we have..
Natsuko: すごい [natural native speed]
Matt: amazing, great, fabulous
Natsuko: すごい [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: すごい [natural native speed]
Last we have..
Natsuko: 運動する [natural native speed]
Matt: to exercise
Natsuko: 運動する [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 運動する [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Matt: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is..
Natsuko: おなかがペコペコ
Matt: meaning "I'm starving." Natsuko, can you break down this phrase?
Natsuko: Sure. First we have the word おなか
Matt: which means “stomach”.
Natsuko: That's followed by the subject marking particle が.
Matt: And then, we have..?
Natsuko: "pekopeko"
Matt: which is a na-adjective to mean "starving."
Natsuko: All together it is.. おなかがペコペコ
Matt: And it means “I’m starving.” When can you use this phrase?
Natsuko: You can use it in casual conversation. But listeners, note that you can't use this in a formal conversation.
Matt: Can you give us an example?
Natsuko: Sure! 朝から何も食べていません。おなかがペコペコです。
Matt: "I haven't eaten anything since morning. I'm starving."
Natsuko: ペコペコ is onomatopoeia, by the way.
Matt: Ah yes. When you’re so hungry and you don't have anything in the stomach, it sometimes feels like your belly is dented. The sound of this word is thought to imitate that sensation. Okay, next we have..
Natsuko: すごいですね。
Matt: meaning "that’s great." Can you break down this phrase?
Natsuko: Sure. First we have.. すごい
Matt: This is an adjective that means "wow," "amazing," or "great."
Natsuko: It's followed by です, meaning “to be”, then an ending particle ね.
Matt: The particle..
Natsuko: ね..
Matt: .. is used to seek confirmation and agreement. Natsuko, when can you use this phrase?
Natsuko: You can use this expression when you see or hear something interesting or unusual.
Matt: So, if someone tells you that he can speak 5 languages, you would say,
Natsuko: すごいですね。
Matt: Which means "That’s great!”. Do you use this word only with a positive meaning?
Natsuko: No, you can use “Sugoi” with a negative meaning.
Matt: So, when you see that there are lots and lots of people in the station, you would say,
Natsuko: "すごいですね。."
Matt: In that case, it means something like “it's terrible.” Okay, now onto the grammar.

Lesson focus

Matt: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use non-past verbs in the -masu-form and frequency adverbs to talk about your daily routine. In the dialogue, we had..
Natsuko: わたしは、ときどき、プールに行きます。
Matt: meaning “I sometimes go swimming.” It literally means “I sometimes go to a swimming pool.” But more naturally, it means “I sometimes go swimming.”
Natsuko: In this sentence, we have the word ときどき meaning “sometimes.” Then we have プールに行きます。 meaning “to go to a swimming pool.”
Matt: Be careful of the order here – an adverb of frequency comes before a verb.
Natsuko: That’s right.
Matt: Natsuko, can you give us some examples that express daily routines, using another adverb of frequency?
Natsuko: Sure. We have.. わたしは、毎日、コーヒーを買います。
Matt: Which means “I buy a coffee every day.”
Natsuko: 毎日 is the adverb meaning “every day” I said the adverb first, then said コーヒーを買います。
Matt: Meaning “to buy a coffee.” Can you give us another example?
Natsuko: 私は、毎朝、新聞を読みます。First up, 毎朝 is the adverb meaning “every morning.”
Matt: and it’s followed by..
Natsuko: 新聞を
Matt: The noun meaning “newspaper” and the object-marking particle. Next we have..
Natsuko: 読みます
Matt: a non-past formal form of a verb meaning “to read” So altogether, it means “I read the newspaper every morning.” Natsuko, can you give us a few more adverbs of frequency?
Natsuko: Sure. First we have the adverb meaning “always” いつも、(slow) いつも、(normal) いつも
Matt: And the adverb meaning “often” is..?
Natsuko: よく、(slow) よく、(normal)よく
Matt: OK. Now can you give us more verbs that will be useful for talking about daily routines? First, “to eat”
Natsuko: 食べます
Matt: “to drink”
Natsuko: 飲みます
Matt: “to listen to”
Natsuko: 聞きます
Matt: “to leave”
Natsuko: 出ます
Matt: Let’s practice. Listeners, try to think of how you’d say each of these Japanese sentences. We’ll give you a few seconds to think of a sentence, then Natsuko will give the answer. First up, if you buy chocolate every day, you would say, (Pause)
Natsuko: わたしは、毎日、チョコレートを買います。
Matt: Which means “I buy chocolate every day.”
Natsuko: 毎日 is the adverb meaning “every day.”
Matt: Next. If you drink milk every morning, what do you say? “To drink” in Japanese is..
Natsuko: 飲みます
Matt: “milk” in Japanese is,
Natsuko: 牛乳
Matt: If you drink milk every morning, you say..
(Pause)
Natsuko: わたしは、毎朝、 牛乳を飲みます。
Matt: If you always listen to JPOD, you say
(Pause)
Natsuko: わたしは、いつも、 JPODを聞きます。Note that いつも is the adverb meaning “always.”

Outro

Matt: Well, that’s all for this lesson. If you’d like more examples or information, make sure to check the lesson notes for this lesson. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Natsuko: またねー

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