Lesson Dialogues
Situation 1
Sato-san received a phone call early in the morning.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
佐藤さんは今からどこに行きますか?
A 学校
B レストラン
C 店
D 会社
佐藤:朝、はやいですね。まだ5時ですよ。
Sato: You're calling so early in the morning. It's only 5:00 a.m.
- 朝 morning
- 早い early; soon; 速い fast
- ~ね shares information or experiences; softens a sentence; expects an agreement; isn't it?; don't you?: 雨だね。Oh, it's raining (as you can see).
- まだ yet; still: まだ帰れない。I can't go home yet.
- 時 time, when: 子供の時 when I was a child; 時 o'clock
- ~よ introduces new information; emphasises a sentence: 朝だよ!It's morning!
鈴木:ごめんなさい。
Suzuki: I'm sorry.
佐藤:何かありましたか?
Sato: Did something happen?
- 何か、なんか something; things like ..., or something like that ...; conversation filler: なんか、寒い。Well, it's cold; emphasises noun, often in a deprecating way: 魚なんか嫌い。I don’t like something like fish.
- ありました past form of あります
- あります ます form of ある; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
- ある to be (existence); to have (possession); to happen; use ある for objects and いる for people and animals
鈴木:会社で、何かあったみたいです。
Suzuki: It seems like something happened at the office.
- 会社 company; firm
- あった past form of ある
- ~みたい like; it seems that...; as if...: 明日雨みたい it seems like it's raining tomorrow
佐藤:分かりました。すぐ行きます。
Sato: Got it. I'll be right there.
- 分かりました past form of 分かります
- 分かります ます form of 分かる; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
- 分かる to understand; to see
- すぐ immediately; right away; soon
- 行きます ます form of 行く; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
- 行く to go
Situation 2
Tanaka-san and Sato-san are shopping at the shopping mall.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
田中さんはお金をたくさん持って____。
A いる
B いない
田中:これ、いくらですかね?
Tanaka: I wonder how much this costs.
- これ this, these; この this, these (possessive): この車 this car
- いくら how much; however
佐藤:これは、結構高いと思います。
Sato: I think it's pretty expensive.
- 結構 adv. quite, fairly; na-adj. good
- 高い high; tall; expensive
- 思います ます form of 思う; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
- 思う to think; to believe; to feel; to expect; ~と思う I think that: 明日、行くと思う。I think I will go tomorrow.
田中:お金、たくさんは持ってないですよ。
Tanaka: I don't have a lot of money.
- お金 money
- たくさん many; much; a lot
- 持って te-form of 持つ; te-form is often used to connect to other expressions; te-form may indicate a command; 食べて!Please eat!; it's common to end a sentence with a te-form. Japanese people often don't finish a sentence completely: 昨日学校行って、勉強して。。。I went to school yesterday, studied, and...
- 持つ to have; to take; to hold
- ~ていない、~てない negative form of ~ている、~てる
- ~ている、~てる verb form to express continuation; 食べる + ている = 食べている eating; てる is a colloquial version of ている; some verbs such as 知る uses this form to express the present situation 知っている (I know) but uses the present native form to say the opposite: 知らない (I don't know); often てん in spoken Japanese: それ、知ってんの?Do you know that?
佐藤:じゃあ、他の物も見てみましょう。
Sato: Well, let's try looking at other things, too.
- じゃあ well, so, then; if: 雨じゃ外で遊べないね。If it's raining, we can't play outside.
- 他 other; another; else; 他の人 other people
- 物 thing; object; stuff
- 見て te-form of 見る; te-form is often used to connect to other expressions; te-form may indicate a command; 食べて!Please eat!; it's common to end a sentence with a te-form. Japanese people often don't finish a sentence completely: 昨日学校行って、勉強して。。。I went to school yesterday, studied, and...
- 見る to see; to look; to watch; to check; we use 観る for things like sports or TV shows
- ~てみましょう ましょう form of ~てみる; ~ましょう is a keigo form of ~よう which expresses desire; let's __
- ~てみる to try and ___; to try something; to attempt to do something; 食べてみる。I'll try eating.
Situation 3
Jun made sweets for the first time.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
ユミはもっと食べたいですか?
A はい
B いいえ
ジュン:僕が作ったんだ。どうかな。おいしい?
Jun: I made these. What do you think? Do they taste good?
- 僕 I (used by male speakers)
- 作った past form of 作る
- 作る to make; to create; to cook
- ~んです、~んだ actually, as a matter of fact: 明日、映画見たいんですよね。I actually want to watch a movie tomorrow; often used with けど: すいません、トイレに行きたいんですけど。。。Excuse me, I'd like to go to the bathroom; used to ask for a reason: なんで明日、会社来ないんですか? Why are you not coming to work tomorrow?; used to confirm or react to your observation: もう帰るんですか? Are you going home already?; emphasizes discontentment or anger: お前、何言ってんだよ。 what the heck are you talking about?
- どう how; what: どう思う?What do you think?; how about: ラーメンどう?How about (eating) ramen?
- ~かな indicates uncertainty; softens a sentence: ちょっと寒いかな。I think it's a bit cold.
- おいしい delicious; tasty
ユミ:うん、おいしい。
Yumi: Yeah, they taste good.
ジュン:本当?ありがとう。
Jun: Really? Thanks.
- 本当 truth; right; really
ユミ:もっと食べたいな。まだ、ある?
Yumi: I want to eat more. Are there any more?
- もっと more
- 食べたい たい form of 食べる; ~たい expresses desire; I want to __
- 食べる to eat
- ~な expresses emotions; emphasises the emotion; softens the sentence; often なー; 日本へ行きたいな。I want to go to Japan; かわいいなー。It's so cute.
Situation 4
Jun came to the living room.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
ジュンは何時に行きますか?
A 1時
B 3時
C 5時
D 8時
ジュン:今、何時?
Jun: What time is it now?
- 今 now
- 何 what
- 何時 what time
お母さん:3時くらいだよ。なんで?
Mother: It's around 3:00 p.m. Why?
- ~くらい about; around; as ... as ...; like
- なんで why; how come
ジュン:友達と、映画を観るんだ。
Jun: I'm going to watch a movie with my friends.
- 友達 friend
- 映画 movie
お母さん:何時に行くの?
Mother: What time are you going?
ジュン:5時だよ。だから、帰るの夜になると思う。
Jun: 5:00 p.m., so I think I'll only be back at night.
- ~から because; since: 雨だから行きません。I won't go because it's raining.; use だから with nouns and na-adjectives.
- 帰る to return; to go home; to go back
- ~の の can make other words, such as verbs, function like a noun: 食べるのはやめる。I will stop eating.
- 夜 night; evening
- なる to become; to be; to get; to come; to do; to start; to do; to turn into; often ~になる; 元気になる to get well; 先生になる to become a teacher
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.
In the video and text in section #4, it says: 観る = みる, but according to jisho.org, 観 = かん. Is that a mistake?
Is it supposed to say: 見る instead?
We use both as miru. 見る and 観る are correct.
Roughly speaking, we use 「観る」 when they watch TV or an anime actively. When we watch it accidentally, passively, or at leisure, we tend to use「見る」
e.g)
遠くの景色を見る
(Look at the scenery in the distance)
お芝居を観る
(Watch theatre arts)
野球をスタンドで観る
(Watch the baseball at the stadium)
For official documents and newspapers, 見るis used.
Hope it helps!
Can’t tell if these are getting easier or that I am learning much faster than anticipated.
Someone messed with my nickname and I can’t change it back 🙁
Sorry about that. You can change it here https://vimeo.com/526005458/491f8aff39
A lot of it is grammar and general language understanding, your brain is learning how to parse japanese, so it gets easier pretty quickly, the hard part is actually building a vocab large enough to actually speak and understand everyday japanese
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