Learn about talking about being in the midst of doing something
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: なおみです。(Naomi desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. Unagi Road Trip Part 2. Naomi-sensei, where do we leave off? |
| Naomi: In the previous lesson, ウナ助 (Unasuke) and ウナ吉 (Unakichi) were talking about Japan, right? |
| Peter: That’s right. |
| Naomi: So. 日本には芸者と侍がいるんだって言ってましたね。(Nihon ni wa geisha to samurai ga iru n da tte itte mashita ne.) |
| Peter: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) So they think the Samurais and Geisha are still in Japan. Anyway… |
| Naomi: Not the smartest eels. They are not the smartest eels in the world. |
| Peter: Yeah these guys are destined to be served in a restaurant. So let’s find out how they get there. Naomi-sensei, what’s today’s grammar point? |
| Naomi: 今日は、～ているところだ。(Kyō wa, -te iru tokoro da.) |
| Peter: A state or action is occurring. Today’s conversation takes place with |
| Naomi: ウナ吉 (Unakichi), ウナ助 (Unasuke) and ウナ美 (Unami). |
| Peter: Okay, so do we have a new character here? |
| Naomi: そうですね。ウナ美ちゃんが New character ですね。(Sō desu ne. Unami-chan ga “New character” desu ne.) |
| Peter: We wouldn’t say female, we would say メス (mesu). What do we say for |
| Naomi: メスね！(Mesu ne!) |
| Peter: メス (mesu) like female うなぎ (unagi). |
| Naomi: そうそうそう、メスのうなぎ。(Sō sō sō, mesu no unagi.) |
| Peter: So I am not sure what the correct term in English is, the female eel. Anyway, so, we have that new character today. Since they are friends, they will be speaking casual Japanese. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: Okay, conversation takes place at |
| Naomi: 日本の川。(Nihon no kawa.) |
| Peter: A Japanese river and in the story ウナ助 (Unasuke) mentions the name of the river they live in. So please try to catch that. |
| Naomi: 川の名前はなんですか。(Kawa no namae wa nan desu ka.) |
| Peter: Here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| (日本に来て３年) (Nihon ni kite san-nen) |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : ねぇ、ウナ助君、今、忙しい？(Nee, Unasuke-kun, ima, isogashii?) |
| ウナ助 (Unasuke) : いや、食事しているところだけど、何？(Iya, shokuji shite iru tokoro da kedo, nani?) |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : あ、そのミミズ だめだよ。隣のナマズのおじさん、それを食べて、今入院しているところなんだ。(A, sono mimizu dame da yo. Tonari no namazu no oji-san, sore o tabete, ima nyūin shite iru tokoro nan da.) |
| ウナ助 (Unasuke) : え？おお。本当だ。針がある。日本は怖いな。(E? Ō. Hontō da. Hari ga aru. Nihon wa kowai na.) |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : ねぇ、隣の川に新しいパチンコ屋がオープンしたんだ。行かない？(Nee, tonari no kawa ni atarashii pachinkoya ga ōpun shita n da. Ikanai?) |
| ウナ助 (Unasuke) : パチンコ？行く。行く。(Pachinko? Iku. Iku.) |
| ウナ美 (Unami) : あれ？ウナ吉君？(Are? Unakichi-kun?) |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : あ、ウナ美ちゃん！ウナ美ちゃんも利根川に来たの？今、僕たち、隣の川へ向かっているところなんだ。(A, Unami-chan! Unami-chan mo Tonegawa ni kita no? Ima, boku-tachi, tonari no kawa e mukatte iru tokoro nan da.) |
| ウナ美 (Unami) : 私は海へ向かってるところ。ちょっと、急いでいるところだから、またね。(Watashi wa umi e mukatte ru tokoro. Chotto, isoide iru tokoro da kara, mata ne.) |
| Naomi: もう一度、お願いします。今度は、ゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do, onegai shimasu. Kondo wa, yukkuri onegai shimasu.) |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : ねぇ、ウナ助君、今、忙しい？(Nee, Unasuke-kun, ima, isogashii?) |
| ウナ助 (Unasuke) : いや、食事しているところだけど、何？(Iya, shokuji shite iru tokoro da kedo, nani?) |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : あ、そのミミズ だめだよ。隣のナマズのおじさん、それを食べて、今入院しているところなんだ。(A, sono mimizu dame da yo. Tonari no namazu no oji-san, sore o tabete, ima nyūin shite iru tokoro nan da.) |
| ウナ助 (Unasuke) : え？おお。本当だ。針がある。日本人は怖いな。(E? Ō. Hontō da. Hari ga aru. Nihon-jin wa kowai na.) |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : ねぇ、隣の川に新しいパチンコ屋がオープンしたんだ。行かない？(Nee, tonari no kawa ni atarashii pachinkoya ga ōpun shita n da. Ikanai?) |
| ウナ助 (Unasuke) : パチンコ？行く。行く。(Pachinko? Iku. Iku.) |
| ウナ美 (Unami) : あれ？ウナ吉君？(Are? Unakichi-kun?) |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : あ、ウナ美ちゃん！ウナ美ちゃんも利根川に来たの？今、僕たち、隣の川へ向かっているところなんだ。(A, Unami-chan! Unami-chan mo Tonegawa ni kita no? Ima, boku-tachi, tonari no kawa e mukatte iru tokoro nan da.) |
| ウナ美 (Unami) : 私は海へ向かっているところ。ちょっと、急いでいるところだから、またね。(Watashi wa umi e mukatte iru tokoro. Chotto, isoide iru tokoro da kara, mata ne.) |
| Naomi: 今度は、英語が入ります。(Kondo wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| (日本に来て３年) (Nihon ni kite san-nen) |
| (It's been 3 years since coming to Japan) |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : ねぇ、ウナ助君、今、忙しい？(Nee, Unasuke-kun, ima, isogashii?) |
| UNAKICHI: Hey, Unasuke-kun, are you busy now? |
| ウナ助 (Unasuke) : いや、食事しているところだけど、何？(Iya, shokuji shite iru tokoro da kedo, nani?) |
| UNASUKE: No, I'm eating right now. What do you want? |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : あ、そのミミズ だめだよ。(A, sono mimizu dame da yo.) |
| UNAKICHI: Uh...you can't eat that earthworm. |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : 隣のナマズのおじさん、それを食べて、今入院しているところなんだ。 (Tonari no namazu no oji-san, sore o tabete, ima nyūin shite iru tokoro nan da.) |
| UNAKICHI: Old geezer catfish next door ate it and he is in the hospital now. |
| ウナ助 (Unasuke) : え？おお。本当だ。針がある。日本は怖いな。(E? Ō. Hontō da. Hari ga aru. Nihon wa kowai na.) |
| UNASUKE: What? Yeah, you're right. It has a fish hook. Japanese people are scary. |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : ねぇ、隣の川に新しいパチンコ屋がオープンしたんだ。行かない？(Nee, tonari no kawa ni atarashii pachinkoya ga ōpun shita n da. Ikanai?) |
| UNAKICHI: By the way, The new pachinko shop has just opened in the next river. You wanna come? |
| ウナ助 (Unasuke) : パチンコ？行く。行く。(Pachinko? Iku. Iku.) |
| UNAKICHI: Pachinko? I'll go! I'll go! |
| ウナ美 (Unami) : あれ？ウナ吉君？(Are? Unakichi-kun?) |
| UNAMI: Hey, aren't you Unakichi-kun? |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : あ、ウナ美ちゃん！ウナ美ちゃんも利根川に来たの？(A, Unami-chan! Unami-chan mo Tonegawa ni kita no?) |
| UNAKICHI: Oh, Unami-chan! Did you come to the Tonegawa river too? |
| ウナ吉 (Unakichi) : 今、僕たち、隣の川へ向かっているところなんだ。 (Ima, boku-tachi, tonari no kawa e mukatte iru tokoro nan da.) |
| UNAKICHI: We are heading to the river next door right now. |
| ウナ美 (Unami) : 私は海へ向かってるところ。ちょっと、急いでいるところだから、またね。(Watashi wa umi e mukatte ru tokoro. Chotto, isoide iru tokoro da kara, mata ne.) |
| UNAMI: I'm heading to the ocean. I'm sort of in a hurry. See ya. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Naomi: ピーターさん。川の名前はなんですか。(Pītā-san. Kawa no namae wa nan desu ka.) |
| Peter: はい。川の名前は利根川ですね。(Hai. Kawa no namae wa Tonegawa desu ne.) |
| Naomi: そうです。よかったですね。(Sō desu. Yokatta desu ne.) |
| Peter: どこにありますか。(Doko ni arimasu ka.) Where is it? |
| Naomi: Near my house. |
| Peter: In the countryside. |
| Naomi: え、ちょっと待って。(E, chotto matte.) |
| Peter: 田舎のほうですね。(Inaka no hō desu ne.) |
| Naomi: Near Mickey’s house too. |
| Peter: Disneyland in Chiba? Oh you mean Miki as in Miki’s blogs. |
| Naomi: ミキちゃんね。近くに、ミキちゃんのうちと私のうちはあります。(Miki-chan ne. Chikaku ni, Miki-chan no uchi to watashi no uchi wa arimasu.) |
| Peter: So in between 千葉 (Chiba) and the best prefecture in Japan, 茨城 (Ibaraki). |
| Naomi: そうそうそうそう。ミキちゃんは利根川の北に住んでいますね。私は利根川の南に住んでいます。(Sō sō sō sō. Miki-chan wa Tonegawa no kita ni sunde imasu ne. Watashi wa Tonegawa no minami ni sunde imasu.) |
| Peter: So Mickey lives to the north and Naomi-sensei lives to the South. |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) |
| Peter: By the way, Naomi-sensei. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: こういう話がピクサーの映画になりそうですね。(Kō iu hanashi ga Pikusā no eiga ni narisō desu ne.) So this story has the making of Pixar movie. |
| Naomi: But Unagis are not as cute as Nemo. |
| Peter: Again this is relative to the person’s likes and dislikes but yeah. |
| Naomi: でもまあ、まあ、ちょっと可愛いかもね。(Demo mā, mā, chotto kawaii kamo ne.) |
| Peter: うん、でしょ？だって腕がないし。(Un, desho? Datte ude ga nai shi.) Like they have no arms. どうやってパチンコやるかちょっとわからないですけど。(Dō yatte pachinko yaru ka chotto wakaranai desu kedo.) |
| Naomi: As I told you in the previous lesson, they can move on the ground like snakes. So… |
| Peter: So I don’t – the coin, I guess they take it in their mouth. |
| Naomi: あー、わかんない。(Ā, wakannai.) |
| Peter: じゃあ、ピクサーに任せます。(Jā, Pikusā ni makasemasu.) Let’s leave it to Pixar. |
| Naomi: ピクサー作ってくれるかなあ。(Pikusā tsukutte kureru ka nā.) |
| Peter: We will leave the details to Pixar but anyway I think we have a vocab to look at now. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Peter: なおみ先生、お願いします。(Naomi-sensei, onegai shimasu.) |
| Naomi: みみず (mimizu) |
| Peter: Earthworm. |
| Naomi: (slow) みみず (mimizu) (natural speed) みみず (mimizu) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 隣りの (tonari no) |
| Peter: Neighboring, next door. |
| Naomi: (slow) となりの (tonari no) (natural speed) 隣りの (tonari no) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: なまず (namazu) |
| Peter: Catfish. |
| Naomi: (slow) なまず (namazu) (natural speed) なまず (namazu) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 入院する (nyūin suru) |
| Peter: To check into a hospital. |
| Naomi: (slow) にゅういんする (nyūin suru) (natural speed) 入院する (nyūin suru) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 針 (hari) |
| Peter: Needle. Fish hook. |
| Naomi: (slow) はり (hari) (natural speed) 針 (hari) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: パチンコ屋 (pachinkoya) |
| Peter: Pinball parlor. |
| Naomi: (slow) パチンコや (pachinkoya) (natural speed) パチンコ屋 (pachinkoya) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 利根川 (Tonegawa) |
| Peter: Tone River. |
| Naomi: (slow) とねがわ (Tonegawa) (natural speed) 利根川 (Tonegawa) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 向かう (mukau) |
| Peter: To settle for. |
| Naomi: (slow) むかう (mukau) (natural speed) 向かう (mukau) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 急ぐ (isogu) |
| Peter: To hurry, to rush. |
| Naomi: (slow) いそぐ (isogu) (natural speed) 急ぐ (isogu) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Peter: Okay, let’s take a closer look at some of the words we just went over. Naomi-sensei, what do we have first? |
| Naomi: 入院する (nyūin suru) |
| Peter: To check into a hospital. |
| Naomi: 入 (nyū) means to enter, 院 (in) means institution as in 病院 (byōin). So 入院 (nyūin) is like to be hospitalized. |
| Peter: Now Naomi-sensei. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: This character 入 (nyū) meaning to enter. This is often found as the first character in compound words meaning to enter something. |
| Naomi: あ、そうそう。そうですね。すごい。そう。(A, sō sō. Sō desu ne. Sugoi. Sō.) |
| Peter: How many そう (sō)? Once a while. |
| Naomi: 例えば会社 (tatoeba kaisha) means company. 入社 (nyūsha) is |
| Peter: To join a company. |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) 学校 (gakkō) is school. 入校 (nyūkō) is |
| Peter: To enter a school, not that day. I went to the school and entered the school but to enter a school for an extended period of time. |
| Naomi: Let me read the today’s sample sentence. 醤油を飲んで入院した。(Shōyu o nonde nyūin shita.) |
| Peter: I drank soy sauce and was hospitalized. |
| Naomi: これね、醤油本当に危ないらしいですよ。(Kore ne, shōyu hontō ni abunai rashii desu yo.) |
| Peter: So 醤油 (shōyu) is pretty dangerous. |
| Naomi: Yeah, if you drink it. |
| Peter: From the bottle. |
| Naomi: From the bottle yeah. It could hurt your health badly. なので、醤油は飲まないでください。(Nanode, shōyu wa nomanaide kudasai.) |
| Peter: Next Naomi-sensei, I want to take a look at two – well actually three creatures that are kind of slimy, what’s the word for slime – well let’s introduce the creatures that came out in today’s lesson and then let’s introduce the word for slimy. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: What do we have first, the first creature, the star of our Pixar, soon to be released Pixar movie. |
| Naomi: うなぎ (unagi) |
| Peter: Eel. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: Kind of slimy. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: なまず (namazu) |
| Peter: Catfish, slimy. |
| Naomi: Yeah, and then I would say みみず (mimizu) is also slimy. |
| Peter: Earthworms. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: Worms, catfish and eels. |
| Naomi: Cute. |
| Peter: So... but I can see coming together. I think portrayed right there, cute. Now let me just ask you this. What is the word we use to describe these things more Unagi and Catfish. Worms can be, they dry up a bit not so slimy. |
| Naomi: ぬるぬる (nurunuru) |
| Peter: And that is slimy. |
| Naomi: Yeah, ぬるぬる (nurunuru). |
| Peter: ぬるぬる (nurunuru). So you know I think I saw this when I was watching the first Harry Potter movie and they have the Basilic you know that thing that lives in the basement. Was that the first one? I don’t know but it was a snake and they often said, I believe it was ぬるぬる (nurunuru). |
| Naomi: 本当？(Hontō?) |
| Peter: I remember the characters for some reason and subtitles. |
| Naomi: 本当？(Hontō?) |
| Peter: 本当。(Hontō.) |
| Naomi: そうかなあ。(Sō ka nā.) |
| Peter: ぬるぬる (nurunuru), but it’s also used for hand creams and other kind of things you know. |
| Naomi: Okay yeah, yeah, yeah right. |
| Peter: So it’s just not these kind of slimy creatures but it also means |
| Naomi: Bit slimy substance. |
| Peter: Slimy 資生堂グッズ (Shiseidō guzzu). |
| Naomi: うん、そうね。(Un, sō ne.) If I put too much cream on my hand, it could be ぬるぬるする (nurunuru suru). |
| Peter: Okay. So, but it’s a really good word. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) And by the way, do you know how to count Unagis? |
| Peter: 一匹、二匹、三匹？(Ippiki, ni-hiki, san-biki?) |
| Naomi: そうそうそうそう。(Sō sō sō sō.) |
| Peter: やった！ (Yatta!) The counter for small creatures. |
| Naomi: そうそうそう。(Sō sō sō.) |
| Peter: Can we also use the counter for long thin things like 一本 (ippon), 二本 (ni-hon)? |
| Naomi: If the Unagis are dead, you can count like that or 尾 (bi) is also okay. 尾 (bi) means tail like tailfin. |
| Peter: Really? |
| Naomi: Yeah, but basically… |
| Peter: When they are alive or after they have moved on. |
| Naomi: Or we put Unagi meat on the stick, right? |
| Peter: Yeah. |
| Naomi: Like 焼き鳥 (yakitori) in that case, we can count like 本 (hon), 一本 (ippon), 二本 (ni-hon), 三本 (san-bon). |
| Peter: Okay, so kind of think of it like – think of it like this. When the kids are near the river, counting it’s 一匹 (ippiki), 二匹 (ni-hiki)… |
| Naomi: 三匹 (san-biki) |
| Peter: Then when I go eat lunch, the same Unagi or some of the distant cousins become 一本 (ippon), 二本 (ni-hon). |
| Naomi: Yeah, if it’s on a stick yeah 一本 (ippon), 二本 (ni-hon) or 一皿 (hito-sara), 二皿 (futa-sara). ですかね。(Desu ka ne.) |
| Peter: The evolution of counting. |
| Naomi: そうね。(Sō ne.) |
| Peter: Okay, I think it’s time to move on. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: Okay, today's grammar point is, Naomi-sensei. |
| Naomi: 〜ているところだ (-te iru tokoro da) |
| Peter: Which indicates a state of time and action is occurring. |
| Naomi: 〜ているところだ (-te iru tokoro da) |
| Peter: Is used with an action verb. It’s almost the same as saying |
| Naomi: 〜ている (-te iru) |
| Peter: But when ところ (tokoro) is used, there is a more definite point in time. ところ (tokoro) means place and much like a place, this is a place in time that a specific action is taking place. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: I like it when things come out nicely. Naomi-sensei is always so surprised like do you really know that? 本当に知っているか？何回もそういう顔されますね。(Hontō ni shitte iru ka? Nan-kai mo sō iu kao saremasu ne.) |
| Naomi: そんなことないです。大丈夫。(Sonna koto nai desu. Daijōbu.) I trust you sometimes. |
| Peter: Okay, first let’s look at a comparison between ている (te iru) and ているところだ (te iru tokoro da). Here we go. |
| Naomi: タロウは今勉強しています。(Tarō wa ima benkyō shite imasu.) |
| Peter: Taro is studying now. |
| Naomi: タロウは今勉強しているところです。(Tarō wa ima benkyō shite iru tokoro desu.) |
| Peter: Taro is studying right now. So in the first case, it’s probably we can kind of think of it this way. Think of a mother downstairs and Taro upstairs. So the father asks where is Taro and the mother replies |
| Naomi: 勉強しています。(Benkyō shite imasu.) |
| Peter: Because it’s kind of where and what’s he doing. You know it’s not that necessary to know exactly what he is doing at that point in time. So it’s just a kind of general idea of what he is doing. Now the same scenario, but this time a friend calls and wants to speak to Taro and the mother calls upstairs to Taro and he says… |
| Naomi: 勉強しているところ。(Benkyō shite iru tokoro.) |
| Peter: So right now, he is studying. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: And he doesn’t really want to relay that message but right now, at this particular point in time down to the millisecond. |
| Naomi: Someone is in the middle of the action. |
| Peter: Why didn’t you just say it? That was so much easier than my explanation. |
| Naomi: あ、本当？(A, hontō?) |
| Peter: I had a two-story house and four characters... Yeah perfect right in the middle of something. |
Outro |
| Peter: Okay, that’s going to do it for today. |
| Naomi: じゃあ、また。(Jā, mata.) |
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