Learn how to ask and talk about where something is
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Matt: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 2, Lesson 5 - Finding Your Way Around a Japanese Home. Matt Here. |
| Natsuko: こんにちは。 I'm Natsuko. |
| Matt: In this lesson, you’ll learn to understand the layout of a house. The conversation takes place at a host family's house. |
| Natsuko: It’s between David and his host mother. |
| Matt: The speakers are a student and his host mother, and the student will be using formal Japanese with his host mother. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| ホストマザー:さぁ、ここが、デービッドのへやですよ。 |
| デービッド:広いですね。ありがとうございます！ |
| ホストマザー:ケンタとタイチのへやはとなりですよ。 |
| デービッド:おにいさんはどっちですか。 |
| ホストマザー:ケンタですよ。それから、ここがリビングです。トイレはあそこですよ。 |
| デービッド:おふろはどこですか。 |
| ホストマザー:おふろとせんめんじょは、2かいです。それから、トイレは2かいにもありますよ。 |
| デービッド:わかりました。ありがとうございます。 |
| Matt: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| ホストマザー:さぁ、ここが、デービッドのへやですよ。 |
| デービッド:広いですね。ありがとうございます！ |
| ホストマザー:ケンタとタイチのへやはとなりですよ。 |
| デービッド:おにいさんはどっちですか。 |
| ホストマザー:ケンタですよ。それから、ここがリビングです。トイレはあそこですよ。 |
| デービッド:おふろはどこですか。 |
| ホストマザー:おふろとせんめんじょは、2かいです。それから、トイレは2かいにもありますよ。 |
| デービッド:わかりました。ありがとうございます。 |
| Matt: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| ホストマザー:さぁ、ここが、デービッドのへやですよ。 |
| Host mother: This is your room, David. |
| デービッド:広いですね。ありがとうございます！ |
| David: It's a big room. Thank you! |
| ホストマザー:ケンタとタイチのへやはとなりですよ。 |
| Host mother: Kenta and Taichi's room is next door. |
| デービッド:おにいさんはどっちですか。 |
| David: Which one is the big brother? |
| ホストマザー:ケンタですよ。それから、ここがリビングです。トイレはあそこですよ。 |
| Host mother: Kenta is. Then, here is a living room, and a toilet is over there. |
| デービッド:おふろはどこですか。 |
| David: Where is the bathroom? |
| ホストマザー:おふろとせんめんじょは、2かいです。それから、トイレは2かいにもありますよ。 |
| Host mother: The bathroom and washroom is on the second floor. Another toilet is upstairs too. |
| デービッド:わかりました。ありがとうございます。 |
| David: Got it. Thank you. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Natsuko: Matt, did you know that Japanese houses usually have a bathroom and toilet separately? |
| Matt: I did! And.. there is also a separate washroom, right? Why is that? |
| Natsuko: It’s because the normal way that Japanese people take a bath is to clean their body outside the bathtub in the shower, and afterwards soak in the tub to relax. |
| Matt: I see. That’s why you need to use a different word to talk about the bathroom and toilet. |
| Natsuko: That’s right. When you say yokushitsu in Japanese, it means “bathroom”. It’s only used when referring to bathing, not the toilet. |
| Matt: But listeners, please note that this is not true of all Japanese houses. Many one-room apartments in Japan don't have a separate bathroom and toilet. |
| Natsuko: So, when you’re looking for an apartment, it's important for some people to find a place that has a separate bathroom and toilet. |
| Matt: That’s a good tip. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Matt: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Natsuko: さあ [natural native speed] |
| Matt: come on |
| Natsuko: さあ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: さあ [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: へや [natural native speed] |
| Matt: room, chamber |
| Natsuko: へや[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: へや [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: 広い [natural native speed] |
| Matt: wide, broad |
| Natsuko: 広い [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: 広い [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: となり [natural native speed] |
| Matt: next to, neighbor, neighboring |
| Natsuko: となり [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: となり [natural native speed] |
| Matt: 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] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: リビング [natural native speed] |
| Matt: living room |
| Natsuko: リビング [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: リビング [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: せんめんじょ [natural native speed] |
| Matt: bathroom |
| Natsuko: せんめんじょ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: せんめんじょ [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: ある [natural native speed] |
| Matt: to be, to exist |
| Natsuko: ある [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: ある [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: かい [natural native speed] |
| Matt: the counter for floors |
| Natsuko: かい [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: かい [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: どっち [natural native speed] |
| Matt: which one |
| Natsuko: どっち [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: どっち [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 word is.. |
| Natsuko: わかりました |
| Matt: meaning "Okay", "I understand", "I see." |
| Natsuko: This phrase is the past tense of わかります (wakarimasu), which is a verb meaning "to understand.” |
| Matt: You can use it when you understand something you’ve heard from another person. Natsuko, can you give us an example using this word? |
| Natsuko: Sure. For example, when you’re looking for an elevator inside a building and someone says エレベーターはあそこです。 |
| Matt: meaning.. “The elevator is over there.” |
| Natsuko: You can answer by saying わかりました。 |
| Matt: ..which means "Okay” or literally “I understood.” |
| Matt: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Natsuko: 2かいにも ありますよ。 |
| Matt: meaning "It's on the 2nd floor too." |
| Natsuko: We wanted to introduce this expression because you’ll hear this pattern a lot. Here, the point is the particle も, which is placed before ありますよ Without the particle, you can say 2かいにありますよ (ni-kai ni arimasu yo) which means “It’s on the 2nd floor.” |
| Matt: But if you want to add the meaning “too”, you need the particle, right? |
| Natsuko: That’s right. To mean "something is on the second floor too," you add mo after the phrase "on the second floor" which is 2かいに (ni-kai ni), and say 2かいにも (ni-kai ni mo.) 2かいにも ありますよ。 |
| Matt: "It's on the 2nd floor too." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Natsuko: どっち |
| Matt: meaning "which one" |
| Natsuko: You can use どっち when you want to say “which one,” “which person,” or “which direction.” |
| Matt: But listeners, note that you should not use this word in a formal conversation. Natsuko, can you give us an example using this word? |
| Natsuko: If someone says.. チョコレートケーキと チーズケーキが あります。 |
| Matt: which means “We have a chocolate cake and a cheesecake.” |
| Natsuko: And then.. どっちが おいしいですか。 |
| Matt: It would mean “Which is better?" Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Matt: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask and describe where something is located. |
| Natsuko: First, let’s take a look at how to ask the location of something. |
| Matt: To ask the location of something, you can say the name of the object first, then say.. |
| Natsuko: ...はどこですか。 |
| Matt: meaning “Where is [something]? Using this pattern, how can you say “Where’s a toilet?” |
| Natsuko: トイレ is the word meaning “toilet” so you can say.. トイレは どこですか。 |
| Matt: Great. |
| Natsuko: Here, in the pattern ...はどこですか。we have the topic marking particle は, the word どこ meaning “where”, and ですか, which is the copula and question marking particle. |
| Matt: If you want to know the location of something, you can use this pattern, but with a different noun that you’re looking for. |
| Natsuko: That’s right. If you’re looking for a key, you can use the noun かぎ (kagi) meaning “key” with the pattern. |
| Matt: So “Where’s the key?” in Japanese will be.. |
| Natsuko: かぎは どこですか。(slow) かぎは どこですか。 |
| Matt: Okay. Now let’s hear how to say where something is. |
| Natsuko: The pattern is very easy to follow. First, you need to say the name of the thing. For example, トイレ , if you want to give the location of a toilet. |
| Matt: Then we need a topic marking particle, right? |
| Natsuko: That’s right. You can say は as in トイレは。 |
| Matt: Then, you can say the location. For example, if the toilet is there, you can use the word.. |
| Natsuko: そこ (slow) そこ |
| Matt: Okay. Then, the copula です can be added. Natsuko, all together, how can you say “The toilet is there” in Japanese? |
| Natsuko: トイレは そこです。トイレ means “toilet”, は is the “topic marking particle”, そこ means “ there”, です。is a copula meaning something like “there is.” |
| Matt: Okay. What if it’s here? What can we say? |
| Natusko: ここ is the Japanese word meaning “here” so you can say トイレはここです。 |
| Matt: What if it’s over there? |
| Natsuko: You can use the word あそこ。It means “over there.” トイレはあそこです。 |
| Matt: And sometimes, you’ll hear this word too. |
| Natsuko: 2かい |
| Matt: It means “second floor.” If the toilet is on the 2nd floor, you’ll hear.. |
| Natsuko: トイレは2かいです。 |
| Matt: “The toilet is on the 2nd floor.” Literally “Toilet is 2nd floor.” |
| Natsuko: Keep in mind that かい is the counter for floors. |
| Matt: Make sure to check the PDF lesson notes to learn more examples using these patterns. Now let’s practice. To ask where the living room is, you say, |
| (Pause) |
| Natsuko: リビングはどこですか。 |
| Matt: Meaning “Where is the living room?” |
| Matt: Next. If the living room is on the 2nd floor, what do you say? |
| (Pause) |
| Natsuko: リビングは、2かいです。 |
| Matt: Meaning “A living room in on the 2nd floor.” |
| Matt: You are showing your house to a friend. To explain that a toilet is here and a bathroom is over there, you say.” |
| (Pause) |
| Natsuko: トイレは ここです。それから、おふろは あそこです。 |
| Matt: Which means “A toilet is here. And a bathroom is over there.” |
Outro |
| Matt: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Natsuko: またね。 |
9 Comments
HideHi Listeners! Let's practice here: [Thing] はどこですか。
Rachel さん
コメントありがとうございます😄
If it's a part of the name we say イン like 東急イン, but
we usually don't say イン (Inn). We say 旅館/宿屋/ホテル.
Please let us know if you have any questions!
Sincerely,
Erica
Team JapanesePod101.com
インは何処ですか。
Hi Carlos,
Thank you for the question! You can say either of them when asking the location of restrooms. ?
Miki H
Team JapanesePod101.com
what's the difference between トイレはどこですか。and トイレはどこにありますか。？
Quyen san,
こんにちは。:smile:
東京駅はそこです。
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com
すみません 東京駅 は どこ です か。
Excuse me where is Tokyo Station?
Andyさん、
こんにちは。
ええと…自動販売機はあそこです。:smile:
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com
自動販売機はどこですか？
Where is the vending machine?