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🇯🇵 Japanese · Intermediate Level 3

PART 3 · LESSON 26 OF 30 · 32 MINUTES

A Call from Osaka

Friday the eighteenth of August, half past seven in the evening, at home. Ben's phone rings, and the screen says Fujita. The president would like Ben to come to the head office in Osaka next Friday, to talk; what about, Mister Fujita can't say, but it isn't bad news. Yui has a guess as the rice goes cold, Ben says no way, Kenta has the same guess on Sunday, and on Monday Mister Kimura says two words. Learn how Japanese opens something delicate (jitsu wa, ohanashi ga aru n desu ga), how to object without objecting (jugyo ga aru n desu ga), and how friends guess (shigoto no hanashi na n ja nai?).

Audio instruction: English

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THE STORY

Friday, the eighteenth of August, twenty twenty-eight. Half past seven in the evening, at home. Ben, home from work at seven, is at the stove, Yui is laying the table, and Ben's phone rings on the counter. The screen says Fujita. In June, on a sofa in Nihonbashi, the president of Tsubame Travel said that next time they would talk, slowly, in Osaka. Tonight her manager is calling about it, and he can't say what it's about. At eight the call is over, the rice has gone cold, and Yui has a guess. This is the conversation you'll be able to say by the end of the lesson.

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Words and phrases

The lesson is for your ears. Open this afterwards, to see what you learned.
おはなし が あるohanashi ga aruthere's something to talk about, politely
じつ は、 おはなし が ある ん です が。jitsu wa, ohanashi ga aru n desu gaActually, there's something I'd like to talk to you about.
ほんしゃhonshathe head office
おこし いただけません かokoshi itadakemasen kacould you come, respectfully
らいしゅう の きんようび、 おおさか の ほんしゃ に、 おこし いただけません か。raishū no kin'yōbi, Ōsaka no honsha ni, okoshi itadakemasen kaCould you come to the head office in Osaka next Friday?
おおさか に、 です か？Ōsaka ni, desu kaTo Osaka?
ゆっくり はなしたいyukkuri hanashitaiwould like a proper talk
と いって おりますto itte orimasusays, humbly, of your own side
しゃちょう が、 ベン さん と、 ゆっくり はなしたい と いって おります。shachō ga, Ben-san to, yukkuri hanashitai to itte orimasuThe president says she'd like a proper talk with you.
どんな おはなし でしょう か。donna ohanashi deshō kaWhat would it be about?

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