Learn how to ask where to find things in a department store
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. Becky here. |
| Natsuko: こんにちは。 なつこです。 |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask which floor something is located on.The conversation takes place at a department store. |
| Natsuko: It's between David and a shop clerk. |
| Becky: The speakers are a customer and a shop clerk; so they’ll be using formal Japanese. The shop clerk especially will be speaking a little more formally than the customer. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| デービッド:すみません、本屋は、何かいですか。 |
| 店員:本屋は、8かいです。 |
| デービッド:あ、それから、くつ屋は、何かいにありますか。 |
| 店員:どんなくつですか？ |
| デービッド:スニーカーです。 |
| 店員:スニーカーは、7かいのスポーツようひんうりばにございます。 |
| デービッド:ありがとうございます。エレベーターはありますか。 |
| 店員:はい、そちらのエスカレーターの右がわにございます。 |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| デービッド:すみません、本屋は、何かいですか。 |
| 店員:本屋は、8かいです。 |
| デービッド:あ、それから、くつ屋は、何かいにありますか。 |
| 店員:どんなくつですか？ |
| デービッド:スニーカーです。 |
| 店員:スニーカーは、7かいのスポーツようひんうりばにございます。 |
| デービッド:ありがとうございます。エレベーターはありますか。 |
| 店員:はい、そちらのエスカレーターの右がわにございます。 |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| David: Excuse me. Can you tell me which floor the book store is on? |
| Shop staff: The book store is on the 8th floor. |
| David: Oh, also, which floor is the shoe shop on, please? |
| Shop staff: What kind of shoes are you looking for? |
| David: Sneakers. |
| Shop staff: Sneakers are in the sports goods shop on the 7th floor. |
| David: Thank you very much. Is there an elevator? |
| Shop staff: Yes, the elevators are to the right side of the escalator over there. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Natsuko: Becky, what do you like the most in Japan about shopping? |
| Becky: Well.. I think I like streets with different small shops near train stations. But recently more sellers have been setting up their shops in big supermarkets or in malls rather than having their own shops on a street. |
| Natsuko: That’s right. There are a lot of streets where many shops and businesses are closed, especially outside Tokyo. These kinds of streets are called シャッター街 (shattā-gai) which literally means "shutter street." |
| Becky: Is that kind of like a “dead mall”? |
| Natsuko: Yes. If larger malls or supermarkets are opened, as a rule the small shops nearby will have to close. This “shutter street” phenomenon has even hit major tourist spots like Kyoto. |
| Becky: That’s a pity. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Natsuko: 本屋 [natural native speed] |
| Becky: bookstore |
| Natsuko: 本屋[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: 本屋 [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: どんな [natural native speed] |
| Becky: what kind |
| Natsuko: どんな[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: どんな [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: くつ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: shoes, footwear |
| Natsuko: くつ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: くつ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: スニーカー [natural native speed] |
| Becky: sneaker |
| Natsuko: スニーカー[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: スニーカー [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: スポーツ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: sports |
| Natsuko: スポーツ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: スポーツ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: ようひん [natural native speed] |
| Becky: goods, stuff |
| Natsuko: ようひん[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: ようひん [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: うりば [natural native speed] |
| Becky: place where things are sold such as sales floor |
| Natsuko: うりば[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: うりば [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: エレベーター [natural native speed] |
| Becky: elevator |
| Natsuko: エレベーター[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: エレベーター [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last.. |
| Natsuko: エスカレーター [natural native speed] |
| Becky: escalator |
| Natsuko: エスカレーター[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: エスカレーター [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. |
| Natsuko: In this lesson, we have ございます It’s an extra polite form of the verb, ありますmeaning "to exist" or "to be" |
| Becky: Note that you can use this word only to describe inanimate things. |
| Natsuko: That’s right, as you will use あります, ございます is only for inanimate things. |
| Becky: You’ll hear this word often from hotel staff, restaurant workers, and shop clerks when they speak very politely to their guests or customers. Natsuko, can you give us an example using this word? |
| Natsuko: : Sure. If you ask a front-desk staff member - ATMは、どこですか。 |
| Becky: Where is the ATM? |
| Natusko: You’ll hear something like エレベーターの右がわにございます。 |
| Becky: “It's on the right side of the elevator." The staff will say ございます because they have to talk to their customers politely. |
| Natsuko: If you just ask a stranger, they might say エレベーターの右がわにあります。 |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask which floor something is located on and how to answer that question. Before we jump in, first let's remember how to ask about the location of something. A general question “where is A?” is, |
| Natsuko: A は どこですか。 |
| Becky: “Where is A?”. If you want to ask where an elevator is, you say first “elevator” |
| Natsuko: エレベーター |
| Becky: and a topic marking particle, |
| Natsuko:は |
| Becky: Then, say “where is” |
| Natsuko: どこですか。 |
| Becky: “Where is an elevator?” is, |
| Natsuko: エレベーターはどこですか。 |
| Becky: Using this pattern, “where’s the toilet” is..? |
| Natsuko: トイレはどこですか |
| Becky: Okay. And in a department store, for example, you will need to find the floor where something is. In that case, you want to ask “which floor is A on?” |
| Natsuko: Aは 何がい ですか。 |
| Becky: You can replace A with the item’s name that you are looking for, for example, “restaurant” |
| Natsuko: レストラン |
| Natsuko: レストランは何がいですか。The pattern is almost the same as レストランはどこですか。You just need to replace どこ with なんがいwhich means “which floor.” |
| Becky: So, ”Which floor is the restroom on?” is, |
| Natsuko: トイレは、何がいですか。 |
| Becky: How do you say, “Which floor is your office on?” Your office is... |
| Natusko: あなたのオフィス |
| Becky: So altogether, the question “Which floor is your office on?” |
| Natsuko: in Japanese is あなたのオフィスは何がいですか？ |
| Becky: You can also use the other pattern to ask the same question. |
| Natsuko: That's right. For example, when you ask “where is the restroom?” you can also say,トイレは何がいにありますか。 |
| Becky: literally “On what floor does the toilet exist?” |
| Natsuko: Instead of 何がいですか？, you can say 何がいにありますか。 |
| Becky: Let’s break it down. |
| Natsuko: First we have 何がい |
| Becky: “which floor” |
| Natsuko: に, |
| Becky: the location marking particle, which is equivalent to "on" in this case. Lastly we have, |
| Natsuko: あります |
| Becky: the verb meaning “to exist” and which is used for inanimate things and a question marking particle, |
| Natsuko: か. |
| Becky: So again, how can you say “Which floor is the restroom on?” using this pattern? |
| Natsuko: トイレは何がいにありますか。 |
| Becky: What about “Which floor are women's clothes on?” “Women’s clothes” in Japanese is, |
| Natsuko: ふじんふく |
| Becky: Which floor are women's clothes on?” |
| Natsuko: ふじんふくは、何がいにありますか。 |
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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