Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Naomi: Naomi です (desu)!
Akihiro: Akihiro です (desu).
Peter: Peter here. Sights and Sounds, Number 4, Train Ticket. Naomi-San?
Naomi: はい。 (Hai.)
Peter: Akihiro-San. 今日どうですか。どうですか?(Kyō dō desu ka. Dō desu ka?)
Akihiro: 盛り上がってます。(Moriagatte masu.)
Peter: 盛り上がっています。(Moriagatte imasu.) We’re getting excited.
Akihiro: はい。 (Hai.)
Peter: はい。(Hai.) Naomi-San?
Naomi: 盛り上がってます。もちろん。(Moriagatte masu. Mochiron.)
Peter: Now, 盛り上がる (moriagaru) means very excited. Can I say 盛り上がっていますか (moriagatte imasu ka), like ask you, are you getting excited?
Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) そうですね。 (Sō desu ne.)
Akihiro: That’s perfect.
Peter: All right. The reason I asked is because the Sights and Sounds Lessons are really, really interesting, because on our homepage, JapanesePod101.com, you can see the picture that the story is based on. So, every story in this Sights and Sounds series is based on a picture. And the picture accompanies the lesson. Now, Akihiro-San, how about the picture for this lesson?
Akihiro: It looks like a train station.
Peter: Uh-huh. Which Station?
Akihiro: 原宿駅ですね。(Harajuku Eki desu ne.)
Peter: Harajuku Station. Let’s ask Naomi what she thinks of this picture.
Akihiro: なおみさん、この写真どう思いますか。(Naomi-san, kono shashin dō omoimasu ka.)
Naomi: たくさん人がいますね。(Takusan hito ga imasu ne.)
Peter: “There are a lot of people.”
Naomi: 切符売り場ですかね。(Kippu uriba desu ka ne.)
Peter: Yeah, a place where they sell the tickets. And what’s interesting in Japan is that most of the stuff is done with touchscreens. The last time I was in New York, you know, we had some touchscreen stuff, but not on the level of Japan. The rail system is really amazing, so most of it is touchscreen, but further, I have been to places where you gotta pay cash, so there is quite a mix. But for those who haven’t been to Japan, really check out these pictures, ‘cause they really add a lot of value to what we’re doing here. So, this is the place where you get the tickets. Now, today’s conversation, what are we talking about, Naomi-San?
Naomi: 切符 (kippu)
Peter: “Tickets.” Akihiro-San, what about these tickets?
Akihiro: 切符とあと... スイカ?(Kippu to ato… Suika?)
Peter: “Tickets” and then we have スイカ (Suika). Now, what is スイカ (Suika)?
Naomi: Watermelon? No way.
Peter: True! The word スイカ (suika) is “watermelon,” but what’s the difference between watermelon and this スイカ (Suika)? Now, is there a pitch accent difference between the two?
Akihiro: I think so, a little bit different.
Peter: Can you give us the two pronunciations. First, give us watermelon, Naomi-San?
Naomi: スイカ (suika) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
NaomI: スイカ (suika) [natural native speed]
Peter: And now, the train pass, スイカ (Suika).
Naomi: スイカ (Suika) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
NaomI: スイカ (Suika) [natural native speed]
Peter: スイカ (suika) “watermelon
Naomi: Watermelon.
Peter: スイカ (Suika) “train pass”
Naomi: Train pass.
Peter: Ah, Naomi-Sensei, ありがとうございます (arigatō gozaimasu). Ah, pitch accent, yes. This is something, again, we’re gonna work on over and over. All right, now with a little pitch accent conversation taken care of, Akihiro-San?
Akihiro: はい。 (Hai.)
Peter: What’s the level of politeness here?
Akihiro: 今回の会話も、とてもカジュアルですね。(Konkai no kaiwa mo, totemo kajuaru desu ne.)
Peter: Yes. So, we’re gonna talk a little more about the train pass スイカ (Suika) after the conversation. Here we go.
DIALOGUE
A: 切符買うから、ちょっと待ってて。 (Kippu kau kara, chotto matte te.)
B: えーっ、スイカじゃないのかよ。 (Ē, Suika ja nai no ka yo.)
A: スイカ?はあ? (Suika? Hā?)
B: あーそうか。昨日、初めて日本に来たんだっけ。 (Ā sō ka. Kinō, hajimete Nihon ni kita n da kke.)
A: 新宿までいくら?読めないんだけど。 (Shinjuku made ikura? Yomenai n da kedo.)
B: 確か、130円だったかなあ。150円かも。 (Tashika, 130-en datta ka nā. 150-en kamo.)
Naomi: もう一度、お願いします。ゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do, onegai shimasu. Yukkuri onegai shimasu.)
A: 切符買うから、ちょっと待ってて。 (Kippu kau kara, chotto matte te.)
B: えーっ、スイカじゃないのかよ。 (Ē, Suika ja nai no ka yo.)
A: スイカ?はあ? (Suika? Hā?)
B: あーそうか。昨日、初めて日本に来たんだっけ。 (Ā sō ka. Kinō, hajimete Nihon ni kita n da kke.)
A: 新宿までいくら?読めないんだけど。 (Shinjuku made ikura? Yomenai n da kedo.)
B: 確か、130円だったかなあ。150円かも。 (Tashika, 130-en datta ka nā. 150-en kamo.)
Naomi: 次は、英語が入ります。(Tsugi wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.)
A: 切符買うから、ちょっと待ってて。 (Kippu kau kara, chotto matte te.)
Wait here while I buy tickets.
B: えーっ、スイカじゃないのかよ。 (Ē, Suika ja nai no ka yo.)
What? We're not going to use Suica?
A: スイカ?はあ? (Suika? Hā?)
Suica? What's that?
B: あーそうか。昨日、初めて日本に来たんだっけ。 (Ā sō ka. Kinō, hajimete Nihon ni kita n da kke.)
Oh, that's right. You came to Japan for the first time yesterday, didn't you?
A: 新宿までいくら?読めないんだけど。 (Shinjuku made ikura? Yomenai n da kedo.)
How much is it to Shinjuku? I can't read it.
B: 確か、130円だったかなあ。150円かも。 (Tashika, 130-en datta ka nā. 150-en kamo.)
I think it was 130 yen. It might be 150 yen.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Peter: Akihiro-San. 今日の会話、どう思いましたか。(Kyō no kaiwa, dō omoimashita ka.)
Akihiro: 私も最近スイカを使い始めました。(Watashi mo saikin Suika o tsukaihajimemashita.)
Peter: So recently, you started using スイカ (Suika) too?
Akihiro: はい。すごーく便利です。(Hai. Sugōku benri desu.)
Peter: It’s really, really handy.
Akihiro: はい。なおみさんは、スイカを使ってますか。(Hai. Naomi-san wa, Suika o tsukatte masu ka.)
Naomi: はい、スイカを使ってます。多分スイカは東京のエリアだけですね。(Hai, Suika o tsukatte masu. Tabun Suika wa Tōkyō no eria dake desu ne.)
Akihiro: あ、そうなんですか。(A, sō nan desu ka.)
Naomi: うん。大阪はスイカじゃないと思いますね。(Un. Ōsaka wa Suika ja nai to omoimasu ne.)
Peter: Yeah, I think, as Naomi-Sensei just said, スイカ (Suika) is for the Tokyo area only, not for Osaka.
Naomi: Or Nagoya.
Peter: Or Nagoya.
Naomi: Yeah.
Akihiro: あー、そうですか。(Ā, sō desu ka.)
Naomi: They have different- they have a similar card, but they have a different name.
Peter: Yeah. Now, what is スイカ (Suika), Naomi-San? Akihiro-San, help us out here. What is 1スイカ (Suika)?
Naomi: Prepaid JR card.
Peter: Yeah.
Naomi: じゃなくて?(Ja nakute?)
Peter: Yeah, perfect.
Naomi: はい。 (Hai.)
Peter: A prepaid train pass. And what’s so good about it is the turnstiles or the ticket gates in Japan can recognize this card through your wallet, through your pocketbook and so, basically, rather than going and buying a token or buying a train ticket, you save the time that you would wait in line. So one touch of your wallet or one touch of that スイカ (Suika) card onto the ticket gate and you’re through. So it saves you a lot of time. No more waiting.
Akihiro: そうですね。特に野球の試合を見た帰りとか、駅がすごーく混みます。(Sō desu ne. Toku ni yakyū no shiai o mita kaeri toka, eki ga sugōku komimasu.)
Peter: So like after a baseball game, the station is packed.
Akihiro: そんな時スイカがあると、すぐね、電車に乗れるから便利ですね。(Sonna toki Suika ga aru to, sugu ne, densha ni noreru kara benri desu ne.)
Peter: And in those cases, you can get on a train nice and quick.
Akihiro: Yeah, スイカ (Suika).
Peter: So very nice. It’s kind of like in the US, we have E-Zpass. First, you know, the highway, in the past, you had to stop, buy the token, put it in, and now, we automated that. So you just slow up and go right through it. It’s like the easy pass for people through the train.
Akihiro: あー、そうなんですか。(Ā, sō nan desu ka.)
Peter: はい。(Hai.) Okay, with that said, onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST AND PHRASE USAGE
Peter: First, we have…
Naomi: 切符 (kippu) [natural native speed]
Peter: ticket
Naomi: 切符 (kippu) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Naomi: 切符 (kippu) [natural native speed]
Peter: Now, can we have a sample sentence here?
Naomi: 切符買うから、ちょっと待って。(Kippu kau kara, chotto matte.)
Peter: Now, this is close to what we had in today’s conversation. “Please wait, I’m going to buy a ticket.” And this construction of から、ちょっと待って (kara, chotto matte) is quite common. Because something, something から、ちょっと待ってください (kara, chotto matte kudasai). Because I’ll do something, as I’ll do something, please wait a minute, please wait a second, please hold on a bit. Can you give us another example?
Akihiro: 電話するから、ちょっと待って。(Denwa suru kara, chotto matte.)
Peter: “As I’m gonna make a call, please hold on.” “Please wait a second while I make a call.” We also have…
Naomi: 電気つけるから、ちょっと待って。(Denki tsukeru kara, chotto matte.)
Peter: “I’ll turn on the lights, so please wait a second as I’ll turn on the lights.” And finally?
Akihiro: 今行くから、ちょっと待って。(Ima iku kara, chotto matte.)
Peter: “Please wait, I’m going now.” Now, this one is very useful, especially when you’re late and speaking on the phone. 今行くから、ちょっと待って。(Ima iku kara, chotto matte.) “Please wait, I’m going now.”
Naomi: I should have said 考えるから、ちょっと待って (kangaeru kara, chotto matte) when Akihiro asked me a question.
Peter: Please wait a second, I’m thinking.
Naomi: Yeah.
Peter: I’ll think about it. Next, we have…
Akihiro: 待つ (matsu) [natural native speed]
Peter: to wait
Akihiro: 待つ (matsu) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Akihiro: 待つ (matsu) [natural native speed]
Peter: Next
Naomi: 待って (matte) [natural native speed]
Peter: The -te form of 待つ (matsu)
Naomi: 待って (matte) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Naomi: 待って (matte) [natural native speed]
Peter: Next, we have…
Akihiro: スイカ (Suika) [natural native speed]
Peter: (prepaid rail pass)
Akihiro: スイカ (Suika) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Akihiro: スイカ (Suika) [natural native speed]
Peter: Followed by…
Naomi: 昨日 (kinō) [natural native speed]
Peter: yesterday
Naomi: 昨日 (kinō) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Naomi: 昨日 (kinō) [natural native speed]
Peter: Then we have…
Akihiro: 初めて (hajimete) [natural native speed]
Peter: first time
Akihiro: 初めて (hajimete) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Akihiro: 初めて (hajimete) [natural native speed]
Peter: Now, this is used a lot. And if you’re coming to Japan and it’s your first time here, you’re gonna use this over and over. And it literally means “the first time,” so it’s the first time you do something, the first time to try something. 初めてです (hajimete desu) is “It’s my first time.” Now, we have some examples. Naomi-San, can you give us one?
Naomi: 初めて日本に来た。(Hajimete Nihon ni kita.)
Peter: “It’s the first time to Japan.” “It’s my first time to Japan.”
Akihiro: 初めてカンガルーを食べた。(Hajimete kangarū o tabeta.)
Peter: “It’s the first time I’ve eaten kangaroo.”
Akihiro: Actually, I had.
Naomi: Yeah, I did.
Peter: Okay. You know, the sample sentence has kind of made me think of...we have a lot of listeners who are kids, but the kangaroo, you know, like, the kangaroo is so cute. How about, can we change it to 初めてカンガルーを見ました (hajimete kangarū o mimashita)? “It’s the first time I saw a kangaroo.”
Naomi: で、初めてカンガルーを食べました。(De, hajimete kangarū o tabemashita.)
Peter: So, “It’s the first time I saw a kangaroo and then ate a kangaroo.” Lovely, Naomi-San. 初めてなおみ先生の本当の姿を見ましたね。(Hajimete Naomi-sensei no hontō no sugata o mimashita ne.) “It’s the first time I’ve seen the real…”
Naomi: どういう意味ですか。(Dō iu imi desu ka.)
Peter: 日本語は難しいです。わかりません。(Nihon-go wa muzukashii desu. Wakarimasen.) Let’s move on. Next, we have…
Akihiro: 読む (yomu) [natural native speed]
Peter: to read
Akihiro: 読む (yomu) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Akihiro: 読む (yomu) [natural native speed]
Peter: Followed by…
Naomi: 確か (tashika) [natural native speed]
Peter: to be certain
Naomi: 確か (tashika) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Naomi: 確か (tashika) [natural native speed]
Peter: And finally…
Akihiro: 買う (kau) [natural native speed]
Peter: to buy
Akihiro: 買う (kau) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Akihiro: 買う (kau) [natural native speed]

Lesson focus

Peter: Okay, points of interest in this conversation. First line, we have, [*]さん、お願いします([*]-san, onegai shimasu).
Akihiro: 切符買うから、ちょっと待ってて。 (Kippu kau kara, chotto matte te.)
Peter: “Please wait a second while I buy a ticket,” as I’ll buy a ticket. Now, here we have ちょっと待ってて (chotto matte te), two て(te)s in a row. Naomi-San, can you use that pronunciation?
Naomi: ちょっと待ってて (chotto matte te)
Peter: Okay. Why do we have two て(te)s?
Naomi: Ah, I think this sentence is originally ちょっと待っていてください (chotto matte ite kudasai).
Peter: And in casual Japanese, the いて (ite) would become just て (te). It will get dropped, as well as the ください (kudasai). So, remember, with casual Japanese, you can drop lots of things. The closer the relationship, the less Japanese there is.
Naomi: あー、そうですね。 (Ā, sō desu ne.)
Akihiro: あー、そうですね。 (Ā, sō desu ne.)
Peter: Next point of interest is…
Naomi: あーそうか (Ā sō ka.)
Peter: “Ah, that’s right.” So, here, the speaker realizes something, “Oh, that’s right.”
Naomi: 昨日、初めて日本に来たんだっけ。 (Kinō, hajimete Nihon ni kita n da kke.)
Peter: “Yesterday was the first time you came to Japan.” Now, the point of interest here is that っけ (kke) at the end. So, this is used when you know something already, but you forgot it and you either just remembered it or you’re trying to verify it. Here, Masashi is surprised that his friend Jack doesn’t have スイカ (Suika). Then all of the sudden, he remembers, oh that’s right, he just came yesterday, right? So this っけ (kke) is used as...even though he kind of remembered and he’s almost 100% sure, he’s still verifying it a bit here with this っけ (kke). っけ (kke) is used to verify something you knew before, but slipped your mind or you forgot about. And finally, we have the last line…
Naomi: 確か、130円だったかなあ。 (Tashika, 130-en datta ka nā.)
Peter: “I’m pretty sure it’s 130 yen.”
Naomi: 150円かも。 (150-en kamo.)
Peter: “150 yen, maybe.” Now, this かも (kamo) here, this is short for…
Akihiro: かもしれない (kamo shirenai)
Peter: “Maybe.” So, I’m pretty sure it’s 130 yen, but you know what, it may be 150. So, かも (kamo), this used often in spoken Japanese.

Outro

Akihiro: すばらしい説明でした。(Subarashii setsumei deshita.)
Peter: Ah, Naomi-Sensei. すばらしい説明ですね。(Subarashii setsumei desu ne.) What a great explanation, Naomi-San.
Naomi: わ、私?ピーターさん?(Wa, watashi? Pītā-san?)
Peter: No, you, pitch accent, that was great!
Naomi: そう…かなあ。(Sō ka nā.)
Peter: And Akihiro-San, I really like your intonation. Really nice!
Akihiro: いえいえ。(Ie ie.)
Peter: All right, that’s gonna do it. See you next time.
Naomi: じゃ また。 (Ja, mata.)
Akihiro: じゃ また。 (Ja, mata.)
A: 切符買うから、ちょっと待ってて。 (Kippu kau kara, chotto matte te.)
B: えーっ、スイカじゃないのかよ。 (Ē, Suika ja nai no ka yo.)
A: スイカ?はあ? (Suika? Hā?)
B: あーそうか。昨日、初めて日本に来たんだっけ。 (Ā sō ka. Kinō, hajimete Nihon ni kita n da kke.)
A: 新宿までいくら?読めないんだけど。 (Shinjuku made ikura? Yomenai n da kedo.)
B: 確か、130円だったかなあ。150円かも。 (Tashika, 130-en datta ka nā. 150-en kamo.)

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