Learn about introducing the plain volitional form of a verb
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natsuko: おはよう、金星。ナツコです。(Ohayō, Kinsei. Natsuko desu.) |
| Yoshi: おはよう、金星。よしです。(Ohayō, Kinsei. Yoshi desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. Beginner lesson #136. Okay, today we have a really good lesson. This is a combination of the plain volitional use when speaking about intentions. Now there is a reason we spend all that time on informal Japanese. Now we are actually going to combine it with polite Japanese and do many other different things. We really built a really good base for everybody. The foundation is sound. Now today’s conversation is between a principal and the student. So Natsuko-san, what kind of Japanese will we be using today? |
| Natsuko: So the student is using very polite Japanese, right? |
| Peter: Yes, definitely. |
| Natsuko: And maybe the principal might be speaking more casually. |
| Peter: Yeah. What we want to focus on now is politeness level in addition to grammar, in addition to vocab, in addition to everything else but now we are going to focus on politeness level. Okay, so we have this conversation for you. Again, as always, we will go through it once at normal native Japanese speed. Then we will give it to you once slowly, then once again normal native speed but this time with the English. Now to reinforce what you hear in the lesson, stop by japanesepod101.com. There we have the PDFs, everything to bring it together. The learning center keeps growing. There we have write up of the grammar point also inside the PDF. Want to stop by, quiz yourself. Recently the content questions, our audio. So it really gives you more listening practice. Also for all you iPod users, iLearning center, get our lessons on the go line by line, content questions really gives you a chance to hear everything. The more you hear, the more exposure, the better it will be. All right, with that said, into today’s lesson, here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 校長 (kōchō) : 君は来年卒業だね。(Kimi wa rainen sotsugyō da ne.) |
| ちぐさ (Chigusa) : はい、そうです。(Hai, sō desu.) |
| 校長 (kōchō) : 進路はどうする？(Shinro wa dō suru?) |
| ちぐさ (Chigusa) : まだ決定ではないのですが、アメリカへ行こうと思っています。(Mada kettei de wa nai no desu ga, Amerika e ikō to omotte imasu.) |
| 校長 (kōchō) : アメリカか。私もアメリカに留学したことがある。カリフォルニアは、楽しかったな。君はどこへ？(Amerika ka. Watashi mo Amerika ni ryūgaku shita koto ga aru. Kariforunia wa, tanoshikatta na. Kimi wa doko e?) |
| ちぐさ (Chigusa) : ニューヨークへ行こうと思っています。(Nyū yōku e ikō to omotte imasu.) |
| 校長 (kōchō) : ニューヨークもいいね。頑張って。(Nyū yōku mo ii ne. Ganbatte.) |
| Yoshi: もう一度お願いします。ゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do onegai shimasu. Yukkuri onegai shimasu.) |
| 校長 (kōchō) : 君は来年卒業だね。(Kimi wa rainen sotsugyō da ne.) |
| ちぐさ (Chigusa) : はい、そうです。(Hai, sō desu.) |
| 校長 (kōchō) : 進路はどうする？(Shinro wa dō suru?) |
| ちぐさ (Chigusa) : まだ決定ではないのですが、アメリカへ行こうと思っています。(Mada kettei de wa nai no desu ga, Amerika e ikō to omotte imasu.) |
| 校長 (kōchō) : アメリカか。私もアメリカに留学したことがある。カリフォルニアは、楽しかったな。君はどこへ？(Amerika ka. Watashi mo Amerika ni ryūgaku shita koto ga aru. Kariforunia wa, tanoshikatta na. Kimi wa doko e?) |
| ちぐさ (Chigusa) : ニューヨークへ行こうと思っています。(Nyū yōku e ikō to omotte imasu.) |
| 校長 (kōchō) : ニューヨークもいいね。頑張って。(Nyū yōku mo ii ne. Ganbatte.) |
| Chigusa: 次は、ピーターさんの英語が入ります。(Tsugi wa, Pītā-san no Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 校長 (kōchō) : 君は来年卒業だね。(Kimi wa rainen sotsugyō da ne.) |
| PRINCIPAL: You're graduating next year, are you not? |
| ちぐさ (Chigusa) : はい、そうです。(Hai, sō desu.) |
| CHIGUSA: Yes, that's right. |
| 校長 (kōchō) : 進路はどうする？(Shinro wa dō suru?) |
| PRINCIPAL: What's your agenda? |
| ちぐさ (Chigusa) : まだ決定ではないのですが、アメリカへ行こうと思っています。(Mada kettei de wa nai no desu ga, Amerika e ikō to omotte imasu.) |
| CHIGUSA: I haven't decided, but I'm thinking about going to America. |
| 校長 (kōchō) : アメリカか。私もアメリカに留学したことがある。カリフォルニアは、楽しかったな。君はどこへ？(Amerika ka. Watashi mo Amerika ni ryūgaku shita koto ga aru. Kariforunia wa, tanoshikatta na. Kimi wa doko e?) |
| PRINCIPAL: America. I've studied in America. California was awesome, dude. Where are you going? |
| ちぐさ (Chigusa) : ニューヨークへ行こうと思っています。(Nyū yōku e ikō to omotte imasu.) |
| CHIGUSA: I'm thinking I'll go to New York. |
| 校長 (kōchō) : ニューヨークもいいね。頑張って。(Nyū yōku mo ii ne. Ganbatte.) |
| PRINCIPAL: New York is also nice. Hang in there. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: Yoshi-san, let’s ask Nasuko-san, what she thought of today’s conversation. |
| Yoshi: ナツコさん、今日の会話はどうでしたか。(Natsuko-san, kyō no kaiwa wa dō deshita ka.) |
| Natsuko: いいですね、私もアメリカに行きたいなあ。(Ii desu ne, watashi mo Amerika ni ikitai nā.) |
| Peter: English please. |
| Natsuko: Sounds good and I wish I could go to the US, too. |
| Peter: Me too. |
| Natsuko: Oh yes, definitely. |
| Peter: It’s been a while and Yoshi-san, I know you are in too, right? |
| Yoshi: I am dying to go back. |
| Peter: Ah. ナツコさん、よしさんに聞きましょう。(Natsuko-san, Yoshi-san ni kikimashō.) Which does he like better, west coast or east coast because Yoshi has lived both in California and New York. |
| Natsuko: Oh wow! |
| Peter: Let’s ask him. |
| Natsuko: よしさん、ニューヨークとカリフォルニアとどっちが好きですか。(Yoshi-san, Nyū yōku to Kariforunia to dotchi ga suki desu ka.) |
| Peter: Put him on the spot. |
| Yoshi: 難しい質問ですね。カリフォルニアも大好きだけど、ニューヨークもすごい楽しかったな。(Muzukashii shitsumon desu ne. Kariforunia mo daisuki da kedo, Nyū yōku mo sugoi tanoshikatta na.) |
| Peter: English please. |
| Yoshi: It’s a tough question. I like them both. California is like my second home now but New York, I definitely want to go back. |
| Peter: Yoshi being from New York, there is only one right answer to this question. |
| Yoshi: Umm…. |
| Peter: Okay, okay… |
| Yoshi: California, New York. |
| Natsuko: Don’t get biased. |
| Yoshi: Maybe I will take Chicago. Hi Risa-san! Take one in between. |
| Natsuko: In between. |
| Yoshi: Yeah. |
| Peter: Diplomatic answer there. Okay, let’s take a look at today’s vocabulary. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Natsuko: 進路 (shinro) |
| Peter: Course, path. |
| Natsuko: (slow) 進路 (shinro) (natural speed) 進路 (shinro) |
| Peter: Sample sentence, please. |
| Natsuko: 親と卒業後の進路について話し合う。(Oya to sotsugyōgo no shinro ni tsuite hanashiau.) |
| Peter: To talk with your parents about what to do after graduation. |
| Natsuko: 今後の台風の進路に気を付けてください。(Kongo no taifū no shinro ni ki o tsukete kudasai.) |
| Peter: Watch out for this typhoon’s path. Keep an eye out for the path of this typhoon. Next word. |
| Yoshi: 決定 (kettei) |
| Peter: Decision, resolution. |
| Yoshi: (slow) けってい (kettei) (natural speed) 決定 (kettei) |
| Peter: Can we make this into a verb? Again, this is a noun we are dealing with now. Yoshi-san, can we make this into a verb? |
| Yoshi: 決定する (kettei suru) |
| Peter: To decide. How about a sample sentence? |
| Yoshi: その案に決定しましょう。(Sono an ni kettei shimashō.) |
| Peter: Let’s decide on that idea. Okay, next we have |
| Natsuko: 留学 (ryūgaku) |
| Peter: Studying abroad. |
| Natsuko: (slow) りゅうがく (ryūgaku) (natural speed) 留学 (ryūgaku) |
| Peter: Now let’s take a look at this word. Natsuko-san, this is made up of two kanji, two Chinese characters. What’s the meaning of the first one? |
| Natsuko: Stay. |
| Peter: Stay. And the second character? |
| Natsuko: Study. |
| Peter: Stay study. So let’s reverse around a bit, study-stay, study and staying abroad. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: The trick here is staying abroad. It doesn’t work inside. It’s not a domestic exchange or something like this. It’s not going to study at another school domestically, it’s overseas, exclusive. |
| Natsuko: And recently, it’s very popular for Japanese students to stay abroad and study. |
| Peter: Yes. ナツコさん、留学したことありますか。(Natsuko-san, ryūgaku shita koto arimasu ka.) |
| Natsuko: ありません。(Arimasen.) |
| Peter: Hah? |
| Natsuko: Well I have an experience of studying abroad, but it was just like my parents had a work outside Japan. I just went with them and came back. So I didn’t go there with my will. |
| Peter: Not on your own will? |
| Natsuko: Yes, my parents decided. So that’s why you don’t call that 留学 (ryūgaku). |
| Peter: I see. Now Yoshi on the other hand. |
| Yoshi: はい、留学しました。(Hai, ryūgaku shimashita.) |
| Peter: Because you wanted to go, right? |
| Yoshi: Yes. |
| Peter: And that’s the whole key. Thank you very much, Natsuko-san, explained to a T. |
| Natsuko: I hope it works. |
| Peter: Perfectly. Okay, so now that we have all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at the conversation. Let’s get the first line, one more time. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Yoshi: 君は来年卒業だね。(Kimi wa rainen sotsugyō da ne.) |
| Peter: So we have 君 (kimi) which is you but speaking to someone at the same level who you are on intimate terms with or someone lower than you and even if you use it with someone lower than you, there has to be that established relationship inside a company or inside a school or something like this. If you meet a complete strange even though they are younger than you, it may be a bit embracive to use 君 (kimi) right away, followed by |
| Yoshi: 来年卒業だね (rainen sotsugyō da ne) |
| Peter: Next year graduation right. Literal translation. Again, when we interpret it, you are graduating next year, right? Okay, let’s look at a couple of things here. First the word for next year. |
| Yoshi: 来年 (rainen) |
| Peter: Break it down. |
| Yoshi: (slow) らいねん (rainen) (natural speed) 来年 (rainen) |
| Peter: Followed by |
| Yoshi: 卒業 (sotsugyō) |
| Peter: Graduation. |
| Yoshi: (slow) そつぎょう (sotsugyō) (natural speed) 卒業 (sotsugyō) |
| Peter: Okay. So these two words, followed by |
| Yoshi: だね (da ne) |
| Peter: Here the ね (ne) is acting as a tag question. You are graduating next year, right? Next year's graduation, right? So the principal, kind of, is familiar with the student. Probably he knows what level or grade that student is in and just making small talk, followed by |
| Natsuko: はい、そうです。(Hai, sō desu.) |
| Peter: Pretty straightforward. Yes, that's right. |
| Yoshi: 進路はどうする？(Shinro wa dō suru?) |
| Peter: Path, what do is the literal translation, path what do. Again we have to interpret here. What will you do path or what path will you take? The question is directed at the listener. So in this case, it’s you, what will you do? What path will you take? |
| Natsuko: まだ決定ではないのですが、アメリカへ行こうと思っています。(Mada kettei de wa nai no desu ga, Amerika e ikō to omotte imasu.) |
| Peter: Still no decision but America will go I think, literally is that’s what we have. Now let’s get in here and just break this down. まだ (mada) still okay, no decision 決定ではないのですが (kettei de wa nai no desu ga) still no decision but we have America. America to, again we have to reverse this, to America. Then 行こう (ikō), again remember from informal lessons. This is the plain volitional, shall we do something but here when it’s followed by |
| Natsuko: と思う (to omō) |
| Peter: To think. When it’s followed by this, it’s talking about the subject, what the subject thinks to do. In this case, the subject is the speaker and she is talking about America, going to America. So here she is thinking about going to America. When you have the plain volitional followed by と思う (to omō) it’s talking about what the subject is thinking about doing and today’s grammar point. Natsuko-san, what’s today’s grammar point? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Natsuko: しようと思っている (shiyō to omotte iru) |
| Peter: Thinking of doing. As we said, we use the plain volitional, followed by the particle |
| Natsuko: と (to) |
| Peter: And followed by |
| Natsuko: 思っている (omotte iru) |
| Peter: Present progressive of the verb |
| Natsuko: 思う (omō) |
| Peter: To think. To think of doing something. In the dialogue, we had |
| Natsuko: アメリカへ行こうと思っています。(Amerika e ikō to omotte imasu.) |
| Peter: Thinking of going to America. Thinking of doing, thinking of going to America. Yoshi-san, can you give us another example? |
| Yoshi: 今夜お寿司を食べようと思っている。(Kon’ya o-sushi o tabeyō to omotte iru.) |
| Peter: I’m thinking of eating sushi tonight. And here we have the present progressive, 思っている (omotte iru), I’m thinking of doing this. Thinking of doing something. This is a very useful grammar point, especially when talking about the future. Thinking about doing, but not 100% certain of. In the dialogue, she is thinking of going to America, but things haven’t been finalized, school hasn’t been found, or she hasn’t gotten the money or she is still waiting to hear answers in this and that. |
Outro |
| Peter: All right, we would like to keep on through this, but unfortunately we are out of time. All right, I think that’s going to do for it today. |
| Natsuko: じゃあ、また明日ね。(Jā, mata ashita ne.) |
| Yoshi: またね。(Mata ne.) |
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