Saturday, June 7, 2008

Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 4 Transcript

Today's Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I lesson has a few surprises for everyone. I've thrown a few kanji into the translations, but don't worry, I put the kana in brackets afterwards so you'll know how to read it. These are all place names and, as such, I thought they deserved their name written the proper way. I've put a note explaining this in more detail at the bottom.


Intro Conversation

すみませんあなたは日本(にほん)じんですか。

Excuse me, are you Japanese?

はいわたしは日本(にほん)じんです。

Yes, I am Japanese.

あなたは。

And you?

わたしはアメリカじんです。

I am American.

でも日本(にほん)ごがよくわかりますね。

But you understand Japanese well don't you?

ええすこしでもまだじょずじゃありません。

Yes a little,but I'm not skilled yet.

いいえおじょずです。

No, you are skilled.

ありがとうございます。


Thank you.


Previous Lesson's Vocabulary

でも

but

まだ

yet

よく

well

日本(にほん)

Japan

すこし

a little


New Vocabulary

ええ

yes (casual)

はなします

speak

じょずに

skilled/well

すこしはなします。

I speak a little

じょずにはなします。

You speak well

じょずにはなしますね。

You speak well don't you?

えき

station

新宿(しんじゅく)えき

Shinjuku Station

上野(うえの)えき

Ueno Station

こえん

park

上野(うえの)こえん

Ueno Park

どこ

where

どこですか。

where is?

新宿(しんじゅく)えきはどこですか。

Where is Shinjuku Station?

すみません上野(うえの)こえんはどこですか。

Excuse me, where is Ueno Park?

ここ

here

ここです。

It's here.

ここですか。

Is it here?

はいここです。


Yes, it's here.

いいえここじゃありません。

No it's not here.

新宿(しんじゅく)えきはここじゃありません。

Shinjuku Station is not here.

あそこ

over there

あそこです。

It's over there.

あそこじゃありません。

It's not over there.


Closing Conversation 1

こんにちは。

Hello / Good day or afternoon

こんにちは。

Hello / Good day or afternoon

いいおてんきですね。

It's nice weather, isn't it?

そうですね。

I agree / so it is / general agreement

ああ日本ごがわかりますね。

Ah, you understand Japanese!

すこし。はいすこしでもまだじょずじゃありません。

A little. Yes, a little bit, but I'm not skilled yet.

いいえおじょずです。あなたはアメリカじんですか。

No, you are skilled. Are you an American?

はいわたしはアメリカじんです。あなたは。

Yes, I am an American. And you / what about you?

わたしは日本じんです。

I'm Japanese.


Closing Conversation 2

すみません上野うえの)えきはどこですか。

Excuse me, where is Ueno Station?

ここです。


It's here.

上野(うえの)こえんは。

And Ueno Park?

あそこです。


It's over there.

上野(うえの)えきはあそこじゃありません。

Ueno Station is not over there.

上野(うえの)こえんはあそこです。

Ueno Park is over there.

でも上野(うえの)えきはここです。

But Ueno Station is here.


Notes

上野 & 新宿

上野 is the kanji for Ueno and 新宿 is the kanji for Shinjuku. I included the kana for each in brackets and I only used their kanji because a) I want to get you used to seeing and using kanji and b) they are proper nouns and should be written that way. You wouldn't want your name always spelled out with a dictionary-like enunciation, would you? I'll be providing the kanji with kana in brackets for other such instances as we encounter them.


日本

Like 上野 & 新宿, I'm going to be using 日本 for Japan / Japanese from now on. I won't provide the kana for Japan, as it should be the simplest and most common kanji compound you encounter. Any others I decide to switch over to kanji will be marked with kana, though.


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3 comments:

JT said...

Kirby-san,
Thanks for all your hard work on this. It is an excellent resource, especially the extra tips you add in which have sometimes stumped me as well.
I think the last line of Lesson 4 needs to have the 'But' moved to the front to make it correct though. Shouldn't it be as follows?
でも上野(うえの)えきはここです。

Kirk Warren said...

Thanks for pointing that out JT. I ended up copy and pasting the Ueno kanji into the sentences and must not have been paying attention to that sentence. I'll make sure to fix that.

Anonymous said...

Seems that there is a mistake is the script:
park should be こうえん