Japanese Lessons with Mayuna

Author: Mayuna

  • 3. 冬の食事

    >

    はい、こんにちは。今回はポッドキャストの7回目です。先日ついに、私がitalkiに寄稿した記事がウェブサイトで発表されました。私は普段、授業で文法について説明する機会が多いんですけれども、今回の記事は比較的実用的な内容になっていると思います。日本人がよく使う会話の表現のニュアンスの違いについて説明しています。ここにもリンクを貼っておくので、よろしければチェックしてみてください。

    Hello, this is podcast episode number 7. Just the other day, italki published an article I wrote for them. My typical lessons often teach grammar but in this article I think it has more practical learning content. It explains the difference in nuances for conversational phrases often used by Japanese people. Here’s the link to check it out if you’d like.

    今日は朝のレッスンで食事の話をしました。皆さんは普段どんな食事をしていますか？私は一年中、ほぼ同じものを食べています。朝はスパゲッティを食べて、それ以外はチキンか鮭か納豆を食べることが多いです。この間買った納豆にはなぜか焼肉のタレが付いていて、不思議な組み合わせでしたが、美味しかったです。

    Today, in my morning lesson we talked about eating habits. What about you all? What kind of eating habits do you have? For me, I eat mostly the same things throughout the year. In the mornings I eat spaghetti, but I also often have chicken, salmon, or Natto. For some reason, I bought Natto with Yakiniku sauce on it, I was surprised how well the flavors complimented each other, it was delicious.

    関東と関西では、売っている納豆の種類も少し違います。大阪には「ひきわり納豆」という細かく刻んだ納豆が売っていますが、私はこの納豆を東京のスーパーで見たことがありませんでした。醤油や味噌の味も、関西のほうが薄く感じます。私は東京出身ですが、いつも味噌汁はしょっぱすぎると思っていたので、関西風の味付けの方が美味しいと思います。

    The kind of Natto Kanto and Kansai regions sell are a bit different. In Osaka, they sell a minced Natto called Hikiwari Natto. I’ve never seen that kind of Natto sold in Tokyo grocery stores. It feels like the soy sauce and miso flavors are weaker as well. Even though I’m originally from Tokyo, I’ve always thought the Miso Soup was too salty and Kansai thought the Kansai style seasoning tastes better.

    もうすぐ冬なので、最近は鍋もよく食べます。鍋は日本で一番メジャーな冬の料理です。日本以外ではホットポットとも呼ばれています。料理といっても特に決まりはなく、肉や野菜や魚をまとめて煮たものに、ポン酢やゴマだれなどのソースをかけて、食べるだけのものが鍋です。私が一番好きな鍋の具材は、白菜と豚肉です。最初に白菜を５分ぐらいお湯で茹でて、そこに豚肉を投入します。豚肉に火が通ったら、ポン酢をかけて食べます。とても安くて、簡単で、おいしいのでおすすめです。

    It will be winter soon, so lately I’ve been eating a lot of Nabe too. In Japan, Nabe is a winter staple dish. Outside of Japan it’s called Hotpot. I call it a dish but there’s no special rules for how to make it. Nabe is just boiled meat, vegetables, fish and other things boiled together and eaten with Ponzu or Sesame sauce on top. My favorite ingredients for Nabe are napa cabbage and pork. You boil the cabbage first for about 5 minutes then put in the pork. Once the pork is cooked through, add the Ponzu sauce and enjoy! It’s very easy, simple, and delicious, I recommend trying it.

    はい、明日も普通にレッスンがある日です。既に次の記事の課題がitalkiのライティングチームから送られてきているので、明日は仕事をしながら次の記事の内容について考えたいと思います。はい、じゃあ今日はこんな感じで終わりたいと思います。また来週お会いしましょう。ありがとうございました。

    Ok, tomorrow is another normal day of lessons. I’ve already received the topic for my next article from the italki team, so tomorrow while I’m working I’ll be thinking about what I should write about for the next topic. Well I think I’ll end it here, see you next time and thanks for listening!

    Transcript and English translation by: Rob

  • Confusing Common Japanese Phrases that Japanese People Use Often

    Confusing Common Japanese Phrases that Japanese People Use Often

    To avoid misunderstandings in conversations with Japanese people, check the meanings of Japanese conversation phrases that are polysemous and ambiguous.

    Not all languages, not just Japanese, can be translated perfectly into other languages. Words used as conversational expressions are especially prone to misunderstandings due to differences in nuance and range of meaning. No one wants to be embarrassed by a misunderstanding, so speaking a second language can be an emotionally taxing task for anyone.

    To help relieve some of this anxiety, I will introduce the meanings of three complicated conversational phrases that Japanese people often use, along with specific examples. Building up your knowledge of these conversational phrases will not only help you in your conversations but will also help you deepen your understanding of the Japanese books, movies, games, animes, etc you already know.

    普通だった – “decent” or “boring”?

    The word 普通(ふつう) is a complicated word that can mean high, low or no interest. It’s like the English words “normal,” “ordinary,” and “average” all in the same word. For example, if you ask a Japanese person who went to a new restaurant what he thought of it, and he replies,「普通だった」. This answer itself can have three different meanings: “It was decent even though I didn’t expect it to be (high evaluation),” “It was boring even though I expected it to be (low evaluation),” and “I didn’t feel anything in particular (indifference). In order to determine the meaning, you need to pay attention to the context, the actual quality of the restaurant, and the speaker’s personality. Likewise, when you use the word, you have to be careful not to mislead others. You need to be careful about the way you say it and the tone of your voice so that the intended meaning is conveyed. The word 普通 is relatively casual, so it is best not to use it in formal situations.

    verb + つもり – Noun used like modality

    If you look up the noun つもり in the dictionary, you will usually find three or more completely different meanings, and you will end up not knowing what it means. Although つもり is a noun, it is an expression like a modality, and when used in conversation, it has three main meanings: intention, conviction, and assumption. It is used after dictionary form of a verb, as in 「旅行に行くつもりです」(I intend to go on a trip), and implies “intention” when talking about the future. When it is used after the Ta-form of the verb, it means either “conviction” or “assumption”. The meaning is “conviction” in a realistic situation, such as 「買ったつもりだった」(I thought I bought it), and “assumption” in a figurative situation, such as 「猫になったつもりで」 (Let’s assume you are a cat,). There are exceptions, of course, but just remembering this trend will make it easier to predict the meaning. As an aside, つもり is sometimes written in kanji in dictionaries (積もり), but it is more commonly written in hiragana.

    かわいい + noun – Not as “cute” as you’d expect

    The word “kawaii” is now accepted as an English word, but the Japanese word かわいい does not necessarily mean “cute”. The word かわいい has both positive and negative meanings, such as “cool, immature, trivial, genuine, small, unusual” etc. There are no restrictions on the target of the adjective. For example, かわいい服(ふく) is often a complement to pure cuteness in appearance. However, かわいい性格(せいかく) is usually interpreted as “sincere” and “genuine”. The term かわいい問題(もんだい) means “a minor problem” and is often used in comparison to the more serious issue at hand. The word かわいい is also used to praise a cool design, to describe something smaller than it needs to be or to critique the immaturity of someone’s words or actions. Also, even if it is meant to be positive, the act of directly telling someone of the opposite sex or superior that they are かわいい can be considered rude.

    As you can see, conversational phrases in Japanese are often polysemous and ambiguous. When looking up the meanings of Japanese phrases, the Internet is a useful self-study resource, but there is often too much information to be certain of what is the correct answer. The most efficient way to study Japanese conversational phrases is to alternate between self-study and asking questions to native speakers to build up practical knowledge.

    Read on italki

  • 2. オンラインで服を買う

    はい、こんにちは。今日はポッドキャストの6回目です。私は先月、アメリカに旅行に行くための準備として、冬用の服をいくつか買ったんですけれども、大阪は11月までなかなか寒くならなかったので、着る機会がありませんでした。今日は最高気温が19度で、最低気温が10度ぐらいなので、あまり寒くないんですけれども、実際の体感温度はもう少し低く感じました。だから今日は、今年初めてタートルネックのセーターを着ました。やっぱり季節の変わり目は、服を買う機会や、買い換える機会が増えると思うんですけど、私は最近オンラインでしか買い物をしません。

    Hi everyone, today’s podcast is episode 6. Since I was going to be traveling to America last month, I bought some winter clothes. But in Osaka it doesn’t really start to get cold until November, so I have had a chance to wear them. Today’s high is 66.2 degrees (farenheit) and the low is 50 degrees (farenheit), so it’s not really that cold but it feels colder to me. So today I’m wearing a turtleneck sweater for the first time this year. Just as you would expect, with the seasons changing there’s more opportunities to buy new clothes for the season and recently I’ve only been buying things online.

    大阪みたいに人がたくさん住んでる街だと、出かけるとどこも混んでいるので、特にこのシーズンはどこのお店もセールをしているので、出かけるのが少し面倒くさく感じてしまいます。あと、繁華街にある服屋だといつも混んでいて、みんなが商品の試着をするので、買うときは既に新品の状態ではなくなってしまっているわけですね。その点、オンラインで買うと倉庫から直接届くので、常に新品で安心です。あと、クーポンを使ったり、価格を比較するのもオンラインの方が簡単ですね。

    Cities like Osaka with so many people there, when you go out, it’s crowded everywhere. Especially during this season, there are stores everywhere having sales so it makes going out feel even more of a hassle. Also, shopping districts with clothing stores are always crowded with people trying things on, so what you end up buying isn’t really brand new. That’s one of the good things about buying online, it comes directly from the warehouse so you don’t have to worry about it being used. Also, using coupons and comparing prices is a lot easier.

    ただオンラインの悪い点は、返品が少し面倒くさいところです。クレジットカードで払いますから、返金に少し時間がかかりますし、返品する時は商品を返送しなければいけません。その点、お店で買った場合は商品をレシートと一緒にお店に持っていけば、その日のうちに現金で返金してもらえるので簡単ですね。

    One of the negatives about shopping online though is returns are a bit of a hassle. Paying with a credit card and getting your money returned takes some time, you also have to send the items back. But if you had bought the item from the store and brought the receipt with you, you’d get back your money pretty much the same day, so returning items in store is easier to get your money back.

    はい。で、私は最近、ポッドキャストをもうちょっと良い音質で録音するために、オーディオインターフェイスを買いました。これはヤマハAG03というエントリーモデルなんですけれども、とても使いやすくて楽しくレコーディングできます。なので、これからもどんどんポッドキャストを作ってアップロードしていきたいと思います。質問やリクエストがあったらいつでもお気軽に教えてください。

    So, recently I bought an Audio Interface in order to record better audio quality for my podcasts. The one I am using is Yamaha AG03, it’s an entry model but it’s really easy to use and makes recording fun. So I’m planning on making more podcasts, and please don’t hesitate to ask me any questions or send me requests!

    はい、今日はこんな感じなんですけれども、来月12月の24日クリスマスですね。私が先月受験した「日本語教育能力検定試験」の結果が返ってきます。日本はクリスマスは祝日ではないんですけれども、クリスマスに予定がある人も多いと思うので、クリスマスに試験の結果が返ってくるなんて、少しナーバスな気持ちになってしまいますけれども、私は「受かってるといいな」と祈りながら、結果を待ちたいと思います。はい、じゃあ今日はこんな感じで終わりたいと思います。また来週お会いしましょう。ありがとうございました。

    So I think that’s all I had for today, ah but Christmas is next month on the 24th. Last month I took the Japanese Language Competency Test and will be getting the test results back. While Christmas isn’t a holiday in Japan, I think there’s a lot of people who have plans that day, but I’ll be getting my results on that day and I’m feeling a little nervous. But I’m praying the results are good while I wait. Ok, that’s all for today, I think I’ll end it here. See you all next week and thanks for listening!

    Transcript and English translation by: Rob