Lesson Dialogues
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Situation 1
Sato-san (junior) and Ishita-san (senior) are talking to each other in the office during a break.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
1. 佐藤さんは、なぜ結婚したいと思っていますか？
A お酒が飲みたいから。
B 年が上の人が好きだから。
C 子どもがほしいから。
D いい人を紹介したいから。
2. 佐藤さんは、お酒を 。
A 少し飲む
B 全然飲まない
佐藤：井下さん！誰か、いい人紹介してください。
- 紹介 introduction; 紹介する to introduce
- ～てください please ___: 食べてください。Please eat.
井下：いい人？結婚相手ってこと？
- 結婚 marriage; 結婚する to marry; to get married
- 相手 companion; partner; opponent
佐藤：そうです。結婚相手を紹介してください。
井下：紹介できる友達はいるけど、どうしたの？
佐藤：早く子どもがほしいんですよ。
井下：なるほどね。子ども、かわいいよね。
- なるほど I see (you use this especially when you initially didn't understand something.)
佐藤：そうなんですよ。最近見た友達の子どもがすごくかわいくて。
井下：それで結婚したくなったんだね。
佐藤：はい、自分で相手を探そうと思ってもなかなか探せなくて。
- 探す to look for; to search for; to seek
井下：それで、どんな人がいいの？
佐藤：よく笑う人がいいです。あと、お酒をあまり飲まない人かな。
- 笑う to laugh; to smile
- 酒 alcohol; sake; rice wine
井下：なるほど。少しくらいならお酒を飲んでいいの？
佐藤：はい。もちろん。私も少しは飲みますし。
井下：年は？
佐藤：年は上でも下でもいいです。
井下：わかった。僕の友達でよければ紹介してあげるよ。
- よければ conditional form of 良い/いい: 寒ければ中にいて。If it's cold, stay inside.
佐藤：ありがとうございます。
Situation 2
Mika-san and Natsuko-san are talking after lunch.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
1. ミカさんは、ハンバーガーをいくつ食べましたか？
A 1つ
B 2つ
C 3つ
D 4つ
2. 気持ち悪さの原因は 。
A はっきりしている
B わからない
ミカ：わたし、なんか気持ち悪い。
- 気持ち悪い bad feeling; feeling bad; disagreeable; unpleasant; gross; disgusting
ナツコ：気持ち悪い？どうしたの？
ミカ：食べ過ぎた。
- 過ぎる to pass; to pass through; to do excessively; to be too (much)
ナツコ：食べ過ぎ？ランチどこ行ったの？
- ランチ lunch
ミカ：駅にあるハンバーガーの店。
- 駅 station
- ハンバーガー hamburger
ナツコ：ああ、あの駅にできたわりと新しい店ね。
- わりと comparatively; rather
ミカ：うん、わりと新しいところ。
ナツコ：何食べたの？
ミカ：ハンバーガーとポテトとジュース。
- ポテト potato (in this context, she means French fries)
- ジュース juice
ナツコ：それで食べ過ぎ？
ミカ：ハンバーガー、３つ食べたんだよね。
ナツコ：そりゃ食べすぎだよ！
ミカ：どうしても食べたくて。
- どうしても by all means, at any cost, no matter what, after all: どうしても日本に行きたいです。 I want to go to Japan no matter what.
ナツコ：どうしてもって、その後どうなるかちゃんと考えたの？
- ちゃんと properly; regularly; diligently
ミカ：ちゃんと考えてなかったからこうなった。
ナツコ：まあ、気持ち悪さの原因ははっきりしてるね。
- 気持ち悪さ noun form of 気持ち悪い; similar to -ness: 寒さ (<- 寒い) cold (as in "I don't like the cold")
- 原因 cause
- はっきり clearly, certainly; はっきりする to become clear
ミカ：うん、はっきりしてる。
ナツコ：とにかく原因がわかってよかった。
Step 2 - Take the Quiz
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Step 3 - Writing Exercises (Optional)
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I just noticed something, most of the lessons use -san honorifics even for coworkers when if I am not mistaken would use -senpai/-san depending on the age. You should put some in using other honorifics. Even in this first situation where you specify “Sato-san (junior) and Ishita-san (senior) ” Sato-san still referring to Ishita-san as “-san” despite him being a senior. Should it not be Ishita-senpai?
No, they are not simply used depending on the age.
さん is most commonly used in formal situations or business situations.
Even in private, if people are not close enough, they would call each other with さん regardless of their ages.
先輩(Senpai) is mainly used in school. Some people still keep calling that way after graduating.
There seem some companies where workers use 先輩, but not many companies are like that.
さん is more common.
Ah, I simply remembered Yuta (or was it Nobita-san?) doing a video about how keigo can get complicated in company environments when dealing with people of varying ages and varying statuses.
It can be complicated, but there are only two situations when you should use keigo:
1. When you speak with people who are older or in higher positions than you.
2. When you speak with people who are not close enough to you.
In other words, if someone who is older than you think they are not close enough to you, they would speak with you using Keigo.
Keigo can show respect, but also implies “We are not close enough yet.”
Ah, I meant that, he did a video that some companies he worked in did use senpai rather than just san and it got complicated as to who to use what with.
Okay, I got it.
So 先輩 basically means “someone who joins school, company, circle, group before you: someone who belongs to the place longer than you do, someone who knows the place better than you do.”
先輩 is someone who would help or train you.
Therefore, it doesn’t necessarily mean 先輩 is older than you.
For example, someone enters some field after graduating high school, maybe they can be 先輩 even though they are younger than people who enter the field after graduating college.
Also, as I mentioned before, not all people use it in a company.
Does it make sense?
Yes. If it is uncommon then there is no real need to use it in lessons I just found it strange since he made it sound like it was more common. Though it would be helpful to if at least a couple lessons use the term just so people hear it being used properly. Since there may be other’s under the same misconception.
Well, it’s not common in working places, but there are some people who actually use it. So I guess it doesn’t harm to be familiar with it.
I haven’t watched that video, but we’ll share your comment.
「ああ、あの駅にできた」わりと新しい店ね。」
どうして「できた」と言ましたか？
「あの駅にわりと新しい店ね」と言ったら意味は同じじゃない？
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
「そりゃ食べすぎだよ！」
「そりゃ」は「それでは」ですか？
この会話中の「できた」は「最近、開店した」という意味あいが含まれています。
「あの駅にわりと新しい店ね」ではなく、「あの駅のわりと新しい店ね」と言うことができます。
「の」: noun1 の noun 2.
「そりゃ食べすぎだよ！」「そりゃ」は「それでは」ですか？
「そりゃ」は、「それは」のカジュアルな言い方です。