Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Naomi: なおみです!(Naomi desu!)
Kat: Hi everyone, Kat here! Are you hungry enough to eat that unidentified Japanese food?
Naomi: Kat-san, please tell us what we're going to learn in this lesson.
Kat: In this lesson, you will learn how to identify what you're talking about, with words like “this” and “that”.
Naomi: And where does this conversation take place? And who is it between?
Kat: This conversation takes place in the school cafeteria, and it's between Madoka and Kent, as they eat.
Naomi: And, what's the formality level?
Kat: Madoka and Kent are speaking informally, as usual. So now let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
ケント (Kento):ああ、腹へった。(Ā, hara hetta.)
まどか (Madoka):ねぇ。私も、お腹へった。(Nee. Watashi mo, onaka hetta.)
まどか (Madoka):いただきます。(Itadakimasu.)
ケント (Kento):いただきまーす。(Itadakimāsu.)
ケント (Kento):まどか、それ、そば?(Madoka, sore, soba?)
まどか (Madoka):うん、そば。(Un, soba.)
まどか (Madoka):これ、山菜そば。(Kore, sansai soba.)
ケント (Kento):さんさい?(Sansai?)
まどか (Madoka):うん。(Un.)
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.)
ケント (Kento):ああ、腹へった。(Ā, hara hetta.)
まどか (Madoka):ねぇ。私も、お腹へった。(Nee. Watashi mo, onaka hetta.)
まどか (Madoka):いただきます。(Itadakimasu.)
ケント (Kento):いただきまーす。(Itadakimāsu.)
ケント (Kento):まどか、それ、そば?(Madoka, sore, soba?)
まどか (Madoka):うん、そば。(Un, soba.)
まどか (Madoka):これ、山菜そば。(Kore, sansai soba.)
ケント (Kento):さんさい?(Sansai?)
まどか (Madoka):うん。(Un.)
今度は英語が入ります。(Kondo wa Eigo ga hairimasu.)
ケント (Kento):ああ、腹へった。(Ā, hara hetta.)
Kat: Ahh... I'm so hungry.
まどか (Madoka):ねぇ。私も、お腹へった。(Nee. Watashi mo, onaka hetta.)
Kat: Yeah, me too.
まどか (Madoka):いただきます。(Itadakimasu.)
Kat: Let's eat.
ケント (Kento):いただきまーす。(Itadakimāsu.)
Kat: Let's eat!
(eats)
ケント (Kento):まどか、それ、そば?(Madoka, sore, soba?)
Kat: Madoka, is that soba?
まどか (Madoka):うん、そば。(Un, soba.)
Kat: Yup, soba.
まどか (Madoka):これ、山菜そば。(Kore, sansai soba.)
Kat: This is sansai soba.
ケント (Kento):さんさい?(Sansai?)
Kat: Sansai?
まどか (Madoka):うん。(Un.)
Kat: Yup.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Kat: So Naomi-sensei, what was it that Madoka was eating again?
Naomi: ああ、山菜そば。(Ā, sansai soba.) 山菜 (sansai) means “mountain vegetables”. If you look at the 漢字 (kanji) for this word, the first one is “mountain”, and the second one is “vegetable”. And そば (soba) is a type of noodle.
Kat: Ah, yes. It's usually translated as “buckwheat noodles”. They're kind of a grey-ish brown color, aren't they?
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Right. Have you ever had eaten 山菜そば (sansai soba)?
Kat: I don't think so. No, I'm not even sure what it looks like!
Naomi: どんなそばが好きですか。(Donna soba ga suki desu ka.) What kind of そば (soba) do you like?
Kat: 私、焼きそばが大好きです。(Watashi, yakisoba ga daisuki desu.) I love yakisoba that you make on a 鉄板 (teppan) or a big iron hot plate. My boyfriend actually makes probably the best 焼きそば (yakisoba) in Japan, I think!
Naomi: えぇ、いいなぁ。(Ee, ii nā.) You are so lucky!
Kat: Yeah, I know,I know.
Naomi: The soba we use for 焼きそば (yakisoba) is not the buckwheat noodles.
Kat: Ah, that's right. It's actually Chinese noodles, isn't it? The yellow colored ones.
Naomi: Right. とてもおいしいですよね。(Totemo oishii desu yo ne.)
Kat: おいしいです。(Oishii desu.)
Naomi: Very tasty.
Kat: Very tasty.
VOCAB LIST
Kat: So, now, let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
Naomi: 腹 (hara) [natural native speed]
Kat: stomach, belly, abdomen
Naomi: 腹 (hara) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Naomi: 腹 (hara) [natural native speed]
Kat: OK, and next.
Naomi: そば (soba) [natural native speed]
Kat: buckwheat noodles
Naomi: そば (soba) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Naomi: そば (soba) [natural native speed]
Kat: OK, next.
Naomi: 山菜 (sansai) [natural native speed]
Kat: wild mountain vegetables
Naomi: 山菜 (sansai) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Naomi: 山菜 (sansai) [natural native speed]
Kat: And next we have a phrase.
Naomi: いただきます (itadakimasu) [natural native speed]
Kat: expression of gratitude before meals; let's eat
Naomi: いただきます (itadakimasu) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Naomi: いただきます (itadakimasu) [natural native speed]
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Kat: So now, let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Naomi: The first phrase we will look at is 腹へった (hara hetta).
Kat: I'm starving!! But Naomi-sensei, this is a very casual and quite a rough way to say it, isn't it?
Naomi: It is.
Kat: If you are a girl, I don't recommend you use this. Would you agree?
Naomi: Yeah, yeah. I completely agree. I personally never use this phrase.
Kat: Neither do I. I have never used it, I don't think.
Naomi: If you are a guy, it is a good phrase to use.
Kat: With your friends, right?
Naomi: Right.
Kat: But anyway, how would we break down 腹へった (hara hetta)?
Naomi: OK, the first word 腹 (hara), means “stomach”. And the second word, へった (hetta), is from the verb へる (heru), which literally means to “decrease” or “diminish”.
Kat: So you have got “stomach” plus “decrease”. That's a pretty literal meaning, isn't it?
Naomi: Right.
Kat: So what can we say, instead of 腹へった (hara hetta), that doesn't sound as casual and rough?
Naomi: Some of you may remember this phrase, お腹すいた (onaka suita).
Kat: “I'm hungry.” お腹 (onaka) is the word you'll hear most often for “stomach”. You hear both this and 腹へった (hara hetta) pretty often in conversation. So, what's the next phrase, Naomi-sensei?
Naomi: いただきます (itadakimasu)
Kat: Madoka and Kent said this before they started eating. いただきまーす!(Itadakimāsu!) It's a set expression.
Naomi: Yeah, like you said, some people prolong the ま (ma) sound, いただきまーす (itadakimāsu)!
Kat: Right. Kind of like, “I am really looking forward to this meal!”
Naomi: It's a set expression that you say before you eat.
Kat: What does it mean originally?
Naomi: Well, originally it's a verb that means “to humbly receive”.
Kat: So basically, you're saying that you are about to receive the food you are going to eat.
Naomi: That's right.
Kat: And lastly, what are we going to go over?
Naomi: Well, this word is not in the dialog. But since we talked about いただきます (itadakimasu), I thought we should mention it as well.
ごちそうさまでした (gochisō-sama deshita)
Kat: Ah, right. They're kind of like a pair - いただきます (itadakimasu) is said before eating, and ごちそうさまでした (gochisō-sama deshita) is said after you finish eating. So, let's break down ごちそうさまでした (gochisō-sama deshita).
Naomi: ごちそう (gochisō)
Kat: a feast
Naomi:さま (sama)
Kat: honorific suffix
Naomi: でした (deshita)
Kat: past form of the polite copula です (desu).
ごちそうさまでした。(Gochisō-sama deshita.) And basically it means “Thank you for the meal”, right?
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Right. It literally means “It was a feast.” But the message the speaker is trying to say is “Thank you.”
Kat: So it's a very polite way to thank someone for some food.
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.)
Kat: What would we say if we wanted to sound more casual?
Naomi: In that case, just drop the でした (deshita) at the end and say ごちそうさま (gochisō-sama).
Kat: So, this could be used if, say, your friend made lunch for you, or you ate some food or snacks that your friend brought for you.
Naomi: Exactly. And it's also a good phrase to use when you leave the restaurant.
Kat: Ah, when you leave a restaurant. ごちそうさまでした (gochisō-sama deshita) when you leave and then the staff says, ありがとうございます (arigatō gozaimasu), ‘thank you'.
Naomi: Right.
Kat: Ah, I see.
Naomi: Since you are a customer, it's not something you have to say, but, if you say it, it would be nice.
Kat: Ah, if you had a really delicious meal, and you want to say, “That was amazing!” then you can say ごちそうさまでした (gochisō-sama deshita)!
Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.)
Kat: In this lesson, we're looking at こそあど (ko so a do) words. They're also known as demonstrative pronouns, but let's just say こそあど (ko so a do) words.
Naomi: Sounds good, demonstrative pronouns sound too difficult. So, how do we explain what they are, then?
Kat: Well, こそあど (ko so a do) words are words that indicate what you are talking about. In Japanese, there are three main categories - “this”, “that”, and “that over there” - and one category for questions.
Naomi: We saw the words for “this” and “that” in the dialogue.
Kat: So “this” is...
Naomi: これ (kore)
Kat: And “that” is...
Naomi: それ (sore)
Kat: So when it comes to こそあど (ko so a do) words, remember that words that start with こ (ko) indicate something or someone close by. これ (kore), “this”. Words that start with そ (so) indicate something or someone a little further away. それ (sore), “that”.
Naomi: In the dialog, Kent said… それ、そば?(Sore, soba?)
Kat: “Is that soba?” Now, there isn't even a particle used here. Just それ、そば (sore, soba)?
Naomi: Right. And Madoka said... これ、山菜そば。(Kore, sansai soba.)
Kat: “This is 山菜そば (sansai soba).” Again, the particle has been dropped.
Naomi: When you're speaking in casual Japanese, it sounds natural to drop the particles in this kind of sentence.
Kat: So in the dialogue we heard これ (kore), this, and それ (sore), that... there are some others though too, aren't there?
Naomi: Yes, like, あれ (are).
Kat: あれ (are) also means “that”, but it's used to refer to something far away from both the speaker and the listener. So, it's “over there.”
Naomi: Right. And どれ (dore).
Kat: Now, こそあど (ko so a do) words that start with ど (do) are always the question words. They are like “wh” words in English. So どれ (dore) means “which?” or “which one?” Let's go over those こそあど (ko so a do) words again.
Naomi: これ (kore)
Kat: this one
Naomi: それ (sore)
Kat: that one near you
Naomi: あれ (are)
Kat: that one over there)
Naomi: どれ (dore)
Kat: which one?
Naomi: OK, Kat and I are going to read a short dialogue using some こそあど (ko so a do) words. So, see how much you understand.
Kat: OK, sounds good! Remember that this is a very casual speech.
Kat: なおみさん、それ、チョコレート?(Naomi-san, sore, chokorēto?)
Naomi: あ、どれ?(A, dore?)
Kat: それ。(Sore.)
Naomi: ああ、これ?うん、チョコ。(Ā, kore? Un, choko.)
Kat: Did you get that? Let's hear it again with a translation.
Kat: なおみさん、それ、チョコレート? (Naomi-san, sore, chokorēto?) “Naomi, is that chocolate?”
Naomi: どれ?(Dore?) “Which one?”
Kat: それ。(Sore.) “That one you have.”
Naomi: ああ、これ? (Ā, kore?) “Oh, this?” うん、チョコ。(Un, choko.) “Yes. It's chocolate.”
Kat: Did you understand that?
Naomi: We hope you did.

Outro

Kat: OK, everyone, that's all for this lesson! Until next time!
Naomi: じゃ、また。(Ja, mata.)
ケント (Kento):ああ、腹へった。(Ā, hara hetta.)
まどか (Madoka):ねぇ。私も、お腹へった。(Nee. Watashi mo, onaka hetta.)
まどか (Madoka):いただきます。(Itadakimasu.)
ケント (Kento):いただきまーす。(Itadakimāsu.)
ケント (Kento):まどか、それ、そば?(Madoka, sore, soba?)
まどか (Madoka):うん、そば。(Un, soba.)
まどか (Madoka):これ、山菜そば。(Kore, sansai soba.)
ケント (Kento):さんさい?(Sansai?)
まどか (Madoka):うん。(Un.)

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