Learn how to report a lost item
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 2, Lesson 24 - What Should You Do If You Lose Something on a Japanese Train? Becky here. |
| Natsuko: こんにちは。 なつこです。 |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask and to describe what something looks like. The conversation takes place at a train station office. |
| Natsuko: It's between David and a train station staff member. |
| Becky: The speakers are a passenger and a station staff member, so they'll be using formal Japanese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| デービッド:すみません、でんしゃでさいふをなくしました。 |
| 駅員:いつですか。 |
| デービッド:きょうです。 |
| 駅員:どんなさいふですか。 |
| デービッド:黒いさいふです。 |
| 駅員:かわのさいふですか。 |
| デービッド:いえ、ナイロンのさいふです。 |
| 駅員:じゃ、これに、なまえ、じゅうしょ、でんわばんごうを書いてください。 |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| デービッド:すみません、でんしゃでさいふをなくしました。 |
| 駅員:いつですか。 |
| デービッド:きょうです。 |
| 駅員:どんなさいふですか。 |
| デービッド:黒いさいふです。 |
| 駅員:かわのさいふですか。 |
| デービッド:いえ、ナイロンのさいふです。 |
| 駅員:じゃ、これに、なまえ、じゅうしょ、でんわばんごうを書いてください。 |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| David: Excuse me. I lost my wallet in the train. |
| Station staff: When was that? |
| David: It was today. |
| Station staff: What kind of wallet is it? |
| David: It's a black one. |
| Station staff: Is it a leather one? |
| David: No, it's nylon. |
| Station staff: OK. Can you write your name, address, and phone number on this? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: It seems like Japan is a place where you can get almost anything you lose back. |
| Natsuko: That’s true. One of my friends lost her purse once, and a stranger found it and brought it back to her address. Surprisingly, all of her cash and ID cards were still there. |
| Becky: It's always heartwarming to hear that kind of story! Many people have similar experiences with lost items in train stations. |
| Natsuko: That’s right. All major stations have a lost-and-found center, where you can retrieve lost items. Some small stations may not have one, but you can go to the station office, and the workers there will do their best to help you. |
| Becky: What if I lose something while I’m inside the train, rather than at a train station? |
| Natsuko: If that’s the case, you should go to the closest large station and ask the workers there. They will contact other stations to help you to find your item. Lost items found at smaller stations are collected and kept at the lost and found offices at major stations. |
| Becky: Good to know. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Natsuko: でんしゃ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: train |
| Natsuko: でんしゃ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: でんしゃ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: いつ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: when |
| Natsuko: いつ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: いつ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: きょう [natural native speed] |
| Becky: today |
| Natsuko: きょう[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: きょう [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: どんな [natural native speed] |
| Becky: what kind of |
| Natsuko: どんな[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: どんな [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: さいふ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: wallet, purse |
| Natsuko: さいふ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: さいふ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: なくす [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to lose |
| Natsuko: なくす[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: なくす [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: くろい [natural native speed] |
| Becky: black |
| Natsuko: くろい[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: くろい [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: かわ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: leather |
| Natsuko: かわ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: かわ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: ナイロン [natural native speed] |
| Becky: nylon |
| Natsuko: ナイロン[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: ナイロン [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Last we have.. |
| Natsuko: でんわばんごう [natural native speed] |
| Becky: telephone number |
| Natsuko: でんわばんごう[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: でんわばんごう [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: [Something]をなくしました |
| Becky: meaning "I lost [something]". |
| Natsuko: なくしました means “someone lost something” in the past tense. You can use this phrase when you think that you lost something, not just left or forgot it. |
| Becky: And we need an object marking particle after saying the item’s name. |
| Natsuko: That’s right. For example, かぎをなくしました。 |
| Becky: “I lost my key.” |
| Natsuko: かぎ is the noun meaning “key” |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Becky: In this lesson, you will learn how to explain what kind of thing you've lost and how to describe it. |
| Natsuko: This should be very helpful if you've just started living in Japan. |
| Becky: If you lose something, you will need to visit a Koban, which is the police station, or a station office. There, you can say.. |
| Natsuko: [something] をなくしました。 |
| Becky: “I lost something” For example, |
| Natsuko: さいふをなくしました。 |
| Becky: “I lost my wallet (or purse).” |
| Natsuko: Then, they will ask you それはどんなさいふですか？ |
| Becky: “What kind of wallet is it?” |
| Natsuko: それは means “that is”, どんな means "what kind of." If you are talking about a wallet, they will say それはどんなさいふですか |
| Becky: “What kind of wallet is that?” What do you say if you want to ask “what kind of bag is that”? |
| Natsuko: それは、どんなかばんですか。 |
| Becky: What about, “what kind of bicycle is that?” |
| Natsuko: それは、どんな じてんしゃですか。 |
| Becky: In our dialog we heard the question “What kind of wallet is it?” |
| Natsuko: Right. どんなさいふですか。 |
| Becky: Because the question is vague, it seems difficult to answer. Do you have any tips as to how to respond to that? |
| Natsuko: I think the easiest way to go about it is to describe the color first. Simply say the adjective for the color, the item’s name, then say the copula です。 |
| Becky: Using this pattern how can we say “It's a black wallet”? |
| Natsuko: Black is くろい, so the sentence would be 黒いさいふです。 |
| Becky: “It’s a black wallet.” |
| Natsuko: 黒い “black”, さいふ “wallet” and です copula. |
| Becky: What about “It's a white wallet”? |
| Natsuko: white is しろい. So it will be 白いさいふです。 |
| Becky: “It’s a white wallet.” Now there are some colors that don’t have adjective forms. |
| Natsuko: That’s right.For example, みどり is the noun meaning "green" and it doesn’t have the adjective form. Also we have オレンジ meaning "orange color" which doesn’t have an adjective form. |
| Becky: In that case, how can we describe “green wallet”? |
| Natsuko: Simply add の (no) after saying the color. For example, みどりのさいふ |
| Becky: “Green wallet.” |
| Natsuko: In the same way, you can describe what kind of material the item is made of. Again, simply say the material’s name, then add の |
| Becky: Okay. For example, how do you say “the wallet is made of leather”? |
| Natsuko : “leather” is かわ in Japanese, so かわのさいふ |
| Becky: “the wallet is made of leather.” Okay. And now, let’s make a simple situation so that our listeners can practice. Let’s say you lost your watch at a Japanese hot spring. How can you say “I lost my watch.”? |
| (Beep) |
| Natsuko: 時計をなくしました。 |
| Becky: “I lost my watch.” Then the staff member will ask you.. |
| Natsuko: それは、どんな時計ですか。 |
| Becky: "What kind of watch is it?" If your watch is white, how can you say “It’s a white watch?” |
| (Beep) |
| Natsuko: 白い時計です。 |
| Becky: "It's a white watch." What if it was a green watch? Don’t forget the magic word の。 |
| (Beep) |
| Natsuko: みどりの時計です。 |
| Becky: "It's a green watch." What if your watch is made of leather? Again, use the magic word の。 |
| (Beep) |
| Natsuko: かわの時計です。 |
| Becky: "It's a leather watch." |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Natsuko: またねー |
Comments
Hide