Shadowing Intermediate - Unit 1

[@stevesheldon8616]

OMG, I left Japan in 2006 (I passed the Level 2 for foreigners a few years before that) but I never learned this kind of casual speech. I've just started teaching English again after an 18-year break and found your channel because I'm interested in teaching shadowing to my students. But this material is so good I'm going to start learning real Japanese now. Why? So I can have a feeling of satisfaction.

[@JSLCourse]

Really JLPT level 2? There should be plenty of direct style speech at that level but the tests generally don't use slang or poor enunciation. The listening section is usually kind of slow and very clearly spoken, similar to these shadowing drills. But shadowing can be good practice if only to get students focusing more on the spoken language rather than only words on a page.

[@stevesheldon8616]

@@JSLCourse The vocabulary at this level is of course very easy, but the way Japanese is broken down in casual speech is something I was never good at. I have just started teaching a few Japanese students here in Thailand so I'm suddenly interested in Japanese again.

[@JSLCourse]

@@stevesheldon8616 That's good. I wonder if you have gone through the JSL texts on this site and the language drills that go with them. I used to make similar substitution drills in English for an adult English class I was teaching based on the conversations we were learning and it made for good warm ups.

[@stevesheldon8616]

This is the first video of yours I've seen. It came up when I searched for "shadowing". My primary interests are 1) using it in teaching English and 2) improving my Thai because I live in Thailand.

[@Wra8h]

Could 一流ホテルだけのことはるね be translated "as expected, you'd only find it (this kind of thing/vibe) in a high-end/classy hotel"? I feel like the "it sure livs up to its name" is more implied than said?

[@JSLCourse]

Yes, that's right. it means that the looks match what one would expect from a first class hotel. You could also say, they don't call this a first class hotel for nothing! Or It's no wonder it's so nice, being a first class hotel, etc. So Living up to the name or expectations is also a valid translation. For example, if a meal lives up to or is worth the price: とてもおいしかった。高かっただけのことはある。 Or it being no surprise that someone is good at Japanese, having lived in Japan: 彼は日本語が上手だね！日本に長く住んだだけのことはあった。 Also see あって（の） which is closer to can only exist/be with..

[@cigdemadaa148]

I checked your page it is perfect ı wish to see your page before arigatoooo for your effort 🙏🏻

[@JSLCourse]

ありがとうございました。いつも動画をアップしているので、よくチェックしてください。

[@nghiaphantrong1024]

Can you help me analyse 『お金があればいいってもなじゃないでしょ』

[@JSLCourse]

You are talking about #3お金があればいいってもんじゃないでしょ。 The main part is just okane ga areba ii 'if there is money [then] it [would] be good' meaning, all one needs is money, if you have money, then you are good, etc. areba is the provisional form of aru (provided/if there is/one has) and often is combined with ii 'good' to mean 'should' but with aru can mean 'it's all you need' Adding the quotative 'tte' = to iu no [wa], sets this phrase off as a topic/subject but you can think of it as meaning, the fact that/idea of X... もん here is short for mono 'thing', but it has many subtle uses. Among them is to emphasize a situation, fact, etc. which is much what tte does. So here you can think of it tte mono as meaning "to iu mono" instead of "to iu no" so Okane ga areba ii tte mono = 'the idea of "all [one] needs is money", and then the whole noun-phrase is negated with ja nai = "it is not", and deshou is an add-on here meaning "right? Don't you think?" which is much like ne? and does not have the meaning of "probably" when it is used as the main predicate. So all together, It's not as if (it's true that) all one needs is money, right?

[@nghiaphantrong1024]

@@JSLCourse thank you sensei ! In real life, is "tte mono" used to replace t"to iu mono" a lot? I appreciate your clear explanation!!

[@JSLCourse]

@@nghiaphantrong1024 Yes, it is common, much more in spoken language or casual speech. Often, (t)te, (t)te no [wa], or (t)te monô [wa], are used to cite some theme (topic material), and in these cases, they are all interchangeable. Literally, it may mean 'what's called' or 'the thing called', etc. but speakers don't think of it in such a literal fashion. I write (t)te because it is only tte after words not ending in n, and it is said te after ん (the double consonant is suppressed). So hôn tte, sounds like hônte. Also, it may replace several different forms in speech, not just to iu, so it depends on the sentence on how you must understand it. For example, at the end of a sentence, when it means hearsay, something you heard, or people say, you could say it means to no koto da (=sou da)