Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Alisha: Hi everyone! アリッシャです! Alisha here!
Natsuko: こんにちは!ナツコです!Hi everyone, I'm Natsuko.
Alisha: Welcome to Lower Beginner Season 1 lesson 14 – “Sample Some Japanese Festival Fare!”.
Natsuko: In the previous lesson, Ken said it was his first time seeing a Japanese festival, and we learned how to say you’re experiencing something for the first time.
Alisha: That’s right. If a person has never experienced something, we might want to let them try, right? In this lesson, we’re going to learn how to invite someone to do something.
Natsuko: Good! And where does this lesson’s dialogue take place?
Alisha: Ken and his colleague decided to visit a Matsuri, so today’s dialogue is at the Matsuri.
Natsuko: Okay; and it’s a continuation of their conversation from lesson 13. では、聞きましょう!
Alisha: Let’s listen to the conversation!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Natsuko: Hmm…たこやき、とうもろこし・・・屋台food!! The dialog of this lesson makes my mouth water. (笑)
Alisha: But 1,000 yen for two grilled corns? Isn’t that a little too expensive?
Natsuko: Yes, it is, but anything sold at yatai is more expensive than in any other place, because these stalls are especially for festivals.
Alisha: Hmm, they’re doing good business at the Matsuri.
Natsuko: Yes. (both laugh)
Alisha: Do Yatais only sell food?
Natsuko: No; although Yatai is often translated as “food stall”, there are some stalls for games and toys, other than food and beverage at a Matsuri. You can see many different Yatai lined up along a main street in any festivals in Japan.
Alisha: What kind of food do they typically serve?
Natsuko: Pan-fried noodles called Yakisoba, as well as wataame, which is candy floss, and so on.
Alisha: Both savory and sweet food? That’s handy! Ok, let’s move on to vocabulary for this lesson.
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Alisha: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word we’ll look at is....
Natsuko: 何か, meaning “something”.
Alisha: “Nani ka” consists of the question word “nani”, meaning “what”, and the particle “ka”. How can we use this word?
Natsuko: In the dialog, Ken’s colleague suggested 何か食べましょう; this means “Let’s eat something”. When you know what you want to eat but you haven’t decided what to eat yet, you can simply put 何か before the verb.
Alisha: Very easy, right? Okay, what’s the next word?
Natsuko: We’ll learn general counter in this lesson. In Japanese, we use special counters when we count objects. These counters differ according to the objects’ shapes or characteristics. However, we also have general counter which can be used when there is no specific counter.
Alisha: This set only goes up to 10 and it doesn’t have a pattern. You just need to memorise them.
Natsuko: That’s right. It’s not very difficult. It goes ひとつ
Alisha: “One item”
Natsuko: ふたつ
Alisha: “Two items”
Natsuko: みっつ
Alisha: “Three items”
Natsuko: よっつ
Alisha: “Four items”
Natsuko: いつつ
Alisha: “Five items”
Natsuko: むっつ
Alisha: “Six items”
Natsuko: ななつ
Alisha: “Seven items”
Natsuko: やっつ
Alisha: “Eight items”
Natsuko: ここのつ
Alisha: “Nine items”
Natsuko: とう
Alisha: “Ten items”. Let’s move on. What’s the next word we have in this lesson?
Natsuko: 高い
Alisha: We’ve already learnt Takai as in takai tokoro meaning “high-up place”.
Natsuko: Yes, we did. As you say “high” as in price in English, we also use 高い for “expensive”.
Alisha: That’s interesting. Different languages, but we share the same idea.
Natsuko: Indeed! We use it like すしは高いです。
Alisha: And it means “Sushi is expensive”. This must be useful! Now, what’s the next word we have?
Natsuko: おごります。
Alisha: Wooo, that’s the expression I love to hear! (笑)
Natsuko: Me too. (笑)
Alisha: So, when you take care of the bill at restaurant, you can say “Ogorimasu” and it means “I’ll pay for it” or “it’s my treat”. The verb ogorimasu itself means “to treat”.
Natsuko: It’s common that your senior will buy you a drink or a meal in Japan. Don’t forget to appreciate the generosity by saying ありがとうございます or ごちそうさまです if someone buys you a meal. ごちそうさまです is a post-meal greeting or a way to say thank you for buying the meal. Alisha, おひるごはん、おごります。”Alisha, I’ll buy you lunch.”
Alisha: ほんとう?ありがとうございます。ごちそうさまです。Really? Thank you. I appreciate that. Hmm, now I’m encouraged to learn more! Let’s move on to the grammar.

Lesson focus

Alisha: In this lesson, you’re going to learn how to invite someone to do something. Let’s take the example from the dialog. Ken’s colleague said “let’s eat something”. Natsuko, what was that in Japanese?
Natsuko: 何か食べましょう。To invite someone to do something, we can use [Verb] + ましょう, like 食べましょう.
Alisha: Now listeners, if you have listened to the Absolute Beginner series, Season 2, Lesson 22 introduced the expression to invite [verb] + mashō.
Natsuko: This conjugation is quite simple. Take the masu form of verb, remove masu and add mashō. The verb “to eat” is 食べます. Remove masu and add mashō to 食べ, making 食べましょう.
Alisha: Sounds easy! But does this work for any verbs?
Natsuko: Yes! Group 1 verbs, group 2 verbs and irregular group 3 verbs! Alisha, can you try this with the verb 飲みます, “to drink”?
Alisha: From 飲みます, remove masu and add mashō. So, 飲みましょう?
Natsuko: Brilliant! 飲みましょう。
Alisha: Good! Now, let’s move on to the next item. In the dialog, Ken’s colleague suggested some food to Ken. That was…
Natsuko: たこやきはどうですか。
Alisha: So, it’s [something] wa dō desu ka. You can insert anything you like to suggest before wa dō desu ka. Natsuko, I’m hungry. 何か食べましょう。
Natsuko: カレーライスはどうですか。
Alisha: Sounds good! Listeners, did you get that? I said I was hungry, so let’s eat something, using mashō and Natsuko: answered “how about curry and rice?” Let’s practice this phrase. Listeners, repeat after Natsuko. Natsuko, start with the phrase “how about [something]”.
Natsuko: は、どうですか。[wait 5 sec.]
Alisha: Now say, “how about curry and rice?”
Natsuko: カレーライスはどうですか。[wait 5 sec.]
Alisha: How did you find it? Natsuko, how can we reply to that question?
Natsuko: If you accept the suggestion, you can say いいですね。
Alisha: And, if we don’t want to accept the suggestion?
Natsuko: You can say, [something] はちょっと・・・ This would come in handy, when you would like to give negative answers indirectly. It’s literally “I’m sorry, but [something] is a bit….” without clearly saying “No, I don’t want that”.
Alisha: Indirect “No” to avoid hurting others’ feelings. Nice.
Natsuko: Exactly! Shall we practice both?
Alisha: Sure! Listeners, repeat after Natsuko. First, to accept…?
Natsuko: いいですね [wait 5 sec.]
Alisha: Now turn down the suggestion indirectly. Let’s use “curry and rice”.
Natsuko: カレーライスは、ちょっと・・・
Alisha: Easy, right? Now, let’s practice all the expressions as a short conversation, using たこやき. Listeners, repeat after Natsuko. First, say “let’s eat something.”
Natsuko: 何か、食べましょう [wait 5 sec.]
Alisha: Now listeners, ask Natsuko: “how about Takoyaki?” using は、どうですか。
Natsuko: [wait 5 sec.] たこやきは、どうですか。
Alisha: Good; would you like some takoyaki, Natsuko?
Natsuko: Octopus is a bit... not my favourite, so I’d say; たこはちょっと・・・
Alisha: [wait 5 sec.] Now, listeners, what if Natsuko: would like some Takoyaki? What would she say?
Natsuko: [wait 5 sec.] いいですね。
Alisha: Did you get it right? For more detailed explanations, please check out the lesson notes.

Outro

Alisha: Okay, that’s it for this lesson. Please leave us your comments, questions, and any feedback you have on the lesson page! See you next time.
Natsuko: じゃ、また。

Kanji

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Comments

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22 Comments
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JapanesePod101.com
2013-07-15 18:30:00

Hi listeners! Have you been to any Japanese festival? Did you try any yattai food?

JapanesePod101.com
2025-02-11 19:58:10

こんにちは Gaynor!(Konnichiwa Gaynor! "Hello Gaynor!")

日本のまつりはとても楽しいですよ!(Nihon no matsuri wa totemo tanoshii desu yo! "Japanese festivals are very fun!") いつか行けるといいですね。(Itsuka ikeru to ii desu ne. "I hope you can visit one someday.") もし質問があれば、どうぞ聞いてくださいね!(Moshi shitsumon ga areba, douzo kiite kudasai ne! "If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!")

ありがとうございます!

Team JapanesePod101.com

Gaynor
2025-01-23 22:08:53

こんにちは

日本のまつりは行ったことがありません。

JapanesePod101.com
2018-04-24 00:53:10

Hello Lisa,

Thank you for posting.

Please check our Custom List feature. With it you can create your own word lists for future review:

https://www.japanesepod101.com/custom-lists/

We hope this helps!

In case of any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Cristiane (クリスチアネ)

Team JapanesePod101.com

Lisa
2018-04-23 23:38:21

Hello,

I really enjoy your lessons. I'm taking Japanese classes and it's really nice to have some extra listening exercises. One thing about the vocabulary though, often some very helpful Japanese expression like here "yatai" are not in the vocabulary list. Also for example the word for "food set". These might come handy. Idk can I write my own flashcards on this website?

Thanks for doing such a great job!

Lisa.

ブレット
2017-06-07 05:32:32

こんにちは!

この冬、日本に行く予定があります。

This winter, I have plans to go to Japan.

私は12月から1月まで東京でいます。

I will be in Tokyo from December to January.

冬で、何祭りがありますか?

In the winter, what festivals are there in Japan?

ありがとうございます!

JapanesePod101.com
2016-02-25 07:52:53

Andy さん、

返信をどうもありがとうございます。

良かったです。

Yuki  由紀

Team JapanesePod101.com

Andy
2016-02-19 00:53:34

はい、分かりました!

JapanesePod101.com
2016-02-13 22:11:42

Andy さん、

こんにちは。:smile:

そうですか。屋台の経験があるのですね。

Regarding your sentences, the second one, I can understand what you mean however, それはまあまあでした is more appropriate.

Then please put トウモロコシの方が in the fourth sentence instead of トウモロコシは.

Team JapanesePod101.com

Yuki  由紀

Andy
2016-02-06 23:34:22

初めての屋台は醤油味イカ焼きでした。

My first stall food was soy sauce flavored grilled squid.

それは大丈夫でした。

It was okay.

屋台のトウモロコシも食べました。

I've also eaten corn on the cob from a stall.

イカ焼きよりトウモロコシは美味しいと思います。

I think the corn on the cob was tastier than the grilled squid.

JapanesePod101.com
2015-10-20 10:50:36

アシュリーさん、

こんにちは。

そうですか。:smile:

北海「道」の雪まつりですね。

雪まつりはきれいですよ。2月にありますからぜひ行っていください。

Yukimatsuri is held in February so please go.

Yuki 由紀

Team JapanesePod101.com

アシュリー
2015-10-20 09:18:20

こんにちは。

日本のまつりは行ったことがありません。 でも、いつか 北海度のゆきまつりに行きたいです。

じゃまた。

JapanesePod101.com
2014-10-12 14:01:58

デシェヌさん、

こんにちは。:smile:

I usually write "konnichihwa" in hiragana for exactly that reason:laughing:

There are many words which can be read more than one way. There are also words that

should actually be written in hiragana even if those words "can be" written with kanji.

In the case of 今日は, this is a complete phrase and, unless we continue the sentence

without full stop, we know it's こんにちは instead of きょうは from the context.

I personally face the same questions when I see 今日 in a very formal document because

I'm not sure if I should read it as きょう or こんにち:sweat_smile:

However, the good thing is that we don't have to know the readings unless we need "read" it out loud

because the meaning is anyway the same:laughing::laughing:

When we do need to read it, we can usually judge it from the context and situation:wink:

Natsuko (奈津子),

Team JapanesePod101.com

デシェヌ
2014-10-08 06:04:56

由紀さん、おはようございます!

(I see that it was 5:16 AM in Tôkyô when you posted your answer.)

由紀さんは朝起きますね。

別問題があります。- I have another question.

I thought that the greeting こんにちは has to be written in katagana only. Here you use the kanji. So, when I see 今日は, I can read it きょうは or こんにちは, isn't?

はい、頑張りますよ。

いつもありがとうございます、

デシェヌ

JapanesePod101.com
2014-10-08 05:16:36

デシュヌさん、

今日は。

いつもたくさん勉強していますね。

はい、「何かを食べましょう」も大丈夫です。

You can use「何かを食べましょう」.

Yuki  由紀

Team JapansePod101.com

デシェヌ
2014-10-05 04:49:16

こんにちは。

質問があります。I have a question.

It is about a word...

この言葉は『何か』です。- This is the word "何か".

In the dialog, we have : 何か食べましょう。

Could the word 何か be used with を ? - 何かを食べましょう。

Here is another example:

今朝、何かを食べました。でも、それは何でしたか!

I have eaten something this morning, but, what was that?!

正しいですか。Is it OK?

どうぞよろしく、

デシェヌ

JapanesePod101.com
2014-03-01 13:47:55

ナタリーさん、

こんにちは。

たこやきを はじめて たべます is correct.

がんばってください。

Yuki 由紀

JapanesePod101.com

ナタリー
2014-02-28 00:10:31

こんにちは、

If I wanted to say it was my first time eating octopus dumplings would I say this?

たこやきをたべてははじめてです。

ありがとうございます。ナタリー

JapanesePod101.com
2014-02-04 17:32:33

Hello Julian san,

You can use で, too.

はしりますrun、あるきますwalk and およぎますcan take particle をinstead of で.

Boku wa umi de oyogimasu is correct. Well done.:smile::thumbsup:

Yuki 由紀

Team JapanesePod101.com

Julian
2014-02-04 14:08:09

Hi japanesepod101-Team,

thanks for your great lessons! I have a question regarding one of the example sentences in the vocabulary expansion section.

たこが海を泳いでいる。(Tako ga umi (w)o oyoide iru.) (= The octopus is swimming in the ocean)

Why do you use the particle '(w)o' here and not 'de'?

Is it wrong if I say: 'Boku ha umi de oyogimasu' (= I will swim in the ocean) ?

Thanks!

Best regards,

Julian

JapanesePod101.com
2013-11-20 12:41:34

wael-san

You could also say "ogorimasu" in that situation. :thumbsup:

Sincerely,

Nanatsu(菜々津)

TeamJapanesePod101.com

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