Everyday scenes in Japan, from introductions to a visit to the bank. In each one you say your role’s lines out loud.
みちあんない
Evening, an unfamiliar neighbourhood: you are due at a friend’s housewarming by six and still have no flowers. The first person you stop on the street has lived here only a month and doesn’t know the area — all they remember is a flower shop somewhere in front of the station, and whether it is still open they cannot say.
すみません、近くに花屋さんはありませんか。
shortabout 2 min
みちあんない
A visitor stops you on the street at dusk: they have an exam tomorrow and have been looking for the city library for a while now. The road is the right one, but there are two traffic lights ahead — and when they repeat the directions back, they turn at the wrong one.
すみません、市立図書館はこの道でいいですか。
shortabout 2 min
あいさつ
A student from your year strikes up a conversation before class: it turns out you are taking the same course, the talk moves on to where you learned your Japanese, and it ends with an invitation to the Japanese club on Friday.
はじめまして。二年の田中です。こちらは初めてですか。
shortabout 2 min
あいさつ
You run into a former colleague after three years: what you do now, what has changed at the company and when everyone will get together.
あ、田中さんじゃないですか。お久しぶりです。もう三年になりますね。
shortabout 2 min
レストラン
You come in for a quick meal before the film, but every table is taken: an hour’s wait will not work, and the host offers two seats side by side at the far end of the counter, where the food comes out faster too.
二人ですが、席はありますか。七時半の映画までに食べたいんです。
shortabout 2 min
かいもの
An evening at the convenience store: a bento and a coffee, no heating and no paid bag, chopsticks and a wet wipe, a loyalty card left at home and payment by card.
いらっしゃいませ。
shortabout 2 min
えき
You are meeting a friend at six and you have never been in this station before. The attendant names your platform, points out where to buy a four-hundred-yen ticket and does the arithmetic: twenty-five minutes on the train — you will make it if you hurry.
すみません、東京に行きたいんですが。
shortabout 2 min