Everyday scenes in Japan, from introductions to a visit to the bank. In each one you say your role’s lines out loud.
N4
びょういん
He doesn’t want help, he wants his laptop
You called a colleague about work yesterday, and his wife answered: he is in the hospital, the surgery was on Tuesday, and nobody at the office knows. You stopped by after work — not to visit him, but because the materials he was handling are due on Monday. You offer to take the work over, and he asks for something else: bring him his laptop and he will do it himself. You cannot simply agree, and you cannot simply refuse.
きのう仕事で電話したら、奥さんに入院だと聞きました。びっくりしました。
medium·about 3 min
ホテル
Same room, a different night
It is morning, the second night of four behind you. The people next door talked until late, and you barely slept. You go down to the desk to ask for another room — there are two more nights to come. But nothing is free today, and the night that has to be got through is tonight.
隣の部屋が夜遅くまでとてもうるさかったんです。あまりよく眠れませんでした。
medium·about 3 min
でんわ
The key is on a train that isn’t moving
Morning, and you are the first one in: the shop opens at half past nine, the delivery comes at nine, and that driver will not wait. Then the manager rings. He is on his way in, but his train has stopped between stations after an accident, and the key to the shop is with him. Nobody knows when it will move again. Neither of you can find a way out alone: he knows half of what is needed, and you know the other half.