日本語の練習 第９７週
Japanese Practice Week 97
２０２１年１０月０２日「日」第９７週
Hello everyone! Kyuusei here to teach you Japanese and show what I find interesting about Japan. With that being said, let’s continue.
日本語のイベント
もう１０月ですね。だんだん涼しくなります。町の中で、人々はハロウィンの飾りもう飾りました。それでは、日本に、ハロウィンになるとき、何をすると考えました。トリックオアトリートとか、パーティーとか、コスチュームとか。少し気になります。
アメリカ比べて、日本のホラー映画はより怖いと思う。あまり見たことないが、「ザ・リング」は怖そう。去年、ユーチューバーのAkidearestはその映画を調べる動画を作りました。面白かったです。
N3 文法
[別に～ない]
not really, not particularly
Used to express that something is not really the case or isn’t particularly what you are talking about. Because”not” is a part of this you must use the negative form.
別に + Verb-ないform
別に + Noun + ではない
別に + いadj (remove い) + くない
別に + なadj + ではない
Ex: 別に行きたくないが、どこでもいいです。
(I don’t want to go anywhere in particular, so wherever is fine.)
Ex: この本は読みにくいだと思う。別に本ではない。知らない漢字がいっぱいあるから、新聞、メニューなど読みにくいです。
(This book is hard to read. Not just this book in particular. Since there’s a ton of kanji I don’t know things like newspapers and menus are hard to read too. )
Ex: 別に悪くないけど、読書力が上げたいです。
(It’s not particularly bad, but I want to improve my reading ability.)
Ex: 別に大事ではないから、あとで、少し話せましょう。
(It isn’t really important, so we can talk a bit later.)
[中（ちゅう・じゅう）]
during, throughout
Used to express nouns that have a sense of time or an action to them.
When its a noun with a sense of time such as 夏休み(summer break) it can take on a meaning of “during summer break” or “throughout the summer break”.
※Depending on the word the pronunciation can change. Some are pronounced ちゅう while others are pronounced じゅう. There’s no trick that I’m aware of, so it is something to keep in mind.
N ＋ちゅう／じゅう
Ex: 夏休み中、最後の日に宿題をしたい。
(During summer break, I want to do the homework on the last day.)
Ex: 仕事中だから、少々お待ちください。
(I’m in the middle of working, please wait a moment.)
N3 動詞
どくしょ（する）
This verb is made of kanji from two different verbs: 読む(to read) and 書き(to write). I figure the meaning comes from reading something that is written. In this context, I think the “written” part of this word only refers to literature.
対話
[ゲーム会社で誤解してるーその2]
A: あ、そうだ。面接の日に、ナルユキは風邪ひいたっけ。
B: 本当に、やばい。
A: え、なにか。もしかして、ナンパ？
B: 違うよ。誤解のせいで、女性がイライラしてた。
A: 何を起こった？
B: 「若いくせに、そのデザインは立派だ。どこに卒業していましたか？」って。
A: それだけ。
B: それだけだ。それで、彼女の顔は真っ赤になった。
A: チェー
B: え、なんだ？
A: 別に。。。（このバカ。。。まだ空気が読めないだね。）
B: なんだよ。はっきり言えないと、わからんだよ。
A: いいよ。幼なじみの栄光って覚える？
B: げー。なぜあのやつのこと言って？あの子は俺に毎日毎日いじめた。引っ越してよかっー
A: え～ ついに気づいた。入会者は。。。？
B: 信じたくない。それなら、会社に頼むよ。
[Misunderstanding at the Game Company Pt. 2]
A: Oh, that’s right. You were sick when I interviewed her.
B: Crap, this is really bad.
A: What is it? Did you hit on her?
B: Heck no. She’s probably annoyed because I misunderstood.
A: What happened?
B: I said “You’re young, but your design is magnificent. Where did you graduate from?”
A: That’s it.
B: Yeah. Then her face turned completely red.
A: Tch-!
B: Eh, what’s up?
A: Nothing… (You idiot… You still can’t read the air, can you?)
B: What is it? If you don’t tell me, I’m not gonna understand.
A: Fine. You remember our childhood friend Eiko?
B: Ugh. Why bring that girl up? She used to bully me day in and day out. Thank God she moved aw-
A: Hmm… finally noticed, huh. Gee I wonder who our new employee is?
B: Don’t wanna believe it. If that’s the case, I’ll leave the company up to you.
記事を読もう
IG NOBEL PRIZE 2021 JAPAN’S 15TH YEAR IN A ROW! WALKING WITH A SMARTPHONE EXPERIMENT? A STUDY OF FOOT TRAFFIC
The Ig Nobel Prize is presented to a thought provoking, unique and amusing research topic. This year’s dynamic prize went to Kyoto Institute of Technology Associate Professor Hisashi Murakami’s team. This is the 15th consecutive year that a Japanese person has won the prize.
Many have walked down a street while being distracted. And then they bump into someone. Why do people bump into others even though they are walking straight?
Professor Murakami’s research team did an experiment to ascertain the reason. First, they got 54 people and split them into two groups of 27. One group wore a red hat and the second group wore a yellow hat. They were asked to walk towards each other on a 10 meter long and 3 meter wide road. When they walked normally, they were able to pass each other smoothly.
Next, three people who were in front of a group were given a smartphone to do easy addition while they walked. This disrupted the flow of traffic. In order to avoid bumping into each other, the ones with smartphones and the people surrounding them slowed down.
When people that are distracted with a smartphone, they either bump into people walking towards them, come to a stop, or suddenly change their direction. Thus, such movements are influenced by the people around them, which causes them to bump into others.
In this study, it confirmed that people anticipate other’s movements to make foot traffic smoother. We might be unconsciously reading the movements of others as we go about our daily lives.
In the future, there is anticipation that these results will be useful for crowding and accident prevention, evacuation plans, and even, developing better movement systems in robots.
This was quite an interesting article. It was a tad different from what I usually cover but it was fun to translate this. I knew about the Nobel Prize to some extent but I didn’t know about the Ig Nobel Prize. This prize ceremony is a satirical version of the Nobel Prize. Even though the studies are funny and can be ridiculous at times, it does seem to have its use in the world.
This article is on a website called, kokanet, a site for kids to learn about science. Kokanet seems to be short for こどもかがくネット or Science for Kids Net.
実況から勉強する：キングダムハーツ
Alright we got Aladdin in the party and we’re heading back to Agrabah to take down Jafar. But wait… what the heck?!
①やっぱり ひさしぶりの外（そと）はいいねェ。
- It’s good to be back outside.
- EN: Ah, fresh air! The great outdoors!
※ Genie says やっぱり here. This means “as expected” or “just as I thought”. It expresses that his next statement is as he thought it would. ひさしぶり means “long time no see” while 外 means “outside”. So it’s been a while since Genie has been outside and he’s happy about it.
②自分（じぶん）では外に出（で）られないってこと？
- Does that mean you weren’t able to before?
- EN: I guess you don’t get out much, huh?
※ 自分 can mean “myself” or “yourself”. 出られない is the negative form of the potential verb 出られる. Think of potential verbs as “are able to do…”. Since it is in the negative form Sora’s wondering if Genie wasn’t able to go outside on his own.
③それがジーニーの宿命（しゅくめい）さ。こうしてられるのも 今（いま）のうちだけ。
- It’s the fate of a Genie. So, I gotta make use of this freedom while I still can.
- EN: Comes with the job. Phenomenal cosmic powers. Itty-bitty living space.
※ 宿命 means “fate” or “destiny”. So Genie is fated to return to the lamp again where he has to wait for his next master. 今のうち is an expression. It means “while one still can”. So Genie is expressing that even though his fate is to return to the lamp, he better make the best use of his time right now.
②３つの願（ねが）いをかなえたら また暗（くら）くてせまいランプの中（なか）。
- After I grant 3 wishes it’s back to the dark, cramped lamp for me.
- EN: It’s always three wishes, then back to my portable prison.
※ 叶えたら（かなえたら）means to grant. たら is another verb conjugation that expresses when something is done, something else will occur afterwards. Genie also shows a way to describe something with more than one adjective. By using the て form for 暗い (which means dark) and then adding 狭い（せまい”narrow”)
③次（つぎ）に出られるのは百年（ひゃくねん）先（さき）か 二（に）百年先か。
- The next time I get out will be in another century or two.
- EN: I’m lucky to see the light of day every century or two…
※When adding 先 to a time like years, it can mean before or after. However since Genie is saying 次に or “next time”, we can see that he means he won’t leave the lamp in another 100 or 200 years. Not only can か be used as a question, it can also be used to mean “or”.
④なあジーニー 僕（ぼく）の最後の（さいご）願いで 君（きみ）をランプから解放（かいほう）できるかな。
- Hey Genie. How about I use my last wish to free you from the lamp.
- EN: Say, Genie, what if I use my last wish to free you from the lamp? What do you think?
※解放 means “release” or “set free”.
⑤それ本当？
- Really?
- EN: You’d do that?
※You can use this type of phrasing to ask if someone is serious about what they say.
⑥ああ 約束（やくそく）するよ。ジャスミンを助けてからね。
- Yeah I promise. But after we save Jasmine, alright.
- EN: Genie, it’s a promise. After we help Jasmine.
⑦なるほど、ジャファーの狙いはジャスミンとその”鍵穴（かぎあな）”とかいうやつか。。。
- I see, Jafar is after Jasmine and something called a “keyhole”…
- EN: So, Jafar is after Jasmine and this “Keyhole.”
⑧”鍵穴”か。。。前（まえ）にどこかでそんな話を聞いたような。
- “Keyhole”, huh… I feel like I’ve heard that before somewhere.
- EN: Keyhole, eh? I could swear I’ve heard about that somewhere before…
※そんな means “that kind of”. Genie is describing that he has heard “that kind of” story about the keyhole before. ような is kind of like expressing a feeling that you’ve experienced before in this context.
⑨どこどこ？どこで？
- Where? Where?
- EN: Really? Where?
※ Considering Genie knows about the keyhole Donald is kind of nervous here. He’s desperately wanting to know how he knows something that’s “top secret”.
⑩どうだったかなあ。もう２００年ばかり前のことだからなあ。。。
- I wonder where. It’s already been about 200 years since then…
- EN: Now, where was it? It’s only been 200 years.
⑪アラジン！とにかくジャファーを止（と）めないと大変（たいへん）なことになる！
- Aladdin! Things are gonna get bad if we don’t stop Jafar!
- EN: Well, anyway, we’ve got to stop Jafar before it’s too late.
※Sora is basically using とにかく here to say “anyway”, as in let’s talk about that later we need to deal with Jafar. 止めないと can mean “must/have to stop”. However, in this case it means “if we don’t stop”
⑫「王宮（おうきゅう）前」への道路（どうろ）
- Front of the Royal Palace
- EN: Royal Palace
⑬やめておけあくまでもこのわしにたてつけのか。
- So you choose to oppose me till the very end?
- EN: Setting your sights a little high, aren’t you, boy?
※Jafar is expressing his annoyance with our heroes with あくまでも. It is an adverb that means “to the end” or “persistently”. やめておけ means “to stop” in this context. As for たてつけ, I there are a few verbs that sound the same but have different meanings. I think they are using the verb たて突け which means “to defy, to rebel, or to oppose”
⑭愚（おら）かなる振る舞い（ふるまい）はジャスミン姫（ひめ）もお喜（よろこ）びになるまいぞ。
- This foolish behaviour won’t make the princess happy.
- EN: Back to you hole, street rat. I will not allow you to trouble the princess any more.
※愚か is a な adjective that means foolish. 振る舞い means behaviour or conduct.
⑮ジャスミン！
ごめんなさい。アラジンーー
- Jasmine!
- I’m sorry Aladdin…
- EN: I’m so sorry, Aladdin.
⑯ジーニー ジャスミンを助（たす）けてくれよ。
- Genie, please save Jasmine.
- EN: Genie, help Jasmine. Please!
※The くれ at the end here comes from the verb くれる. When put with a てーForm verb it is a request for someone to do something for you. Aladdin drops the る here which makes it the commanding imperative form of the verb. I see many anime characters to do this out of desperation like when a character says “やめてくれ” it’s usually translated to “Please stop!” or “Stop it!”
⑰お安（やす）いご用（よう）だ。これで２つめの願いだぞ。
- What an easy order. This is your second wish.
- EN: One wish left! You’re making this really easy, you know.
※Genie is actually calling Aladdin’s order cheap or inexpensive （安い）here. As in, Genie didn’t really have to do anything. Quite frankly things could’ve been resolved by taking out Jafar here. But hey the story progresses on.
⑱申し訳ない（もうしわけない）が２つめあは そこでキャンセルだ。
- Sorry, but I’ll be cancelling that second wish.
- EN: So sorry, boy. I’m afraid your second wish has been denied.
⑲すまんね アル
ではドブネズミの諸君（しょくん）ごきげんよう。
- Sorry Al
- Well then, street rats, I bid thee farewell.
- EN: And now, I bid you all farewell. Attack!
※諸君 is a word you used to say “you (people)” or gentleman, everyone, or my friends. On another note, you usually find a tropey rich girl saying this but ごきげんよう can mean how do you do. But it can be used to say farewell to someone as well.
⑳防御力（ぼうぎょりょく）アップ！！
最大（さいだい）MPアップ！！
- Defense UP!!
- Max MP UP!!
㉑オーバーレイを手にれた！
- Obtained Over Ray!
- EN: Obtained Ray of Light.
※Got kinda confused and thought it was Overlay but it’s actually Over Ray.
㉒ジャスミン！
砂漠（さばく）へ急（いそ）ごう！
最大HPアップ！！
- Jasmine!
- Let’s go to the desert!
- EN: To the desert! Come on, let’s move!
- Max HP UP!!
Heading back to the desert. Kinda wish they could’ve added more to Agrabah. It would’ve been fun to explore the palace but oh well. In the meantime, the boys have to take on Jafar and Genie… sort of? But first, they must get through the Cave of Wonders.
ヒトリゴト
タイトルを見る
【朗報】俺の許嫁になった地味子、家では可愛いしかない
【朗 報】ろうほう
The first kanji can mean cheerful. If you look closer there are two kanji that make up this kanji. The one to the left means good.
The second kanji means news. You might recognize from the word 情報（じょうほう）which means information, news, intelligence.
Put together it means something like “good news”.
俺（おれ）の
This is a male pronoun with a possessive particle. I think it is safe to put this as “My” for right now.
許嫁（いいなずけ）
The first kanji can mean “approval” or “permit”. The second kanji means “marry into” or “bride”. So a person that is permitted to marry into a family. So a person who has been permitted to marry someone else? In other words, someone who approved of getting married. Kinda sounds like a fiance.
になった
These put together means “became”. なった comes from the verb なる, to become. It is a casual past tense of this verb. So someone has become a guy’s (most likely the protagonist of this light novel) fiance.
So, we have “【Good News】My fiance”. I think it’s best to leave out the になった translation. If I left it in, it would be something like “【Good News】(The person that became) My fiance”. I’m adding “the person” here as a place holder since I don’t know who the protagonist is getting married to.
We’ll be getting to that next.
地味子（じみこ）
地味 is a な adjective that means “plain”. 子 can mean child but in this context I think it is best to go with “girl” since another meaning for this is young woman. So he’s marrying a plain girl. Plane Jane would be an “interesting” localization, but I won’t go that far and just keep it as “plain girl”.
家（いえ）では
家 just means “house”. では can be translated to “at” The は is used to emphasize house. So it’s like “At the house”. There is a dotted line before we get into this sentence. So I think it’s better to separate the two sentences for now.
Let’s look over what we have a rough translation:
“【Good News】My fiance is a Plain Girl. At the house”
or
“【Good News】My Plain Fiance is [] at the house”
可愛い（かわいい）
かわいい is a い adjective. It means “cute”, but I want to make an attempt and try to understand the meaning of the word a bit.
The kanji 可 means “acceptable” or “being in favor”. The kanji 愛 means “love” or “affection”. So being lovable?
しかない
This is the grammar しか～ない from the N4 Grammar. It means “nothing but” or “only”. It is kind of strange though. I didn’t know that adjectives could be used with this kind of grammar. Maybe it can?
So final translation:
“【Good News】My Plain Fiance is Only Cute at Home”
There’s no official licensing of the light novel (especially since it just started getting published in February) so there isn’t a localized title just yet. Fortunately, like with Kyuuketsuki-chan, they made an English title.
My Plain-looking Fiance is Secretly Sweet with Me. Great translation. Gets the point across without being too literal (like me). I heard about this light novel through its corresponding manga on comic-walker. It only has one chapter (it’s a prologue chapter though).
As you can see, the light novel’s title explains the plot very well. The story follows a boy named 佐方遊一（さかた・ゆういち） or Sakata Yuuichi is a high school student who comes home one day to his little sister congratulating him on getting married. Well this is news to Yuuichi. The bride to be is 綿苗結花（わたなえ・ゆうか） or Watanae Yuka.
Due to his parent’s circumstances they are getting married. I’m assuming it’s financial but I haven’t read enough to know that much detail. And they go to the same school. As the title suggests, it looks like they will be living together and she’s very different when she’s at school compared to when she’s at home.
It sounds interesting so I tried to read the light novel a bit on Bookwalker. Then I found the author’s web novel, so I can read as long as I want. Plus, if I find any kanji I don’t know I can use my extensions.
You can find the web novel here.
レイの日記
ポケモンを回復するあとで、あのカビゴンと戦い所に戻った。ハパを切ってできる木がある。女の子の秘密基地を見つけてしまった。秘密を守るため、俺にひでん技０２「そらをとぶ」をもらった。よしゃ！これは探してる。さって、これとどこにも飛んで戻ってできるはずだ。でも、誰を覚えてできるかな？しまった。チームのなかで、誰もできない。
あ、そうだ！パソコンの箱でハヤッタカもう生きてる。久しぶり。しかし。。。ちっさ。俺と飛んでどうやって。ポケモン図鑑によって、ハヤッタカはオニドリルに進化できる。君をもっと強くになるな。
ハヤッタカもっと強くになるため、サイクリングロードでバイクギャングーを全員倒す。厳しいだが、俺たちができる。禿のやつがいっぱいだ。あ、モヒカンカット男もいる。モヒカンカット男のマタドガス がいた。強かった。チョウムギリギリ死んだが、途中でサイケこうせんを覚えた。ラッキー！チョウムは一発でベトベターを倒した。やべぇあの技が超強い。こいつらは毒タイプと格闘タイプなポケモンしかいないらしい。チョウムなら、大丈夫さ。
REI’S JOURNAL
After healing my Pokemon, I went back to where Kyoshoku fought Snorlax. There was a tree that Hapa could cut down. I found a girl’s secret base. She gave me HM 02 Fly to keep it a secret. Oh, cool. This is what I was looking for. I can fly back to any town with this. But should I teach it to? No one in my team can learn it.
Oh, that’s right! Hayattaka is still alive in the PC box. Been a long time. But… It’s so small. How is it going to fly around with me? According to the Pokedex, Hayattaka can evolve into Fearow. Better get you stronger then, huh.
I want Hayattaka to become strong fast, so I’ll take on that biker gang on Cycling Road. It’ll be tough, but we can do it. There’s so many bald guys here. Oh and mohawks. This guy with a mohawk had a Weezing. It was strong. Choumu almost died but learned Psybeam midway through the battle. Lucky! Choumu started taking down Grimer with one shot. Man that move’s powerful. Looks like these guys only have poison and fighting type Pokemon. If it’s Choumu, then this will be easy.
In conclusion, I hope that this series is helpful with your journey to learning Japanese and/or taking an interest in the country’s culture. Until then… また来週！
Japanese Practice・日本語の練習 
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