Lesson Dialogues
Situation
A mother and her son (Souta) are talking.
PDF version is 
MP3 version is ソウタ：お母さん、聞いて！
ソウタ：お母(かあ)さん、聞(き)いて！
Souta: Mom, listen!
(お)母さん (お)かあさん mother; mom
お母さん：何？
お母(かあ)さん：何(なに)？
Mother: What is it?
ソウタ：今日僕嬉しいことあったんだ。
ソウタ：今日(きょう)僕(ぼく)嬉(うれ)しいことあったんだ。
Souta: Something happened today that made me happy.
お母さん：何、何？
お母(かあ)さん：何(なに)、何(なに)？
Mother: What, what?
ソウタ：今日学校でパンダの絵描いたんだけどね。
ソウタ：今日(きょう)学校(がっこう)でパンダの絵(え)描(か)いたんだけどね。
Souta: We drew pictures of pandas in school today.
パンダ panda
絵 え picture; painting; drawing
描く かく to paint; to draw
お母さん：うん、うん。
お母(かあ)さん：うん、うん。
Mother: Yes, yes.
ソウタ：すごくうまいって言われたよ。
ソウタ：すごくうまいって言(い)われたよ。
Souta: And I was told that mine was really good.
お母さん：えー？そうなの？良かったね！誰に？
お母(かあ)さん：えー？そうなの？良(よ)かったね！誰(だれ)に？
Mother: Oh? Really? That is nice! Who told you that?
ソウタ：先生と友達。
ソウタ：先生(せんせい)と友達(ともだち)。
Souta: The teacher and my friends.
お母さん：やったじゃん。嬉しいね。お母さんも早く見てみたいな。
お母(かあ)さん：やったじゃん。嬉(うれ)しいね。お母(かあ)さんも早(はや)く見(み)てみたいな。
Mother: Good job. That sure makes you happy. I want to see the picture, too, soon.
ソウタ：うん。楽しみにしといてね。
ソウタ：うん。楽(たの)しみにしといてね。
Souta: Yes. Look forward to it.
楽しみ たのしみ pleasure, enjoyment; anticipation; looking forward to
楽しみにする たのしみにする to look forward to
お母さん：先生にはどんなところがいいって言われたの？
お母(かあ)さん：先生(せんせい)にはどんなところがいいって言(い)われたの？
Mother: What did the teacher say about what part of the picture was good?
ソウタ：色がいいねって言われたのと、動きがあるのがいいねって言われた。
ソウタ：色(いろ)がいいねって言(い)われたのと、動(うご)きがあるのがいいねって言(い)われた。
Souta: He said that the colors were nice and that it looks like it was moving.
色 いろ color
動き うごき movement, move; trend, development
お母さん：どんな動きをしてるところを描いたの？
お母(かあ)さん：どんな動(うご)きをしてるところを描(か)いたの？
Mother: In what kind of movement did you draw it?
ソウタ：パンダが遊んだり食べたりしてるところ。
ソウタ：パンダが遊(あそ)んだり食(た)べたりしてるところ。
Souta: I drew how the pandas were playing and eating.
お母さん：へえ。すごいじゃん。お母さんなんか絵を描いてうまいって言われたことないよ。
お母(かあ)さん：へえ。すごいじゃん。お母(かあ)さんなんか絵(え)を描(か)いてうまいって言(い)われたことないよ。
Mother: I see. That is really good. Your mother has never drawn anything and been told that it was good.
なんか used to show disrespect to or belittle something or someone
こと(が)ある to have experience of… (after the past tense); there are times when…, sometimes (after the present tense)
e.g. そこに行(い)ったことがある = I have been there; そこに行(い)くことがある = I sometimes go there
こと(が)ない to have not done... (after the past tense) ; never (after the present tense)
ソウタ：そうだろうね。
ソウタ：そうだろうね。
Souta: I didn't think so.
お母さん：ひどい。息子にそんなこと言われるなんて。
お母(かあ)さん：ひどい。息子(むすこ)にそんなこと言(い)われるなんて。
Mother: How mean. To have my own son say something like that to me.
ひどい cruel, harsh; terrible, very bad; excessive
息子 むすこ son
ソウタ：ハハハ。自分でもよく言ってるでしょ。
ソウタ：ハハハ。自分(じぶん)でもよく言(い)ってるでしょ。
Souta: Hahaha. But you say so yourself often enough.
でしょ colloquial form of でしょう; isn't it?; it seems, I think, I guess
お母さん：まあね。ソウタはそこのところお母さんに似なくて良かった。絵がうまいお父さんに似て良かったね。
お母(かあ)さん：まあね。ソウタはそこのところお母(かあ)さんに似(に)なくて良(よ)かった。絵(え)がうまいお父(とう)さんに似(に)て良(よ)かったね。
Mother: Well, maybe. It is nice that you are not like your mother in this point. You are lucky that you are like your father who is good at drawing.
似る にる to resemble; to look like; to take after; to be alike
(お)父さん (お)とうさん father; dad
ソウタ：確かに。そこは良かったね。
ソウタ：確(たし)かに。そこは良(よ)かったね。
Souta: You're right. That is good.
お母さん：お母さんに似て良かったと思うところある？
お母(かあ)さん：お母(かあ)さんに似(に)て良(よ)かったと思(おも)うところある？
Mother: Is there anything where you are happy that you are like your mother?
ソウタ：えーと、色々あるけど、努力できるところかな。お母さんはするって決めたことは頑張ってたんだよね。
ソウタ：えーと、色々(いろいろ)あるけど、努力(どりょく)できるところかな。お母(かあ)さんはするって決(き)めたことは頑張(がんば)ってたんだよね。
Souta: Uhm, there are a number of things, but maybe the fact that I can work hard. You have always given your best effort at things that you decided you would do.
努力(する) どりょく(する) effort, hard work; to make an effort, to work hard
決める きめる to decide
頑張る がんばる to work hard; to do one's best
お母さん：まあね。努力してもうまくいかないこともあったけど。
お母(かあ)さん：まあね。努力(どりょく)してもうまくいかないこともあったけど。
Mother: Well, yes. There were also times when things did not go well even though I worked hard.
ソウタ：お父さんはあんまり努力してなかったらしい。
ソウタ：お父(とう)さんはあんまり努力(どりょく)してなかったらしい。
Souta: Dad seems to not have made much of an effort.
お母さん：努力しなくてもできてたんだって。そんなことないと思うけどね。
お母(かあ)さん：努力(どりょく)しなくてもできてたんだって。そんなことないと思(おも)うけどね。
Mother: He says he was good already without having to work hard. I don't believe in things like that, though.
Step 2 - Take the Quiz
Let's see how many words you remember.
Take the quiz here.
Step 3 - Writing Exercises (Optional)
Let's practice what you learned here.
Isn’t “なんか” is a filler word like “like” in the sentence :
(お母さんなんか絵を描いてうまいって言われたことないよ。)?
But the translation said”なんか used to show disrespect to or belittle something or someone”
So is it depends on the context to make sound like disrespectful?
No, なんか has a few meanings, but in this case, it’s used to make an example.
In the dialogues, the mother calls herself お母さん, so it means “I.” (私)
お母さんなんか or 私なんか here means “In my case” or “As for me.”
In the 11th line, what does 楽しみにしといてね mean? The といて part.
In the 13th line, how exactly does it translate to “it looks like it was moving?” At first it looked like it meant “there is movement.”
It’s 楽しみに + しておいて しといて is a casual form of しておいて.
It’s usually used when we ask someone to do something in advance.
If it’s translated literally, there is movement.”, but they omit the subject.
So you need to be aware of the context.
They are talking about a picture of a panda.
So they are saying he drew the panda as if it was moving.
So saying “there is movement” means “it looks like its moving?”
If you’re asking if 動きがある always mean “it looks like it’s moving”, it depends on what the subject is. If the speaker is talking about a person, it would be “it looks like they are about to move, or it looks like they start doing something.”
For example, detectives who are watching some criminal group, and when they catch them trying to do something suspicious, they would say 動きがある.
Or stock dealers who are watching stock movements would say 動きがある when they notice some rise and fall.
But in both those examples, there is actual movement, not just what looks like movement.
I suppose I might remember it like this. The panda drawing didnt actually look like it was moving but it was eating bamboo. It was doing an action that obviously requires movement. So in a way, 動きがある can mean “there is movement” even in this context. Because it doesnt actually look like its moving, but it is depicted in a way that conveys the idea of movement to the viewer.
Is this correct?
動きがある is usually used as the examples.
But you can think that way, too.
Hey Yuta, it’s me again. First, nice way of introducing the passive tense (I believe it has never been used till now). Then, how can’t I ask a question about ところ when there’s so many of it this conversation ?
Sometimes, it seems to mean just “thing”, “stuff”, like こと. Sometimes, it’s just kind of a gap filler.
I checked out on the internet other meanings. I found out, for instance, with a ている, it’s just a gap filler. For a た verb (past), it means “just” : 食べたところ = I just ate.
Can you confirm or refute that ?
ところ isn’t a fill word. ところ in 食べているところ means something like “at the point of” or “in the process of”
With 食べたところ, ところ means something like “at the point where I finished eating”
In either example, it shows a place, but not in a physical sense but in a temporal sense.
Okay I understand now. Thank you !
These clips seem to be working fine. Can you check them again?