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。 |
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