Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Natsuko: ナツコです。(Natsuko desu.)
Peter: Peter here. Now today’s lesson is a newbie lesson geared towards people kind of new to the language. Natsuko-san, today’s conversation is between?
Natsuko: Mother and child.
Peter: And what kind of situation is it?
Natsuko: Starving.
Peter: Starving. So he just comes back home. Let’s take it from here.
DIALOGUE
息子 (musuko) : ただいま!(Tadaima!)
母 (haha) : おかえりなさい。(Okaerinasai.)
息子 (musuko) : あー、おなかがすいた。(Ā, onaka ga suita.)
おなかペコペコ!(Onaka pekopeko!)
母 (haha) : じゃあ、このクッキーをどうぞ。(Jā, kono kukkī o dōzo.)
息子 (musuko) : ワア〜、おいしい!(Wā, oishii!)
おいしいクッキーだね。(Oishii kukkī da ne.)
もう一つちょうだい。(Mō hitotsu chōdai.)
母 (haha) : じゃあ... これは?(Jā… kore wa?)
息子 (musuko) : ありがとう。(Arigatō.)
うっ、えっ、何これ、まずい!(U, e, nani kore, mazui!)
まずいよ、このクッキー。(Mazui yo, kono kukkī.)
母 (haha) : やっぱりまずい?(Yappari mazui?)
ニンニク味だから。(Ninniku aji da kara.)
もう一度お願いします。今度はゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do onegai shimasu. Kondo wa yukkuri onegai shimasu.)
息子 (musuko) : ただいま!(Tadaima!)
母 (haha) : おかえりなさい。(Okaerinasai.)
息子 (musuko) : あー、おなかがすいた。(Ā, onaka ga suita.)
おなかペコペコ!(Onaka pekopeko!)
母 (haha) : じゃあ、このクッキーをどうぞ。(Jā, kono kukkī o dōzo.)
息子 (musuko) : ワア〜、おいしい!(Wā, oishii!)
おいしいクッキーだね。(Oishii kukkī da ne.)
もう一つちょうだい。(Mō hitotsu chōdai.)
母 (haha) : じゃあ... これは?(Jā… kore wa?)
息子 (musuko) : ありがとう。(Arigatō.)
うっ、えっ、何これ、まずい!(U, e, nani kore, mazui!)
まずいよ、このクッキー。(Mazui yo, kono kukkī.)
母 (haha) : やっぱりまずい?(Yappari mazui?)
ニンニク味だから。(Ninniku aji da kara.)
次は英語が入ります。(Tsugi wa Eigo ga hairimasu.)
息子 (musuko) : ただいま!(Tadaima!)
SON: I'm home!
母 (haha) : おかえりなさい。(Okaerinasai.)
MOTHER: Welcome home!
息子 (musuko) : あー、おなかがすいた。(Ā, onaka ga suita.)
SON: Oh, I'm hungry.
息子 (musuko) : おなかペコペコ!(Onaka pekopeko!)
SON: I'm starving!
母 (haha) : じゃあ、このクッキーをどうぞ。(Jā, kono kukkī o dōzo.)
MOTHER: Alright, have a cookie.
息子 (musuko) : ワア〜、おいしい!(Wā, oishii!)
SON: Wow, delicious!
息子 (musuko) : おいしいクッキーだね。(Oishii kukkī da ne.)
SON: This cookie's great!
息子 (musuko) : もう一つちょうだい。(Mō hitotsu chōdai.)
SON: One more, please!
母 (haha) : じゃあ... これは?(Jā… kore wa?)
MOTHER: Well, how about this?
息子 (musuko) : ありがとう。(Arigatō.)
SON: Thanks!
息子 (musuko) : うっ、えっ、何これ、まずい!(U, e, nani kore, mazui!)
SON: Huh, what is this, it's awful!
息子 (musuko) : まずいよ、このクッキー。(Mazui yo, kono kukkī.)
SON: This cookie is terrible!
母 (haha) : やっぱりまずい?(Yappari mazui?)
MOTHER: It's really bad?
母 (haha) : ニンニク味だから。(Ninniku aji da kara.)
MOTHER: That's because it's garlic flavored.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Peter: So Natsuko-san, what did you think of today’s conversation?
Natsuko: I thought that maybe garlic flavored cookies might be worth a try.
Peter: Really?
Natsuko: Yeah. If it’s not too sweet.
Peter: Actually though, I can agree with you on this.
Natsuko: Wouldn’t it sound like some kind of potato chips? Garlic flavored potato chips?
Peter: Yeah, but that’s why the potato chips are not good but anyway, enough of this. If anybody has any opinion on this, please stop by japanesepod101.com. Let us know if Natsuko is going to go into the cookie-making business. Now for those of you who want a little more exotic-flavored cookie, stop by and check out the bonus track. Now it’s kind of based off the Harry Potter movie. Maybe you can guess the flavor of the cookie but well anyway, stop by, check it out and be sure to leave us a post. Now let’s jump into vocab. Natsuko-san, what do we have first?
VOCAB LIST
Natsuko: ペコペコ (pekopeko)
Peter: Completely empty.
Natsuko: (slow) ペコペコ (pekopeko) (natural speed) ペコペコ (pekopeko)
Peter: Now Japanese uses a lot of onomatopoeia. Words based on sounds but again in Japanese, they also have not only sounds but emotions and other things. Now this is quite a common one because you often talk about how hungry you are. It’s not that you don’t eat enough. It’s just that there are so many good things to eat in Japan.
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: And also you have to walk a lot in between the stations and things like that. So lots of reasons behind this but this one is one you will hear a lot and…
Natsuko: Yeah.
Peter: ペコペコ (pekopeko), now what we are going to do is we are going to go through the conversation after this. So right now, just put this in your mind that this means completely empty. Okay, let’s take a look at the next vocab. ナツコさん、お願いします。(Natsuko-san, onegai shimasu.)
Natsuko: クッキー (kukkī)
Peter: Cookie.
Natsuko: (slow) クッキー (kukkī) (natural speed) クッキー (kukkī)
Peter: Now let’s take a look at the pronunciation here because Japanese, it’s often said that pronunciation is very easy and I agree. When you first start Japanese, to a certain point, it’s quite easy but then once you really start to study, there are some key points in pronunciation that you know, if you get them from the beginning, it will only help that much more when you get better.
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: I am of the latter school. I just went ahead and went ahead and now I still have some pronunciation issues which is why I am making a point of it today. Natsuko-san, in between the ク (ku) and the キ (ki), there is a short pause.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Try and listen to this. Here we go.
Natsuko: クッキー (kukkī)
Peter: Slight pause, クッキー (kukkī).
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Then we have what, Natsuko-san?
Natsuko: Long vowel, イー (ī).
Peter: So you kind of hold it. So it’s ク (ku), short pause, キ (ki) and then hold at イ (i). Natsuko-san, one time altogether.
Natsuko: クッキー (kukkī)
Peter: Now the more you hear Japanese, the more you will get attuned to this. In Romaji, whenever you see two consonants in a row, that’s when they have this short pause. Okay, it’s not a hard sound, short pause and then we have the long vowel. So stop by japanesepod101.com, check out the PDF. We have the kanji, the kana and the Romaji. So you can really get a feel of when this pause comes into play.
Natsuko: Yes, I think it will be really good practice to look at all the forms.
Peter: While listening to it.
Natsuko: Uhoo and compare it.
Peter: Yeah, and you want to top that. Inside the Learning Center, we have the audio for the vocab words.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: So you can go into the learning center, you can check out the words and listen to them over and over while you are looking at them.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: And it’s just a word. I think in this one, you can hear Natsuko-san say クッキー (kukkī), クッキー (kukkī) over and over. That sounds really appealing.
Natsuko: Pretty funny.
Peter: Okay, back on track here. Natsuko-san, what do we have next?
Natsuko: ニンニク (ninniku)
Peter: Garlic.
Natsuko: (slow) にんにく (ninniku) (natural speed) ニンニク (ninniku)
Peter: Don’t forget to hit that “n” in there. One more time, Natsuko-san?
Natsuko: ニンニク (ninniku)
Peter: Next.
Natsuko: 味 (aji)
Peter: Flavor.
Natsuko: (slow) あじ (aji) (natural speed) 味 (aji)
Peter: Notice how the word for garlic preceded this, garlic flavor.
Natsuko: ニンニク味 (ninniku aji)
Peter: Can we have another example? What’s the word for strawberry?
Natsuko: いちご (ichigo)
Peter: So how about the strawberry flavor?
Natsuko: いちご味 (ichigo aji)
Peter: How can I say what kind of flavor?
Natsuko: 何の味 (nan no aji)
Peter: The interrogative for what which is
Natsuko: 何 (nani)
Peter: And here it’s followed by の (no), which is a ん (n) sound. So it gets contracted into
Natsuko: 何の (nan no)
Peter: This is followed by
Natsuko: 味 (aji)
Peter: 何の味 (nan no aji), what kind of flavor? What flavor? Next we have
Natsuko: おいしい (oishii)
Peter: Delicious.
Natsuko: (slow) おいしい (oishii) (natural speed) おいしい (oishii)
Peter: What’s the opposite of delicious?
Natsuko: まずい (mazui)
(slow) まずい (mazui) (natural speed) まずい (mazui)
Peter: Yeah, and this is pretty strong. It’s not like a – this is you know, the real opposite.
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: Not good at all. So if you get some food and it’s not that good, you don’t want to say まずい (mazui), because you will offend people. Just go with おいしい (oishii) for now and in a later lesson, we will tell you how to say it’s not that good. Now it’s black and white. It’s either really good or really bad. Okay, now let’s take a quick run through the dialogue. Natsuko-san, what do we have first?
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Natsuko: ただいま!(Tadaima!)
Peter: This is a greeting used by people when they return to let everybody know that they are back. Now it has another meaning but in this context, it means I am here.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: I am back, followed by
Natsuko: おかえりなさい。(Okaerinasai.)
Peter: And this is said by the people receiving the person who came back. And this is a very informal situation. Obviously child and mother but it’s also used by friends.
Natsuko: Yes, you can use it in the office, too.
Peter: Yeah, when someone leaves and they come back. So somebody from your group, inside the group.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Is when you use these greetings. This is followed by
Natsuko: あー、おなかがすいた。(Ā, onaka ga suita.)
Peter: Okay, again we introduced this expression last week. I am hungry.
Natsuko: おなかがすいた。(Onaka ga suita.)
Peter: And this is informal. Again the child speaking and yeah, all those kids. This is followed by
Natsuko: おなかペコペコ!(Onaka pekopeko!)
Peter: Okay. Literally, “stomach completely empty.” Now Natsuko-san, let’s show everyone what the textbook example would look like.
Natsuko: おなかがペコペコです。(Onaka ga pekopeko desu.)
Peter: Okay, we have following stomach, おなか (onaka). The subject marker
Natsuko: が (ga)
Peter: Followed by
Natsuko: ペコペコ (pekopeko)
Peter: Followed by
Natsuko: です (desu)
Peter: The polite form of the copula, but here it’s informal. “The kids hungry.” He wants to convey that message, mom, give me something to eat. As few words as possible.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Followed by
Natsuko: じゃあ、このクッキーをどうぞ。(Jā, kono kukkī o dōzo.)
Peter: Okay. We start off with じゃあ (jā). This is a filler. Here it’s been used as a filler to bite a little time. What should I do? Okay, mom has made cookies, so
Natsuko: このクッキーをどうぞ (kono kukkī o dōzo)
Peter: This cookie marked by
Natsuko: を (o)
Peter: Followed by
Natsuko: どうぞ (dōzo)
Peter: を (o) is the object marker and here we have please used when passing something どうぞ (dōzo) or asking someone to move a certain way kind of giving permission.
Natsuko: Yeah, right.
Peter: For someone to do something.
Natsuko: Showing the way.
Peter: Yeah. Here, it is the passing situation. The mother is passing the child a cookie saying どうぞ (dōzo). So in Japanese, when you are in a situation when everyone is using Japanese and you pass something, you’d want to say
Natsuko: どうぞ (dōzo)
Peter: And if the child had proper manners, he would say
Natsuko: ありがとうございます (arigatō gozaimasu)
Peter: Yeah, but it’s mom. So he despites right in. Then we have….
Natsuko: ワ〜、おいしい!(Wā, oishii!)
Peter: Wow it’s delicious, followed by
Natsuko: おいしいクッキーね。(Oishii kukkī ne.)
Peter: So notice how the adjective precedes the noun here. We have
Natsuko: おいしいクッキー (oishii kukkī)
Peter: And then ね (ne). Here ね (ne) is used as an emphasizer followed by
Natsuko: もう一つちょうだい。(Mō hitotsu chōdai.)
Peter: Okay, and this is why you should really listen to all the lessons. We have もう一つ (mō hitotsu) one more, literally more one, but what’s interesting here is what follows this.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Which is
Natsuko: ちょうだい (chōdai)
Peter: Meaning please.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Now Natsuko-san, tell us about this.
Natsuko: ちょうだい (chōdai) is like give me.
Peter: Pretty formal?
Natsuko: Not really.
Peter: Very informal. Business meetings in Japanese?
Natsuko: Never.
Peter: Yeah, never but used kind of among friends and here in family members.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: Quick way ちょうだい (chōdai). For those of you who see ニモ (Nimo) Natsuko-san, have you seen ニモ (Nimo)?
Natsuko: Oh no. I haven’t had a chance.
Peter: Oh really! There is this one scene when the seagulls who are kind of cast as a bit of villains because they eat anything. Not very smart and they eat everything.
Natsuko: All right.
Peter: So when the seagulls are kind of gathered around, in the Japanese version, they keep saying ちょうだい、ちょうだい、ちょうだい (chōdai, chōdai, chōdai) and then like you hear about a 1000 of them saying altogether ちょうだい、ちょうだい… (chōdai, chōdai…). That stuck in my mind but so if you see Nimo and you know the part I am talking about with the seagulls, in the Japanese version, they are saying ちょうだい (chōdai). So give me please, give me please. Something along this line. Next we have.
Natsuko: じゃあ、これは。(Jā, kore wa?)
Peter: So we have umm.. this? What’s inferred after this, Natsuko-san? Again in Japanese, so much is inferred これは (kore wa), what?
Natsuko: これは、どう?(Kore wa, dō?)
Peter: Yeah, “this how about?” In English, how about this?
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: But in Japanese, it is just this?
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: But you need the は (wa).
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: Followed by
Natsuko: ありがとう。(Arigatō.)
Peter: Thanks. And then he is chomping away followed by
Natsuko: う、え、何これ、まずい!(U, e, nani kore, mazui!)
Peter: Now in textbook Japanese, it’s これは何ですか (kore wa nan desu ka) but in spoken Japanese, sometimes it gets reversed and it’s actually like the English. What’s this?
Natsuko: 何これ?(Nani kore?)
Peter: Yeah, and this is one of those cases of spoken Japanese, informal situations.
Natsuko: Yes, and actually I hear this more often than you know the textbook style.
Peter: Yeah, but we should point out, probably in spoken Japanese.
Natsuko: Right.
Peter: And obviously if you are reading spoken Japanese. It’s such a novel. Anyway, finally we have
Natsuko: まずい、まずいよこのクッキー。(Mazui, mazui yo kono kukkī.)
Peter: Yeah, this is a bad cookie and lastly…You really like that, Natsuko.
Natsuko: やっぱりまずい?(Yappari mazui?)
Peter: Now here listen to the intonation. One more time?
Natsuko: やっぱりまずい?(Yappari mazui?)
Peter: The mother is actually saying, she probably thought it was, you know, interesting to try and she didn’t think it would be that bad. So やっぱりまずい? (Yappari mazui?), kind of like as I thought it would be bad but I think I am going to give it a try. That nuance is in there.
Natsuko: Yes.
Peter: And finally we have.
Natsuko: ニンニク味だから。(Ninniku aji da kara.)
Peter: Garlic flavor because. Notice how the because comes at the end だから (da kara), because, all right. Way too long to say, but a really exciting lesson and really fun.

Outro

Peter: All right, that’s going to do it for today.
Natsuko: じゃあ、また明日。(Jā, mata ashita.)
BONUS TRACK
[Rude version]
息子 (musuko) : おら、かえったぞ!(Ora, kaetta zo!)
母 (haha) : おかえりなさい。(Okaerinasai.)
息子 (musuko) : あー、はらへった。(Ā, hara hetta.)
おなかペコペコだよ!(Onaka pekopeko da yo!)
母 (haha) : じゃあ、このクッキーをどうぞ。(Jā, kono kukkī o dōzo.)
息子 (musuko) : おっ、これうまいな!(O, kore umai na!)
おいババァ、うまいクッキーだな、これ。(Oi babā, umai kukkī da na, kore.)
もう一個くれよ。(Mō ikko kure yo.)
母 (haha) : はい、じゃあ... これは?(Hai, jā… kore wa?)
息子 (musuko) : お、ありがと。(O, arigato.)
うっ、えっ、うえっ、まずい!(U, e, ue, mazui!)
ババァ、まじいぞ、このクッキー。(Babā, mazī zo, kono kukkī.)
母 (haha) : やっぱりまずい?(Yappari mazui?)
これは鼻くそ味です。(Kore wa hanakuso aji desu.)

Kanji

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