Learn how to ask someone to do something politely
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 2, Lesson 13 - How Do You Write this Japanese Name? I’m Becky. |
| Natsuko: こんにちは。 なつこです。 |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn about how to ask someone to do something politely. The conversation takes place at a school. |
| Natsuko: It's between David and his teacher. |
| Becky: The speakers are a student and his teacher. The student will be using formal Japanese and his teacher will be using informal Japanese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| デービッド: 先生のお名前のかんじをおしえてもらえますか。 |
| 先生: いいわよ。でも、なんで？ |
| デービッド: 先生にねんがじょうをだします。 |
| 先生: え、ありがとう。「いしい」の「いし」は、stoneよ。 |
| デービッド: あ、すみません、そのかんじがわかりません。ここに書いてもらえますか。 |
| (間） |
| 先生: はい。これで、いしいあずさよ。 |
| デービッド: ありがとうございます。それから、じゅうしょも書いてもらえますか。 |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| デービッド: 先生のお名前のかんじをおしえてもらえますか。 |
| 先生: いいわよ。でも、なんで？ |
| デービッド: 先生にねんがじょうをだします。 |
| 先生: え、ありがとう。「いしい」の「いし」は、stoneよ。 |
| デービッド: あ、すみません、そのかんじがわかりません。ここに書いてもらえますか。 |
| (間） |
| 先生: はい。これで、いしいあずさよ。 |
| デービッド: ありがとうございます。それから、じゅうしょも書いてもらえますか。 |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| デービッド: 先生のお名前のかんじをおしえてもらえますか。 |
| David: Can you please tell me your name in kanji? |
| 先生: いいわよ。でも、なんで？ |
| Teacher: Yes, of course. But can I ask you why? |
| デービッド: 先生にねんがじょうをだします。 |
| David: I’m going to send you a new year’s greeting card. |
| 先生: え、ありがとう。「いしい」の「いし」は、stoneよ。 |
| Teacher: Oh, thank you. The “ishi” of “Ishii” is “stone.” |
| デービッド: あ、すみません、そのかんじがわかりません。ここに書いてもらえますか。 |
| David: I’m sorry, I don’t know that kanji. Can you please write it down here? |
| (few seconds later...) |
| 先生: はい。これで、いしいあずさよ。 |
| Teacher: Yes, here you are. This means “Ishii Azusa.” |
| デービッド: ありがとうございます。それから、じゅうしょも書いてもらえますか。 |
| David: Thank you very much. Can you please write your mailing address too? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Natsuko: Becky, have you ever received a new year’s greeting cards or ねんがじょう in Japanese? |
| Becky: Do you mean in Japan? Yes, when I get back from a trip to the U.S. after taking a year-end vacation, I often find my mailbox filled with New year’s greeting cards from my Japanese friends. It seems like it’s a big custom for the New year, right? |
| Natsuko: Right. There is a strong tradition in Japan of sending new year's postcards to friends or business partners. |
| Becky: So how can I send New Year’s greeting cards? Can I just go to a post office and buy any card I like? |
| Natsuko: No, there are actually special cards specifically for new year’s greetings. You can find these in post offices or convenience stores. Of course, there are some people who make their own original cards by printing photos or making designs based on the Chinese zodiac sign for the new year. |
| Becky: Thats really interesting. I think I’d make my own special card for my friends as well. How do you make your cards, Natsuko? |
| Natsuko: Well.. I usually make new year’s cards with my family's photo on them. But it seems like I’m getting fewer and fewer cards each year, as younger generations aren’t following this tradition as much as their parents. Instead, they usually send new year's emails. |
| Becky: I see. Okay, now to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Natsuko: おしえる [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to tell, to teach |
| Natsuko: おしえる[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: おしえる [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: ねんがじょう [natural native speed] |
| Becky: New Year's greeting postcard |
| Natsuko: ねんがじょう[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: ねんがじょう [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: だす [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to send |
| Natsuko: だす[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: だす [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: じゅうしょ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: address, residence |
| Natsuko: じゅうしょ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: じゅうしょ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: それから [natural native speed] |
| Becky: and, and then |
| Natsuko: それから[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: それから [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: わかりません [natural native speed] |
| Becky: don't understand |
| Natsuko: わかりません[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: わかりません [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last.. |
| Natsuko: でも [natural native speed] |
| Becky: but, however |
| Natsuko: でも[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: でも [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Natsuko: なんで？ |
| Becky: This means "Why?” or “What for?" It’s a very casual expression. |
| Natsuko: That’s right. You can use this in a casual conversation only. You can use it to say "why?” to your friend, but not to your boss. |
| Becky: In what kind of situation could you use it? |
| Natsuko: Well, when you hear something unusual, you can say なんで？ to ask for the reason behind it. For example, if I ask you out to lunch but you say おひるごはん、いらない。 |
| Becky: (depressed tone) “I don't need lunch.” |
| Natsuko: I’d ask なんで？ to ask you why. |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Natsuko: いいわよ |
| Becky: This is a common, casual way of saying "sure" or "OK" |
| Natsuko: いいよ (ii yo) has the adjective いい(ii) which means "good" or "fine". It's followed by the sentence ending particle よ (yo). いいよ. |
| Becky: Female speakers sometimes add an extra particle, right? |
| Natsuko: Yes. わ(wa) as in いいわよ (ii wa yo). わ(wa) is a particle to soften your statement and used mainly by women. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Natsuko: Sure. For example, if someone asks you, この本、かしてください。 |
| Becky: “Please lend me this book.” |
| Natsuko: You could say いいよ。 or いいわよ。 |
| Becky: Meaning “okay” or ”Sure." Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you will learn useful expressions to ask someone to do something politely. |
| Natsuko: In the dialogue, we heard the student say - 先生のお名前のかんじをおしえてもらえますか。 |
| Becky: "Can you please tell me your name in kanji?" |
| Natsuko: It’s a long sentence, but it also contains the key point for this lesson - もらえますか。 |
| Becky: This phrase means something like “could you do something for me” and it makes your requests very polite. |
| Natsuko: So in this lesson, let’s learn some useful phrases to ask something politely using this keyword - もらえますか。 |
| Becky: Okay. First, Natsuko, could you tell us how to say “Could you write something for me?” |
| Natsuko: かいてもらえますか。To connect a verb with もらえますか, you need to make the -te form first. かきます is the verb meaning “to write” and its te-form is かいて。 |
| Becky: So if you want to politely ask someone to write something for you, you can say... |
| Natsuko: かいてもらえますか。 |
| Becky: What about “could you say something for me?” |
| Natsuko: いいます is the verb meaning “to say.” and the te-form is いって. So you just need to replace かいて meaning “to write” with いって meaning “to say” and add もらえますか。いってもらえますか。 |
| Becky: How would I say “Could you say something for me, once again”? in Japanese? |
| Natsuko: もういちど is the phrase meaning “once again” so you can say.. もういちど、言ってもらえますか。 |
| Becky: Okay, what about “Could you read something for me?” |
| Natsuko: よみます is the verb meaning “to read” and its te-form is よんで. All together it becomes, よんでもらえますか。 |
| Becky: “Could you read something for me?” When you’re not sure how to read a Japanese word, you can simply use this phrase. We have one more expression, but actually it’s for all our listeners. How would you say “Could you teach [something] to me?” in Japanese? |
| Natsuko: Here’s a hint. おしえます。is the verb meaning “to teach”. You have three seconds to give the answer. |
| (Pause) |
| Becky: Did you get it? What’s the answer Natsuko? |
| Natsuko: おしえてもらえますか。おしえて is the te-form of the verb 教えます meaning “to teach” and you can add もらえますか。to make it polite. |
| Becky: Then how can you say.. “Could you teach me Japanese?” |
| Natsuko: You can simply add にほんご “Japanese” with the object marking particle を。So 日本語をおしえてもらえますか。 |
| Becky: Listeners, don’t forget to check lesson notes for more useful phrases. |
Outro |
| Becky: 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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