Lesson Dialogues
Situation
Two girls (Akemi and Shizuka), friends, are having a conversation.
PDF version is 
MP3 version is あけみ：美樹から聞いたんだけど、仕事やめたって本当？
あけみ：美樹(みき)から聞(き)いたんだけど、仕事(しごと)やめたって本当(ほんとう)？
Akemi: Is it true you quit your job? I heard from Miki.
しずか：うん、そうなんだ。
しずか：うん、そうなんだ。
Shizuka: Yeah, I did.
あけみ：どうしてやめたの？面白いって言ってたのに。
あけみ：どうしてやめたの？面白(おもしろ)いって言(い)ってたのに。
Akemi: Why did you quit? You said you found it interesting.
- のに although, though; in order to
しずか：初めは面白かったんだけど、だんだんつらくなってきて・・・。
しずか：初(はじ)めは面白(おもしろ)かったんだけど、だんだんつらくなってきて・・・。
Shizuka: It was interesting at first, but it got harder and harder...
- 初(はじ)め beginning
- だんだん gradually, more and more, less and less
- つらい hard, difficult, painful
あけみ：仕事が多かったの？
あけみ：仕事(しごと)が多(おお)かったの？
Akemi: Did you have to do a lot?
しずか：うん。大体家に帰れるのは夜１１時ぐらいかな。
しずか：うん。大体(だいたい)家(いえ)に帰(かえ)れるのは夜(よる)１１時(じ)ぐらいかな。
Shizuka: Yeah. I would get home by about 11pm.
あけみ：えー！
あけみ：えー！
Akemi: Oh wow!
しずか：それで、病気になって、仕事やめたんだ。
しずか：それで、病気(びょうき)になって、仕事(しごと)やめたんだ。
Shizuka: And I got sick, so I quit.
- 病気(びょうき) sickness, illness
あけみ：そうなんだ。大変だったね。
あけみ：そうなんだ。大変(たいへん)だったね。
Akemi: So that's what happened. It was hard on you.
しずか：うん。
しずか：うん。
Shizuka: Yeah.
あけみ：今は大丈夫？
あけみ：今(いま)は大丈夫(だいじょうぶ)？
Akemi: Are you okay now?
- 大丈夫(だいじょうぶ) safe, all right
しずか：うん、もう大丈夫。
しずか：うん、もう大丈夫(だいじょうぶ)。
Shizuka: Yeah, I'm okay now.
あけみ：よかった。やっぱり健康は大切だよね。
あけみ：よかった。やっぱり健康(けんこう)は大切(たいせつ)だよね。
Akemi: I'm glad. It's important to stay healthy.
- 健康(けんこう) health; healthy
- 大切(たいせつ) important
しずか：そうだね。健康じゃないと、仕事もできないし。
しずか：そうだね。健康(けんこう)じゃないと、仕事(しごと)もできないし。
Shizuka: That's true. You can't work if you aren't healthy.
あけみ：うん。それで、今は何してるの？
あけみ：うん。それで、今(いま)は何(なに)してるの？
Akemi: Yeah.What are you doing now?
しずか：今は新しい仕事探してるんだけど、なかなか難しくて。
しずか：今(いま)は新(あたら)しい仕事(しごと)探(さが)してるんだけど、なかなか難(むずか)しくて。
Shizuka: Right now I'm looking for a new job, but it's really hard.
- 探(さが)す to look for; to search for; to seek
- 難(むずか)しい difficult, hard
あけみ：どんな仕事探してるの？
あけみ：どんな仕事(しごと)探(さが)してるの？
Akemi: What kind of job are you searching for?
しずか：次は音楽に関わる仕事をしてみたいんだよね。
しずか：次(つぎ)は音楽(おんがく)に関(かか)わる仕事(しごと)をしてみたいんだよね。
Shizuka: I want to try a job involved with music next.
- 音楽(おんがく) music
- 関(かか)わる to concern; to affect; to be involved
あけみ：しずかは昔から音楽好きだもんね。
あけみ：しずかは昔(むかし)から音楽(おんがく)好(す)きだもんね。
Akemi: You've always liked music.
しずか：うん。前の仕事も面白かったけど、やっぱり好きなことを仕事にしたいんだ。
しずか：うん。前(まえ)の仕事(しごと)も面白(おもしろ)かったけど、やっぱり好(す)きなことを仕事(しごと)にしたいんだ。
Shizuka: Yeah. My previous job was interesting, but I want to work with something I love.
あけみ：好きな仕事なら、続くかもしれないしね。
あけみ：好(す)きな仕事(しごと)なら、続(つづ)くかもしれないしね。
Akemi: You might last longer if you love your job.
しずか：うん。でも、音楽関係の仕事の経験ないから、難しくて。
しずか：うん。でも、音楽(おんがく)関係(かんけい)の仕事(しごと)の経験(けいけん)ないから、難(むずか)しくて。
Shizuka: Yeah. But I don't have any experience working with music, so it's hard.
- 経験(けいけん) experience; 経験(けいけん)する to experience
あけみ：そっか。でも、しずかならきっと大丈夫だよ。
あけみ：そっか。でも、しずかならきっと大丈夫(だいじょうぶ)だよ。
Akemi: I see. But you should be okay.
きっと surely, certainly
しずか：そうかな。
しずか：そうかな。
Shizuka: Do you think?
あけみ：うん。頑張ってね。
あけみ：うん。頑張(がんば)ってね。
Akemi: Yes. Do your best.
- 頑張(がんば)る to do one’s best
しずか：ありがとう。
しずか：ありがとう。
Shizuka: Thanks.
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.
As for meaning ” important ” , I have seen 3 words ,大事、大切、重要. And is there anything differences between them?
And are they interchangeable?
The word 大切 is used for things or people that provide emotional support.
大事 is used for things or people that are necessary for one and that one handles it with care and respect.
重要 is objectively or socially significant matters.
In the fourth line from the top, what does きて mean?
In the sixth line from the top, what does 大体 mean? I searched it up but it had too many definitions. Also in the same line, what does 帰れる mean? I know what 帰る means, but not 帰れる.
In the 23rd line from the top, what does なら mean in しずかならきっと大丈夫だよ? I’ve only ever seen なら used as “if” (which is still pretty confusing to differentiate it from the other “if” particles) but I’ve never seen it next to someone’s name.
You asked me to specify next time where exactly I’m having trouble. Is this kind of specification alright? If you prefer me to specify another way, please tell me. Thank you!
きて is a conjunctive form of きた, and きた is the past tense of くる.
くる here means the subsidiary verb.
verb/adjective + くる means “come to….”, “become to…” or “begin to….”
つらくなってくる consists of つらい(hard/painful) + くる
So it means “become hard”
When a sentence ends with a conjunctive form, they omit words or phrases to avoid repeating saying the same things or avoid saying something obvious.
Here, she omits the part “that’s why I quit the job.”
でも、だんだんつらくなってきて…（だから仕事をやめた）
but it became harder and harder…( that’s why I quit the job)
大体 means “about” or “around”
If they want to make the sentence as they translate in English, they should’ve said:
家に帰れるのは大体 夜11時ぐらいかな
I guess I get home around 11:00 pm.
帰れる is a potential form of 帰る, which means “can go back”
なら has several meanings and usages, but here it is used to specify or limit.
しずかならきっと大丈夫だよ is like saying “I don’t know about other people, but I believe you (しずか) can find your ideal job.”
Yes, if I know which situation/sentence/line a question comes from, it would be very helpful. But when it’s hard to count, like the 23rd line, just telling a whole sentence would do.
If つらくなって means “become hard”, what would be the difference between saying つらくなって and つらくなってきて?
大体 means “about” or “around”, so what’s the difference between 大体 and くらい?
Alright, I’ll stop stating which line and post the whole sentence after about fifteen lines, if that’s alright.
I used the translation in the lesson, but つらくなってくる has more feeling of “beginning and progressing of the state of being hard”, so if I should differentiate them in English, they probably should be:
つらくなった it has become hard. (already hard)
つらくなってきた It’s becoming hard./ It has been becoming hard.
(It’s hard, but it has just started and been continuing)
As for 大体, I might’ve chosen the wrong word.
大体 can mean “around”, “roughly”, “mostly” depending on a context.
くらい means “about”.
I can’t say they are accurate, though, since I can’t get the clear definitions of the English words precisely from the dictionaries.
So if the speaker says 大体 家に帰れるのは夜11時ぐらいかな, it means
” Mostly, I arrive at home about 11:00 pm.”
Yes, I need the whole sentence to know exactly what you’re asking.