Learn how to cancel an engagement at the last minute
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone! Welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Japanese for Everyday Life Lower Intermediate Series, Lesson 20 - Cancelling an Appointment at the Last Minute. |
| Kaori: こんにちは！古橋香織 です！Hi everyone, Kaori Furuhashi here! |
| Becky: I'm Becky. In this lesson, you'll learn a useful social skill - How to cancel your appointment at the last minute. |
| Kaori: Beckyさん、参加することにしていたパーティを直前にキャンセルしなければならなくなったことはありますか。 |
| Becky: Yes, I've canceled plans that I had made quite a few times. Usually because work suddenly came up, I got sick, or something else urgent happened. |
| Kaori: そうですよね。急ぎの仕事が入ったり、病気になったり、いろいろなことが突然起きますからね。 |
| Becky: When you have to cancel going to a party the day before, what would you say to start with? |
| Kaori: 実は、明日のパーティに行けなくなってしまったんです。 |
| Becky: "Actually, I’m afraid I can’t go to the party tomorrow. ” |
| Kaori: 行けなくなったことを伝えること、その理由を説明すること、そして、そのほかに、何を伝えたらいいと思いますか。 |
| Becky: What's another thing you should say in addition to saying that you can’t go, and explaining the reason? I think it’s good to say that you feel sorry you had to cancel. |
| Kaori: そうですね。自分もキャンセルしなければならないことを残念に思っていることを伝えるといいですね。 |
| MODEL DIALOG |
| Becky: Listen to the dialogue and participate when prompted by speaking aloud in Japanese. Use the patterns of Japanese you studied in the Beginner-level lessons. After you speak, you'll hear a model line of dialogue. Your answer doesn't need to be exactly the same, but do compare your response to the model line. |
| In this lesson, you'll play the role of a person talking to your coworker. Your goal is to cancel your attendance at tomorrow’s party on short notice. |
| E: You're going to talk to your co-worker, Mr. Ito. Say, “Mr. Ito, actually, I can’t make it to the party tomorrow.” |
| You: 伊藤さん、実は、明日のパーティに、行けなくなってしまったんです。 |
| Mr. Ito: え、そうなんですか。 |
| E: He said, “Oh, is that so?” Tell him, “It's suddenly been decided that I have to go on a business trip. I’m sorry.” |
| You: 急に、出張にいくことになってしまったんです。ごめんなさい。 |
| Mr. Ito: それじゃ、仕方がないですね。気にしないでください。 |
| E: He said, “You have no choice. No worries.” Say, ”I was also looking forward to the party tomorrow. So it’s a shame. Please invite me again next time." |
| You: 私も、明日のパーティ、とても楽しみにしていたんですが、残念です。また、次の機会に誘ってください。 |
| Mr. Ito: はい、次の機会には、是非。 |
| E: He said, “Sure. Definitely next time.” |
| VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Here are some useful words and phrases for this task. The first word is, |
| Kaori: 実は、 |
| Becky: "Actually," or, "to tell the truth" |
| Kaori: 実は (slow), 実は |
| Kaori: 言いにくいことを言いだす時に、文の最初に使います。 |
| Becky: You can say (J- 実は) at the beginning of a sentence when you have to say something you don't want to say. |
| Becky: Next is, |
| Kaori: 急に |
| Becky: suddenly, |
| Kaori: 急に、急に |
| Kaori: キャンセルの理由として、「急に～することになったから(E- "because you came to do something suddenly") とか、「急に～しなければならなくなったから (E- "because you had to do something suddenly") ということががありますよね。 |
| Becky: You often say “because you came to do something suddenly” or “because you had to do something suddenly” as a reason for cancellation. |
| Kaori: キャンセルの理由で、もうひとつよく使うのが、「急用」ですね。急用 |
| Becky: "urgent business," or "emergency" |
| Kaori: 急用, 急用 |
| Becky: "Because of urgent business" would be, |
| Kaori: 急用で |
| Becky: You need to add a particle indicating a reason, |
| Kaori: で |
| Kaori: 急用で |
| Becky: Here are some useful phrases for responding to a cancellation. First is, |
| Kaori: 仕方がない |
| Becky: There is no choice. |
| Kaori: 仕方がない、仕方がない、 |
| Becky: In the context of this dialog, he says so when he heard the reason, and he thought there was no choice but to cancel. |
| Kaori: 気にしない |
| Becky: Don’t worry |
| Kaori: 気にしない、気にしない |
| Kaori: 「ごめんなさい」と言われたとき、その返事として、「気にしないでください。（E- "Don’t worry."）と言います。 |
| Becky: (J- 気にしないでください） is an expression meaning “don’t worry” you can say in response to (J- ごめんなさい。) "I’m sorry." |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: Now, one of the key expressions for this task is, "Actually, I can’t make it to the party tomorrow.” |
| Kaori: 実は、明日のパーティに、行けなくなってしまったんです。 |
| Becky: The first is a phrase meaning “actually" |
| Kaori: 実は |
| Becky: The next part is a clause meaning “I can’t make it to the party tomorrow.” |
| Kaori: 明日のパーティに行けなくなってしまった。 |
| Becky: But, the basic translation of “I can’t make it to the party tomorrow”, would be, |
| Kaori: 明日のパーティに行けません。 |
| Becky: That’s just stating the fact, isn’t it? |
| Kaori: そうですね。「パーティに行けない」という事実を伝えているだけですね。でも、「パーティに行けなくなる」というと、「パーティに行ける」から、「行けない」に変わったという意味になりますね。 |
| Becky: When you use an auxiliary verb meaning “become” |
| Kaori: なる |
| Becky: and say, |
| Kaori: 行けなくなる |
| Becky: ...you can express that the situation has changed from “make it to the party” to “can’t make it to the party.” |
| Kaori: 明日のパーティに行けなくなる |
| Becky: And also, you use an auxiliary verb implying your unwillingness or regret, |
| Kaori: しまう (E- as in) 行けなくなってしまう |
| Becky: ...so that you can express that you feel sorry. |
| Becky: In this case, it’s already determined that you can’t make it, so you say it in the past tense. |
| Kaori: 明日のパーティに行けなくなってしまった。 |
| Becky: And add a sentence-ending particle explaining the situation. |
| Kaori: んです。 |
| Kaori: 明日のパーティに行けなくなってしまったんです。 |
| Becky: Let’s practice. Say, “I can’t make it to the barbecue tomorrow. “ |
| (Pause) |
| Kaori: 明日のバーベキューに行けなくなってしまったんです。 |
| Becky: Say, “I can’t make it to the movie tonight. “ |
| (Pause) |
| Kaori:今夜の映画に行けなくなってしまったんです。 |
| Becky: The next key expression is “It's suddenly been decided that I have to go on a business trip.” “Going on a business trip has been decided suddenly.” |
| Kaori: 急に、出張にいくことになってしまったんです。 |
| Becky: First is a word meaning “suddenly” |
| Kaori: 急に |
| Becky: Next is a phrase literally meaning “going on a business trip has been decided” |
| Kaori: 出張に行くことになる |
| Kaori: 自分が決めたのではなくて、他の人に決められた場合、「ことになる」といいます。 |
| Becky: You can use (J- ことになる) to express the idea that something is decided based on external factors, instead of by yourself. |
| Kaori: さらに、「しまった」を使って、「出張に行くことになってしまった」というと、自分は行きたくないという不本意な気持ち（E- your unwillingness) を伝えることができます。 |
| Becky: You use an auxiliary verb (J- しまう) here again, to express your unwillingness. |
| Kaori: 出張に行くことになってしまった |
| Becky: And again, add a sentence ending phrase to explain the situation, |
| Kaori: んです。 |
| Kaori: 出張に行くことになってしまったんです。 |
| Becky: Let’s practice! To explain the reason for canceling an appointment, say “it’s suddenly been decided that my parents will come to my place.” |
| (Pause) |
| Kaori: 急に、両親が私のうちに来ることになってしまったんです。 |
| Becky: Say, “it was decided that I had to work overtime.” "Work overtime" is (J- 残業する） |
| (Pause) |
| Kaori: 残業することになってしまったんです。 |
| TIP |
| Becky: Here is one more excuse you often hear as a reason for canceling, which is “I had an emergency.” |
| Kaori: 急用ができてしまったんです。 |
| PRACTICE OF DIALOG |
| Becky: Now try to participate in the dialogue using some alternative words you learned in this lesson. This time you'll play the role of a person who needs to cancel attending a barbecue this weekend. Use as many of the expressions you learned in this lesson as possible. Let's get started! |
| E: You're going to talk to your co-worker, Mr. Ito. Say, “Mr. Ito，actually, I can’t make it to the barbecue this weekend.” |
| You: 伊藤さん、実は、今週末のベーべキューに、行けなくなってしまったんです。 |
| Mr. Ito: え、そうなんですか。 |
| E: He said, “Oh, is that so?” Tell him, “It’s suddenly been decided that I have to go to work that day. I’m sorry.” |
| You: 急に、その日、仕事に行くことなってしまったんです。ごめんなさい。 |
| Mr. Ito: それじゃ、仕方がないですね。気にしないでください。 |
| E: He said, “You have no choice. No worries.” Say, ”I was also looking forward to the barbecue. So it’s a shame. Please invite me again next time." |
| You: 私も、バーベキュー、とても楽しみにしていたんですが、残念です。また、次の機会に誘ってください。 |
| Mr. Ito: はい、次の機会には、是非。 |
| E: He said, “Sure. Definitely next time.” |
| Becky: How did you do? There are actually a large number of variations you can use in this situation. Make sure to look for them in the lesson notes. |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, That’s all for this lesson. |
| Kaori: パーティなどの約束を直前にキャンセルしたことはありますか。うまくできましたか？コメント欄で教えてくださいね。 |
| Becky: In the next lesson, you’ll learn how to tell what you heard to someone else. |
| Kaori: それではまた！ |
| Becky: See you all next time! |
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