Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Eric: Lori’s Story 17. What you need to know about the seasons in Japan. Okay Naomi-sensei, what month is it right now?
Naomi: Right now? 十月。(Jū-gatsu.)
Eric: Oh the pumpkins are out.
Naomi: Yeah. 秋ですね。(Aki desu ne.) Autumn.
Eric: It’s autumn, it’s beautiful but hey you might be listening to this in the summer, you might be listening to this in the year 2028, who knows but the fact is we are going to learn the months and the seasons in this episode.
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Eric: So what’s going on today?
Naomi: 今日は (kyō wa), again today’s conversation is between Mizuki-san and 留学生 (ryūgakusei), the foreign exchange student.
Eric: Wait, wait, is Lori still on summer vacation or something?
Naomi: She is still at the shoe department store.
Eric: Well she is the most indecisive person I have ever heard about.
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Eric: So is Lori still on vacation? Unbelievable. Let’s take a listen.
DIALOGUE
(学校) (gakkō)
留学生 (ryūgakusei) : あのぉ、日本の夏は何月から何月までですか。(Anō, Nihon no natsu wa nan-gatsu kara nan-gatsu made desu ka.)
水木 (Mizuki) : えっと、たぶん... 七月から九月までです。(Etto, tabun... shichi-gatsu kara ku-gatsu made desu.)
留学生 (ryūgakusei) : 七月と八月と九月ですか・・・。(Shichi-gatsu to hachi-gatsu to ku-gatsu desu ka...)
受付 (uketsuke) : ええ?ちがいますよ。九月は秋ですよ。夏は、六月から八月までです。(Ee? Chigaimasu yo. Ku-gatsu wa aki desu yo. Natsu wa, roku-gatsu kara hachi-gatsu made desu.)
水木 (Mizuki) : ええ?そうですか。(Ee? Sō desu ka.)
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.)
留学生 (ryūgakusei) : あのぉ、日本の夏は何月から何月までですか。(Anō, Nihon no natsu wa nan-gatsu kara nan-gatsu made desu ka.)
水木 (Mizuki) : えっと、たぶん... 七月から九月までです。(Etto, tabun... shichi-gatsu kara ku-gatsu made desu.)
留学生 (ryūgakusei) : 七月と八月と九月ですか・・・。(Shichi-gatsu to hachi-gatsu to ku-gatsu desu ka...)
受付 (uketsuke) : ええ?ちがいますよ。九月は秋ですよ。夏は、六月から八月までです。(Ee? Chigaimasu yo. Ku-gatsu wa aki desu yo. Natsu wa, roku-gatsu kara hachi-gatsu made desu.)
水木 (Mizuki) : ええ?そうですか。(Ee? Sō desu ka.)
今度は、英語が入ります。(Kondo wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.)
(学校) (gakkō)
(School)
留学生 (ryūgakusei) : あのぉ、日本の夏は何月から何月までですか。(Anō, Nihon no natsu wa nan-gatsu kara nan-gatsu made desu ka.)
EXCHANGE STUDENT: Umm, from what month to what month is summer in Japan?
水木 (Mizuki) : えっと、たぶん... 七月から九月までです。(Etto, tabun... shichi-gatsu kara ku-gatsu made desu.)
MIZUKI: Um, Probably from July to September.
留学生 (ryūgakusei) : 七月と八月と九月ですか・・・。(Shichi-gatsu to hachi-gatsu to ku-gatsu desu ka...)
EXCHANGE STUDENT: July, August and September?
受付 (uketsuke) : ええ?ちがいますよ。九月は秋ですよ。夏は、六月から八月までです。(Ee? Chigaimasu yo. Ku-gatsu wa aki desu yo. Natsu wa, roku-gatsu kara hachi-gatsu made desu.)
RECEPTIONIST: Huh? No, that's not right. September is in autumn. Summer is from June to August.
水木 (Mizuki) : ええ?そうですか。(Ee? Sō desu ka.)
MIZUKI: Really?
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Naomi: So Eric, you are from Florida?
Eric: Yeah, that’s right.
Naomi: Summer is from when?
Eric: Summer is from January through December.
Naomi: 一月から十二月…え?本当?(Ichi-gatsu kara jū ni-gatsu … E? Hontō?)
Eric: No I am just kidding but it's hot most of the year. It’s warm.
Naomi: So you don’t have four seasons in Florida.
Eric: Well it’s either very, very hot or pretty cool. I don’t think I’ve ever worn a real coat in Florida, yeah. Well I mean we are saying Florida but hey I am from Miami and that’s where it’s really hot. Up in Northern Florida, actually it does – it does snow.
Naomi: あ、本当? (A, hontō?) Really?
Eric: Yeah, I once went to Florida's capital Tallahassee and it was snowing there and I did have to wear a big jacket but I never had, like an actual really thick coat when I was living there. It’s completely different, you know. Within the same state, the climate could be so different but yeah when I first came to Japan is really when I first saw all four seasons.
Naomi: あ~、そうね。(Ā, sō ne.) So when you came to Japan, you had to buy an older outfit.
Eric: Oh yeah, absolutely gloves.
Naomi: Gloves.
Eric: Scarf.
Naomi: Scarves. 本当?(Hontō?) Scarves.
Eric: Wool coat.
Naomi: あ~、そうね。(Ā, sō ne.) Right. では、次は単語です。(Dewa, tsugi wa tango desu.)
Eric: On to the vocabulary.
VOCAB LIST
Naomi: 日本 (Nihon)
Eric: Japan.
Naomi: (slow) にほん (Nihon) (natural speed) 日本 (Nihon)
Eric: The next word is
Naomi: 夏 (natsu)
Eric: Summer.
Naomi: (slow) なつ (natsu) (natural speed) 夏 (natsu)
Eric: The next word is
Naomi: 何月 (nan-gatsu)
Eric: What month?
Naomi: (slow) なんがつ (nan-gatsu) (natural speed) 何月 (nan-gatsu)
Eric: The next word is
Naomi: 多分 (tabun)
Eric: Perhaps, maybe, probably.
Naomi: (slow) たぶん (tabun) (natural speed) 多分 (tabun)
Eric: The next word is
Naomi: 七月 (shichi-gatsu)
Eric: July.
Naomi: (slow) しちがつ (shichi-gatsu) (natural speed) 七月 (shichi-gatsu)
Eric: The next word is
Naomi: 八月 (hachi-gatsu)
Eric: August.
Naomi: (slow) はちがつ (hachi-gatsu) (natural speed) 八月 (hachi-gatsu)
Eric: And the last word is
Naomi: 秋 (aki)
Eric: Fall, autumn.
Naomi: (slow) あき (aki) (natural speed) 秋 (aki)
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Eric: All right. Let’s take a closer look at some of these words.
Naomi: The first word is 夏 (natsu).
Eric: Summer. Hey Naomi-sensei.
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Eric: Is this a coincidence, all of the seasons have two syllables.
Naomi: あ~、そうですね。(Ā, sō desu ne.) I didn’t realize that.
Eric: Is that like on purpose? Now maybe it’s just a coincidence, right?
Naomi: うん。(Un.)
Eric: And although they have two syllables each, each one has a different pronunciation, right?
Naomi: あ~、そうですね。(Ā, sō desu ne.)
Eric: So let’s talk about their pitch accent.
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Eric: We just said summer.
Naomi: (normal speed) 夏 (natsu) (slow) なつ (natsu)
Going up.
Eric: That’s right. It starts low and goes high. But how about spring?
Naomi: (normal speed) 春 (haru) (slow) はる (haru)
Eric: And it goes from high to low. What about autumn?
Naomi: (normal speed) 秋 (aki) (slow) あき (aki) Goes down.
Eric: And winter?
Naomi: (normal speed) 冬 (fuyu) (slow) ふゆ (fuyu)
Eric: It goes up. So it’s about half and half, two of them go down, two of them go up.
Naomi: はい、そうです。(Hai, sō desu.)
Eric: Is there any way to remember easily? I mean I know you are Japanese and you never even think about it but what would you say? What’s your opinion?
Naomi: They alternate.
Eric: So each season alternates its pitch, accent if you are counting them in order.
Naomi: そう。(Sō.)
Eric: I see. So spring, it goes down.
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Eric: Summer, it goes up. Autumn it goes down, winter it goes up.
Naomi: 春 (haru), 夏 (natsu), 秋 (aki), 冬 (fuyu)
Eric: That’s pretty easy to remember if you think about it like that. So what’s our next phrase?
Naomi: 何月 (nan-gatsu)
Eric: What month? And we already know なん (nan). It comes from なに (nani).
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Eric: Which is what but how about 月 (gatsu). What does that mean?
Naomi: がつ (gatsu) is a counter for months.
Eric: So that means, to say a month, you could just put the number and then 月 (gatsu) after it.
Naomi: はい、そうです。(Hai, sō desu.)
Eric: So for example, January, the first month
Naomi: (slow) いちがつ (ichi-gatsu) (normal speed) 一月 (ichi-gatsu)
Eric: And the pitch accent for 月 (gatsu) by itself, what is it?
Naomi: がつ (gatsu) or がつ (gatsu). It really depends on what kind of word it comes before 月 (gatsu).
Eric: I see. So if the word that comes before がつ (gatsu) goes up, がつ (gatsu) will stay up.
Naomi: Right.
Eric: If it goes low, it will stay low.
Naomi: Right.
Eric: Okay.
Naomi: 一月 (ichi-gatsu)
Eric: January.
Naomi: 四月 (shi-gatsu)
Eric: April. So since we are here, we might as well talk about all the months, all 12 months.
Naomi: Okay.
Eric: All right. So we just went over January but let’s say it again.
Naomi: 一月 (ichi-gatsu)
Eric: February.
Naomi: 二月 (ni-gatsu)
Eric: March.
Naomi: 三月 (san-gatsu)
Eric: April.
Naomi: 四月 (shi-gatsu)
Eric: May.
Naomi: 五月 (go-gatsu)
Eric: June.
Naomi: 六月 (roku-gatsu)
Eric: July.
Naomi: 七月 (shichi-gatsu)
Eric: August.
Naomi: 八月 (hachi-gatsu)
Eric: September.
Naomi: 九月 (ku-gatsu)
Eric: October.
Naomi: 十月 (jū-gatsu)
Eric: November.
Naomi: 十一月 (jū ichi-gatsu)
Eric: December.
Naomi: 十二月 (jū ni-gatsu)
Eric: What month?
Naomi: 何月 (nan-gatsu). 今、何月ですか。(Ima, nan-gatsu desu ka.)
Eric: 今、十月ですね。(Ima, jū-gatsu desu ne.) It’s October.
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)

Lesson focus

Eric: So, in today's dialogue, the receptionist said...
Naomi: 夏は六月から八月までです。(Natsu wa roku-gatsu kara hachi-gatsu made desu.)
Eric: Summer is from June to August.
Naomi: Yeah, I don’t know if it’s true though because it seems like Mizuki-san and the 受付 (uketsuke) is having the argument.
Eric: Oh so what they are not sure about when summer vacation is?
Naomi: When is summer?
Eric: The actual season?
Naomi: Uhoo.
Eric: Well that’s pretty hard to pin down, right?
Naomi: Yeah.
Eric: But it changes depending on where you are in the world, right?
Naomi: Right.
Eric: Of course, you know, if you are down in Australia, summer will be in a completely different month.
Naomi: Yeah.
Eric: Then it was in New York, right?
Naomi: Their summer will be like 十二月 (jū ni-gatsu) or 一月 (ichi-gatsu).
Eric: Right, you know you will be surfing usually when it might be snowing in Boston.
Naomi: そうですよね。(Sō desu yo ne.)
Eric: Right or in Canada. So let’s break down that sentence.
Naomi: 夏 (natsu)
Eric: Summer.
Naomi: は (wa)
Eric: Topic marking particle.
Naomi: 六月 (roku-gatsu)
Eric: June.
Naomi: から (kara)
Eric: From.
Naomi: 八月 (hachi-gatsu)
Eric: August.
Naomi: まで (made)
Eric: Until.
Naomi: です (desu)
Eric: Copula. So right here, we have 六月から八月まで (roku-gatsu kara hachi-gatsu made), from June
Naomi: To.
Eric: August. In English, as I just said, From comes before June. And in Japanese, it says 六月から (roku-gatsu kara).
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Eric: But can I ever say から六月 (kara roku-gatsu)?
Naomi: No, never.
Eric: So from always comes after the word that you are trying to talk about. Hey, keep that in mind everybody. Same thing with まで (made) until. Alright, so here are some practice sentences.
Naomi: 冬は十二月から二月までです。(Fuyu wa jū ni-gatsu kara ni-gatsu made desu.)
Eric: Winter is from December to February.
Naomi: 春は何月から何月までですか。(Haru wa nan-gatsu kara nan-gatsu made desu ka.)
Eric: When is spring? Literally, spring is from what month to what month is spring. Okay Naomi-sensei, it’s time for practice.
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Eric: So you are a college student. You are no longer Naomi-sensei, but you are a Naomi student.
Naomi: わかった。(Wakatta.)
Eric: And your Japanese friends ask you when your summer vacation is. Your summer vacation is from July to September, so you say
Naomi: 七月から九月までです。(Shichi-gatsu kara ku-gatsu made desu.)
Eric: And I notice you didn’t say 夏 (natsu).
Naomi: Ah, because the topic is already understood.
Eric: Just like everything else in Japanese, you can omit the subject. So you want to ask your friend the same question to see if you can make plans together for the summer. So you say
Naomi: 夏休みは何月から何月ですか。(Natsuyasumi wa nan-gatsu kara nan-gatsu desu ka.)
Eric: Or
Naomi: 夏休みはいつですか。(Natsuyasumi wa itsu desu ka.) 夏 (natsu) is summer, right? 休み (yasumi) is vacation, off or break.
Eric: So by combining them, it becomes summer break, summer vacation.
Naomi: 夏休み (natsuyasumi)
Eric: So your Japanese friend says, it’s August and September.
Naomi: 夏休みは八月と九月です。(Natsuyasumi wa hachi-gatsu to ku-gatsu desu.)
Eric: So instead of saying から (kara), まで (made), you say – you combine the month with と (to).
Naomi: For And.
Eric: So your friend’s vacation is only two months.
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Eric: Only those two months but your Australian friend says, it’s in December and January.
Naomi: 夏休みは十二月と一月です。(Natsuyasumi wa jū ni-gatsu to ichi-gatsu desu.) How about you, Eric? When is your summer vacation? 夏休みはいつですか。(Natsuyasumi wa itsu desu ka.)
Eric: うーん、そうですね。(Ūn, sō desu ne.)
Naomi: 一月から十二月まで?(Ichi-gatsu kara jū ni-gatsu made?)
Eric: 七月から九月までです。(Shichi-gatsu kara ku-gatsu made desu.)
Naomi: あ~、そうですか。冬休みはいつですか。(Ā, sō desu ka. Fuyuyasumi wa itsu desu ka.)
Eric: あ~、それはちょっとわかりませんね。(Ā, sore wa chotto wakarimasen ne.)
Naomi: 冬休み (fuyuyasumi) is winter vacation by the way.
Eric: Yeah and I actually don’t know when it is.
Naomi: あ~、そうなんですか。(Ā, sō nan desu ka.)

Outro

Eric: I have no idea but anyway, I will tell you later. So it’s about time for me to find out when my winter vacation is. See you next week.
Naomi: じゃ、また。(Ja, mata.)

Kanji

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