LESSON TRANSCRIPT

Introduction #1
Where Did You Learn to Speak
Japanese Like That!

CONTENTS
2 INTRODUCTION
3 LESSON FOCUS
10 OUTRO

# 1
COPYRIGHT © 2015 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
 INTRODUCTION

Chigusa and Yoshi: おはよう、東京。チグサです。

Chigusa: チグサです。

Yoshi: ヨシです。

Peter : Peter here. チグサさん、ヨシさん、 are you ready to teach the world
Japanese?

Yoshi: Yeah!

Peter: [unintelligible 00:00:17] Oh yeah? That’s what we like to see. Now, チグサさん
and ヨシさん are a few of the teachers/voice actors you’ll meet here at
JapanesePod101.com. At JapanesePod101.com we understand how important it is to
have as much exposure as possible to different voices and speaking styles. And this
is why we have introduced over 12 speakers to date. Not only that, many of these
speakers like チグサさん, like ヨシさん can do many voices. So 12 is kind of like…
how many, チグサさん?

Chigusa: 100? Maybe more.

Peter: Possibly more. Now, チグサさん is going to tell you a bit more about
JapanesePod101.com.

Chigusa: Well, JapanesePod101.com is an innovative and revolutionary way to master

Japanese. The program that we have developed here enables you to study anywhere
and anytime at your own pace.

Peter: That means on the bus, on the train, in your car… Wherever you can listen to
audio, you can listen to this - anywhere.

Chigusa: Right.

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Peter: In this Introductory Series, we’ll walk you through several short episodes to
show you the benefits of JapanesePod101.com. Now, today’s lesson is a short version
of our Survival Phrase Series. This series is aimed at the Japan bound traveler. Now,
before we begin, these lessons are designed to be used in tandem with the learning
tools found in our Premium Learning Center. Now you can find out more about this and
more about JapanesePod101.com at our website, which is, チグサさん?

Chigusa: JapanesePod101.com.

Peter: That’s it. So stop by JapanesePod101.com and sign up for your seven-day free
trial. Now, ヨシさん, are you ready to teach some survival phrases?

Yoshi: Oh yeah!

Peter: Now he’s ready.

Chigusa: Now he’s talking.

LESSON FOCUS

Peter: That I like. Today we’d like to introduce several phrases that will help you
navigate your way through dining in Japan. Now, these phrases can be used over and
over. Actually, a few of these phrases you’ll use at every single meal. チグサさん, can
you tell us something about our first phrase?

Chigusa: Okay, this first phrase, you can use it before breakfast, lunch or dinner, or
any time you eat something.

Peter: Any time?

Chigusa: Any time.

Peter: Not only can you use it, but it shows extremely good manners, right?

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Chigusa: Right.

Peter: Especially if you’re going out with Japanese friends or if you’re with Japanese
people, you’ll want to use this phrase because it shows extremely polite manners.

Chigusa: Exactly.

Peter: Now that we built it up, let’s have ヨシ give it to us.

Yoshi: いただきます。

Peter: いただきます is the polite version of 頂く, a humble form of もらう, a verb
meaning to receive. But here it is used as an expression roughly equating to “I'm about
to receive”, “I will receive” and, as we just said, you use it before you eat. So you’re
about to receive food. And, チグサさん, can you give it to us one more time?

Chigusa: いただきます。

Peter: That’s it. Now, Japanese sounds so fast and so intimidating, but what we do
here is we break the word down. So we give it to you fast, break it down so you could
hear each piece, and then give it to you one more time so you can hear it natural
speed. That really helps you pick it up, really helps your listening comprehension. ヨシ
さん, can you break this word down?

Yoshi: (slow)いただきます(natural speed)いただきます

Peter: So if you come to Japan, you go out to a restaurant, you get your food, before
you eat don’t forget to say…

Chigusa: いただきます。

Yoshi: いただきます。

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Peter: And one time together if it’s a bunch of people?

Chigusa and Yoshi: いただきます。

Peter: And you’ll hear this all around you when people are about to eat. ヨシさん, how
about when you’re eating alone, do you say this word?

Yoshi: Yes.

Peter: チグサさん?

Chigusa: Sometimes yes. Even no one’s listening.

Peter: Yes, that’s how much a part of the meal it is. Next on the list we have
something about the taste of the food because now that we have the food, we’re going
to start eating it. And we can almost guarantee that the food is going to be good. Can
we guarantee the food is going to be good?

Chigusa: Yes.

Peter: Yes, チグサさん guarantees it. ヨシさん?

Yoshi: Of course.

Peter: Japanese food is really good. So, because it’s so good, you’re going to be
needing this next word. チグサさん?

Chigusa: おいしい

Peter: Delicious.

Chigusa: (slow)おいしい　(natural speed)おいしい

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Peter: This is a long vowel at the end. Can you hold it one more time, チグサさん?

Chigusa: おいしい

Peter: In any given Japanese restaurant, you’ll hear this all around you. おいしい、おい
しい。ヨシさん？

Yoshi: おいしい。

Peter: That’s a nice one. If you want to copy one, that’s one to copy. Now, we can
guarantee all the food’s going to be great, but we can’t guarantee that all the food is
going to be great for you. So we’re going to teach you a polite way to let people know
that the particular dish is not for you, to say the food’s okay. And when you say it in
this manner, people won’t give you more. Right, チグサさん?

Chigusa: Right.

Peter: ヨシさん¸ what word is that?

Yoshi: まあまあ

Peter: All right, “so-so”.

Yoshi: (slow)まあまあ　(natural speed)まあまあ

Peter: Two long vowels in there. チグサさん, can you give it to us one more time?

Chigusa: まあまあ

Peter: If you’re eating some food and it’s not your favorite, you can go with.

Yoshi: まあまあ

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Peter: I use this word once in a while. For example, 納豆. Now this is fermented soy
beans and it has a very distinct odor. ヨシさん, can you give us that word once more?

Yoshi: 納豆　(slow)なっとう　(natural speed)納豆

Peter: So if someone asks me if I like 納豆, my answer is まあまあ. ヨシさん, if I told

you that I though a particular dish was まあまあ, would you give it to me or would you
just leave me alone?

Yoshi: I’ll give you even more so that you would like it.

Peter: And that’s why we’re best friends. チグサさん?

Chigusa: I'm nice so I would leave you alone.

Peter: Thank you, チグサさん. So let’s just go over these two words one more time.
“Delicious” is…

Chigusa: おいしい

Peter: And “so-so” is…

Yoshi: まあまあ。

Peter: Now what we gave you is the informal way to say it, but if you want to be more
polite you would add on…

Chigusa: です

Peter: This is the verb, almost equivalent to the English verb “to be”. So the first word
we gave you for delicious was…

Chigusa: おいしいです

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Peter: To make this politely, add…

Chigusa: です

Peter: Perfect. ヨシさん, what’s the word for “so-so”?

Yoshi: まあまあ

Peter: And to make this polite?

Yoshi: まあまあです。

Peter: So if you’re meeting friends in Japan who you have a semi-intimate relationship
with and it’s kind of a formal situation or you’re meeting people for the first time, you
would want to add…

Chigusa: です

Peter: But if it’s a very intimate friend, someone you’ve known for a long time, it’s okay
to leave off…

Chigusa: です

Peter: You have to make the judgement call by how well you know the people. Okay,
finally, the meal is over. What do you say?

Yoshi: ごちそうさまでした。

Peter: And the slightly less formal version.

Yoshi: ごちそうさま。

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Peter: We’ll go with this one as it’s easier to remember and it can be interpreted as
“thank you for the good food”. You can use this after the meal to thank the preparer of
the meal, the person paying, the shop or restaurant staff, the people involved in getting
you the food - the waiter, the waitress, everybody. So, ヨシさん, what we need you to
do is break this down.

Yoshi: (slow)ごちそうさま　(natural speed)ごちそうさま

Peter: And finally, チグサさん？

Chigusa: 乾杯

Peter: “Cheers”, Japanese cheers.

Chigusa: (slow)かんぱい　(natural speed)乾杯

Peter: Now, to show you these phrases in context, I’ll narrate and translate. チグサさ
ん and ヨシさん will show how these phrases would be used in a meal. ヨシさん and チ
グサさん have ordered and the drinks just came out, okay? First we’d start off with…

Chigusa and Yoshi: 乾杯！

Peter: “Cheers!” Food comes out and they’re about to eat.

Chigusa and Yoshi: いただきます！

Peter: First course comes out, they try their food.

Yoshi: おいしい。

Chigusa: まあまあ。

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Peter: Finish up the meal.

Chigusa and Yoshi: ごちそうさま。

OUTRO

Peter: And, again, you say to the preparer of the meal, the person paying, the shop or
restaurant staff, anyone who’s involved in getting you that food. Now, these are a
couple other phrases that are going to help you get through your trip, things you need
to make your trip that much more fun and help you to interact with the people in the
environment you’ve just come to. Really great stuff in here. You can find more about
this at JapanesePod101.com. 40 lessons to help you navigate your way through your
trip – hotels, trains, planes, automobiles. We have a series of 40 survival phrases to
help you through it all. So stop by, inside the Learning Center we have the Japanese
audio transcript of this lesson available, so that you can listen to the words and
phrases over and over. Inside the PDF, we have a detailed write-up of today’s lesson,
including grammar, vocab and phrases. Test yourself with flashcards and quizzes, and
above all, if you’re Japan-bound, you can get not only our lessons but all the phrases
and words you’ll need to get you through your trip right on your iPod. Take it with you
on the go, have it for every single occasion. Listen over and over again to the Line by
Line and see the Japanese-English translation. Take quizzes, turn your iPod into an
interactive learning tool. It’s all there. Stop by JapanesePod101.com and sign up for
your free seven-day trial. Start today.

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