Learn about telling and asking one's preferences
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Rebecca: What kind of Japanese car did you say you like? |
| Naomi: Naomiです (desu). |
| Rebecca: Rebecca here. |
| Naomi: Speaking of Nihongo Dojo, 道場は英語で何ですか。 (Dōjō wa eigo de nan desu ka.) How do you translate Dojo 道場 (dōjō)? |
| Rebecca: I think often people actually just call it the Dojo. |
| Naomi: Dojo. |
| Rebecca: Yeah you know, like the Karate Dojo. It’s the place where you train in karate or kendo or something like that right? |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Rebecca: The hall – the training hall. I don’t know. |
| Naomi: そうですか。じゃあ、今日も頑張って勉強していきましょう。 (Sō desu ka. Jā, kyō mo ganbatte benkyō shite ikimashou.) |
| Rebecca: 頑張りましょう。日本語道場で。 (Ganbarimashō. Nihongo dōjō de.) |
| Naomi: 今日のテーマは何ですか。 (Kyō no tēma wa nani desu ka.) |
| Rebecca: Today’s theme is なになには、なになにが、好きです (nani nani wa, nani nani ga, suki desu). So we are going to be looking at how to talk about what you like or how to talk about what someone likes. So someone は (wa) something が好きです (ga suki desu). |
| Naomi: はい。 私はチョコレートが好きです。 (Hai. Watashi wa chokorēto ga suki desu.) |
| Rebecca: Naomi Sensei just said, I like chocolate. 私も。 (Watashi mo.) I also like chocolate, of course. Okay so in the last lesson, Fuyuka came to the airport to pick up ファブリツィオ (Faburitsio) and today’s conversation begins at the airport parking lot. So Naomi Sensei, can you tell us a bit about today’s conversation? |
| Naomi: 今、ファブリツィオと冬果は、車の中にいます。 (Ima, faburitsio to tōka wa, kuruma no naka ni imasu.) |
| Rebecca: Fuyuka and Fabrizio are in the car. |
| Naomi: はい。で、話しています。(Hai. De, hanashite imasu.) |
| Rebecca: And they are talking. |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Rebecca: That’s why it’s a conversation. And what are they talking about? |
| Naomi: They are talking about 車 (kuruma) which means “car.” |
| Rebecca: Okay. Well, let’s listen to what they have to say. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 車のエンジンをかける |
| (Kuruma no enjin o kakeru) |
| ファブリツィオ: これは どこの 車ですか。 |
| Fabrizio: Kore wa doko no kuruma desu ka. |
| 冬果: さあ...トヨタ...あれ、ホンダかな...。ファブリツィオは 車が 好きです |
| か。 |
| Fuyuka: Sā... Toyota... Are, Honda ka na. ... Faburitsio wa kuruma ga suki desu ka. |
| ファブリツィオ: ええ。好きですよ。冬果さんは どんな車が 好きですか。 |
| Fabrizio: Ē. Suki desu yo. Fuyuka-san wa don'na kuruma ga suki desu ka. |
| 冬果: うーん。正直、興味が ありませんね。あ、でも、白い車が 好きです。ファブリツィオは どんな車が 好きですか。 |
| Fuyuka: Ūn. Shōjiki, kyōmi ga arimasen ne. A, demo, shiroi kuruma ga suki desu. Faburitsio wa don'na kuruma ga suki desu ka. |
| ファブリツィオ: 私は ランボルギーニが 好きです。 |
| Fabrizio: Watashi wa Ranborugīni ga suki desu. |
| 冬果: へぇー。ランボルギーニ・・・。ランボルギーニは どこの 車ですか。スズキ？ |
| Fuyuka: Heē. Ranborugīni. Ranborugīni wa doko no kuruma desu ka. Suzuki? |
| 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.) |
| 車のエンジンをかける |
| (Kuruma no enjin o kakeru) |
| ファブリツィオ: これは どこの 車ですか。 |
| Fabrizio: Kore wa doko no kuruma desu ka. |
| 冬果: さあ...トヨタ...あれ、ホンダかな...。ファブリツィオは 車が 好きです |
| か。 |
| Fuyuka: Sā... Toyota... Are, Honda ka na. ... Faburitsio wa kuruma ga suki desu ka. |
| ファブリツィオ: ええ。好きですよ。冬果さんは どんな車が 好きですか。 |
| Fabrizio: Ē. Suki desu yo. Fuyuka-san wa don'na kuruma ga suki desu ka. |
| 冬果: うーん。正直、興味が ありませんね。あ、でも、白い車が 好きです。ファブリツィオは どんな車が 好きですか。 |
| Fuyuka: Ūn. Shōjiki, kyōmi ga arimasen ne. A, demo, shiroi kuruma ga suki desu. Faburitsio wa don'na kuruma ga suki desu ka. |
| ファブリツィオ: 私は ランボルギーニが 好きです。 |
| Fabrizio: Watashi wa Ranborugīni ga suki desu. |
| 冬果: へぇー。ランボルギーニ・・・。ランボルギーニは どこの 車ですか。スズキ？ |
| Fuyuka: Heē. Ranborugīni. Ranborugīni wa doko no kuruma desu ka. Suzuki? |
| Naomi: 今度は英語が入ります。 (Kondo wa eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 車のエンジンをかける |
| Kuruma no enjinwokakeru |
| (start an engine) |
| ファブリツィオ: これは どこの 車ですか。 |
| Fabrizio: Kore wa doko no kuruma desu ka. : |
| FABRIZIO: What kind of car is this? |
| 冬果: さあ...トヨタ...あれ、ホンダかな...。ファブリツィオは 車が 好きですか。 |
| Fuyuka: Sā... Toyota... Are, Honda ka na. ... Faburitsio wa kuruma ga suki desu ka. |
| FUYUKA: Uh...It's a Toyota...No, it might be a Honda. Do you like cars, |
| Fabrizio? |
| ファブリツィオ: ええ。好きですよ。冬果さんは どんな車が 好きですか。 |
| Fabrizio: Ē. Suki desu yo. Fuyuka-san wa don'na kuruma ga suki desu ka. |
| FABRIZIO: Yes, I do. Fuyuka-san, what kind of cars do you like? |
| 冬果: うーん。正直、興味が ありませんね。あ、でも、白い車が 好きです。ファブリツィオは どんな車が 好きですか。 |
| Fuyuka: Ūn. Shōjiki, kyōmi ga arimasen ne. A, demo, shiroi kuruma ga suki desu. Fabrizio wa don'na kuruma ga suki desu ka. |
| FUYUKA: Well, to be honest with you, I'm not interested in cars. Ah, but I like white cars. What kind of cars do you like, Fabrizio? |
| ファブリツィオ: 私は ランボルギーニが 好きです。 |
| Fabrizio: Watashi wa ranborugīni ga suki desu. |
| FABRIZIO: I like Lamborghinis. |
| 冬果: へぇー。ランボルギーニ・・・。ランボルギーニは どこの 車ですか。スズキ？ |
| Fuyuka: Heē. Ranborugīni. Ranborugīni wa doko no kuruma desu ka. Suzuki? |
| FUYUKA: Really, Lamborghinis...what kind of car is a Lamborghini? Is it a |
| Suzuki? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Rebecca: Naomi Sensei 車が好きですか (kuruma ga suki desu ka) do you like cars? |
| Naomi: あまり興味がありませんね。 (Amari kyōmi ga arimasen ne.) |
| Rebecca: You don’t really have much interest in them. |
| Naomi: Yeah actually the story is based on my real life experience. |
| Rebecca: Today’s conversation is… |
| Naomi: はい、そうですね。 (Hai, sō desu ne.) Friend of mine was driving a really nice car. I forgot the carmaker’s name but he was driving a really nice car and he said this car is such and such and I asked like あ、何 (a, nani) Toyota, Honda, Suzuki どこどこ (doko doko). |
| Rebecca: The poor man. |
| Naomi: そう。なんだっけ。こういうの。 (Sō. Na n da kke. Kō iu no.) |
| Rebecca: It was an Audi? |
| Naomi: Audi yeah. |
| Rebecca: That’s a nice car. |
| Naomi: Is it? |
| Rebecca: Yeah, yeah. Was it a sports car? |
| Naomi: It was small. It was white. |
| Rebecca: Oh it’s probably his park &joy. |
| Naomi: なるほどね。だから、あまり私は興味がありません。レベッカさんは。 |
| (Naruhodo ne. Dakara, amari watashi wa kyōmi ga arimasen. Rebekka-san wa.) |
| Rebecca: 私は、あんまり興味はありませんど。 (Watashi wa, anmari kyōmi wa arimasendo.) I am not that interested in cars but I do like luxury cars. |
| Naomi: Luxury cars. |
| Rebecca: I don’t know a lot about them or what goes on under the bonnet but you know Mercedes, Audi, you know nice, heavy luxurious looking car. I like that and I notice too. |
| Naomi: なるほどね。 (Naruhodo ne.) |
| Rebecca: Anyway, let’s have a look at the vocabulary and phrases from today’s lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Rebecca: First item. |
| Naomi: トヨタ. (Toyota.) |
| Rebecca: Toyota or Toyota depending on where you are from. Japanese car company. |
| Naomi: (slow) とよた (Toyota) (natural speed) トヨタ (Toyota) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: ホンダ. (Honda) |
| Rebecca: Honda also a Japanese car company. |
| Naomi: (slow) ほんだ (Honda) (natural speed）ホンダ (Honda) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: 車 (kuruma) |
| Rebecca: Car. |
| Naomi: (slow) くるま (kuruma) (natural speed）車 (kuruma) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: 好き (suki) |
| Rebecca: Likable. |
| Naomi: (slow) すき (suki) (natural speed）好き (suki) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: 正直 (shōjiki) |
| Rebecca: Honestly. Honest. |
| Naomi: (slow) しょうじき (shōjiki) (natural speed）正直 (shōjiki) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: 興味 (kyōmi) |
| Rebecca: Interest. |
| Naomi: (slow) きょうみ (kyō mi) (natural speed) 興味 (kyōmi) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: 白い (shiroi) |
| Rebecca: White i-Adjective. |
| Naomi: (slow) しろい (shiroi) (natural speed) 白い (shiroi) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: ランボルギーニ (Ranborugīni) |
| Rebecca: Lamborghini the Italian car company. |
| Naomi: (slow) らんぼるぎーに (Ranborugīni) (natural speed) ランボルギーニ (Ranborugīni) |
| Rebecca: Next. |
| Naomi: スズキ (Suzuki) |
| Rebecca: Suzuki the Japanese car company. |
| Naomi: (slow) すずき (Suzuki) (natural speed) スズキ (Suzuki) |
| Rebecca: So what useful phrase from today’s conversation would you like to look at? |
| Naomi: どれにしようかな。さあ、ホンダかな。 (Dore ni shiyou ka na. Sā, Honda ka na.) |
| Rebecca: I don’t know but it’s probably Honda. Okay so if we break down the elements of this sentence, we have |
| Naomi: さあ (sā) |
| Rebecca: Which means well I don’t know. Let me see and we also have… |
| Naomi: Honda. |
| Rebecca: Honda, the carmaker. |
| Naomi: かな (ka na) |
| Rebecca: I wonder. So here Sa is an interjection which is often used in Japanese when you are thinking about an answer. It means you know the same as in English when you go, let me see sa. |
| Naomi: I am not sure とかね (toka ne). Sa… |
| Rebecca: So you can try using that next time someone asks you a question and you need to bite sometime while you are thinking about the answer. Very useful. |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Rebecca: Okay so for example… |
| Naomi: レベッカさん、ミーテイングは何時からですか。 (Rebekka-san, mīteingu wa nanji kara desu ka.) What time does the meeting start? |
| Rebecca: さあ、わかりません (Sā, wakarimasen). 9時かな (9-Ji ka na) well I don’t know. I wonder is it 9 maybe? |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sō desu ne.) |
| Rebecca: We also used かな (ka na) here. かな (Ka na) is a sentence ending particle which indicates uncertainty or a question you are asking yourself casually. It can be translated as I wonder or maybe or yeah. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sō desu ne.) I think this かな (ka na) is very convenient because you suddenly become not sure, like after you gave the answer. In that case, that would be very convenient. |
| Rebecca: I see. So you can, like, stick かな (ka na) on the end and it kind of makes you sentence less definite. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sō desu ne.) 九時です (Ku-ji desu) like sounds very definite but 九時かな (ku-ji ka na). |
| Rebecca: I see yeah, yeah. So it doesn’t matter if you are wrong. |
| Naomi: はい、そうですね。 (Hai, sō desu ne.) |
| Rebecca: Another useful word. And our next sentence is. |
| Naomi: 正直興味がありません。 (Shōjiki kyōmi ga arimasen.) |
| Rebecca: To be honest, I am not interested. In this case, we were talking about cars 正直 (shōjiki) Suzuki. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sō desu ne.) |
| Rebecca: So she is saying, to be honest I am not interested in cars and so the elements of this sentence are |
| Naomi: 正直 (shōjiki) |
| Rebecca: Which means to be honest, to be frank with you. It’s an adverb. |
| Naomi: 興味 (kyōmi) |
| Rebecca: Interest. |
| Naomi: が (ga) |
| Rebecca: Which is the subject marking particle. |
| Naomi: ありません (arimasen) |
| Rebecca: To not have in this case right? |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sō desu ne.) Negative form of あります (arimasu). |
| Rebecca: So if you’d like to review ありません (arimasen) and あります (arimasu), have a look at Style You and Beyond #3. |
| Naomi: レベッカさん、スポーツ好きですか。 (Rebekka-san, supōtsu suki desu ka.) |
| Rebecca: 正直、興味がありません。 (Shōjiki, kyōmi ga arimasen.) |
| Naomi: そうですか。正直な意見ですね。 (Sō desu ka. Shōjiki na iken desu ne.) That’s a honest opinion. |
| Rebecca: あんまり、オーストラリア人らしくない。 (Anmari, Ōsutoraria-jin rashikunai.) It’s not very Australian attitude |
| Naomi:オーストラリアのフットボールは好きですか。 (Ōsutoraria no futtobōru wa suki desu ka.) |
| Rebecca: 正直、興味がありません。 (Shōjiki, kyōmi ga arimasen.) I think I mean I would watch it sometimes on TV but it’s not like I am a huge fan and that I follow any sports religiously and I certainly don’t play sports. I am totally uncoordinated. |
| Naomi: そうですか。 興味がありませんね。 (Sō desu ka. Kyōmi ga arimasen ne.) |
| Rebecca: ありません。 (Arimasen.) |
| Naomi: 残念です。 (Zan'nen desu.) |
| Rebecca:残念です。 (Zan'nen desu.) Very un-Australian of me. Shall we have a look at grammar? |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Rebecca: Okay. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Rebecca:What’s today’s target grammar. Can you say that for us please? |
| Naomi: 私は、白い車が好きです。 (Watashi wa, shiroi kuruma ga suki desu.) |
| Rebecca: I like white cars. So we are just talking about you prefer to have a car that’s colored white. Is that what you mean? |
| Naomi: はいそうです。(Hai sō desu.) |
| Rebecca: So we are going to focus on the grammar structure. Somebody は (wa) something が好きです (ga suki desu). If you could give us an example sentences please? |
| Naomi: 私は、スポーツが好きです。 (Watashi wa, supōtsu ga suki desu.) |
| Rebecca: I like sports not really but that’s what Naomi Sensei just said. |
| Naomi: 私は、あなたが好きです。 (Watashi wa, anata ga suki desu.) |
| Rebecca: I like you. Well that’s probably true. I have a question, Naomi Sensei. On a drama or in a Japanese movie so popular or something when someone. You know when the hero tells the heroine that he likes her or he – I know you use 好きです (suki desu) right? He says 好きです (suki desu) and that’s sort of like in English, we might say, I love you or is there another meaning of 私はあなたが好きです (watashi wa anata ga suki desu) not just as a friend but as more… |
| Naomi: Depending on facial expression and relationship and everything but 私は好きです (watashi wa suki desu) could mean I like you as a friend. |
| Rebecca: Yeah. |
| Naomi: Or I love you. |
| Rebecca: Right okay yeah because it might be a little bit sort of you might think why are you so embarrassed about saying I like you as a friend. I suppose we do say that in English too, especially in, like, primary school or something. You know so and so likes so and so. We mean the same thing to have a crush on someone or something like that. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sō desu ne.) I think Japanese people are more reserved than western people yeah. ちょっとシャイだから (Chotto shai da kara). We use 好きです (chotto shai da kara) for the meaning of love. |
| Rebecca: Yeah not all Japanese people are shy though because once I had this young man come up to me in a library and say, I love you. |
| Naomi: In English? |
| Rebecca: Not 好きです (suki desu). Well I think he was – yeah in English. ラブ (Rabu) I love you and I was like, oh! |
| Naomi: What did you say? |
| Rebecca: I said well – I didn’t know what to say. I was quite young and I didn’t want to be rude. So I said ah…I think you better go right. I felt so terrible. I mean I wouldn’t say that now. I would say thank you but no thank you or something like that but I was so shocked. |
| Naomi: そうですか。 (Sō desu ka.) |
| Rebecca: It was in Japan. I know, like being here a little while. |
| Naomi: It’s a bit advanced grammar but 愛しています (aishiteimasu) is the love. I love you. |
| Rebecca: Right. |
| Naomi: 私はあなたを愛しています (Watashi wa anata o aishiteimasu) totally different particle and grammar is used. |
| Rebecca: Right so O instead of が (ga). And well we will get into that eventually. Actually I think the subject of love and like and well lust and that kind of thing in Japanese is really fascinating because it doesn’t correspond exactly to the way we use the word love in English. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sō desu ne.) |
| Rebecca: You know I think it really shows maybe different attitudes to what love is or it’s just – it’s interesting to think about it in another language. |
| Naomi: Different attitude to love. That’s the great explanation I guess. |
| Rebecca: Yeah, yeah. I find it really fascinating to think about it in Japanese because it makes you realize how – what’s the word, how the word love in English is used. It means so many different things and it can really be very vague. Something to think about. So just to finish off, let’s practice some more of these 好きです (suki desu) sentences. We had 私は車が好きです (watashi wa kuruma ga suki desu) and 私はあなたが好きです (watashi wa anata ga suki desu). What about another example? |
| Naomi: ファブリツィオはランボルギーニが好きです (Faburitsio wa Ranborugīni ga suki desu) |
| Rebecca: Fabrizio likes Lamborghinis or maybe Fabrizio loves Lamborghinis. 大好きです。 (Daisuki desu.) |
| Naomi: And when you put Ka at the end. When you say it with rising intonation that makes question. |
| Rebecca: Alright. So what would be an example of that? |
| Naomi: Okay ファブリツィオがランボルギーニが好きですか (Faburitsio ga ranborugīni ga suki desu ka). |
| Rebecca: Does Fabrizio like Lamborghinis? |
| Naomi: あなたは、私が好きですか (Anata wa, watashi ga suki desu ka) Do you like me or do you love me? |
| Rebecca: Oh do you love me all right. So in addition to yes, no questions using 好きです (suki desu) you can also use an interrogative such as なに (nani) or だれ (dare) or どんな (don'na.) |
| Naomi: どんな車 (don'na kuruma) |
| Rebecca: なに (nani) is what and だれ (dare) is who and どんな (don'na) is what kind of. So an example sentence is |
| Naomi: レベッカさんは、どんなスポーツが好きですか。 (Rebekka-san wa, don'na supōtsu ga suki desu ka.) |
| Rebecca: 正直、興味がありません。 (Shōjiki, kyōmi ga arimasen.) What sports do I like? What sports do I like? |
| Naomi: 正直、興味がありません (Shōjiki, kyōmi ga arimasen) is a good answer. |
| Rebecca: Well, so Naomi Sensei just asked me what kind of sports do I like and I said well, I don’t have much of an interest. I mean, I like to watch swimming and things like that. |
| Naomi: Swimming? いいですよね。後は、レベッカさんは、どんな音楽が好きですか。 (Ii desu yo ne. Ato wa, Rebekka-san wa, don'na ongaku ga suki desu ka.) |
| Rebecca: What kind of music do I like? I like lots of music. I think I mentioned in a previous lesson that I like Nick Cave. |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Rebecca: What else do I like? Well I just went to see a Sufjan Stevens concert last night and that was pretty good. |
| Naomi: ほんと。そうですか。じゃあ、レベッカさんはニックケーブが好きですよね。 (Honto. Sō desu ka. Jā, Rebekka-san wa nikkukēbu ga suki desu yo ne.) |
| Rebecca: はい、好きです。 (Hai, suki desu.) I like Nick Cave and his music. |
| Naomi: なるほど。 (Hai.) |
Outro |
| Naomi: みなさんは、どんな音楽が好きですか。じゃあまた。 (Mina-san wa, don'na ongaku ga suki desu ka. Jā mata.) |
| Rebecca:またね。 (Mata ne.) |
| DIALOGUE |
| ファブリツィオ: これは どこの 車ですか。 |
| Fabrizio: Kore wa doko no kuruma desu ka. |
| 冬果: さあ...トヨタ...あれ、ホンダかな...。ファブリツィオは 車が 好きです |
| か。 |
| Fuyuka: Sā... Toyota... Are, Honda ka na. ... Faburitsio wa kuruma ga suki desu ka. |
| ファブリツィオ: ええ。好きですよ。冬果さんは どんな車が 好きですか。 |
| Fabrizio: Ē. Suki desu yo. Fuyuka-san wa don'na kuruma ga suki desu ka. |
| 冬果: うーん。正直、興味が ありませんね。あ、でも、白い車が 好きです。ファブリツィオは どんな車が 好きですか。 |
| Fuyuka: Ūn. Shōjiki, kyōmi ga arimasen ne. A, demo, shiroi kuruma ga suki desu. Faburitsio wa don'na kuruma ga suki desu ka. |
| ファブリツィオ: 私は ランボルギーニが 好きです。 |
| Fabrizio: Watashi wa Ranborugīni ga suki desu. |
| 冬果: へぇー。ランボルギーニ・・・。ランボルギーニは どこの 車ですか。スズキ？ |
| Fuyuka: Heē. Ranborugīni. Ranborugīni wa doko no kuruma desu ka. Suzuki? |
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