Lesson Dialogues
PDF
Download Now
MP3
Download Now
Situation 1
Mom calls Yutaka, who is watching TV in the living room late at night.
おかあさん：ユタカ、まだ起きてるの？
おかあさん：ユタカ、まだ起(お)きてるの？
Mom: Yutaka, are you still up?
- 起(お)きる to get up; to wake, to be awake, to stay awake; to happen, to occur
ユタカ：うん。テレビ、見てる。
ユタカ：うん。テレビ、見(み)てる。
Yutaka: Yeah. I'm watching TV.
- テレビ television; TV
おかあさん：ほんとに見てる？テレビ見ながら寝てない？
おかあさん：ほんとに見(み)てる？テレビ見(み)ながら寝(ね)てない？
Mom: Are you really watching it? You're not sleeping while watching TV?
- 寝(ね)る to sleep; to lie down, to go to bed
ユタカ：寝てないよ。
ユタカ：寝(ね)てないよ。
Yutaka: I'm not sleeping.
おかあさん：ほんと？
おかあさん：ほんと？
Mom: Really?
ユタカ：ほんとだよ。起きてるよ。
ユタカ：ほんとだよ。起(お)きてるよ。
Yutaka: Really. I'm up.
おかあさん：いつまで起きてるつもり？
おかあさん：いつまで起(お)きてるつもり？
Mom: How long do you plan to stay up?
- つもり intention; 明日(あした)仕事(しごと)に行(い)くつもりです。I'm intended to go to work tomorrow.
ユタカ：もうすぐ寝るよ。
ユタカ：もうすぐ寝(ね)るよ。
Yutaka: I'm going to sleep soon.
おかあさん：ここで寝るのはだめだよ。寝る場所じゃないんだから。
おかあさん：ここで寝(ね)るのはだめだよ。寝(ね)る場所(ばしょ)じゃないんだから。
Mom: You can't sleep here. This is not a place to sleep.
- だめ useless, hopeless, impossible; テストだめだった。I failed at the test; indicates something is forbedden: そこ入(はい)っちゃだめ！You are not allowed to enter there.
ユタカ：うん、部屋で寝るよ。
ユタカ：うん、部屋(へや)で寝(ね)るよ。
Yutaka: Yeah, I'll sleep in my room.
- 部屋(へや) room
おかあさん：ここで寝ると体に悪いから。
おかあさん：ここで寝(ね)ると体(からだ)に悪(わる)いから。
Mom: It's not good for your health to sleep here.
ユタカ：わかった、わかった。
ユタカ：わかった、わかった。
Yutaka: Alright, alright.
おかあさん：明日、朝早く起きるんでしょ？
おかあさん：明日(あした)、朝(あさ)早(はや)く起(お)きるんでしょ？
Mom: You're waking up early tomorrow morning, right?
- ～でしょ isn't it?, right?; I guess that… , it seems that…; 私(わたし)、お金(かね)ないでしょ？You know I don't have money, right?
ユタカ：あ、忘れてた。だめだなー。早く起きるつもりだった。
ユタカ：あ、忘(わす)れてた。だめだなー。早(はや)く起(お)きるつもりだった。
Yutaka: Oh, I forgot. That's no good. I was planning to get up early.
- 忘(わす)れる to forget
おかあさん：やっぱり、忘れてたでしょ？早く寝なきゃ。
おかあさん：やっぱり、忘(わす)れてたでしょ？早(はや)く寝(ね)なきゃ。
Mom: I knew you forgot. You have to go to sleep early.
ユタカ：うん。もう部屋に行くよ。
ユタカ：うん。もう部屋(へや)に行(い)くよ。
Yutaka: Yeah. I'll go to my room now.
おかあさん：すぐ寝てよ。
おかあさん：すぐ寝(ね)てよ。
Mom: Go to sleep right away.
Situation 2
Sato-san and Tanaka-san are talking about last night's rain.
佐藤：昨日の夜、すごい雨でしたね。
佐藤(さとう)：昨日(きのう)の夜(よる)、すごい雨(あめ)でしたね。
Sato: It rained a lot last night, didn't it?
- 雨(あめ) rain
田中：ああ、そうでしたね。雨の音で寝られませんでしたよ。
田中(たなか)：ああ、そうでしたね。雨(あめ)の音(おと)で寝(ね)られませんでしたよ。
Tanaka: Yes, that's right. I couldn't sleep because of the sound of the rain.
- 音(おと) sound, noise
佐藤：音、結構大きかったですよね。かなり長い時間、続きませんでしたか？
佐藤(さとう)：音(おと)、結構(けっこう)大(おお)きかったですよね。かなり長(なが)い時間(じかん)、続(つづ)きませんでしたか？
Sato: It was really loud, wasn't it? Didn't it last for quite a long time?
田中：はい。私はすごい心配でしたよ。
田中(たなか)：はい。私(わたし)はすごい心配(しんぱい)でしたよ。
Tanaka: Yes. I was very worried.
- 心配(しんぱい) adj. anxious, worried; n. anxiety, worry, care; 心配(しんぱい)する to worry, to be anxious
佐藤：そうですか？そんな心配だったんですか？
佐藤(さとう)：そうですか？そんな心配(しんぱい)だったんですか？
Sato: Really? Were you that worried?
田中：何か起きるかもしれないって。うちの前には大きな川があるんですよ。
田中(たなか)：何(なに)か起(お)きるかもしれないって。うちの前(まえ)には大(おお)きな川(かわ)があるんですよ。
Tanaka: I thought something might happen. There's a big river in front of my house.
- 川(かわ) river, stream
佐藤：そうなんですか？確かに川の水が多くなると心配ですよね。
佐藤(さとう)：そうなんですか？確(たし)かに川(かわ)の水(みず)が多(おお)くなると心配(しんぱい)ですよね。
Sato: Really? Indeed, it's worrisome if the water in the river increases.
田中：はい、水が家の方に来たら大変ですよ。
田中(たなか)：はい、水(みず)が家(いえ)の方(ほう)に来(き)たら大変(たいへん)ですよ。
Tanaka: Yes, it would be a big problem if the water came towards my house.
佐藤：それは怖いですよね。
佐藤(さとう)：それは怖(こわ)いですよね。
Sato: That's scary, isn't it.
- 怖(こわ)い frightening, scary; terrified
田中：最近、雨の日が多いんで、本当に心配なんですよ。
田中(たなか)：最近(さいきん)、雨(あめ)の日(ひ)が多(おお)いんで、本当(ほんとう)に心配(しんぱい)なんですよ。
Tanaka: There have been a lot of rainy days lately, and I'm really worried.
佐藤：川の水、最近、多いですか？
佐藤(さとう)：川(かわ)の水(みず)、最近(さいきん)、多(おお)いですか？
Sato: Has there been a lot of water in the river recently?
田中：はい、水、多くなってるんですよ。何か起きたら怖いです。
田中(たなか)：はい、水(みず)、多(おお)くなってるんですよ。何(なに)か起(お)きたら怖(こわ)いです。
Tanaka: Yes, the water in the river has increased. It would be scary if something happened.
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.
Just for the information, I wasn’t able to watch the video of the first situation.
Thank you. We’ll check it out and get back to you.
The video is now available for me. Thanks!
One of the team took care of it quickly. 🙂
Thank you for notifying us!
This isn’t an important question, but why is it that in the first situation his mother kept asking if he was awake? He was talking to her so he was obviously awake. I just find that a bit funny.
His mother is asking him that because it’s about time he went to bed.
We can know that because she says まだ (still).
And her words explain why she keeps asking if he stays awake:
she doesn’t want him to sleep leaving the TV on and doesn’t want him to fall asleep in the living room where he is not supposed to sleep.
Also, she wants to remind him that he has to wake up early the next morning.
So when she kept asking him if he was awake, what she actually meant was “why are you still awake? Go to bed.” right?
You are right. It may sound strange because she’s telling him everything he should do as if he was a small child.
That’s not the impression I got, it just sounded a bit strange. But now I understand, so thank you.
Oh, I see. Now I’m curious what bothered you, but I’m glad it makes sense to you.
It just didnt make sense to me that even though the kid was clearly awake and talking with his mother, she kept asking him if he was awake. It just didnt make logical sense to me. The reason it didnt give me the impression that she was speaking to him as if he was a small child is because in English we dont talk to small children like that unless were joking.
Like “are you awake?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you suuurree??”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Naaaah, I think you’re asleep”
Another reason it didnt give me that impression is because I dont entirely know the difference between what it sounds like when speaking to older kids and speaking to little kids. Because I’m still learning.
I guess she kept asking him mainly because she was not fully convinced if he was really awake. He might say “I’m awake” while half sleeping.
There’s not any difference in how she talks. Either a small kid or a big kid, she would talk the same way (tone). But telling him what he should do in detail sounds like she was talking to a small kid.
I see.
I have a couple of questions about this lesson.
Is there any rhyme or reason to choosing 大きい／小さい vs. 大きな／小さな? I noticed you use 大きな in this lesson, but I think 大きい is the more common form, right?
My second question is about the use of 水. When I was teaching in Japan I was told by a Japanese friend that 水 is only used about water that you drink, not about natural bodies of water (I think a couple of my adult students corroborated this when I asked them, but maybe some of them disagreed with him, I don’t remember). But you use 川の水 so I guess it’s not unnatural?
> 大きい／小さい vs. 大きな／小さな?
All of them are common
> I was told by a Japanese friend that 水 is only used about water that you drink
That’s not correct. We use 水 for other things too (such as 川の水).
Sometimes, when you ask native speakers, they might not be able to think of other example off the top of their head. That’s why I try to always Google before answering questions.
You can also say something like 床が水浸しだよ！(The floor is very wet!)