Learn about describing characteristics of a person or a thing
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Rebecca: In Japan, flattery will get you everywhere. |
| Naomi: Naomiです。 (Desu.) |
| Rebecca: Rebecca here. こんにちは、なおみ先生。 (Kon'nichiwa, Naomi-sensei.) |
| Naomi: こんにちは。よろしくお願いします。 (Kon'nichiwa. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.) What are we going to do in today’s lesson? |
| Rebecca: Today we are going to be reviewing the vocabulary for body parts and we are also going to learn how to describe body parts. The characteristics of a personal thing. |
| Naomi: なるほどね。 (Naruhodo ne.) He is tall とか (toka). |
| Rebecca: Yes that’s right and we are still at Dogo Onsen with Fuyuka and Fabrizio. As we mentioned in the last lesson, Dogo Onsen is a hot spring in the city of Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku in Japan. |
| Naomi: 長いですね。 (Nagai desu ne.) |
| Rebecca: Did we actually mention that? Yeah, yeah we mentioned this in Matsuyama, didn’t we? Today I think Fabrizio and Fuyuka are going to meet someone famous. |
| Naomi: そうです。有名な人に会います。 (Sō desu. Yūmei na hito ni aimasu.) Please catch the person’s name. |
| Rebecca: Okay, and we will be listening to them speak polite Japanese. |
| Naomi: はい、そうです。 (Hai, sō desu.) |
| Rebecca: じゃあ、聞きましょう。 (Jā, kikimashou.) |
| DIALOGUE |
| 道後温泉にて |
| (Dōgo onsen nite) |
| ファブリツィオ: この浴衣は デザインが かわいいですが、サイズが 小さいです |
| ね。 |
| Fabrizio: Kono yukata wa dezain ga kawaii desu ga, saizu ga chiisai desu ne. |
| 冬果: ああ、ファブリツィオは 背が高い…あ! あれ！歌手の コロダクルミですよ。うわー。細い！顔が 小さいですね。目が 大きーい。うわぁ。超 かわいい。 |
| Fuyuka: Ā, Faburitsio wa se ga takai… a! Are! Kashu no Koroda Kurumi desu yo. Uwā. Hosoi! Kao ga chiisai desu ne. Me ga ōkii. Uwā. chō kawaii. |
| ファブリツィオ: あの人は 有名ですか。 |
| Fabrizio: Ano hito wa yūmei desu ka. |
| 冬果: とても 有名ですよ。へぇー。目が すごくきれい。足が 長いですね。うわっ、超 スタイルが いい。あれ？ファブリツィオ？ちょっと、ファブリツィオ！！！ |
| Fuyuka: Totemo yūmei desu yo. Heē. Me ga sugoku kirei. Ashi ga nagai desu ne. Uwa, chō sutairu ga ii. Are? Faburitsio? Chotto, Faburitsio!!! |
| ファブリツィオ: はじめまして。ファブリツィオです。イタリア人です。ファッショ |
| ンコーディネーターです。どうぞ よろしくお願いします。 |
| Fabrizio: Hajimemashite. Faburitsio desu. Itaria-jin desu. Fasshon kōdinētā desu. Dōzo yoroshiku o-negai shimasu. |
| Naomi: もう一度おねがいします。今度はゆっくりお願いします。 (Mōichido onegai shimasu. Kondo wa yukkuri onegaishimasu.) |
| 道後温泉にて |
| (Dōgo onsen nite) |
| ファブリツィオ: この浴衣は デザインが かわいいですが、サイズが 小さいです |
| ね。 |
| Fabrizio: Kono yukata wa dezain ga kawaii desu ga, saizu ga chiisai desu ne. |
| 冬果: ああ、ファブリツィオは 背が高い…あ! あれ！歌手の コロダクルミですよ。うわー。細い！顔が 小さいですね。目が 大きーい。うわぁ。超 かわいい。 |
| Fuyuka: Ā, Faburitsio wa se ga takai… a! Are! Kashu no Koroda Kurumi desu yo. Uwā. Hosoi! Kao ga chiisai desu ne. Me ga ōkii. Uwā. chō kawaii. |
| ファブリツィオ: あの人は 有名ですか。 |
| Fabrizio: Ano hito wa yūmei desu ka. |
| 冬果: とても 有名ですよ。へぇー。目が すごくきれい。足が 長いですね。うわっ、超 スタイルが いい。あれ？ファブリツィオ？ちょっと、ファブリツィオ！！！ |
| Fuyuka: Totemo yūmei desu yo. Heē. Me ga sugoku kirei. Ashi ga nagai desu ne. Uwa, chō sutairu ga ii. Are? Faburitsio? Chotto, Faburitsio!!! |
| ファブリツィオ: はじめまして。ファブリツィオです。イタリア人です。ファッショ |
| ンコーディネーターです。どうぞ よろしくお願いします。 |
| Fabrizio: Hajimemashite. Faburitsio desu. Itaria-jin desu. Fasshon kōdinētā desu. Dōzo yoroshiku o-negai shimasu. |
| Naomi: 今度は英語が入ります。 (Kondo wa eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 道後温泉にて |
| Dōgo onsen nite |
| (at Dogo onsen) |
| ファブリツィオ: この浴衣は デザインが かわいいですが、サイズが 小さいです |
| ね。 |
| Fabrizio: Kono yukata wa dezain ga kawaii desu ga, saizu ga chiisai desu ne. |
| FABRIZIO: This yukata has a cute design, but the size is small. |
| 冬果: ああ、ファブリツィオは 背が高い…あ! あれ！歌手の コロダクルミですよ。うわー。細い！顔が 小さいですね。目が 大きーい。うわぁ。超 かわいい。 |
| Fuyuka: Ā, Faburitsio wa se ga takai… a! Are! Kashu no Koroda Kurumi desu yo. Uwā. Hosoi! Kao ga chiisai desu ne. Me ga ōkii. Uwā. chō kawaii. |
| FUYUKA: Ah, Fabrizio, you're tall. What, it's the singer, Koroda Kurumi. Wow, she is thin. Her face is so small. Her eyes are big. Wow, she's so cute! |
| ファブリツィオ: あの人は 有名ですか。 |
| Fabrizio: Ano hito wa yūmei desu ka. |
| FABRIZIO: Is that person famous? |
| 冬果: とても 有名ですよ。へぇー。目が すごくきれい。足が 長いですね。うわっ、超 スタイルが いい。あれ？ファブリツィオ？ちょっと、ファブリツィオ！！！ |
| Fuyuka: Totemo yūmei desu yo. Heē. Me ga sugoku kirei. Ashi ga nagai desu ne. Uwa, chō sutairu ga ī. Are? Faburitsu~io? Chotto, Faburitsio! ! ! |
| FUYUKA: She is very famous. Wow, her eyes are so beautiful. Her legs are |
| long. She is really in good shape. Huh, Fabrizio, wait! Fabrizio! |
| ファブリツィオ: はじめまして。ファブリツィオです。イタリア人です。ファッションコーディネーターです。どうぞ よろしくお願いします。 |
| Fabrizio: Hajimemashite. Faburitsio desu. Itaria-jin desu. Fasshon kōdinētā desu. Dōzo yoroshiku o-negai shimasu. |
| FABRIZIO: Hello, I'm Fabrizio. I'm Italian. I'm a fashion coordinator. Nice to meet you. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Rebecca: コロダクルミ (Koroda Kurumi) |
| Naomi: コロダクルミ あの、嘘の名前です。 (Koroda Kurumi ano, uso no namae desu.) It’s not a real name. I just made it up. |
| Rebecca: But it sounds like a singer who is famous in Japan at the moment. |
| Naomi: そうですね。マーキーが好きですね、この人のこと。 (Sō desu ne. Mākī ga suki desu ne, kono hito no koto.) |
| Rebecca: Right okay. So they met this famous singer at Dogo Onsen. |
| Naomi: Rebecca さんは、日本の温泉好きですよね。(Rebekka-san wa, Nihon no onsen suki desu yo ne.) |
| Rebecca: Yes I really like Onsen. They were also talking about 浴衣 (yukata) |
| Naomi: はいはいはい。浴衣 (Hai hai hai. Yukata) |
| Rebecca: 浴衣 (Yukata) is well I think it used to be Pajamas. Didn’t it? |
| Naomi: そうです、そうです。 (Sō desu, sō desu.) |
| Rebecca: It’s a caution type of 着物 (kimono) that you wear after you’ve been to the bath or on your way to the bath like a dressing gown maybe. |
| Naomi: そうね (Sō ne) And now-a-days people wear 浴衣 (yukata) in summer time. |
| Rebecca: Do you do that? |
| Naomi: Yeah. I do. |
| Rebecca: Me too. |
| Naomi: 本当！ (Hontō!) |
| Rebecca: Yeah like to go see 花火 (hanabi) or something? |
| Naomi: そうです、そうです。 (Sō desu, sō desu.) Fireworks. |
| Rebecca: Yes, yes fireworks sorry. I said 花火 (hanabi) but yeah. |
| Naomi: 何色ですか。 (Nan iro desu ka.) What color is your 浴衣 (yukata) |
| Rebecca: My 浴衣 (yukata) it’s kind of difficult to describe in English because it’s 青 (ao) in Japanese which is like a blue green. 青 (ao) can either mean blue or it can mean green sometimes but it’s that sea green color and yellow. It’s got that sea green background with yellow 朝顔 (asagao) yellow morning glories on it. |
| Naomi: That’s really nice. |
| Rebecca: And I wear yellow 帯 (obi) |
| Naomi: 可愛い (kawaii) |
| Rebecca: It’s fun. I like to dress up in 浴衣 (yukata). なおみ先生の浴衣は何色ですか。 (Naomi sensei no yukata wa naniirodesu ka.) What color is your ゆかた (yukata)? |
| Naomi: Indigo blue. |
| Rebecca: Indigo blue. |
| Naomi: 藍色 (aiiro) |
| Rebecca: Yeah that’s Indigo blue . So Izumi ですか (desu ka) is it 藍染 (aizome) |
| Naomi: Fake 藍染 (aizome). |
| Rebecca: Izumi is a very expensive type of die. It’s very beautiful. |
| Naomi: Very beautiful but とっても高い (tottemo takai) fake indigo. |
| Rebecca: And what pattern is your 浴衣 (yukata)? |
| Naomi: ききょう (Ki kyō) I don’t know how… |
| Rebecca: I think it’s translated as a Bellflower. |
| Naomi: Bellflower. |
| Rebecca: A Chinese or Japanese Bellflower but I don’t actually know what kind of flower that is. |
| Naomi: Okay. It looks like a bell yeah right. So probably, bell. |
| Rebecca: A bellflower. I don’t know, actually. So if you are interested, please look it up and let us know. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sō desu ne.) |
| Rebecca: Okay so let’s have a look at the vocabulary in some more depth. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Rebecca:The first item is |
| Naomi: 浴衣 (yukata) |
| Rebecca: A light cotton 着物 (kimono) for summer. |
| Naomi: (slow) ゆかた (yukata) (natural speed) 浴衣 (yukata) |
| Rebecca: Next item. |
| Naomi: デザイン (dezain) |
| Rebecca: Design. |
| Naomi: (slow)でざいん (dezain) (natural speed) デザイン (dezain) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: サイズ (saizu) |
| Rebecca: Size. |
| Naomi: (slow) さいず (saizu) (natural speed)サイズ (saizu) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi:背 (se) |
| Rebecca: Stature or height, it can also mean back. |
| Naomi: (slow) せ (se) (natural speed) 背 (se) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: 高い (takai) |
| Rebecca: High, tall, also means expensive. It’s an I-Adjective. |
| Naomi: (slow) たかい (takai) (natural speed) 高い (takai) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: 歌手 (kashu) |
| Rebecca: Singer. |
| Naomi: (slow) かしゅ (kashi ~yu) (natural speed) 歌手 (kashu) |
| Rebecca: Next item. |
| Naomi: 細い (hosoi) |
| Rebecca: Thin, slender. |
| Naomi: (slow) ほそい (hosoi) (natural speed) 細い (hosoi) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: 顔 (kao) |
| Rebecca: Face. |
| Naomi: (slow) かお (kao) (natural speed) 顔 (kao) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: 有名 (yūmei) |
| Rebecca: Famous. This is a Na-Adjective. |
| Naomi: (slow) ゆうめい (yū mei) (natural speed) 有名 (yūmei) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: 足 (ashi) |
| Rebecca: Foot, leg. |
| Naomi: (slow)あし (ashi) (natural speed) 足 (ashi) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: 長い (nagai) |
| Rebecca: Long, an I- adjective. |
| Naomi: (slow) ながい (nagai) (natural speed) 長い (nagai) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: スタイル (sutairu) |
| Rebecca: Figure. |
| Naomi: (slow) すたいる (suta iru) (natural speed) スタイル (sutairu) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: 超 (chō) |
| Rebecca: Super, ultra, hyper. |
| Naomi: (slow) ちょう (chō) (natural speed) 超 (chō) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: すごく (sugoku) |
| Rebecca: Really. |
| Naomi: (slow) すごく (sugoku) (natural speed) すごく (Sugoku) or some people might say すごく (Sugoku) |
| Rebecca: Well today we are going to look at some colloquial words that you might hear. Young people especially. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sō desu ne). Do you use those expressions a lot レベッカさん (Rebekka-san)? |
| Rebecca: Yeah well the expressions we are talking about are 超 (chō) and すごく (sugoku) right. I definitely use すごく (sugoku). Sometimes I use 超 (chō) but I also catch myself using めっちゃ (metcha). |
| Naomi: あーそうね or めっちゃ (A ̄ sōne or metcha). Yeah both are fine. |
| Rebecca: I think that’s because I spent some time in Osaka. |
| Naomi: そうね。 (Sō ne.) |
| Rebecca: Well first of all, we should really discuss what 超 and すごく (sō ne.) are. Shouldn’t we. So 超 (chō) which means super or beyond. It’s like totally. |
| Naomi: そうそう。超可愛い (Sō sō. Chō kawaii) |
| Rebecca: She is like totally cute and I think do most of the young people use this? |
| Naomi: I think people use it very often in a カジュアル (kajuaru) situation. |
| Rebecca: Yeah okay and the word we mentioned earlier.めっちゃ (metcha). |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Rebecca: That’s the 関西 (Kansai) version of 超 (chō). Am I right? |
| Naomi: そうですね or めちゃくちゃ(Sō desu ne or mechakucha). I think めっちゃ (metcha) is from めちゃくちゃ (mechakucha) |
| Rebecca: All over the place is a good translation. |
| Naomi: なるほどね。 (Naruhodo ne.) |
| Rebecca: Any way in common usage, it means something along the lines of totally or like really. It’s emphasizing. |
| Naomi: We use めちゃくちゃ (mechakucha ) or めっちゃ (metcha) as an adverb. |
| Rebecca: Like 超 (chō) |
| Naomi: はい、そうですね。 (Hai, sō desu ne.) |
| Rebecca: And we are also looking today at すごく (sugoku) and it’s the adverbial form of すごい (sugoi) which means great and this is another casual expression. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne). I can’t imagine my mother using 超 (chō) or めっちゃ (metcha) but I can imagine her using すごく (sugoku). I think older generation also use すごく (sugoku). |
| Rebecca: But not 超 (chō) |
| Naomi: Not 超 (chō) or めっちゃ (metcha) unless you are from Kansai area. |
| Rebecca: Oh yeah. So to finish off with the vocabulary focus. Can you please give us one simple sentence. |
| Naomi: 超美味しい (chō oishii) |
| Rebecca: It’s really tasty. |
| Naomi: すごく美味しい (sugoku oishii) |
| Rebecca: It’s really tasty. Well they mean the same thing. |
| Naomi: めっちゃ美味しい (metcha oishii) |
| Rebecca: It’s like totally tasty. That’s the general gist of them anyway. All right. So shall we move on to grammar? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Naomi: 今日のグラマーは、ファブリツィオは背が高いです。 (Kyō no guramā wa, Faburitsio wa se ga takai desu.) |
| Rebecca: Fabrizio is tall or literally as for Fabrizio, his stature is tall. Breaking this sentence down into its component parts. We have.. |
| Naomi: Fabrizio. |
| Rebecca: That’s Fabrizio. |
| Naomi: は (wa) |
| Rebecca: Wa is the topic marker. |
| Naomi: 背 (se) |
| Rebecca: Stature or height. |
| Naomi: が (ga) |
| Rebecca: Subject marking particle. |
| Naomi: 高い (takai) |
| Rebecca: Tall. |
| Naomi: です (desu) |
| Rebecca: Meaning am or is. So put this altogether and literally you get, as for Fabrizio, his stature is tall. Fabrizio is tall. So today’s grammar point is the construction body part Ga, Adjective this. |
| Naomi: Topic は (wa) Body part が (ga) Adjective です (desu). For example チワワは、目が大きいです。 (Chiwawa wa, me ga ōkii desu). |
| Rebecca: チワワ (Chiwawa) have big eyes. What about another example? |
| Naomi: モデルは背が高いです。 (Moderu wa se ga takai desu.) |
| Rebecca: Models are tall. |
| Naomi: モデルはスタイルが良いです。 (Moderu wa sutairu ga ii desu.) |
| Rebecca: Models have nice figures. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sō desu ne.) Of course they are professionals. They have to. Head is good means smart in Japanese. |
| Rebecca: Okay. |
| Naomi: And 頭が悪い (atama ga warui) which means head is bad, bad head means not smart. |
| Rebecca: Stupid. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sō desu ne. ) なので (Nanode), if I say Gokiburi は頭が悪いです (wa atama ga warui desu). |
| Rebecca: Cockroaches are stupid. We think so, we are not sure. |
| Naomi: Maybe 頭が良いです。わかんないけど。 (Atama ga ii desu. Wakan'nai kedo.) |
| Rebecca: Can we have one sentence for 頭が良いです (atamagaii desu)? |
| Naomi: In my opinion, 村上春樹は頭が良いです (Murakami Haruki wa atama ga ii desu). |
| Rebecca: Naomi Sensei thinks 村上春樹 (Murakami Haruki) is smart. |
| Naomi: Is 村上春樹(Murakami Haruki) famous? 有名ですか (Yūmei desu ka) |
| Rebecca: Yeah he is quite famous in English anyway. I think he is one of the best known Japanese authors in English today. He was nominated for the Nobel prize. |
| Naomi: そうだそうだ。 (Sōda sōda.) |
| Rebecca: Yeah カフカ (kafuka) on the show. |
| Naomi: ノルウェーのもり (Noruu~ē no mori) |
| Rebecca: Norwegian Wood. Yeah I really like Norwegian wood. |
| Naomi: Quite depressing but… |
| Rebecca: Yeah it’s depressing. I enjoyed it though. For a vocabulary list of body parts, you can check out Style You and Beyond #12 and also for a list of adjectives, look at Welcome to Style You 14. |
| Naomi: じゃ、レベッカさん、 (Ja, Rebekka-san,) can you think of anyone or anything 頭が悪いです (atama ga warui desu). |
| Rebecca: 頭が悪いです。 (Atama ga warui desu.) Yeah what’s something or someone stupid. I have to be careful how I answer this. |
| Naomi: Oh my dog. |
| Rebecca: Your dog is stupid. |
| Naomi: Yeah my dog is stupid but of course he is cute but… |
| Rebecca: He is 可愛い (kawaii) but he is stupid. |
| Naomi: Okay I will change the question. Can you think of any place 海がきれいです (umi ga kirei desu). 海 (umi) is sea or beach or ocean. |
| Rebecca: That’s easy. オーストラリアは海が綺麗です。 (Ōsutoraria wa umi ga kirei desu.) |
| Naomi: オーストラリアのどこ (osutoraria no doko) |
| Rebecca: どこでも (doko demo) |
| Naomi: Anywhere. |
| Rebecca: This is – my price is in Australia and coming out. No, I think the beach in Australia is beautiful. Very much anywhere. |
| Naomi: ほんと。オーストラリアは海が綺麗です。 (Honto. Ōsutoraria wa umi ga kirei desu.) |
| Rebecca: Yes. The beach is pretty in Australia. |
| Naomi: 沖縄も海がまあ、綺麗です。 (Okinawa mo umi ga mā, kirei desu.) |
| Rebecca: 沖縄 (Okinawa) is beautiful yeah. I went there once and it was just gorgeous. 沖縄の海も綺麗です (Okinawa no umi mo kirei desu) |
Outro |
| Naomi: そうですね。じゃあ、今日はおしまい。 (Sō desu ne. Jā, kyō wa oshimai.) |
| Rebecca: That’s all for today. |
| Naomi: じゃあね。 (Jā ne.) |
| Rebecca: See you next time. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 道後温泉にて |
| (Dōgo onsen nite) |
| ファブリツィオ: この浴衣は デザインが かわいいですが、サイズが 小さいです |
| ね。 |
| Fabrizio: Kono yukata wa dezain ga kawaii desu ga, saizu ga chiisai desu ne. |
| 冬果: ああ、ファブリツィオは 背が高い…あ! あれ！歌手の コロダクルミ |
| ですよ。うわー。細い！顔が 小さいですね。目が 大きーい。う |
| わぁ。超 かわいい。 |
| Fuyuka: Ā, Faburitsio wa se ga takai… a! Are! Kashu no Koroda Kurumi desu yo. Uwā. Hosoi! Kao ga chiisai desu ne. Me ga ōkii. Uwā. chō kawaii. |
| ファブリツィオ: あの人は 有名ですか。 |
| Fabrizio: Ano hito wa yūmei desu ka. |
| 冬果: とても 有名ですよ。へぇー。目が すごくきれい。足が 長いです |
| ね。うわっ、超 スタイルが いい。あれ？ファブリツィオ？ち |
| ょっと、ファブリツィオ！！！ |
| Fuyuka: Totemo yūmei desu yo. Heē. Me ga sugoku kirei. Ashi ga nagai desu ne. Uwa, chō sutairu ga ii. Are? Faburitsio? Chotto, Faburitsio!!! |
| ファブリツィオ: はじめまして。ファブリツィオです。イタリア人です。ファッショ |
| ンコーディネーターです。どうぞ よろしくお願いします。 |
| Fabrizio: Hajimemashite. Faburitsio desu. Itaria-jin desu. Fasshon kōdinētā desu. Dōzo yoroshiku o-negai shimasu. |
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