Learn about giving a gift to your host
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Yoshi,Takase: おはよう東京。 |
| Yoshi:ヨシです。 |
| Takase: タカセです。 |
| Peter: Peter here. Yoshi san, last week in the news we were talking about iPod on the go. When is it going to be ready? |
| Peter: Later this week. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: That’s right. You heard Yoshi san, later this week. Now this is a premium feature so stop by japanesepod101.com, sign up for your seven-day free trial. Now, for those of you who’ve signed up for an account and it has expired, we’re offering you a three-day extension, a special three-day extension that will give access to the learning centre. We’ve added so much and we’re continually adding to it, so come by and see what we’ve added. So again, later this week, we’re getting closer and closer. Alright, we are back with house visit #2, visiting a friend’s house. Proper manners, proper protocol. What to do when visiting their homes. Last week we covered getting in the door but now that we’ve let Yoshi san in, what are we going to do? Especially when you go travelling around with Yoshi san, you have to have really really good manners. Takase san, would you agree? |
| Takase: Yes. |
| Peter: That is, if you want to stay for dinner. We’re going to give you some tips that’ll get you a seat at the table. Now Takase san, when you go to visit someone’s house, do you go empty handed? Or do you usually bring something? |
| Takase: Well, I don’t bring anything but you’re supposed to bring some presents. |
| Peter: Maybe you made a mistake there! You said you’re supposed to bring something? |
| Takase: Yes. |
| Peter: But, you don’t bring anything? |
| Takase: No. |
| Peter: Umm...It’s a good thing you have us along to bring something for you. Now Yoshi san, what kind of thing do you bring to someone’s house? |
| Yoshi: Usually it’s like some kind of a お菓子. |
| Peter: Takase san, the English please? |
| Takase: Sweet. |
| Peter: Like a cake? |
| Yoshi: Yeah, it could be a cake or things you can get from local sweet stores. That’s usually nice or maybe you can bring fruit too. |
| Peter: Let’s just get back to the sweets for a second. In the US when we go to someone’s house it’s common to bring sweets but the sweets are made that day. When we’re talking about sweets in Japan, are they made that day or are they packaged sweets? |
| Yoshi: There are both. |
| Peter: So, pre-packaged, wrapped up in a gif-type sweets and something you could buy at the bakery. Like a strawberry shortcake. |
| Yoshi: Yeah. |
| Peter: Takase, what kind of cake do you want? |
| Takase: Cheesecake. |
| Peter: Cheesecake! Oh, so if you’re visiting Takase sans house, that’s what you want to bring. What kind of special treatment would someone get if they brought you a cheesecake Takase san? |
| Takase: Oh, I would let you in the house. |
| Peter: No cake, no pass. Alright so yeah, the sweets do have a lot of pull around here. So we covered sweets, now you also mentioned fruit? |
| Yoshi: Yes |
| Peter: And what’s a typical budget for visiting someone’s house? Is it up to the person? |
| Yoshi: I think it depends on who you are visiting and also who you are. I mean, it depends on the occasions too, you know? |
| Peter: So it’s pretty much, what you want to say is, ‘relative’? |
| Yoshi: Right. |
| Peter: So, with that introduction, if we can call it that, let’s take a look at today’s lesson. Takase san, Yoshi san, お願いします。. |
| Takase: こんにちはー！ |
| Yoshi: あ、タカセさーん！ どうぞお上がりください。 |
| Takase: おじゃましまーす。これ、つまらないものですが、どうぞ。 |
| Yoshi: どうもすみませーん。わざわざありがとうございます。どうぞ、こちらへ。今、お茶を入れますので。 |
| Takase: どうぞ、お構いなく。 |
| Peter: One more time? Slowly please. |
| Yoshi: もう一度お願いします。ゆっくりお願いします。 |
| Takase: こんにちは！ |
| Yoshi: あ、タカセさん！ どうぞ、おあがりください。 |
| Takase: おじゃまします。これ、つまらないものですが、どうぞ。 |
| Yoshi: どうも、すみません。わざわざ、ありがとうございます。どうぞ、こちらへ。いま、おちゃを、いれますので。 |
| Takase: どうぞ、おかまいなく。 |
| Peter: This time Takase san and Yoshi san will give you the Japanese and I’ll give you the English. Here we go. |
| Takase: こんにちはー。 |
| Peter: ‘Good afternoon’. |
| Yoshi: あ、タカセさん。 |
| Peter: ‘Oh, Miss Takase’. |
| Yoshi: どうぞ、お上がりください。 |
| Peter: ‘Please come in’. |
| Takase: おじゃましまーす。 |
| Peter: The standard set Japanese phrase when entering another person’s home roughly translates to, ‘I’ll be bothering you now’. |
| Takase: これ、つまらないものですが、どうぞ。 |
| Peter: ‘This is a small gift’. ‘Please’. |
| Yoshi: どうも、すみません。 |
| Peter: ‘Thank you’. |
| Yoshi: わざわざ、ありがとうございます。 |
| Peter: ‘To go through all that trouble. Thank you’. |
| Yoshi: どうぞ、こちらへ。 |
| Peter: ‘Please, this way’. |
| Yoshi: 今、お茶を入れますので。 |
| Peter: ‘I’ll bring some tea now’. |
| Takase: どうぞ、お構いなく。 |
| Peter: ‘Please don’t go through all that trouble’. Alright, inside of this conversation we have lots of amazing information. Small recap of what we did last week, plus last week after we released the lesson, on the message board, one of our listeners posted about? |
| Yoshi: お上がりください。 |
| Peter: As another extremely polite way for inviting someone into your house. So, this week it made its way into the conversation. So we had a quick recap and then after that we got into some new phrases that will really help you make a good impression on your hosts when you go to visit a house. So, what we’re going to do now is take a closer look. Takase san? give us that first line one more time. |
| Takase: こんにちは。 |
| Peter: Now the literal translation is, ‘good afternoon’. But, here it’s used in a bit of a different way. Not just meaning ‘good afternoon’, but kind of a set phrase that you can use. The time range to use this expression is kind of extended here. Right Takase san? |
| Takase: Yes. |
| Peter: For example, how long can we use this phrase? Between what kind of time range would be ok? |
| Yoshi: You can use こんにちは。maybe from around like, later in the morning or like before noon to early evening. |
| Peter: Now, here it’s a little more leeway than just meeting someone in the street and saying, ‘good afternoon’. A bit of ‘hello, I’m here’ expression. So, in this case the host and the guest are a bit familiar, they know each other. Perhaps the guest has come over and they've been meeting for a long time, but they have that prior connection. If you never met that person before it would be a bit informal. Yoshi san, next line? |
| Yoshi: あ、タカセさん。 |
| Peter: ‘Oh, Miss Takase’. |
| Yoshi: どうぞ、お上がりください。 |
| Peter: ‘Please come in’. Last week, what expression did we give you? |
| Yoshi: どうぞ、お入りください。 |
| Peter: Based on the verb, 入るwhich means, ‘to enter’. This week we gave you? |
| Yoshi: お上がりください。 |
| Peter: Based on the verb, 上がる. Which translates to, ‘go up’. Now Yoshi san, where do you think this comes from? |
| Yoshi: I think it comes from the way the Japanese houses were made. |
| Peter: You love your architecture. Yoshi’s hobby is Japanese architecture. |
| Yoshi: Right |
| Peter: So, ‘please come up and in’ is the nuance here. |
| Yoshi: Right. It’s a famous tradition about Japanese tradition that you take your shoes off at the entrance. |
| Peter: Yes, and we’re just about to get into that part. Easy, slow down! I know you’re really excited about this part but wait one second, let’s just finish it up here. So, you ask Takase to come in, can you give us that expression one more time? |
| Yoshi: どうぞ、お上がりください。 |
| Peter: Now, let’s just take a quick look here. One more time, we want to show you a bit about how Japanese works. What’s the verb in its dictionary form? |
| Yoshi: 上がる |
| Peter: And what do we say? The first part, ‘please leave of ください please’. |
| Yoshi: お上がり |
| Peter: See how the prefix お appears, and when that appears [00:08:49]るchanges toり. So, we go from 上がる to お上がりand then we add? |
| Yoshi: ください |
| Peter: Now, compare this with what we had last week? |
| Yoshi: お入りください。 |
| Peter: Again, the verb in the dictionary form 入る. We add the prefix お and the last るbecomes り and we have? |
| Yoshi: お入り |
| Peter: And then we attach? |
| Yoshi: ください。 |
| Peter: The reason we point this out is extremely polite Japanese and this is what is used when inviting someone into one’s home in formal situations. Not amongst friends that you see every day or if you have a best friend, it wouldn’t be this formal but, in formal situations, extremely polite Japanese is used. Ok, I just wanted to point that out. Then, when Takase comes in? |
| Takase: おじゃまします。 |
| Peter: The expression from last week, ‘I’m going to trouble you now’. And she enters the house. Now Yoshi san, now is your time to shine. |
| Yoshi: Alright. |
| Peter: Yoshi san, what are we going to talk about here? |
| Yoshi: Japanese architecture! Or, about shoes? |
| Peter: Yes, the latter. Now, what must you remember when going into a Japanese home? |
| Yoshi: You take off your shoes. |
| Peter: Yeah, now a couple of things and we’re going to get a bit off the conversation here but, a couple of things that have to do with shoes. So, you take off your shoes and when you go into the house, do you wear slippers or just your socks? |
| Yoshi: It depends on the household. They might offer you slippers or you might just go in, in your socks. |
| Peter: Exactly, but the shoes do come off. Now, one thing we want to point is, one more thing that you might encounter on the way, and I’m going to ask the two Japanese hosts to really help me out with this one. They have slippers for inside the house and then another set of slippers for the bathroom. So, when you get to the bathroom you have to take the house slippers off and then get into the bathroom slippers! Help please? Takase san, you know what I’m talking about! Look at the smile on your face! Please, I thought the slipper thing was over and I sometimes forget and I just go into the bathroom with the outside house slippers. |
| Takase: Well that’s fine. |
| Peter: Really? |
| Takase: Well. No-one sees you. |
| Peter: It’s not that it’s correct so much as you can get away with it. Yoshi san? Help me out here? |
| Yoshi: They don’t see those places with two different slippers anymore, much. I’m sure some houses do but, where I live or where my friends live we don’t even wear slippers at home. |
| Peter: Yoshi san, we’re trying to give formal situations! |
| Yoshi: Ok. |
| Peter: So? |
| Yoshi: Yes Peter, and some restaurants do that too. |
| Peter: Yoshi san, thank you for pointing that out. You actually have slippers or you walk to the bathroom with one set of slippers and then you switch slippers. Or, you walk there, no yeah actually you would have one set for inside the restaurant and then another set for inside the bathroom. |
| Yoshi: Yes Peter, that’s right. |
| Peter: So, this is just one more thing to kind of be aware of when you’re navigating your way around a Japanese house. |
| Yoshi: Right. |
| Peter: Takase san, what do you say next? |
| Takase: これ、つまらないものですが、どうぞ。 |
| Peter: So you enter the house おじゃまします, take off your shoes, step up and at that time you hand over the gift that you brought to the house. And at that time you say? |
| Takase: これ、つまらないものですが、どうぞ。 |
| Peter: Takase san, can you give us the first part of that expression? |
| Takase: これ、つまらないものですが、 |
| Peter: First we have the word, ‘this’. |
| Takase: これ |
| Peter: Followed by? |
| Takase: つまらないもの |
| Peter: Now, in formal Japanese これ is marked by the particle? |
| Takase: は |
| Peter: But, in spoken Japanese it’s ok to drop it. At least Takase san says it’s ok to drop it. Then this is followed by? |
| Takase: つまらないもの |
| Peter: Two words here. ものis thing. Then we have the adjective? |
| Takase: つまらない |
| Peter: ‘Boring’, ‘useless’, ‘small’. This phrase can probably be best translated or interpreted as, ‘It’s a small token’. But, it’s very Japanese to lower or talk down something that you do or give. Even if it’s an amazing gift that you went all the way to Tokyo’s best bakery for, you would still say? |
| Takase: つまらないものですが。 |
| Peter: You’re talking down what you’re giving. Now, if it was me I’d say, ‘look at this! Open it up! Let’s try it!’, right at the front door but yes, this is not the Japanese way. Followed by? |
| Takase: ですが |
| Peter: The copula. And が. Now, this expression, when handing over a gift and you will really really impress some people, really impress some people. Takase san, if a foreigner came to your house, they brought a gift and they said this? Would you be impressed? Give us your honest answer! |
| Takase: Well, that sounds strange. |
| Peter: But if a foreigner came to your house and presented something like this to your parents? Yoshi san, what do you think the reaction would be? |
| Yoshi: I’m sure they would be so impressed. |
| Peter: Really impressed! And I know from experience because I’ve done this a few times and, they’re almost like, speechless! Sometimes yes, it’s really nice to know a few formal expressions. I think though, the problem with this expression is, you don’t want to speak too early. I think they’ll be the most impressed at the front door and it just went down from there. If you use this expression, the listener will probably think you are pretty fluent in Japanese. |
| Peter: Right. |
| Peter: So, I guess it’s a double edged sword here. But you know what? I say use it. Go with a really good impression. Next we had? |
| Takase: どうぞ。 |
| Peter: ‘Please’. And this would be said while passing it. ‘Please accept this’. |
| Yoshi: どうもすみません。 |
| Peter: ‘Thank you’ and ‘thank you’. Here, the first word? |
| Yoshi: どうも |
| Peter: Again, the Swiss army knife can have many different meanings. Here it means ‘Thank you’, and? |
| Peter: すみません。 |
| Peter: Here, it has a ‘thank you’ nuance. ‘Excuse me, for you having gone through the trouble for me’. Nuance can be found in this すみません. So, even at a restaurant when you receive something, you can say すみません. For example, Takase san? Wake up, you’re getting sleepy. Are you hungry? And we’re talking about food too. If Yoshi san is a waiter at a restaurant and he brings you some tea, puts it down in front of you, you can say...? |
| Takase: どうもすみません。 |
| Peter: So, Yoshi san receives the gift, followed by? |
| Yoshi: わざわざありがとうございます。 |
| Peter: Another very good expression. First part? |
| Yoshi: わざわざ |
| Peter: ‘To go through the trouble’ is what it roughly translates into. Followed by? |
| Yoshi: ありがとうございます。 |
| Peter: ‘Thank you for going through the trouble’. ‘Of getting the gift’, but that’s not included and this is what this word expresses to really go above and beyond what you’re supposed to do. Yoshi san likes these special dumplings that can only be bought in a faraway place. If someone goes to buy them, all the way there to buy them, and then brings it back to Yoshi, this is when this expression would be used. To go through extreme measures and the fact that this person went and bought a gift before coming to the house is what makes this expression relevant. ‘Thank you for going through the trouble’. Even though it’s kind of expected, kind of these exchanges of set phrases. |
| Yoshi: どうぞこちらへ。 |
| Peter: ‘This way please’. Here again we have the ‘please’. It can be found quite often in polite Japanese. ‘This way’, they head into the living room? |
| Yoshi: 今、お茶を入れますので。 |
| Peter: ‘Now I’ll bring some tea’ is the translation but let’s take a look at the words in there. Yoshi san, first word? |
| Yoshi: 今 |
| Peter: ‘Now’, ‘I’ll bring some tea now’. In Japanese we have ‘now’ first, followed by? |
| Yoshi: お茶 |
| Peter: ‘Tea’. |
| Yoshi: を |
| Peter: Object marker? |
| Yoshi: 入れます |
| Peter: ‘Put in’. So the literal translation is ‘Now, tea put in’. So we can deduct that the tea will be put into what? Yoshi san? |
| Yoshi: In a teacup. |
| Peter: Yes, it’s a given. The teacup is inferred. So, you can think of the expression お茶を入れます, ‘put in tea, to a cup’. However, this doesn’t cover the whole explanation because this expression has a deeper meaning. Yoshi san, can you tell us about this expression? |
| Yoshi: If you say お茶を入れます, that means not only just ‘putting the tea in the tea cup’ but it means the whole process of making the tea. |
| Peter: Yeah, so there’s a lot more to it. But, to help you remember how the verbs are paired you can think of, finally, as the tea going to the cup but, it actually includes the whole process. When the person says this they’re actually going to go back and start making the tea. |
| Yoshi: Right. |
| Peter: So, we have to interpret this expression. So, ‘I’ll put some tea on’ is what we interpreted it as because that kind of includes the whole process of putting the tea on and bring it back. Which kind of captures what this expression means. Again, the literal meaning is, ‘to put tea into a cup’. Please think about it that way. But, when we interpret it, it’s the whole process. Putting tea on, bringing it back and serving it up. Finally, we have? |
| Takase: どうぞお構いなく。 |
| Peter: Another expression that has taken on an extremely polite nuance, ‘please don’t worry about me’. Now, even if you really really want that tea, even if you do want something this is quite a Japanese thing to do, to again, play down yourself, play down your desire to get something. So, ‘please don’t worry about me’, ‘please don’t go through the trouble for me’. Now, this expression comes from the verb? |
| Takase: 構う |
| Peter: ‘To mind’, ‘To care about’. So, here we have the negative form of 構う, so, ‘don’t care’, speaking about one’s self ‘me’. ‘Don’t care about me’, ‘Don’t worry about me’. Then we have the ‘please’. ‘So please, don’t worry about me’. Again, it coincides with playing down one’s position, ‘Don’t worry about me’. That’s the literal translation. Now, when we interpret it, it would be something like, ‘don’t go through the trouble’, ‘please don’t go through the trouble for me’. ‘please don’t worry about me’. So, with that said, we have given you some really useful tips to navigate yourself through the house. Now, for tips on eating and dining, please see the earlier survival phrases. We have some really good tips to get you through the dinner. Then finally, when you leave the house please don’t forget to say? Takase san? |
| Takase: おじゃましました。 |
| Peter: And, after dinner? |
| Takase: ごちそうさまでした。 |
Outro |
| Peter: These phrases will really get you through visiting a Japanese friend’s house. That’s going to do it! |
| Peter: またね。 |
| Takase: また明日。 |
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