Learn about talking about daily habit
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Lori’s Story, Lesson 47. Often or not at all. Naomi-sensei, |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Eric: Let’s talk about life. |
| Naomi: Life? |
| Eric: Well yeah I mean daily life, right? So you know, like how often you do something or don’t do something. |
| Naomi: I see. 例えば (tatoeba), for example... よく食べます。(Yoku tabemasu.) |
| Eric: I eat a lot. |
| Naomi: あまり食べません。(Amari tabemasen.) |
| Eric: I don’t eat that much. |
| Naomi: 全然食べません。(Zenzen tabemasen.) |
| Eric: I don’t eat at all. We are back at the coffee shop, right? |
| Naomi: そうですね。コーヒー屋さんです。(Sō desu ne. Kōhīya-san desu.) |
| Eric: At a café, Café Innovative that is. And who is talking? |
| Naomi: リュウさんと静さん。 (Ryū-san to Shizuka-san.) |
| Eric: All right and they will be speaking in |
| Naomi: Formal Japanese. |
| Eric: All right, let’s listen. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 店員 (ten’in) : コーヒーのお客様。(Kōhī no o-kyaku-sama.) |
| リュウ (Ryū) : あ、僕です。どうも。・・・静さんは、よく映画をみますか。(A, boku desu. Dōmo. ... Shizuka-san wa, yoku eiga o mimasu ka.) |
| 静 (Shizuka) : ・・・いえ、あまり。(... Ie, amari.) |
| リュウ (Ryū) : ・・・よく本を読みますか。(... Yoku hon o yomimasu ka.) |
| 静 (Shizuka) : いえ、全然読みません。(Ie, zenzen yomimasen.) |
| リュウ (Ryū) : ・・・じゃ、お酒はどうですか。よく飲みますか。(... Ja, o-sake wa dō desu ka. Yoku nomimasu ka.) |
| 静 (Shizuka) : あのぉ・・・リュウさんは、ロリーさんとよく会いますか。(Anō... Ryū-san wa, Rorī-san to yoku aimasu ka.) |
| リュウ (Ryū) : ロリー？あまり会いませんよ。(Rorī? Amari aimasen yo.) |
| 静 (Shizuka) : 嘘つき。私はロリーさんの友達です。(Usotsuki. Watashi wa Rorī-san no tomodachi desu.) |
| もう一度、お願いします。今度は、ゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do, onegai shimasu. Kondo wa, yukkuri onegai shimasu.) |
| 店員 (ten’in) : コーヒーのお客様。(Kōhī no o-kyaku-sama.) |
| リュウ (Ryū) : あ、僕です。どうも。・・・静さんは、よく映画をみますか。(A, boku desu. Dōmo. ... Shizuka-san wa, yoku eiga o mimasu ka.) |
| 静 (Shizuka) : ・・・いえ、あまり。(... Ie, amari.) |
| リュウ (Ryū) : ・・・よく本を読みますか。(... Yoku hon o yomimasu ka.) |
| 静 (Shizuka) : いえ、全然読みません。(Ie, zenzen yomimasen.) |
| リュウ (Ryū) : ・・・じゃ、お酒はどうですか。よく飲みますか。(... Ja, o-sake wa dō desu ka. Yoku nomimasu ka.) |
| 静 (Shizuka) : あのぉ・・・リュウさんは、ロリーさんとよく会いますか。(Anō... Ryū-san wa, Rorī-san to yoku aimasu ka.) |
| リュウ (Ryū) : ロリー？あまり会いませんよ。(Rorī? Amari aimasen yo.) |
| 静 (Shizuka) : 嘘つき。私はロリーさんの友達です。(Usotsuki. Watashi wa Rorī-san no tomodachi desu.) |
| 今度は、英語が入ります。(Kondo wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 店員 (ten’in) : コーヒーのお客様。(Kōhī no o-kyaku-sama.) |
| STAFF : One coffee. |
| リュウ (Ryū) : あ、僕です。どうも。(A, boku desu. Dōmo.) |
| RYU : Oh, that’s me. Thank you. |
| リュウ (Ryū) : ・・・静さんは、よく映画をみますか。(... Shizuka-san wa, yoku eiga o mimasu ka.) |
| RYU : So Shizuka... do you watch a lot of movies? |
| 静 (Shizuka) : ・・・いえ、あまり。(... Ie, amari.) |
| SHIZUKA : ... No, not really. |
| リュウ (Ryū) : ・・・よく本を読みますか。(... Yoku hon o yomimasu ka.) |
| RYU : ... Read a lot of books? |
| 静 (Shizuka) : いえ、全然読みません。(Ie, zenzen yomimasen.) |
| SHIZUKA : No, I never read. |
| リュウ (Ryū) : ・・・じゃ、お酒はどうですか。よく飲みますか。(... Ja, o-sake wa dō desu ka. Yoku nomimasu ka.) |
| RYU : ... Well, do you like alcohol? Do you drink much? |
| 静 (Shizuka) : あのぉ・・・リュウさんは、ロリーさんとよく会いますか。(Anō... Ryū-san wa, Rorī-san to yoku aimasu ka.) |
| SHIZUKA : Uh... Ryu, do you see Lori much? |
| リュウ (Ryū) : ロリー？あまり会いませんよ。(Rorī? Amari aimasen yo.) |
| RYU : Lori? No, I don’t see her much at all. |
| 静 (Shizuka) : 嘘つき。(Usotsuki.) |
| SHIZUKA : You liar. |
| 静 (Shizuka) : 私はロリーさんの友達です。(Watashi wa Rorī-san no tomodachi desu.) |
| SHIZUKA : I’m friends with Lori. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Oh that’s it, that’s it. It’s coming. Ryu is going to get an earful and perhaps a faceful, right? You know, if he is going to do something like this, you’d think he would do his research first. Not choose his girlfriend's best friend. |
| Naomi: そうね。(Sō ne.) |
| Eric: Maybe go online. You know, find somebody else. |
| Naomi: I have a question. Does liar have a really negative meaning in English? |
| Eric: Well I don’t think anyone is really proud of being a liar. |
| Naomi: Because in Japanese, it really depends on how you say it. I don’t personally use it a lot but there are people who use this word often. 嘘つき！(Usotsuki!) |
| Eric: Yeah, I hear it all the time, especially the director and me. |
| Naomi: 嘘つきー、ってね。 (Usotsukī, tte ne.) |
| Eric: No but you know I don’t think of it as a liar or like liar! It’s more like no way or get out of here, right? |
| Naomi: そうそうそう (sō sō sō), get out of here. Yeah, yeah. |
| Eric: Get out of town. And not just 嘘つき (usotsuki) but people often use うそ～ (usō) in the same way right just like うそ～ (usō), no way. |
| Naomi: そうですね。うそ～！ (Sō desu ne. Usō!) It can’t be true. |
| Eric: But you just said that you don’t use 嘘つき (usotsuki). What do you use instead or you believe everything and you don’t think anything is unbelievable, right Naomi-sensei? |
| Naomi: Yeah, I am innocent, so. |
| Eric: But just for our sake Naomi-sensei, let’s hear both ways of using 嘘つき (usotsuki), right? So first, it’s totally serious and I am really a huge liar. |
| Naomi: 嘘つき。(Usotsuki.) |
| Eric: My god. You just gave me the shivers. Okay, we are just joking around and you just couldn’t believe what it is because it was so unbelievable. |
| Naomi: 嘘つき～。(Usotsukī.) |
| Eric: It’s a huge difference. You are like basically laughing while you are saying the second one. So I think you’d be able to tell if someone is really… |
| Naomi: Yeah, yeah, yeah you can tell from the speaker’s facial expression. |
| Eric: Yeah, it is common sense, right? That’s how people tell jokes, the deadpan jokes, look at their faces! But this is not a comedy show. So on to the vocabulary. |
| Naomi: 次は、単語です。(Tsugi wa, tango desu.) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: The first word is |
| Naomi: 見ます (mimasu) |
| Eric: To see, to look. |
| Naomi: (slow) みます (mimasu) (natural speed) 見ます (mimasu) |
| Eric: The next word is |
| Naomi: 本 (hon) |
| Eric: Book. |
| Naomi: (slow) ほん (hon) (natural speed) 本 (hon) |
| Eric: The next word is |
| Naomi: お酒 (o-sake) |
| Eric: Alcohol. |
| Naomi: (slow) おさけ (o-sake) (natural speed) お酒 (o-sake) |
| Eric: The next word is |
| Naomi: 会います (aimasu) |
| Eric: To meet. |
| Naomi: (slow) あいます (aimasu) (natural speed) 会います (aimasu) |
| Eric: And the last word is |
| Naomi: 嘘つき (usotsuki) |
| Eric: Liar. |
| Naomi: (slow) うそつき (usotsuki) (natural speed) 嘘つき (usotsuki) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Eric: Okay, first let’s take a look at a phrase. |
| Naomi: コーヒーのお客様 (kōhī no o-kyaku-sama) |
| Eric: The customer who ordered coffee. So clerks or waiters usually say this when they bring the food to the table and ask, what belongs to whom, right? |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Product plus のお客様 (no o-kyaku-sama). |
| Eric: So what if you ordered a cappuccino? |
| Naomi: カプチーノのお客様。(Kapuchīno no o-kyaku-sama.) |
| Eric: If you ordered a curry? |
| Naomi: カレーのお客様。(Karē no o-kyaku-sama.) |
| Eric: And if the cappuccino or curry is mine, what do I say? |
| Naomi: Just say はい (hai). |
| Eric: Here. |
| Naomi: Or 私です (watashi desu). |
| Eric: It’s me. |
| Naomi: Or 僕です (boku desu). |
| Eric: It’s me for men, right? |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Eric: Or I guess you just raise your hand. |
| Naomi: あ～、そうですね。(Ā, sō desu ne.) Right. |
| Eric: What’s the next word? |
| Naomi: 見る (miru) |
| Eric: To see, to look, to watch. |
| Naomi: テレビを見ます (terebi o mimasu) |
| Eric: To watch TV. |
| Naomi: 映画を見ます (eiga o mimasu) |
| Eric: To see a movie. |
| Naomi: 絵を見ます (e o miamsu) |
| Eric: To look at a painting or a picture. |
| Naomi: So you use different verbs in English but in Japanese, it’s all 見ます (mimasu). |
| Eric: Talk about convenience. What’s the next word? |
| Naomi: 酒 (sake) |
| Eric: Alcohol. |
| Naomi: We often put お (o) the honorific prefix in front of it and say お酒 (o-sake). |
| Eric: I think men tend to just say 酒 (sake). |
| Naomi: あ～、そうですね。(Ā, sō desu ne.) Right. |
| Eric: Right, especially when it’s just guys you know. 酒、好き？(Sake, suki?) You like alcohol? 酒 (sake) means alcohol in general. Wine, beer, whisky, it’s all 酒 (sake). It doesn’t usually mean 酒 (sake) or what some of my friends may call Saki. You know what I mean? |
| Naomi: Ah, Japanese rice wine? |
| Eric: Right. So what’s that called in Japanese? |
| Naomi: 日本酒 (Nihonshu), Japanese Alcohol. |
| Eric: Literally, right? |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Eric: On to the grammar. |
| Naomi: 次は、文法です。(Tsugi wa, bunpō desu.) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: So the focus of this lesson is adverbs specifying degree. In plain English, we are going to learn the three words that we can use to talk about how often we do things. |
| Naomi: The three words we will look at are よく (yoku). |
| Eric: Often. |
| Naomi: あまり (amari) |
| Eric: Not so often. |
| Naomi: And 全然 (zenzen) |
| Eric: Not at all. So first, let’s look at よく (yoku). よく (yoku) is an adverb that means often or a lot and when paired with a verb, it means I often blah, blah, blah... and the basic structure is subject plus よく (yoku) plus verb or verb phrase. |
| Naomi: For example... 私はよく勉強します。(Watashi wa yoku benkyō shimasu.) |
| Eric: I study a lot. I study often. Right and next we have |
| Naomi: あまり (amari) |
| Eric: Which is an adverb that usually proceeds verbs and adjectives in their negative form, all right? Don’t forget that, it’s important. It expresses the nuance of not so much and like its English counterpart, あまり (amari) might be used merely as a softening device. The basic sentence structure is subject plus あまり (amari) plus negative predicate. |
| Naomi: For example... 私はあまり勉強しません。(Watashi wa amari benkyō shimasen.) |
| Eric: I don’t study very often. I don’t study a lot. And lastly we have 全然 (zenzen). 全然 (zenzen) is an adverb that usually precedes verbs and adjectives in a negative form and expresses a nuance of not at all or absolutely not. The basic sentence structure is subject plus 全然 (zenzen) plus negative predicate. |
| Naomi: For example... 私は全然勉強しません。(Watashi wa zenzen benkyō shimasen.) |
| Eric: I don’t study at all. Okay, so let’s recap. How do you say I watch movies or I watch a movie? |
| Naomi: 私は映画を見ます。(Watashi wa eiga o mimasu.) |
| Eric: And often is よく (yoku). So I watch movies often. |
| Naomi: 私はよく映画を見ます。(Watashi wa yoku eiga o mimasu.) |
| Eric: And not so often is あまり (amari) plus a negative verb. The negative form of 見ます (mimasu) is |
| Naomi: 見ません (mimasen) |
| Eric: So, |
| Naomi: 私はあまり映画を見ません。(Watashi wa amari eiga o mimasen.) |
| Eric: I don’t watch that many movies or I don’t watch movies that much. And not at all is 全然 (zenzen) plus a negative verb. So, |
| Naomi: 私は全然映画を見ません。(Watashi wa zenzen eiga o mimasen.) |
| Eric: なおみ先生はよくコーヒーを飲みますか。(Naomi-sensei wa yoku kōhī o nomimasu ka.) |
| Naomi: コーヒーですか。はい、よく飲みます。(Kōhī desu ka. Hai, yoku nomimasu.) I am addicted to it. |
| Eric: Wait, wait that’s much more than よく飲みます (yoku nomimasu), right? |
| Naomi: そうかな。(Sō ka na.) |
| Eric: But that’s a topic for another episode. よくコーヒー屋にいきますか。(Yoku kōhīya ni ikimasu ka.) Do you often go to cafés? |
| Naomi: うーん、あまり行きませんね。でも、よくオフィスでコーヒーを飲みます。(Ūn, amari ikimasen ne. Demo, yoku ofisu de kōhī o nomimasu.) |
| Eric: So you don’t really go to cafes that often but you often drink coffee at the office. |
| Naomi: そうですね。よく飲みます。(Sō desu ne. Yoku nomimasu.) |
Outro |
| Eric: I'll see you guys next time. |
| Naomi: じゃ、また。(Ja, mata.) |
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