Learn how to say that you don't speak Japanese well
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Business Japanese for Beginners, Season 1 Lesson 14 - Switching to English. Eric here. |
| Natsuko: こんにちは。 奈津子です。 |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say that you don't speak Japanese well, and ask if it's okay to speak in English. The conversation takes place in an office. |
| Natsuko: It's between Linda and the woman who answered her call. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers and it’s a business call, so they’ll be using formal Japanese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Woman: はい、あおい銀行でございます。 |
| Linda: ABCコーポレーションのベーカー リンダと申します。いつもお世話になっております。 |
| Woman:いつもお世話になっております。 |
| Linda: すみません、まだ 日本語がよく分かりません。英語でいいですか。 |
| Woman: はい、どうぞ。 |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Woman: はい、あおい銀行でございます。 |
| Linda: ABCコーポレーションのベーカー リンダと申します。いつもお世話になっております。 |
| Woman:いつもお世話になっております。 |
| Linda: すみません、まだ 日本語がよく分かりません。英語でいいですか。 |
| Woman: はい、どうぞ。 |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Woman: This is AOI Bank. How can I help you? |
| Linda: Hello. I’m Linda Baker of ABC corporation. Thank you for your business. |
| Woman: And for yours as well. |
| Linda: I’m sorry, but I don’t understand Japanese very well yet. Can I speak in English? |
| Woman: Yes, of course. Please go ahead. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Natsuko, do many Japanese companies provide English services? |
| Natsuko: Well… it depends on the business or area, but it’s true that more and more companies or places are offering bilingual or multilingual services. For example, you’ll sometimes hear English announcements at train stations and department stores. |
| Eric: Right. I also get the impression that the number of Japanese people who speak English is increasing. |
| Natsuko: Maybe it’s still not enough, but you’re right. The Japanese government is now promoting tourism and they’re trying to make our country more friendly to tourists. |
| Eric: Even if you speak Japanese well, it’s always nice to have someone who speaks your native language, especially in a complicated business situation or an emergency situation, isn’t it? |
| Natsuko: I agree. In this lesson’s dialogue, Linda asked if it was okay to speak in English. She said 英語でいいですか？ |
| Eric: Even though she speaks Japanese, maybe she thought it would be faster for her to speak in English, or that the subject matter was going to go beyond her level. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Natsuko: よく [natural native speed] |
| Eric: well, very, often (Adv) |
| Natsuko: よく[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: よく [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: 分かりません [natural native speed] |
| Eric: I don't understand |
| Natsuko: 分かりません[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: 分かりません [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: 日本語 [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Japanese |
| Natsuko: 日本語[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: 日本語 [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: 英語 [natural native speed] |
| Eric: English |
| Natsuko: 英語[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: 英語 [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: いい [natural native speed] |
| Eric: good, nice, pleasant, fine (Adj(i)) |
| Natsuko: いい[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: いい [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: どうぞ [natural native speed] |
| Eric: please, here you are |
| Natsuko: どうぞ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: どうぞ [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last... |
| Natsuko: まだ [natural native speed] |
| Eric: still, yet (Adv.) |
| Natsuko: まだ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: まだ [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first expression is.. |
| Natsuko: はい、どうぞ。 |
| Eric: meaning "Yes, please go ahead." |
| Natsuko: はい means “yes” and どうぞ basically means “please” as in “please go ahead.” So altogether, はいどうぞ means "Yes, please go ahead." |
| Eric: In this lesson’s dialogue, Linda asked if it was okay to use English. And the woman said ... |
| Natsuko: はい、どうぞ |
| Eric: To mean "It's okay, please go ahead and speak in English." So when someone asks you if it’s OK to do something, you can respond with this phrase if it’s not a problem. |
| Natsuko: はい、どうぞ can also be translated as “Here you are” in English. |
| Eric: Right. You can use it when you’re handing something to someone. Natsuko, can you give us an example using this word? |
| Natsuko: Sure. If someone asks you...ペン、使ってもいいですか。 |
| Eric: ..which means "Can I use your pen?” |
| Natsuko: You can give him or her the pen saying はい、どうぞ。 |
| Eric: “Sure, here you are. " Okay, what's the next word? |
| Natsuko: まだ |
| Eric: meaning "still” or “yet." When it's used in an affirmative sentence, it’s translated as “still," and when used in a negative sentence, it’s translated as "yet." Let’s give some examples. Natsuko, how do you say “it’s 3 o’clock” in Japanese? |
| Natsuko: 三時です。 |
| Eric: “It’s 3 o’clock.” How do you say “it’s STILL 3 o’clock” in Japanese? |
| Natsuko: まだ３時です。 |
| Eric: “It’s still 3 o’clock.” Notice that our word comes at the beginning of the sentence. |
| Natsuko: Listeners, here’s a quiz for you. 三時じゃありません means “it’s not 3 o’clock”, doesn’t it? So how do you translate まだ三時じゃありません into English? |
| Eric:... This is a negative sentence so you have to use the translation of “yet” … |
| Natsuko: So…? |
| Eric: “It’s not 3 o’clock yet.” |
| Natsuko: Right! The usage of まだ is a little complicated, so make sure to read the lesson notes. |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say that you don't speak Japanese well, and ask if it's okay to speak in English. |
| Natsuko: The sentences we’ll tackle are… すみません、まだ 日本語がよくわかりません。英語でいいですか。 |
| Eric: “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand Japanese well yet. Can I speak in English?” Let’s divide this into three parts and take a closer look at each component. At the very beginning, we have… |
| Natsuko: すみません |
| Eric:which means “I’m sorry” or “excuse me.” When you make a request, you should start with this phrase. Secondly, we have... |
| Natsuko:まだ日本語がよくわかりません。 |
| Eric: “I don’t understand Japanese very well yet.” Let’s break down this sentence. |
| Natsuko: まだ |
| Eric: “yet” |
| Natsuko: 日本語 |
| Eric: “Japanese language” |
| Natsuko:が |
| Eric: a particle |
| Natsuko:よく |
| Eric: “well” |
| Natsuko: わかりません |
| Eric: “don’t understand.” Can we hear the sentence again? |
| Natsuko: まだ日本語がよくわかりません。 |
| Eric: “I don’t understand Japanese very well yet.” Probably the most important grammar here is the usage of the particle ga. You have to mark what you don’t understand with ga. |
| Natsuko:Right. 日本語 が わかりません [Natsuko, please read it a little slowly.] |
| Eric: “I don’t understand Japanese.” |
| Natsuko: 漢字 or Chinese characters. So... 漢字 が わかりません。 |
| Eric: “I don’t understand kanji” or “I don’t know any kanji.” Did you get it? |
| Natsuko: If you say “something” がわかりません, it sounds like you don’t understand something at all. For example, when you say 日本語がわかりません, it sounds like you don’t understand Japanese at all. If you do understand some Japanese, but not very well….in that case, add よく right before わかりません. As in 日本語 が よくわかりません |
| Eric: “I don’t understand Japanese very well.” All right. Let’s look at the last sentence. |
| Natsuko:英語でいいですか。 |
| Eric: Which literally means “is it fine with English?” or “Is it okay to talk in English?” We know the words for “English” and how to say “is it okay?” or “is it fine?”...but what’s the particle here? |
| Natsuko: で is a particle and in this case, it’s equivalent to the English preposition, “in.” |
| Eric: I see. So it means “in English.” |
| Natsuko: Exactly. |
| Eric: Can we hear some examples? |
| Natsuko: Sure. ひらがなでいいですか。 |
| Eric: “Is Hiranaga okay?” or “Can I write it in hiragana?” |
| Natsuko: Maybe the speaker is filling in a form, but he or she can’t write in kanji so they need to ask if it’s okay to write in Hiragana. |
| Eric: If you want to write in romaji, what would you say? |
| Natsuko: ローマ字でいいですか。 |
| Eric: Literally “Is it fine with romanization?” or “Can I write it romanized?” OK. Let’s recap. Natsuko, can we hear the sentences we learned in this section? |
| Natsuko: OK.すみません、まだ 日本語がよくわかりません。英語でいいですか。 |
| Eric: “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand Japanese well yet. Can I speak in English?” Listeners, it’s your turn. You’re at a city office and filling in a form, but you don’t know many kanji yet. Ask the clerk if it’s okay to write in hiragana. Make sure you start with “Excuse me…” |
| Natsuko: …Next you give the reason… “I don’t know kanji very well yet” |
| Eric: Finally, ask permission. “Is it okay to write it in hiragana?” …. (Give listeners some time) |
| Eric: Were you able to say them in Japanese? Natsuko, the answer is? |
| Natsuko: すみません、まだ漢字がよく分かりません。ひらがなでいいですか。 |
| Eric: Did you get the right answer? |
| Natsuko: I hope so! |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Natsuko: またねー |
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