Learn how to understand simple directions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 2, Lesson 17 - Where’s the Nearest Convenience Store in Japan? Becky here. |
| Natsuko: こんにちは。 なつこです。 |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn some phrases that will be very useful for understanding and giving directions. The conversation takes place in a town. |
| Natsuko: It's between David and a passer-by. |
| Becky: The speakers are strangers, so they’ll be using formal Japanese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| デービッド:すみません、このへんにコンビニはありますか。 |
| つうこう人:あ、はい。セブンイレブンとローソンがありますよ。 |
| デービッド:セブンイレブンはどこですか。 |
| つうこう人:つぎのかどを右にまがってください。左がわにゆうびんきょくがあります。セブンイレブンは、その少し先です。 |
| デービッド:ありがとうございます。ローソンもおしえてもらえますか。 |
| つうこう人:いいですよ。ここをまっすぐ行ってください。右がわにぎんこうがあります。そのかどを右にまがってください。そこから、すぐです。 |
| デービッド:ありがとうございました。 |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| デービッド:すみません、このへんにコンビニはありますか。 |
| つうこう人:あ、はい。セブンイレブンとローソンがありますよ。 |
| デービッド:セブンイレブンはどこですか。 |
| つうこう人:つぎのかどを右にまがってください。左がわにゆうびんきょくがあります。セブンイレブンは、その少し先です。 |
| デービッド:ありがとうございます。ローソンもおしえてもらえますか。 |
| つうこう人:いいですよ。ここをまっすぐ行ってください。右がわにぎんこうがあります。そのかどを右にまがってください。そこから、すぐです。 |
| デービッド:ありがとうございました。 |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| David: Excuse me. Is there a convenience store around here? |
| Passerby: Yes, there is a 7-11 and a Lawson. |
| David: Where is the 7-11 please? |
| Passerby: Please turn right at the next corner. There is a post office on the left. The 7-11 is a little further from there. |
| David: Thank you very much. Can you please also tell me where the Lawson is? |
| Passerby: Sure. Go straight here. You’ll see a bank on the right-hand side, and turn right at the corner of the bank. You’ll see the Lawson soon. |
| David: Thank you so much. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Natsuko, what I really like about Japan is its convenience store chains. They are on almost every street corner! |
| Natsuko: It’s true! There are three top convenience store chains in Japan. They are Lawson, Seven-Eleven and Family Mart. Together they hold about 90% of the market share. |
| Becky: How do you say “convenience store” in Japanese? |
| Natsuko: It is “conbini”. The word itself is derived from the English word “convenience.” Many convenience stores have restrooms. You can also pay your utility bills or even send a parcel. |
| Becky: They truly are convenient. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Natsuko: コンビニ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: convenience store |
| Natsuko: コンビニ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: コンビニ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: セブンイレブン [natural native speed] |
| Becky: 7-11, a convenience store name |
| Natsuko: セブンイレブン[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: セブンイレブン [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: ローソン [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Lawson, a convenience store name |
| Natsuko: ローソン[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: ローソン [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: どこ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: where |
| Natsuko: どこ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: どこ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: かど [natural native speed] |
| Becky: corner |
| Natsuko: かど[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: かど [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: まがる [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to turn |
| Natsuko: まがる[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: まがる [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: がわ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: side |
| Natsuko: がわ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: がわ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: 先 [natural native speed] |
| Becky: ahead, before |
| Natsuko: 先[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: 先 [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: まっすぐ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: straight |
| Natsuko: まっすぐ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: まっすぐ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last.. |
| Natsuko: すぐ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: immediately, soon, very close |
| Natsuko: すぐ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: すぐ [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Our first words are.. |
| Natsuko: 左がわ and 右がわ |
| Becky: meaning "the left side” and “the right side" respectively. |
| Natsuko: 左 means "left", 右 means "right". The word がわ means “side” |
| Becky: You can use the word.. |
| Natsuko: がわ |
| Becky: to mean a certain "side" of something, for example “right or left side”.. For example, “north side” |
| Natsuko: きたがわ |
| Becky: “South side.” |
| Natsuko: みなみがわ |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Natsuko: 少し先 |
| Becky: meaning "a little farther, a bit ahead”. This is usually used to explain that something is “a little farther from here" and it's used in the context of explaining where something is. Can you give us an example Natsuko? |
| Natsuko: : Sure. For example, you can ask.. バスていはどこですか。 |
| Becky: “Where is the bus stop? |
| Natsuko: Then the other person might say 少し先にあります。 |
| Becky: meaning “It's a bit ahead." |
| Natsuko: Right. If you want to specify that something is "farther from here” you can add この and say この少し先. |
| Becky: OK, Natsuko and what about "farther from there"? |
| Natsuko: It's simple. Just replace この with その and you'll get その少し先 . |
| Becky: "farther from there". And how do you say "a little ahead of something", for example, the post-office? |
| Natsuko: ゆうびんきょくの少し先. Here, you just replace “その” with ゆうびんきょく, “post office”, and の, the particle meaning “of” to mean, “a little ahead of the post office,” ゆうびんきょくの少し先. |
| Becky: Okay, what's the last word? |
| Natsuko: [place A] からすぐ |
| Becky: literally meaning "very close from [place A]", but naturally translated to “ near [place A]. |
| Natsuko: When you say “near [place A]” in Japanese, you start with [place A] + “from” から、+ ”very close” すぐ. |
| Becky: “near the station” is, |
| Natsuko えきからすぐ. “Station” えき, “from” から and “very close” すぐ. えきからすぐ. |
| Becky: “near here” will be.. |
| Natsuko ここからすぐ |
| Becky: and "near there" will be. |
| Natsuko そこからすぐ |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you will learn some phrases that will come in handy for understanding and giving simple directions. |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at how to say “turn right or left at [place A]. How do you say, “turn right, please”? |
| Natsuko: That's simple. “Turn” is まがって. To make it more polite, you can say まがってください. Before you say this verb, you just need to add “right” みぎ、and a direction marking particle, に. |
| Becky: So altogether “Please turn right” in Japanese is..? |
| Natsuko: 右にまがってください。 |
| Becky: What about “please turn left.”? |
| Natsuko: 左にまがってください。 |
| Becky: How can we say “Turn left at the hospital, please”? |
| Natsuko: At the beginning you just need to say the name of the place, in this case, hospital, 病院 and then add the object marking particle を, 病院を and then say, “turn left, please” 左に曲がってください。 |
| Becky: Using this pattern, what will “Turn left at the hospital, please” be..? |
| Natsuko: That’s びょういんを左にまがってください。 |
| Becky: What about “Turn left at the next traffic light please.”? |
| Natsuko: Next traffic light is つぎのしんごう. So you can say.. つぎのしんごうを左にまがってください。 |
| Becky: The next expression we’ll look at is, “Please, go straight on this street.” |
| Natsuko: “Please go” is 行ってください and “straight” is まっすぐ. |
| Becky: So altogether we have… |
| Natsuko: まっすぐ行ってください |
| Becky: “Please go straight”. If you want to say “Please go straight on this street” |
| Natsuko: First say “this street,” この道 plus an object marking particle を before まっすぐ行ってください. |
| Becky: So, “go straight on this road” is, |
| Natsuko: このみちをまっすぐ行ってください |
| Becky: Next, you might want to say “there is something on the right side or left side” to make sure that you are on the right track. To say “there is the post office on the right side” you would begin with “on the right side”. |
| Natsuko: And that’s 右がわに |
| Becky: Then it’s followed by, “there is the post office” |
| Natsuko: 郵便局があります。 |
| Becky: So, “There is the post office on the right side.” is, |
| Natsuko:右側にゆうびんぎょくがあります。 |
| Becky: What about “there is the police station on the left side? |
| Natsuko: “On the left side”, 左側に, “the police station” 警察, and “there is” があります. Altogether, it’s 左側に警察があります。 |
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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