Learn about a polite expression often used towards customers
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natsuko:こんにちは。なつこです。 (Konnichiwa. Natsuko desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. Post Office #1. Natsuko-san, in Japanese, “post office” is... |
| Natsuko: 郵便局 (yūbinkyoku) |
| Peter: We covered this in a previous Survival Phrases lesson. |
| Natsuko: Oh yes. |
| Peter: A while back but today, we are going to get into a little more detail. So for anybody who is interested, maybe before you hear this one, you want to check out that lesson and I think if you hear that one, this one will go much smoother. |
| Natsuko: You are right. |
| Peter: But with that said, today’s lesson covers a lot of really good grammar points, ones that we covered in the previous season. Natsuko-san, when was the last time you went to the post office? |
| Natsuko: Ah, quite a while. |
| Peter: Well, now in Japan, you can mail letters from convenience stores. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: There are people with post office signs, a little T with a line above it everywhere. So you don’t necessarily have to go to the post office. Most of the time you go to the post office in Japan for...? |
| Natsuko: Sending parcels. |
| Peter: Really? I would say for banking. |
| Natsuko: Oh yeah right. |
| Peter: But that’s a whole another lesson. Today we are going to talk about sending parcels. With that said, Natsuko-san, shall we? |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| マサノリ:すみません。これをイギリスに送りたいのですが。 |
| Masanori:Sumimasen. Kore o Igirisu ni okuritai n desu ga. |
| 局員:小包ですか。 |
| Kyokuin:Kozutsumi desu ka. |
| マサノリ:はい。 |
| Masanori:Hai. |
| 局員:航空便と船便とありますが、どちらになさいますか。 |
| Kyokuin:Kōkūbin to funabin to arimasu ga, dochira ni nasaimasu ka. |
| マサノリ:着くのに、どれくらい差がありますか。 |
| Masanori:Tsuku no ni, dore kurai sa ga arimasu ka. |
| 局員:船便ですと、航空便より料金は安いですが、1カ月くらいかかります。航空便ですと、1週間以内には着きます。 |
| Kyokuin:Funabin desu to, kōkūbin yori ryōkin wa yasui desu ga, ikkagetsu kurai kakarimasu. Kōkūbin desu to, isshūkan inai ni wa tsukimasu. |
| マサノリ:どうしようかな…。 |
| Masanori:Dō shiyō ka na.... |
| もう一度お願いします。ゆっくりお願いします。 |
| (Mōichido onegaishimasu. Yukkuri onegaishimasu.) |
| マサノリ:すみません。これをイギリスに送りたいのですが。 |
| Masanori:Sumimasen. Kore o Igirisu ni okuritai n desu ga. |
| 局員:小包ですか。 |
| Kyokuin:Kozutsumi desu ka. |
| マサノリ:はい。 |
| Masanori:Hai. |
| 局員:航空便と船便とありますが、どちらになさいますか。 |
| Kyokuin:Kōkūbin to funabin to arimasu ga, dochira ni nasaimasu ka. |
| マサノリ:着くのに、どれくらい差がありますか。 |
| Masanori:Tsuku no ni, dore kurai sa ga arimasu ka. |
| 局員:船便ですと、航空便より料金は安いですが、1カ月くらいかかります。航空便ですと、1週間以内には着きます。 |
| Kyokuin:Funabin desu to, kōkūbin yori ryōkin wa yasui desu ga, ikkagetsu kurai kakarimasu. Kōkūbin desu to, isshūkan inai ni wa tsukimasu. |
| マサノリ:どうしようかな…。 |
| Masanori:Dō shiyō ka na.... |
| 次は英語が入ります。 |
| (Tsugi wa eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| マサノリ:すみません。これをイギリスに送りたいのですが。 |
| Masanori:Sumimasen. Kore o Igirisu ni okuritai n desu ga. |
| Masanori: Excuse me. I'd like to send this to the U.K. |
| 局員:小包ですか。 |
| Kyokuin:Kozutsumi desu ka. |
| Post Office Staff: Is it a parcel? |
| マサノリ:はい。 |
| Masanori:Hai. |
| Masanori: Yes. |
| 局員:航空便と船便とありますが、どちらになさいますか。 |
| Kyokuin:Kōkūbin to funabin to arimasu ga, dochira ni nasaimasu ka. |
| Post Office Staff: There's airmail and surface mail. Which would you like to use? |
| マサノリ:着くのに、どれくらい差がありますか。 |
| Masanori:Tsuku no ni, dore kurai sa ga arimasu ka. |
| Masanori: How much difference will there be in the delivery time? |
| 局員:船便ですと、航空便より料金は安いですが、1カ月くらいかかります。航空便ですと、1週間以内には着きます。 |
| Kyokuin:Funabin desu to, kōkūbin yori ryōkin wa yasui desu ga, ikkagetsu kurai kakarimasu. Kōkūbin desu to, isshūkan inai ni wa tsukimasu. |
| Post Office Staff: Surface mail is cheaper than airmail, but it will take about a month (for your package to reach its destination.) Airmail will get it there in about a week. |
| マサノリ:どうしようかな…。 |
| Masanori:Dō shiyō ka na.... |
| Masanori: I wonder what I should do... |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: ナツコさん、今日の会話どう思いましたか？ (Natsukosan, kyō no kaiwa dō omoimashita ka?) |
| Natsuko: うーん、航空便は高いんですよね？ (U ̄ n, kōkū-bin wa takai n desu yo ne?) |
| Peter: Yep airmail is expensive. |
| Natsuko: Well, maybe it depends on the destination but I think it can be quite expensive. |
| Peter: Comparatively definitely expensive but then again the boat is about three months land mail. |
| Natsuko: Not three months! |
| Peter: Three months and things go missing at each stop. |
| Natsuko: Umm really? |
| Peter: I have no idea. Ah well, let’s take a look at today’s vocab and Natsuko-san, what do we have first? |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Natsuko: 郵便局 (yūbinkyoku) |
| Peter: Post office. |
| Natsuko: ゆ・う・び・ん・きょ・く「郵便局」 (Yu u bi nki ~yo ku `yūbinkyoku') |
| Peter: Next we have |
| Natsuko 局員 (kyokuin) |
| Peter: Staff. |
| Natsuko: きょ・く・い・ん「局員」 (Ki ~yo ku i n `kyokuin') |
| Peter: Natsuko-san, can 局員 (kyokuin) be used in all types of situations? |
| Natsuko: No, I don’t think so. It’s only used for organizations with 局 |
| Peter: At the end. |
| Natsuko: Yes. So like 放送局 (hōsōkyoku) |
| Peter: All right. Here is my question for you. Sometimes drug stores... |
| Natsuko: 薬局 (yakkyoku) |
| Peter: 薬局 (yakkyoku) |
| Natsuko: Yes, right. |
| Peter: So can we say 局員 (kyokuin) in there? |
| Natsuko: I think we usually use 店員 (ten'in) |
| Peter: 店員 (ten'in) |
| Natsuko: Because it’s a store, store clerk. |
| Peter: Got it. So the “pharmacy” in Japan is |
| Natsuko: 薬局 (yakkyoku) |
| Peter: But I think it’s a bit of a different nuance between the two types of organizations. |
| Natsuko: You are right. |
| Peter: Next we have |
| Natsuko: 小包 (kodzutsumi) |
| Peter: Parcel, package. |
| Natsuko: こ・づ・つ・み「小包」 (Ko dzutsu mi `kodzutsumi') |
| Peter: And the kanji here, first character means |
| Natsuko: 小（こ） (Ko [ko]) small. |
| Peter: Second character |
| Natsuko: 包（つつみ） (Tsutsumi [tsutsumi]) Package. |
| Peter: Yeah to wrap up. Small wrap up, package. Next we have |
| Natsuko: 航空便 (kōkū-bin) |
| Peter: Airmail. |
| Natsuko: こ・う・く・う・び・ん「航空便」 (Ko u ku u bi n `kōkū-bin') |
| Peter: Two words here. First we have |
| Natsuko: 航空 (kōkū) |
| Peter: Which is |
| Natsuko: Aviation. |
| Peter: Nice word Natsuko-san. I knew that one too. Let’s just move on to the next one. |
| Natsuko: 便 (ben) |
| Peter: Which is |
| Natsuko: flight. |
| Peter: So aviation flight. |
| Natsuko: But 便 (ben) also means “mail.” |
| Peter: Yes. Two meanings for well, several meanings for the word 便 (ben) and one of them is “mail”. So we have “aviation mail”. Next we have |
| Natsuko: 船便 (funabin) |
| Peter: Surface mail. |
| Natsuko: ふ・な・び・ん「船便」 (funa bi n `funabin') |
| Peter: Now the first character here is actually |
| Natsuko: 船 (fune) ship |
| Peter: So “ship mail” but I guess if there is no water, this would include. |
| Natsuko: Ah, that's because it’s in Japan. |
| Peter: Yeah. |
| Natsuko: You now going overseas, it will literally be overseas, you have to go through some kind of water. |
| Peter: Yes. |
| Natsuko: To go to a foreign country from Japan. |
| Peter: Exactly. Now my question for you like this new fad, my new question for you is, what do Japanese people say when they are in a foreign country and they are going to use surface mail. For example, if they are in Shanghai and they are going to send something to Mongolia and they are talking about surface mail, how would you say that? |
| Natsuko: I am not sure because that’s in an occasion that’s never happened here in Japan. |
| Peter: You should have said, I’d ship it to Korea and then back over. Yeah so that’s something to look into. Can you call the embassy or the consulate in Shanghai? |
| Natsuko: I am not sure. |
| Peter: Next we have |
| Natsuko: 差 (sa) |
| Peter: Difference, variation. |
| Natsuko: 差 (sa) |
| Peter: Next we have |
| Natsuko: 料金 (ryōkin) |
| Peter: Fee, charge, fare. |
| Natsuko: りょ・う・き・ん「料金」 (Ri ~yo uki n `ryōkin') |
| Peter: Followed by |
| Natsuko: かかる (kakaru) |
| Peter: Take time. |
| Natsuko: か・か・る「かかる」 (ka karu `kakaru') |
| Peter: Also we should point out here, I think “take” is probably a better translation because it can also “take money” どのぐらいかかる (dono gurai kakaru) |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: So context here. So “take” as in “take time” or “take money.” |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: Next we have |
| Natsuko: どれくらい (dorekurai) |
| Peter: How long, how much. |
| Natsuko: ど・れ・く・ら・い「どれくらい」 (do re ku-ra i `dorekurai') |
| Peter: Can you give me a sample sentence? |
| Natsuko: ここから駅まで、どれくらい時間がかかりますか？ (Koko kara eki made, dorekurai jikan ga kakarimasu ka?) |
| Peter: “From here to the station, how long does it take?” Now notice the time here どれくらい時間がかかりますか？ (Dorekurai jikan ga kakarimasu ka?) If we didn’t have the time here and you want a taxi. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: This can mean “money.” In the sentence |
| Natsuko: ここから駅まで、どれくらいかかりますか？ (Koko kara eki made, dore kurai kakarimasu ka?) |
| Peter: “From here to the station, about how much money would it take?” |
| Natsuko: Yeah it can mean both. |
| Peter: It can mean both, again context. And we have |
| Natsuko: 着く (tsuku) |
| Peter: To arrive at, to reach. |
| Natsuko: つ・く「着く」 (tsu ku `tsuku') |
| Peter: The first speaker. Let’s take a look at the first thing he said, not the first part but the second sentence. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Natsuko: これをイギリスに送りたいのですが。 (Kore o Igirisu ni okuritai no desu ga.) |
| Peter: “I want to send this to England”. The latter part ～たいのですが (~tai no desu ga) this is kind of set. |
| Natsuko: Oh yes. |
| Peter: When asking for something. Now I will get into this in a minute but before that, let’s just run through this really quick. First we have |
| Natsuko: これ (kore) |
| Peter: This followed by |
| Natsuko: を (o) |
| Peter: Object marker. |
| Natsuko: イギリス (igirisu) |
| Peter: England |
| Natsuko: に (ni) |
| Peter: “To”. Particle に (ni) here is marking direction, “to”. |
| Natsuko: 送りたい (okuritai) |
| Peter: Want to send. |
| Natsuko: ～のですが (~ no desu ga) |
| Peter: “This England to I want to send.” That’s what we have literally. I want to send this to England. When expressing your desire to do something, you can soften it a bit by adding |
| Natsuko: ～のですが (~ no desu ga) |
| Peter: Or |
| Natsuko: ～んですが (~ n desu ga) |
| Peter: Which is a contraction of “no”. And this shows your emphasis but the guy at the end softens it. So it doesn’t come across as so coarse. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: But smoother, a bit more polite. |
| Natsuko: Yes. It’s like asking their advice, asking the person’s advice because like what shall I do is inferred after が (ga). |
| Peter: So “I want to do this but” |
| Natsuko: But… |
| Peter: “What do I do...” |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Even though you know what you are doing. Thank you Natsuko-san. And then we have, let’s just run through these lines. We are not going to go through them. |
| Natsuko: 小包ですか？ (Kodzutsumi desu ka?) |
| Peter: Is it a small package? |
| Natsuko: はい (hai) |
| Peter: Yes. |
| Natsuko: 航空便と船便とありますが、どちらになさいますか？ (Kōkū-bin to funabin to arimasu ga, dochira ni nasaimasu ka?) |
| Peter: “We have airmail and surface mail. Which will it be?” Some very polite Japanese in here, but before we get into that, let’s look at the first part. |
| Natsuko: 航空便 (kōkū-bin) |
| Peter: Airmail. |
| Natsuko: と (to) |
| Peter: And the particle と (to) in there. And |
| Natsuko: 船便 (funabin) |
| Peter: Surface mail. |
| Natsuko: ありますが (arimasu ga) |
| Peter: Here we have と (to) again followed by |
| Natsuko: ありますが (arimasu ga) |
| Peter: We have both but… |
| Natsuko: But…”What shall I do” is inferred after が (ga) |
| Peter: So notice how we have と (to) twice. We have airmail and we have surface mail. |
| Natsuko: ありますが (arimasu ga) |
| Peter: There is |
| Natsuko: どちらになさいますか？ (Dochira ni nasaimasu ka?) |
| Peter: Which will it be? Now どちら (dochira) is polite for |
| Natsuko: どっち (dotchi) |
| Peter: Which になさる (ni nasaru) This is the extremely polite Japanese 尊敬語 (sonkei-go) for する (suru) which is “do”. So literally “which do will you.” “Which will you do” or “which one will you use?” Now first, in order to really understand this, let’s break it down to lowest common denominator どちら (dochira) becomes |
| Natsuko: どっち (dotchi) |
| Peter: に (ni) stays the same. Then we have |
| Natsuko: する. (Suru.) |
| Peter: So どっちにする (dotchi ni suru) which will it be |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: If you go out to a restaurant with your friends and you are looking at the menu |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: I could say to Natsuko |
| Natsuko: どっちにする？ (Dotchi ni suru?) |
| Peter: Okay. Natsuko can say to Peter どっちにする？ (Dotchi ni suru?) “Which will it be?” Now if it’s in a more polite situation, let’s take it up one level of politeness. |
| Natsuko: どちらにしますか？ (Dochira ni shimasu ka?) |
| Peter: So this is more polite. So maybe when you are first getting to know someone どちらにしますか？ (Dochira ni shimasu ka?) So する (suru) becomes しますか (shimasu ka) but here this is a very polite situation. |
| Natsuko: どちらになさいますか？ (Dochira ni nasaimasu ka?) |
| Peter: Let’s take it up one more notch of politeness. Let’s show you the root form of this verb. |
| Natsuko: なさる (nasaru) |
| Peter: It means “to do”. It’s the 尊敬語 (sonkei-go) Extremely polite Japanese for “to do.” |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: So どちらになさる (dochira ni nasaru) “which will it be” but this verb must be in its polite form. So we have the polite form of an extremely polite Japanese verb. |
| Natsuko: なさいます (nasaimasu) |
| Peter: And we have |
| Natsuko: か (ka) |
| Peter: Question marking particle. So “which will it be”. Then he asks a question. |
| Natsuko: 着くのにどれくらい差がありますか？ (Tsuku no ni dorekurai-sa ga arimasu ka?) |
| Peter: “For it to get there, about how big is the difference.” So Natsuko-san, what part here, what tells us that we are talking about time? |
| Natsuko: He says 着くのに (tsuku no ni) |
| Peter: And this gives it away. “Arrive to, arrive for.” “For arrival, to arrival.” |
| Natsuko: Yes it’s like “as for arrival.” |
| Peter: Nice. “As for arrival. About how long, about how big is the difference?” |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And again we are talking about time. Then we have |
| Natsuko: 船便ですと、航空便より料金は安いですが (Funabin desu to, kōkū-bin yori ryōkin wa yasui desu ga) |
| Peter: “Surface mail is cheaper than airmail but” |
| Natsuko: 1カ月くらいかかります。 (Ikkagetsu kurai kakarimasu.) |
| Peter: “It takes about one month.” Now literally surface mail, this ですと (desu to) is the conditional “if.” It marks the conditional If. “If it’s surface mail, airmail, then fee cheap” but that’s the literal translation. “If surface mail airmail then cheap fee but. If it’s surface mail, it’s cheaper, lower than airmail but it takes about one month.” Then we have |
| Natsuko: 航空便ですと、1週間くらいで着きます。 (Kōkū-bin desu to, iishūkan kurai de tsukimasu.) |
| Peter: “If you use airmail, it will take about one week” and then he is left to think. |
| Natsuko: どうしようかな。 (Dō shiyou ka na.) |
| Peter: So here, he is thinking to himself and here the かな (ka na) comes in because he is thinking about what to do speaking to himself. That’s why up until now, we had all polite Japanese and now we have informal. |
Outro |
| Peter: All right Natsuko-san, I think that’s going to do it for today. |
| Natsuko: A lot of information. |
| Peter: Information overload. We will be back with part 2 next week. That’s going to do it for today. |
| Natsuko: それじゃあ、また今度。 (Sore jā, mata kondo.) |
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