Lesson Dialogues
PDF
Download Now
MP3
Download Now
Situation 1
Miki, the younger sister, is talking to Yuta, her older brother.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
1. ゆうたは、____英語のテストがある。
A 今日
B 明日
C いつも
D また
2. ゆうたのこの前のテストは、結果が悪かったですか？
A はい
B いいえ
みき：何してるの？
ゆうた：英語の勉強だよ。
- 勉強 study; 勉強する to learn, to study
みき：英語の勉強？
ゆうた：うん。明日、英語のテストがあるから、勉強しないといけないんだよね。
- 明日 tomorrow
- テスト test
- ～なければ(いけない/ならない)、なきゃ(いけない)、ないと(いけない) must; have to; need to: 今日、仕事しなきゃいけない。I have to work today; often just "ないと": 今日、仕事しないと。I have to work today.
みき：そっか。英語の勉強、難しい？どんな感じの問題なの？
- 難しい difficult; hard
ゆうた：うん、難しいよ。こんな感じの問題だよ。
みき：本当だ、難しそうだね。
- ～そう、なさそう seeming that…; appearing that…: 元気なさそうだね。You don't seem well; 明日までにできそう？Can you do it by tomorrow?; almost: 負けそうだった。I almost lost (the game).
ゆうた：超難しいよ。この前のテストは、結果が悪くてさ。
- 超 very
- 結果 result
- ～さ fillter word; often used when the speaker is telling a story; connects parts of the story: 昨日さ、仕事さ、遅刻した。I was late for work yesterday.
みき：何点だったの？
- 点 point; score
ゆうた：50点だよ。
みき：そっか、大変そうだね。今回は、いい結果だといいね！
- 今回 this time
- ～と if, when: 外に出ると雨だった。 When I went outside, it was raining; 先生に話すといいよ。It'll be good to talk to the teacher.
ゆうた：うん。今回は、80点取らないといけないんだよ。
みき：なんで？
ゆうた：80点取れなかったら、今度の休みに学校に行かなきゃいけないんだよ。
- ～たら if, when, after: 終わったら行く。I'll go when I finish; why don't you...?: 勉強したら？Why don't you study? (We use たら to say, "if something happens, something else will happen".)
- 休み holiday, a day off; rest; being closed
みき：そうなんだ。明日頑張って！
- 頑張る to do one's best: 仕事がんばる！I'll do my best at work; expression to encourage someone: 勉強頑張って！Good luck with your study.
ゆうた：うん、頑張る。ありがとう。
Situation 2
Sato-san and Suzuki-san are talking.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
1. 鈴木さんは、休みの日、____に行く。
A 映画
B 山
C 学校
D カフェ
2. 佐藤さんは、休みの日、家の近くを走りますか？
A はい
B いいえ
佐藤：休みの日、いつも何してますか？
- いつも always; all the time
鈴木：家の近くを走ったり、山に行ったりします。自然が好きなので。
- 近く near; nearby
- ～たり used to list things; often ～たり、～たり: 飲んだり食べたりしました。;日曜日はジムに行ったりします。On Sundays, I go to the gym and stuff (I do things like going to the gym).
- 山 mountain
- 自然 n. nature; na-adj. natural; adv. naturally
佐藤：山ですか、いいですね。楽しそうです。
鈴木：はい。自然の中にいると、時間を忘れてリラックスすることができますよ。
- 忘れる to forget
- リラックスする to relax
- ～ことができる can; be able to
佐藤：私も、今度近くの山に行ってみます。
鈴木：楽しめると思いますよ。佐藤さんは、休みの日はいつも何をするんですか？
- 楽しむ to enjoy; to have a good time
佐藤：私は、家でテレビや映画を観たりします。
- テレビ television; TV
鈴木：どんなテレビや映画を観るんですか？
佐藤：いろんなのを観ますよ。この前は、昔の映画を観ました。
鈴木：へー。昔の映画ですか。面白そうですね。
佐藤：はい。映画を観ているときも、時間を忘れますよ。
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.
For this sentence: 家の近くを走ったり、山に行ったりします。
Could you say 家の近くに走ったり? Why is “を” used?
No, you can’t say 家の近くに走る.
You can say [a destination]に向かって走る.
Example: 駅に向かって走る。 – Run toward the station.
[a place / an area]を走る means “run through, run across, run up or run down [a place / an area].”
Example: 大通りを走る。- running down the main street
You can say [a situation]に走る when you mean ”go to [a situation]”.
Example: 極端に走る。 – go to extremes
I see, thank you for explaining.
No problem! : )
1. How should I understand the sentence structure of 「こんな・そんな・どんなN1のN2」? In situation #1, why did 感じ go first in「こんな感じの問題」? Won’t that mean “the problem of this kind of impression,” instead of “this kind of impression of the problem?” (I know it’s wrong for me to take it literally.)
2. What kind of form is 観たり? Is it same form use for enumeration? If so why is it used in situation #2 that way when it was the only verb in the sentence?
Thank you for your questions. Our team has been working on changing the explanations and translations so that the usages become clearer.
In the meantime, I’m giving you brief explanations:
1. こんな感じの問題 means “a problem (problems) like this.”
It works as xxxな感じの + noun. It’s to modify the noun saying the noun looks/sounds/feels like xxx.
2. 観たり here means “watch xxx and stuff.”
家でテレビや映画を観たりします implies the person watches TV and movies, but they are not necessarily only things she would do. She might read newspapers or magazines sometimes, for example.
ありがとうございます。
Are there any instances that 感じ can be replaced with other nouns?
In similar usages, yes.
この様(よう)な
こんな風(ふう)な
Both mean “something like this.”
As you already know, 感じ itself means “impression, feeling, sense, or atmosphere,” depending on the context.
But when we say xxxな感じ like this, it works as “something like”, “looks like, sounds like, or feels like xxx”. In other words, something that gives you an impression like xxx.
Understood 99% of it. Only words I didn’t fully grasp was 何点 which took me a minute to put together and understand. And 走る which I forgot meant run. Level 2 seems about as easy as Level 1 now. I don’t think my pronunciation of the words are too bad either. While it’s easier to read than say, it is sort of interesting and a tad scary how your voice sounds so different when speaking another language.
I do have a question about the first situation, not really a lesson related question but more cultural, are English classes in Japan mandatory? In America, other languages are elective and your marks in them often don’t effect your overall grades, not that it’s that hard to get passing marks in them since they just expect you to memorize and regurgitate even if you don’t fully grasp it.
Yes, our school systems are very different from those in other countries.
It’s great for us to see you’re doing great on Level 2 as well.
I think changing voice tones happen to many people when they speak different languages. Some people often say that it even changes their characters.
English is a compulsory subject in Japan. We used to learn English from middle school to college.
Now they seem to start learning it from elementary school these days.
English is included in entrance exams for college. And many jobs require English, too.
surprising then that many Japanese don’t know English. But I guess unless you make a habit of using it a lot you won’t learn it. And while it makes sense for the business world to know it since the worlds economy revolves around ours, it seems pointless to force if people aren’t going to stick to it.
It’s because Japanese people only learn English as a school subject that focuses on reading.
Because of that, many Japanese people can read very complex sentences like articles in newspapers, despite not being good at speaking and writing.