Lesson Four - Bamen Yon: Shigoto no Hanashi Desu.

Lesson Four Vocabulary

shigoto (shee-goh-toh) - Work, job.

hanashi (hah-nah-shee) - A talk, conversation.

shigoto no hanashi - Conversation about work.

shigoto wa nan desu ka - What do you do? Literally: Regarding your job, what is it?

repootaa (ree-pooh-taah) - Reporter.

shinbun (sheen-boon) - Newspaper.

enjinia (ayn-jeen-ee-ah) - Engineer.

demo (day-moh) - But, however.

daigakusei (die-gah-koo-say) - University student.

gakusei (gah-koo-say) - Student, pupil.

kaisha (kie-sha) - Company, corporation.

arimasu (ah-ree-mahss) - Be, exist, be located.

ni (nee) - In, at. Always comes after the name of the place to which it refers, e.g. Tookyoo ni - In Tokyo.

doko ni arimasu ka - Where is it?

Yokohama (yoh-koh-hah-mah) - One of the largest cities in Japan; now joined to Tokyo.

Kawasaki (kah-wah-sah-kee) - A city near Tokyo.

daigaku (die-gah-koo) - University

mo (moh) - Both ... and ... [This definition is confusing, see note below at the point in the lesson where mo appears.]

tesuto (tay-soo-toh) - Test.

muzukasii (moo-zoo-kah-sheee) - Difficult.

kantan (kahn-tahn) - Easy, simple.

Piramiddo (Pee-rah-meed-doh) - The Pyramids. Hold the sound for an extra beat on the -dd- sound, as in "a hard day."

Ejiputo (ay-jee-poo-toh) - Egypt.

Temuzu-gawa (tay-moo-zoo-gah-wah) - The River Thames. The word for "river" is kawa, but it changes to -gawa when it is used as a suffix in proper names.

Koroshiamu (koh-roh-shee-ah-moo) - The Colisseum.

Girisha (gee-ree-sha) - Greece.

arimasen (ah-ree-mah-sin) - Isn't/Aren't located. Doesn't/Don't exist. The negative form of arimasu. The -masen ending always shows a negative verb.

Taji Mahaaru (tah-jee mah-haah-roo) - Taj Mahal.

Pakisutan (pah-kee-soo-tahn) - Pakistan.

Indo (een-doh) - India.

Madoriddo (mah-do-reed-doh) - Madrid.

Nairu-gawa (nie-roo-gah-wah) - River Nile.

Burajiru (boo-rah-jee-roo) - Brazil.

han (hahn) - Half, half past.

shitsurei shimasu (shee-tsoo-ray shee-mahss) - Excuse me. Often used to mean "goodbye" when parting. Note that the pronunciation of the first word is almost sh'tsurei.

Lesson Four Dialogue

Sensei: Mina san, shigoto no hanashi desu. Watashi wa sensei desu ne. Nihongo no sensei desu. Hiru san wa? Shigoto wa nan desu ka?
Hill: Repootaa desu. Shinbun no repootaa desu.
Sensei: Soo desu ka. Shinbun no repootaa desu ka. Ii desu ne. Pasukaru san? Pasukaru san no shigoto wa nan desu ka.
Pascal: Enjinia desu. Watashi wa enjinia desu.
Harrison: Ee? Enjinia? Demo... [As if he doesn't believe that she's an engineer. Perhaps a Dilbert-esque reference to the fact that there are not very many female engineers?]
Pascal: Hai, enjinia desu! Watashi wa enjinia desu.
Harrison: Hai, hai, sumimasen ne.
Sensei: Harison san no shigoto wa nan desu ka.
Harison: Watashi wa daigakusei desu.
Sensei: Aa, daigakusei desu ka.

Sensei: Hiru san wa shinbun no repootaa desu ne.
Hill: Hai, soo desu.
Sensei: Kaisha wa? Kaisha wa doko ni arimasu ka.
Hill: Yokohama ni arimasu. Kaisha wa Yokohama ni arimasu.
Sensei: Soo desu ka. Pasukaru san wa? Pasukaru san no kaisha wa doko ni arimasu ka.
Pascal: Kawasaki ni arimasu.
Sensei: Soo desu ka. Kawasaki desu ka. Sa, Harison san wa? Daigaku wa doko ni arimasu ka.
Harrison: Watashi no daigaku mo Kawasaki ni arimasu.
Sensei: Soo desu ka. Pasukaru san no kaisha mo, Harison san no daigaku mo, Kawasaki ni arimasu ne.
[Okay, if I'm understanding the mo correctly, this last sentence would bascially mean: "Is that so? Both Pascal's company, and Harrison's University, are located in Kawasaki, aren't they?"]

Sensei: Hai, tsugi wa tesuto desu.
All: Tesuto?
Hill: Muzukasii desu ka.
Sensei: Iie, iie, kantan desu. Kantan desu. Hai, shitsumon ichi. Piramiddo wa doko ni arimasu ka. Pasukaru san?
Pascal: Piramiddo wa... Ejiputo ni arimasu ne.
Sensei: Hai, ii desu. Shitsumon ni. Temuzu-gawa wa doko ni arimasu ka.
Harrison: Hai, hai sensei!
Sensei: Harison san?
Harrison: Temuzu-gawa wa Rondon ni arimasu.
Pascal: Kantan desu ne!
Sensei: Hai. Shitsumon san. Koroshiamu wa doko ni arimasu ka.
Harrison: Girisha ni arimasu.
Hill: Iie, Girisha ni arimasen. Itaria ni arimasu.
Sensei: Soo desu. Itaria ni arimasu ne. Shitsumon yon. Taji Mahaaru wa doko ni arimasu ka.
Harrison: Aa, muzukashii. Muzukashii shitsumon desu ne. Pakisutan?
Pascal: Pakisutan ni arimasen. Indo desu. Taji Mahaaru wa Indo ni arimasu.

Harrison: Sensei, sumimasen ga, ima nan-ji desu ka.
Sensei: Juu-ji han desu. Ima juu-ji han desu.
Harrison: Ee? Juu-jii han? Daigaku no kurasu wa juu-ji han kara desu. Mina san, shitsurei shimasu. Shitsurei shimasu!

[Poor Harrison. He can't do anything right, and no one likes him. The writers of these lessons must've been sadistic, they love to pick on Harrison.]

End of Lesson Four.