Learn about the next part of the language knowledge and reading comprehension section on the Japanese proficiency exam
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| Jessi: Hi everyone, and welcome to the new JLPTN4 Prep Course, Lesson 5. I'm Jessi and I'm here in the studio joined by... |
| Naomi:こんにちは、みなさん。直美です。Hi everyone, Naomi here. 前回は文法と読解のもんだい１を勉強しましたね。 |
| Jessi:In the last lesson, you learned what もんだい１ of the grammar and reading comprehension section is like. |
| Naomi:このレッスンでは、問題２を紹介します。 |
| Jessi:And in this Lesson, we'll cover もんだい 2 of the grammar and reading comprehension section. |
| Naomi:もんだい２は 単語の順番を変えて、正しい文章を作ります。 |
| Jessi:In もんだい2 , you're supposed to make a correct sentence by changing the order of the given words. So in this section, you’re tested on how well you can out together words given at random to create a sentence that makes sense. |
| Naomi:このような問題は5個あります。 |
| Jessi:There will be 5 of this type of question on the test. It’s best to sort out the different sentence patterns you’ve learned up until now. Knowing the conjugation patterns of verbs and adjectives will play a big part in solving these questions, so be sure to review HOW the verbs and adjectives get conjugated in different sentence patterns. |
| Naomi:そうですね。動詞 verbの形。形容詞 adjectiveの形を復習してください。 |
| :*****Instructions******** |
| Jessi: Now, at this point in the lesson we usually read the instructions and the sample questions here, but for もんだい2, it's a bit hard to do it using only audio... |
| Naomi:そうですね。So instead, we're going to introduce some grammar forms that often show up on the JLPT. |
| Jessi:What are we going to look at first? |
| :***あいだ****** |
| Naomi:The first one is あいだ |
| Jessi:”while” or “during”. When it's used with a verb, あいだ follows the te-form of a verb＋ いる. Can we hear a sample sentence please? |
| Naomi:寝る is “to sleep” So...寝ているあいだ |
| Jessi: While someone is sleeping. |
| Naomi:わたしはあかちゃんが ねているあいだに、せんたくをしました。 |
| Jessi:”I did the laundry while the baby slept.” |
| Naomi:For nouns, you need to insert の before あいだ。 |
| Jessi:So for example, how would we say “during summer”? |
| Naomi:夏のあいだ Here's a sample sentence. 夏のあいだ、毎日海に行った。 |
| Jessi:I went to the beach everyday during summer. Okay, and what's the next phrase? |
| :***ところ****** |
| Naomi:Verb＋ところ |
| Jessi:”just about to do something” |
| Naomi:夕飯をつくる is “to make dinner” right? |
| Jessi:Right. |
| Naomi: 夕飯をつくるところis (Jessi - “just about to make dinner”). 料理をしているところ is (Jessi - “to be in the middle of making dinner”). 夕飯を作ったところ is (Jessi - “to have just made dinner”). |
| Jessi:OK. So now let's go through each one...the dictionary form ＋ところ is “just about to do something”. Meaning, you actually haven't started the action yet, right? |
| Naomi:はい、そうです。Right. For example, あ、ジェシー、今から夕飯を作るところなの。何が食べたい？ |
| Jessi:Hey Jessi, I'm just about to make dinner. What do you wanna eat? And the te-form of a verb ＋いる ところ is to “be in the middle of doing something” |
| Naomi:Right.リスナーのみなさんは、今、Japanesepod101.com を聞いているところですよね。 |
| Jessi: Right. So the listeners are in the middle of listening to Japanesepod101.com right now. And finally, the past tense ＋ところ means “to have just done something”. Meaning, the action has just finished. |
| Naomi:ジェシー、夕飯を作ったところだから、一緒に食べよう。 |
| Jessi: “Jessi, I've just made dinner, so let's eat together.” |
| :***まま****** |
| Jessi:Alright, and now what's the next grammar point? |
| Naomi:まま |
| Jessi:まま “as is” or to “leave as is”. This conjunction indicates that an already given condition remains unchanged. |
| Naomi:そのまま、動かないで！ |
| Jessi: Stay right there. Don't move. Some other expressions that use this are |
| Naomi: そのまま |
| Jessi: ”as is”. Of course you can use it with other こそあど words, such as (Naomi - このまま) “like this”, or “as this is”, (Naomi -あのまま) “like that” or “as that is”. |
| Naomi:It's used with a verb too. For example テレビを つけた まま ねた。 |
| Jessi:”I fell asleep with the TV left on.” So, please check the lesson notes for more information on this formation. |
| :****なる**** |
| Naomi:In the previous JLPT series for the old level 4, we covered the usage of なる (Jessi - “to become”). In JLPTN4 level, なる is often used with potential verbs. Such as むすこは ひとりで くつが はけるように なりました。 |
| Jessi:”My son can put on his shoes by himself now.” And let’s break down the sentence. |
| Naomi:はける |
| Jessi: “to be able to put on”, |
| Naomi:ように |
| Jessi: “as” or “like” |
| Naomi:なる |
| Jessi:”become” So the phrase… |
| Naomi: はけるようになりました |
| Jessi: …literally means “he has become able to put on his shoes by himself now” |
| Naomi: It’s a bit complicated, so レッスンノートを読んでください. |
| Jessi: Definitely. |
| Naomi:We recommend that you also review the usage of ように。 |
| :****ようにする**** |
| Jessi:Speaking of ように. The phrase ようにする “to make sure that...”, or “to make an effort to” is quite an important phrase. |
| Naomi:Mmmm…そうですね。 ジェシーさんは健康のために何をするようにしていますか。Is there anything that you are making an effort to do for your health? |
| Jessi:そうですねーまあ、わたしは甘いものが大好きなんですけど・・・あまいものを たべすぎないように しています。 |
| Naomi: あー なるほど。 |
| Jessi: ”I have a really big sweet tooth actually. But I'm trying not to eat too many sweets. 直美さんは？How about you Naomi? |
| Naomi:運動するようにしています。”I'm making an effort to exercise.” |
| :****ことにする**** |
| Jessi:あ、いいですね。わたしも、最近、運動していないので、これからは運動することにします。 “Actually, I don't exercise at all lately, so... I'll make it a rule to exercise from now on.” |
| Naomi:運動することにする |
| Jessi: this means, “to make it a rule to exercise” or “to decide to exercise”. So the phrase that we had at the end, ことにする means “decide to” and the one we just covered before ようにする is “ to make an effort to...” so don't confuse the two. |
| Naomi:Mmmm. たとえば, for example, アルコールを飲まないようにする。 |
| Jessi:I'm making an effort to not drink alcohol. |
| Naomi:アルコールを飲まないことにする |
| Jessi:I make it a rule not to drink alcohol. |
| Naomi: Mmmm. ちょっと難しいですけどね. レッスンノートをよく読んでください。 |
| Jessi: So in this lesson we’ve introduced a lot of different grammar structures that are pretty difficult, right? Especially if you’re only listening to the podcast using the audio, but if you take a look at the lesson notes, you’ll find a lot more examples and more detailed explanations. So, if you’re having trouble with some of the grammar structures, make sure to look at the lesson notes. |
| :****Quiz*** |
| Jessi:Okay, so next, let's do some practice questions. I am going to give a situation in English. Your job is to choose the best Japanese phrase to use for the situation. Are you ready? The situation is, you're about to leave home. Your cell phone rings and your friend asks you what you're doing. How do you respond? |
| Naomi:1. ウチをでるところ。２.ウチをでたまま 3ウチを出ているあいだ 4うちをでるとき |
| Jessi:And the answer is: |
| Naomi:1.ウチをでるところ |
| Jessi: “I am just about to leave home”…and let’s look at the other choices. |
| Jessi:Choice 2うちをでたまま |
| Jessi: Now まま indicates that some kind of condition remains unchanged. So, this phrase means someone left home and hasn't returned yet. |
| Naomi:Mmmm. そうですね。 Right. For example, わたしの犬は家を出たまま帰ってこない。 |
| Jessi:”My dog left home and hasn't come back yet.” Aww kind of sad isn’t it? How about choice 3? |
| Naomi:家を出ているあいだ |
| Jessi: While someone is away from home. And remember that あいだ means “during” or “while”. And lastly choice 4. |
| Naomi:家を出るとき |
| Jessi:When someone leaves home. Alright, so how did it go? Did you get the correct answer? |
| Naomi:We hope you did. |
| Jessi:And that's all for this lesson. See you next time! |
| Naomi:じゃまた！ |
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