Learn how to ask where a bus stops
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 2, Lesson 16 - Where Does This Japanese Bus Go? Becky here. |
| Natsuko: こんにちは。なつこです。 |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask a bus driver if the bus will go to your destination. The conversation takes place in a bus. |
| Natsuko: It's between David and a bus driver. |
| Becky: The speakers are a passenger and a bus driver, so they’ll be using formal Japanese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| デービッド: すみません、このバスは、「西町としょかん前」まで行きますか。 |
| うんてんしゅ: このバスは、行きません。でも、「西町ゆうびんきょく前」は、とおります。そのバスていから ちかいですよ。 |
| デービッド: どれくらいですか。 |
| うんてんしゅ: １０分くらいですよ。 |
| デービッド: そうですか。。。あのバスは、「西町としょかん前」 まで 行きますか。 |
| うんてんしゅ: あのバスも、行きません。あ、うしろのバスが行きます。 |
| デービッド: わかりました。じゃ、うしろのバスにのります。ありがとうございました。 |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| デービッド: すみません、このバスは、「西町としょかん前」まで行きますか。 |
| うんてんしゅ: このバスは、行きません。でも、「西町ゆうびんきょく前」は、とおります。そのバスていから ちかいですよ。 |
| デービッド: どれくらいですか。 |
| うんてんしゅ: １０分くらいですよ。 |
| デービッド: そうですか。。。あのバスは、「西町としょかん前」 まで 行きますか。 |
| うんてんしゅ: あのバスも、行きません。あ、うしろのバスが行きます。 |
| デービッド: わかりました。じゃ、うしろのバスにのります。ありがとうございました。 |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| David: Excuse me, does this bus go to "Nishimachi Toshokan-mae (library)" bus stop? |
| Driver: No, this doesn’t. But this bus goes to "Nishimachi Yubinkyoku-mae". The library is near that bus stop. |
| David: How far is it from there? |
| Driver: It's about ten minutes. |
| David: I see…. How about that bus? Does it go to "Nishimachi Toshokan-mae" bus stop? |
| Driver: No, that bus does not go there either. Oh, the bus behind does go there. |
| David: I see. I’ll take the bus behind, thank you so much. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Natsuko, I heard that in Japan, there are different systems for calculating bus fare. |
| Natsuko: Yes. We have two systems. One is a flat rate system, which is common in cities. The other one is a changing rate system which depends on the distance. It is often used in rural areas. |
| Becky: How do you pay a bus fare with the changing rate system? |
| Natsuko: Basically we have an IC card. When you get on a bus with a changing rate system, you will need to swipe your IC card to record the stop where you got on, and then swipe the card again when you get off to pay the fare. |
| Becky: I see, that sounds very convenient. You just need to charge your IC card and you don't need to worry about calculating how much you should pay. |
| Natsuko: That’s right! |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Natsuko: としょかん [natural native speed] |
| Becky: library |
| Natsuko: としょかん[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: としょかん [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: ゆうびんきょく [natural native speed] |
| Becky: post office |
| Natsuko: ゆうびんきょく[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: ゆうびんきょく [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: とおる [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to pass by, to go through |
| Natsuko: とおる[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: とおる [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: バスてい [natural native speed] |
| Becky: bus stop |
| Natsuko: バスてい[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: バスてい [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: 前 [natural native speed] |
| Becky: front, ago, before |
| Natsuko: 前[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: 前 [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: まで [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to (as in: to a place) |
| Natsuko: まで[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: まで [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: から [natural native speed] |
| Becky: from |
| Natsuko: から[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: から [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: ちかい [natural native speed] |
| Becky: close, near |
| Natsuko: ちかい[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: ちかい [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: 後ろ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: back, behind |
| Natsuko: 後ろ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: 後ろ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last.. |
| Natsuko: くらい [natural native speed] |
| Becky: approximately, about |
| Natsuko: くらい[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: くらい [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is... |
| Natsuko: どれくらい |
| Becky: meaning "how long,” “how much,” “how many,” “how far". You can use this phrase to ask how long something will last, how much something is, or how far something is. |
| Natsuko: Right. Using どれくらい you can ask about time, quantity, number, or even length or distance. |
| Becky: Natsuko, can you give us an example using this word? |
| Natsuko: Sure. For example, let’s imagine you want to ask someone where the station is, and how far it is. You can say.. どれくらいですか。 |
| Becky: “How far is that?” |
| Natsuko: Then, the other person might say 30分くらいです |
| Becky: “It takes about 30 minutes.” |
| Natsuko: In this answer, くらい is also used to mean “about.” |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Natsuko: まえ |
| Becky: It describes the location of something and means "in front". |
| Natsuko: If you want to say that something is “in front of A” in Japanese you should say.. Aの前. |
| Becky: In Japan, this word is often used in the name of bus stops. For example… |
| Natsuko: 西町としょかん前 |
| Becky: which means "in front of Nishimachi Library". |
| Natsuko: 西町としょかん is the name for “Nishimachi Library” and it ends with 前 meaning “in front of.” |
| Becky: Okay, what's the last word? |
| Natsuko: うしろ |
| Becky: meaning "behind". When you want to refer to something behind you, in Japanese it is... |
| Natsuko: うしろの then the noun. |
| Becky: For example you can say... |
| Natsuko: うしろのくるま |
| Becky: “the car behind me.” Or you can use this phrase to mean “behind someone”. For example, “Behind me” is |
| Natsuko: わたしのうしろ. Using the same pattern, you can say あなたのうしろ to mean “behind you.” |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask a bus driver if the bus will go to your destination. To ask a question like this, you can use the following sentence structure… |
| Natsuko: このバスは、plus [name of YOUR DESTINATION] plus まで 行きます か。 |
| Becky: which means “Does this bus go to [YOUR DESTINATION]?” Natsuko, let's break down this sentence to see the meaning of each word. |
| Natsuko: Sure. このバスは means “this bus”, まで means “to” as in "to a destination", 行きます is a verb meaning "to go" and か is a question marking particle. |
| Becky: So, if you want to go to the bus stop called “Nishimachi toshokan mae”, you can say... |
| Natsuko: このバスは、「西町としょかん前」まで行きますか。 |
| Becky: “Does this bus go to the "Nishimachi Toshokan-mae" bus stop?” Natsuko, what if I want to ask, “does that bus go to my destination?” |
| Natsuko: It' really simple. Just replace この, meaning “this” with あの, meaning “that”. Altogether we'll have あのバスは |
| Becky: meaning “that bus”. |
| Natsuko: For example you can say...あのバスは、"上野びじゅつかん前"まで行きますか。 |
| Becky: "Does that bus go to "Ueno Bijutsukan mae" bus stop?". |
| Natsuko: You can also replace あの or この with うしろの. It will be うしろのバスは... |
| Becky: which means “the bus behind this one”. So, if you want to ask if the bus behind goes to Tokyo Station, you can say, |
| Natsuko: うしろのバスは、東京えきまで行きますか。 |
| Becky: "Does the bus behind this one go to Tokyo Station?" |
| Becky: If you don't know the bus stop name, you can just say the destination you are going to instead of the bus stop name. |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. For more information and examples, please check the lesson notes. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Natsuko: またねー |
15 Comments
HideWhat public transportation do you usually use in your country or in Japan?
Bradさん
質問（しつもん）ありがとうございます😄
あれ、あの、あそこ etc. are only used when the thing or the person you're referring to is in sight.
That's why, you have to use その in this case.
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
In the lesson dialogue, the driver says to David "そのバスていから ちかいですよ"
Why did the driver choose to use その instead of あの considering they were both equidistant from the bus stop he was referring to?
Thanks
Hi Lindsey,
Thank you for your comment! Both ‘dorekurai’ (doregurai) and ‘donokurai’ (donogurai) can be used. They both have the same meaning of ‘how much’. Some people prefer to say one or the other, it is completely based on personal preference.
We wish you the best of luck with your further studies.Piers
Team JapanesePod101.com
Hello!
This is the first time I've heard dorekurai, What is the difference between dorekurai and donogurai?
Thank you!
Hello Dave,
Thank you for posting.
We are sorry to hear that you have issues with the PDF influencing the playback.
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Stan
Team JapanesePod101.com
Just an FYI... The premium lesson check list opens in the same window vs. downloading like other PDFs so it stops the audio if you open it while listening to the lesson.
Quyen san,
こんにちは。
「バス」ですね。
わかりました。:smile:
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com
毎日 バース で 大学 に 行きます。 よんじゅっぷん くらい かかります。
大学 は バースてい の まえ です。 ごふん くらい 道路 を 通ります。
Andyさん、
こんにちは。:smile:
そうですか。よかったです。
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com
はいわかりました！