Learn the question "What's the weather like?" in Japanese and how to answer it
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Janet: In each lesson of this 25 part series, you'll master a common question for Japanese learners, and then learn how to answer it like a native speaker. You'll learn how these key phrases work by breaking them down into each component. Then through repetition and new vocabulary, you'll expand your understanding of the question, its answers, and any variations. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Janet: In this lesson, you'll learn how to respond to the common question “What's the weather like in Tokyo?” In Japanese this is |
| Kaori: 東京の天気はどうですか。 |
| (とうきょうのてんきはどうですか。 Toukyou no tenki wa dou desu ka.) |
| Janet: The first word in the question is |
| Kaori: 東京 |
| (とうきょう toukyou) |
| Janet: which is “Tokyo” in English. |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) 東京 |
| (とうきょう toukyou) |
| Janet: Listen again and repeat. |
| Kaori: 東京 |
| (とうきょう toukyou) |
| {Pause} |
| Janet: This pattern of first introducing a word at natural speed, providing the translation, breaking it down, and then giving it again at natural speed will be repeated throughout the series. Try to speak aloud as often as possible. The next word in the question is |
| Kaori: の |
| (no) |
| Janet: meaning “of.” |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) の |
| (no) |
| Janet: Now repeat. |
| Kaori: の |
| (no) |
| {Pause} |
| Janet: Listen to the the first 2 words of the question and repeat. |
| Kaori: 東京の |
| (とうきょう の toukyou no) |
| {pause} |
| Janet: And next |
| Kaori: 天気 |
| (てんき tenki) |
| Janet: meaning “weather.” |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) 天気 |
| (てんき tenki) |
| Janet: Now repeat. |
| Kaori: 天気 |
| (てんき tenki) |
| {Pause} |
| Janet: Listen to the the first 3 words of the question and repeat. |
| Kaori: 東京 の 天気 |
| (とうきょう の てんき toukyou no tenki) |
| {pause} |
| Janet: And next |
| Kaori: は |
| (wa) |
| Janet: topic marking particle. |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) は |
| (wa) |
| Janet: Now repeat. |
| Kaori: は |
| (wa) |
| {Pause} |
| Janet: Listen to the the first 4 words of the question and repeat. |
| Kaori: 東京 の 天気 は |
| (とうきょう の てんき は toukyou no tenki wa) |
| {pause} |
| Janet: And after that |
| Kaori: どう |
| (dou) |
| Janet: meaning “how.” |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) どう |
| (dou) |
| Janet: Now repeat. |
| Kaori: どう |
| (dou) |
| {Pause} |
| Janet: Listen to the the first 5 words of the question and repeat. |
| Kaori: 東京 の 天気 は どう |
| (とうきょう の てんき は どう toukyou no tenki wa dou) |
| {pause} |
| Janet: And next |
| Kaori: です |
| (desu) |
| Janet: this is a sentence ending particle meaning something like “is.” |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) です |
| (desu) |
| Janet: Now repeat. |
| Kaori: です |
| (desu) |
| {Pause} |
| Janet: Listen to the the first 6 words of the question and repeat. |
| Kaori: 東京 の 天気 は どう です |
| (とうきょう の てんき は どう です toukyou no tenki wa dou desu) |
| {pause} |
| Janet: And next |
| Kaori: か |
| (ka) |
| Janet: meaning (question marker). |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) か |
| (ka) |
| Janet: Now repeat. |
| Kaori: か |
| (ka) |
| {Pause} |
| Janet: Listen to the entire question and repeat. |
| Kaori: 東京 の 天気 は どう です か。 |
| (とうきょう の てんき は どう です か。 Toukyou no tenki wa dou desu ka.) |
| {pause} |
| Janet: (You will hear this common question again and again throughout your studies.) Master the following pattern and responses to the question “What's the weather like in Tokyo?” |
| Kaori: 晴れです。 |
| (はれです。 Hare desu.) |
| Janet: "It's sunny.” Again, slowly. Repeat the phrase. |
| Kaori: (Slow) 晴れです。 |
| (はれです。 Hare desu.) |
| {pause} |
| Janet: Let's break it down from the beginning. The first word: |
| Kaori: 晴れ |
| (はれ hare) |
| Janet: means “sunny.” |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) 晴れ |
| (はれ hare) |
| Janet: Now repeat |
| Kaori: 晴れ |
| (はれ hare) |
| {Pause} |
| Janet: And next |
| Kaori: です |
| (desu) |
| Janet: sentence ending particle meaning something like “is.” |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) です |
| (desu) |
| Janet: Now repeat. |
| Kaori: です |
| (desu) |
| {Pause} |
| Janet: Listen to the speaker say, “It's sunny”, and then repeat. |
| Kaori: 晴れです。 |
| (はれです。 Hare desu.) |
| {pause} |
| Janet: To use a different phrase, replace “sunny” with “cloudy”. |
| Kaori: 曇り |
| (くもり kumori) |
| Janet: cloudy |
| Kaori: (slow) 曇り |
| (くもり kumori) (regular) 曇り |
| (くもり kumori) |
| Janet: Listen to the phrase again, this time with “cloudy” |
| Kaori: 曇りです。 |
| (くもりです。 Kumori desu.) |
| Janet: It mostly stays the same. Simply replace “sunny” with “cloudy.” Say “It's cloudy.” |
| Kaori: 曇りです。 |
| (くもりです。 Kumori desu.) |
| {pause} |
| Janet: To expand on the pattern, replace “cloudy” with “rain”. |
| Kaori: 雨 |
| (あめ ame) |
| Janet: rain |
| Kaori: (slow) 雨 |
| (あめ ame) (regular) 雨 |
| (あめ ame) |
| Janet: Listen to the phrase again, this time with “rain” |
| Kaori: 雨です。 |
| (あめです。 Ame desu.) |
| Janet: It mostly stays the same. Simply replace cloudy with rain. Say “It's rainy.” |
| {pause} |
| Kaori: 雨です。 |
| (あめです。 Ame desu.) |
| Janet: To expand on the pattern, replace “rain” with “snow”. |
| Kaori: 雪 |
| (ゆき yuki) |
| Janet: snow |
| Kaori: (slow) 雪 |
| (ゆき yuki) (regular) 雪 |
| (ゆき yuki) |
| Janet: Listen to the phrase again, this time with snow |
| Kaori: 雪です。 |
| (ゆきです。 Yuki desu.) |
| Janet: It mostly stays the same. Simply replace rain with snow. Say “It's snowing.” |
| {pause} |
| Kaori: 雪です。 |
| (ゆきです。 Yuki desu.) |
| QUIZ |
| Janet: Now it's time for a quiz. Imagine you are visiting Japan and someone asks you “What's the weather like in Tokyo?” You want to say it's sunny. Respond to the question. |
| Kaori: 東京の天気はどうですか。 |
| (とうきょうのてんきはどうですか。 Toukyou no tenki wa dou desu ka.) |
| (five seconds) 晴れです。 |
| (はれです。 Hare desu.) |
| Janet: Now you want to say it's cloudy. Respond to the question. |
| Kaori: 東京の天気はどうですか。 |
| (とうきょうのてんきはどうですか。 Toukyou no tenki wa dou desu ka.) |
| (five seconds) 曇りです。 |
| (くもりです。 Kumori desu.) |
| Janet: You want to say it's raining. Answer the speaker's question. |
| Kaori: 東京の天気はどうですか。 |
| (とうきょうのてんきはどうですか。 Toukyou no tenki wa dou desu ka.) |
| (five seconds) 雨です。 |
| (あめです。 Ame desu.) |
| Janet: You want to say it's snowing. Respond to the question. |
| Kaori: 東京の天気はどうですか。 |
| (とうきょうのてんきはどうですか。 Toukyou no tenki wa dou desu ka.) |
| (five seconds) 雪です。 |
| (ゆきです。 Yuki desu.) |
| Janet: You want to ask someone what the weather is like in Tokyo. Ask the question |
| (5 seconds) |
| Kaori: 東京の天気はどうですか。 |
| (とうきょうのてんきはどうですか。 Toukyou no tenki wa dou desu ka.) |
| {pause} |
Outro |
| Janet: This is the end of Lesson 20 |
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