Lesson 5 - Fluency Drills:
Subways and trains
(photo
by Christophe Richard used
under terms of Creative Commons license.)
Fluency
Drill 1:
In order
to ride subways
and trains in
Tokyo, you
will need to
buy tickets from
vending machines. If
you need
change for
a 500-yen or
1,000-yen note,
you go to
a window
and say
"please change this,"
kore kaete kudasai.
Listen and
repeat:
Kore
kaete
kudasai.
To get
someone's attention to
ask a
question or
favor, you
say "excuse me,"
sumimasen.
Listen and
repeat:
Sumimasen.
Now say
"excuse me, please
change this."
Fluency Drill 3:
After someone
has done you
a favor
- for example,
changed your money
or
answered your question - you say "thank
you,"
dōmo.
Listen and
repeat:
Dōmo.
Fluency Drill 4:
If you
are standing in
front of a
bank of ticket vending machines
and you are
not certain which
machine sells
tickets for
your destination, you
may ask a
passerby "which
one is
for Shinjuku?" Shinjuku dore
desu
ka? Listen
and repeat!
Shinjuku dore
desu
ka?
Or
if your
destination is Ebina
and you want
to ask "which one
is
for Ebina?" you
say Ebina dore
desu ka?
Listen and
repeat:
Ebina
dore desu ka?
You want to know which machine sells tickets to a particular destination. You will hear several station names. After hearing each name, ask which machine to use for that station.
EXAMPLE: Kanda
YOU: Kanda
dore desu
ka?
|
________________________________ |
Ueno |
________________________________ |
Sagami-Ōno |
________________________________ |
Shibuya |
________________________________ |
|
________________________________ |
Fluency Drill 6:
One
answer to
your question "which
one is for Shinjuku?" might
be "it's this
one," kore desu.
Listen:
Kore
desu.
Or
the answer
might be "it's
that one," sore
desu. Listen:
Sore
desu.
Or
the
answer might be
"anyone will
do," dore
demo ī desu. Listen:
Fluency Drill 7:
Now
you will
hear
answers to your
question "which
one is
for Ebina?" Ebina
dore desu ka?
After hearing each Japanese
answers give the
English equivalent.
Sore
des |
________________________________ |
Kore des |
________________________________ |
Dore demo ī des |
________________________________ |
Kore des |
________________________________ |
Dore demo ī des |
________________________________ |
Sore des |
________________________________ |
Fluency Drill 8:
The
name of
a station followed
by the word
iki
means a
train going to
that station. For
example, "a train
going to Shinjuku" would
be Shinjuku iki.
Listen and repeat:
Shinjuku iki
And "a train going to the Ginza Station" would be Ginza iki. Listen and repeat:
Fluency Drill 9:
In this drill you will hear several station names.
Add the word iki to each of them.
Kanda |
________________________________ |
Shibuya |
________________________________ |
Ak |
________________________________ |
Sagami-Ōno |
________________________________ |
Asak |
________________________________ |
Ikebukuro |
________________________________ |
Fluency Drill 10:
To
ask "which
way is it?"
you say dochira
desu ka? Listen and
repeat:
Dochira
desu ka?
To
ask "which
way to the
train going to
Kanda?" you say Kanda
iki dochira desu
ka? Listen and
repeat:
Kanda
iki dochira
desu ka?
And
to ask
" which way to the train going to
Ebina?" you
say Ebina iki dochira
desu ka? Listen
and repeat:
Ebina iki
dochira desu
ka?
Now
ask which
way to the
following trains. You
will hear only station
names. Add the
word iki to
each name,
and then
ask the question
dochira desu ka
?
EXAMPLE:
YOU:
u ka?
Shinagawa |
________________________________ |
Shimo-K |
________________________________ |
Ueno |
________________________________ |
Yūrak |
________________________________ |
Sōbudai-mae |
________________________________ |
To
the question
Kanda iki dochira
desu ka?
you might get the
answer "it's this
way," kochira desu.
Listen:
Kochira
desu.
Or
you might
get the answer
"it's that way,"
sochira desu.
Listen:
Sochira
desu.
Or
you might
hear achira desu,
"it's over that way."
Listen:
Achira
desu.
Now you will hear various answers to your question "which way to the train going to Ueno?" Give the English equivalent for each answer.
When
you ask
for directions to
your train, you
may get another kind
of answer:
koko desu,
"it's here." Listen:
Koko
desu.
Or
soko desu,
"it's there." Listen:
Soko
desu.
Or
asoko desu,
"it's over there." Listen:
Asoko
desu.
Listen to some answers to your question "which way to the train going to Fussa?" and give the English translations.
Fluency Drill 14:
To
ask where
something is, you
say doko desu
ka? Listen
and repeat:
Doko
desu ka?
To
ask "where
is the train
going to Kanda?"
you say Kanda
iki doko desu
ka? Listen and
repeat:
Kanda iki
doko desu
ka?
Now
ask where
to find trains
for the following stations. You
will hear
only station names.
Add the word iki to
each name, and
then add the
question doko desu
ka?
EXAMPLE:
Asakusa
YOU:
Asakusa iki
doko desu ka?
Shinjuk |
________________________________ |
Akasaka-Mits |
________________________________ |
F |
________________________________ |
|
________________________________ |
Tach |
________________________________ |
Sōbudai-mae |
________________________________ |
Fluency Drill 16:
The
answers to
the question Kanda
iki doko desu
ka? will be
the same
as those for
the question Kanda
iki dochira
desu ka?
Listen to some
answers to these
questions, and give the
English equivalents.
Fluency Drill 17:
You
are standing
on the platform.
The train is
not
yet in
the station. If
you want to
ask "is this
the place
for trains
to Kanda?" you
say Kanda iki
koko desu ka? Listen and
repeat:
Kanda iki
koko desu
ka?
And
if you
want to ask
"is this the
place for trains
to Ebina?",
you say Ebina iki
koko desu ka? Listen
and repeat:
Ebina
iki koko
desu ka?
Fluency Drill 18:
Now
ask if
this is the
place for trains
to the
following stations.
You will
hear only
station names. Add iki to
each name, and
then add the
question koko desu
ka?
Ueno |
________________________________ |
Shibuya |
________________________________ |
Shinjuk |
________________________________ |
Ak |
________________________________ |
Shimo-K |
________________________________ |
Fluency Drill 19:
One
"yes" answer is
ē, sō
desu, "yes,
it is." Listen:
Ē,
sō desu.
Another
"yes" answer is
hai, sō
desu, "yes,
it is." Listen:
Hai,
sō
desu.
If
the
answer is "no,
it isn't," you
will hear īe, chigaimasu
or
iya, chigaimasu. Listen:
Īe,
chigaimasu.
Iya,
chigaimasu.
Fluency Drill 20:
Listen to some answers and give the English translations:
Ē,
sō des |
________________________________ |
Iya,
chigaimas |
________________________________ |
Hai,
sō des |
________________________________ |
Īe, chigaimas |
________________________________ |
Fluency Drill 21:
The
train is
already in the
station. If you
want to
know if
it is the
train going to
Shinjuku, you say
kore
Shinjuku iki
desu ka? Listen
and repeat:
Kore
Shinjuku iki
desu ka?
Or
if you
want to ask
"is this one
going to Kanda?"
you say kore
Kanda iki desu
ka? Listen
and repeat:
Kore
Kanda iki
desu ka?
Now you will hear some station names. After hearing each name, ask if this one is going to that station.
EXAMPLE: Sagami-Ōno
YOU:
Kore Sagami-Ōno
iki desu ka?
|
________________________________ |
Shibuya |
________________________________ |
Sagamihara |
________________________________ |
Akasaka-Mits |
________________________________ |
Shinagawa |
________________________________ |
The
answers to
the question kore
Kanda iki desu
ka? will be
the same
as those for
the question koko
Kanda iki
desu ka?
For "yes," the
answer will
be either
ē, sō
desu or
hai, sō
desu. For
"no," the answer
will be either īe,
chigaimasu or
iya, chigaimasu.
Fluency Drill 24:
The word for "express train" is kyūkō. Listen and repeat:
kyūkō
To
ask "is
this an express?"
you
say kore kyūkō
desu
ka? Listen
and repeat:
Kore
kyūkō
desu ka?
To
ask "is that
an express?" you
say sore kyūkō
desu
ka? Listen
and repeat:
Sore
kyūkō
desu ka?
And
to ask
"is that an
express over there?"
you say are
kyūkō desu
ka? Listen and
repeat:
Are
kyūkō
desu ka?
Now ask the following questions in Japanese:
Is that an express? |
________________________________ |
Is this an express? |
________________________________ |
Is that an express over there? |
________________________________ |
Fluency Drill 26:
There
is another
way to ask
a question if you
think the answer is
going to be
"yes." You
use desu
ne? instead
of desu
ka? For example,
sore kyūkō
desu
ne? means "that's an
express,
isn't it?". Other
examples using desu ne are koko
Kanda iki desu ne?
meaning "this is
the place for
trains to Kanda, isn't
it?" and kore
Kanda iki desu,
ne? meaning
"this one
is going to
Kanda. isn't it? "
Fluency Drill 27:
Now
ask the
following questions in
Japanese using desu
ne?
This is the place for trains to Kanda, isn't it? |
________________________________ |
This is an express, isn't it? |
________________________________ |
This one is going to Kanda, isn't it? |
________________________________ |
Fluency Drill 28:
Asking if
a train is
an express, you
may hear
several "yes" answers.
One of the
answers could be
"it's an express," kyūkō
desu.
Listen:
Kyūkō
desu.
Another answer
might be "it
is" or "that's
right," sō
desu.
Listen:
Sō desu.
Or the
word for "yes,"
ē or
hai,
may
be added to
kyūkō desu
and
sō
desu.
Listen:
Ē,
Kyūkō
des |
Yes, it's an express. |
Hai,
Kyūkō
des |
Yes, it's an express. |
Ē, sō des |
Yes, it is. |
Hai,
sō
des |
Yes, it is. |
If
the
train is not
an express, you
might hear "no,
it's not,"
iya, chigaimasu
or īe,
chigaimasu. Listen:
Iya, chigaimasu.
Īe,
chigaimasu.
If the
answer is "no,"
the
person may tell
you which train is
the express. For
"no, it's not;
it's that one,"
he would
say iya
chigaimasu, sore
desu.
Listen to the following sentences, and give the English translations:
Kore des |
________________________________ |
Sore des |
________________________________ |
Are des |
________________________________ |
Īe,
chigaimas |
________________________________ |
Iya, chigaimas |
________________________________ |
Fluency Drill 29:
The
person may
not know if
the train is
an express.
In that
case, he will
say "gee," sā
nē!
Listen:
Sā nē!
And then he might add "I don't know," wakarimasen. Listen:
Sā nē, wakarimasen.
Another form of "I don't know" is wakaranai. Listen:
wakaranai
Sā nē, wakaranai.
Fluency Drill 30:
Now you will hear several answers to your question about express trains. After hearing each answer, give the English equivalents.
The word for "next" is tsugi. Listen and repeat:
tsugi
To ask
a fellow passenger
"is Ebina the
next stop?" you
say tsugi Ebina desu
ka? Listen and
repeat:
Tsugi Ebina
desu ka?
If you
expect a "yes"
answer,
you might say
"Ebina is the next
stop, isn't it?"
tsugi Ebina
desu
ne?
Listen and repeat:
Tsugi
Ebina desu
ne?
Now ask
if the following
stat ions are next.
You may use either
desu ka? or
desu ne?
in your
questions.
Sōbudai-mae |
________________________________ |
Sagami-Ōno |
________________________________ |
Ginza |
________________________________ |
Asak |
________________________________ |
Sagami-Ōts |
________________________________ |
The
"yes" answer to "Is
Ebina the
next stop?" tsugi Ebina desu ka?
Will be ē, sō
desu,
or hai, sō desu.
The "no"
answer
will be
īe,
chigaimasu.
or iya, chigaimasu.
If
the person
says "no," some
additional information might be
offered,
like "it's
Machida," Machida desu.
or "it's Akihabara" Akihabara desu.
When you
ask someone about
a train, he
may give you the
track number. Before
you learn complete
answers, let's
practice the
words for "number
one," "number two,"
and other
track numbers.
"Number one"
is ichi-ban. Listen:
ichi-ban
"Number two"
is ni-ban. Listen:
ni-ban
"Number three"
is sam-ban. Listen:
sam-ban
"Number four"
is yom-ban. Listen·:
yom-ban
And "number
five" is go-ban. Listen:
go-ban
To say
"track number one, "
you add the word
sen
to ichi-ban
and
say ichi-ban sen.
Listen:
ichi-ban
sen |
track
number one |
ni-ban
sen |
track
number two |
sam-ban
sen |
track
number three |
yom-ban
sen |
track
number four |
go-ban
sen |
track
number five |
To say
"it's track number
one, " you add
the word desu to ichi-ban sen.
Listen:
Ichi-ban sen
des |
It's
track number one. |
Ni-ban
sen des |
It's
track number two. |
Sam-ban
sen des |
It's
track number three. |
Yom-ban
sen des |
It's
track number four. |
Go-ban
sen des |
It's
track number five. |
"Number six"
is roku-ban. Listen:
roku-ban
"Number seven"
is nana-ban. Listen:
nana-ban
"Number eight"
is hachi-ban. Listen:
hachi-ban
"Number nine"
is kyū-ban.
Listen:
kyū-ban
And "number
ten" is jū-ban.
Listen:
jū-ban
"Track number
six" is roku-ban sen.
Listen:
rok |
track
number six
|
nana-ban
sen |
track
number seven
|
hachi-ban
sen |
track
number eight
|
kyū-ban
sen |
track
number nine
|
jū-ban
sen |
track
number ten |
"It's track
number six" is
roku-ban
sen desu.
Listen:
Rok |
It's
track number six. |
Nana-ban
sen des |
It's
track number seven. |
Hachi-ban
sen des |
It's
track number eight. |
Kyū-ban
sen des |
It's
track number nine. |
Jū-ban
sen des |
It's
track number ten. |
Fluency Drill 34:
Now you
will
hear Japanese sentences
in which track numbers
are given. After
hearing each, give
the number of the
track in English.
Before beginning this
drill, you may want
to review the
numbers from
one to 10.
You may
find it convenient
or even necessary
to ask
a passerby
the fare from
one station to
another. "How much is
it?" is ikura
desu
ka? Listen
and repeat:
Ikura desu
ka?
"To Kanda"
is Kanda made.
Listen and repeat:
Kanda made
To ask
"how much is
it to Kanda?"
you say Kanda
made ikura
desu ka?
Listen and repeat:
Kanda made
ikura desu ka?
Fluency Drill 36:
Now you
will hear several
station names. Add
made
to each
name:
EXAMPLE: Ebina
YOU: Ebina
made
Ak |
________________________________ |
|
________________________________ |
Sagami-Ōno |
________________________________ |
Ueno |
________________________________ |
|
________________________________ |
Fluency Drill 37:
Listen once
again to the
question "how much
is it?"
Ikura desu
ka?
In this
drill you will
hear the names
of several stations. After hearing
each name, ask
how much it
is to that
station:
EXAMPLE: Kanda
YOU:
Kanda made ikura
desu
ka?
Ebina |
________________________________ |
F |
________________________________ |
Ueno |
________________________________ |
Sagami-Ōno |
________________________________ |
Sōbudai-mae |
________________________________ |
Tōkyō eki |
________________________________ |
Yokohama |
________________________________ |
Fluency Drill 38:
In answer
to your question
"how much is
it to Kanda?" you will
hear "it's _______ yen." Tokyo
train and subway fares
range from 70
yen to at
least 480
yen. "70 yen"
is nana-jū
en.
As you
have learned, nana
is "seven," and
jū
is "ten". En
means "
yen" and
is pronounced
like the
letter n.
Courting by
tens, the numbers
20 through 90
are simply
the words for
"two" through "nine"
with
the word
"ten," jū,
added to
each. "20" is
ni-jū.
Note
that in san-jū,
"30," and yon-jū,
"40," the
words for "three"
and
"four" end with
n.
Here is
a list of
the words for
10 through 90.
Listen:
jū
|
10 |
ni-jū |
20 |
san-jū
|
30 |
yon-jū
|
40 |
go-jū
|
50 |
rok |
60 |
nana-jū
|
70 |
hachi-jū
|
80 |
kyū- jū
|
90 |
Fluency Drill 39:
You will hear
fares between 10
yen and 90
yen. After hearing each
fare in Japanese,
say the English equivalent:
EXAMPLE: nana-jū
en
YOU: 70
yen
Fluency Drill 40:
To say
"it's 10 yen"
or "it's 20
yen," you
add the word desu to
the fare. For
example, jū
en desu
is
"it's 10 yen" and
nana-jū
en desu
is
"it's 70 yen."
Now you
will
hear sentences like
nana-jū
en desu. After
hearing
each sentence, say
the fare in
English.
The word
for "100" is
hyaku. "It's
100 yen."
is hyaku
en desu. "It's
200 yen" is
ni-hyaku
en desu.
In the
words for "300,"
you will
find two
changes in sound. First,
the n of
san becomes m,
sam (as in
sam-ban sen). Second, the
h of hyaku
becomes b, byaku.
So "300" is
sam-byaku. "It' s
300 yen" is
sam-byaku
en
desu.
"It's 400
yen" is yon-hyaku en
desu.
For any
number combinations beyond
one hundred, simply
add the numbers in
tens to the
numbers in hundreds.
For example,
"380 yen"
is sam-byaku hachi-jū
en.
Fluency Drill 43:
Here are
some answers to
your question "how
much is
it to
Tokyo Station?" u ka? Follow in
your book as
you listen to
the tape:
Yon-hyak |
It's ¥ 420. |
Hyak |
It's ¥160. |
Ni-hyak |
It's ¥260. |
Sam-byak |
It's ¥360. |
Hyak |
It's ¥150. |
Ni-hyak |
It's ¥240. |
Sam-byak |
It's ¥330. |
Hyak |
It's ¥170. |
Ni-hyak |
It's ¥220. |
Yon-hyak |
It's ¥480. |
Sam-byak |
It's ¥380. |
Hyak |
It's ¥140. |
Ni-hyak |
It's ¥290. |
Sam-byak |
It's ¥310. |
Yon-hyak |
It's ¥450. |
Fluency Drill 44:
Now you
will
hear more answers
to your question about fare.
This time, after
listening to each
sentence, say the fare
in English.
If you
bump into someone
or step on
somebody's toes, you should
say gomen nasai,
which means "excuse
me" or "I'm sorry."
Listen and repeat:
Gomen nasai.