Learn Japanese Pod with Ami and Alex
Podcast 29: Talking about your job inJapaneseIn this lesson you will learn the following:✓​ Learn to have a conversation about someone’s job✓​ Learn work related vocabulary and phrases✓​ Learn extra phrases to use at work

LEVEL: Upper Beginner

Learn Japanese Pod

Introduction
One really common topic of conversation in Japanese is about work. When meeting people forthe first time it is common to ask them about what they do for a living. In this lesson you’ll learn
how to ask and answer questions about work and some useful everyday phrases you can use inthe office.

How to study
I would recommend listening to the podcast first. which can be found at:
http://learnjapanesepod.com
Then, you can download and listen to the extra audio podcast that has just the Japanesedialogues and related phrases as pronounced by a native Japanese speaker. You can use thatto test your comprehension. You can also listen and repeat the phrases aloud to help you withfluency, pronunciation and memorizing vocabulary.
Finally, for more in depth explanations you can read these show notes. These include dialogue
transcriptions as well as grammar and vocabulary notes.
Enjoy!

Learn Japanese Pod

Main Dialog 1 - Talking about your job (Japanese)
A:
B:
A:
B:
A:
B:
A:
B:

お仕事は何をしてるの？
ウェブデザインの仕事してるよ。
そうなんだ。楽しい？
そうだね。毎日大変だけど楽しいよ。
楽しいのはよかったね。何年ぐらいやってるの？
７年ぐらいかな。
ヘェ〜、すごいな。俺はすぐ転職しちゃうからさ。
まじで？！

Main Dialog 1 - Talking about your job (Pronunciation)
A: Oshigoto wa nani o shiteru no?
B: Uebu dezain no shigoto shiteru yo.
A: Sō nan da. Tanoshii?
B: Sō da ne. Mainichi taihen dakedo tanoshii yo.
A: Tanoshii no wa yokatta ne. Nan nen gurai yatteru no?
B: Nana nen gurai kana.
A: Hee, sugoi na. Ore wa sugu tenshoku shichau kara sa.
B: Maji de?!

Main Dialog 1 - Talking about your job (English)
A: What do you do for work?
B: I do web design work.
A: Really? Is it enjoyable?
B: Well, everyday is tough but it’s fun.
A: That’s good it’s enjoyable. How long have you been doing that?
B: About 7 years I guess.
A: Wow. I’m always changing jobs.
B: Seriously?!

Learn Japanese Pod

Grammar Notes
Let’s have a look at some of the grammar involved in this lesson’s main dialogue.
お仕事は何をしてるの？ ​Oshigoto wa nani o shiteru no?
1) Oshigoto - ​Shigoto​ means work. Add ​O​ at the beginning to make it more polite
and when you are talking about someone else’s job.
2) No - Add this at the end of a sentence to form a casual question. ​Nani o shiteru
no?​ Means what are you doing?
ウェブデザインの仕事してるよ。​Uebu dezain shiteru yo.
1) Yo - Add ​yo​ at the end of a sentence to emphasise the point you are making.
そうなんだ。​Sō nan da.
1) This means​ Is that right? / Oh really? / Is that so?
そうだね。​Sō da ne.
1) This phrase has two meanings. It can mean ​“That’s right”​ when agreeing with acomment. However, in this conversation this means something like ​“Well, let mesee…”​ when needing a little time to answer a question. ​Sō da ne ​is a casualphrase. The polite way to say this is ​Sō desu ne.
楽しいのはよかったね。Tanoshii no wa yokatta ne.
1) No wa​ -​ No wa​ is a way of linking two ideas together in a sentence. You usually
use this with verbs and adjectives. In this case we link ​Tanoshii​ (Enjoyable) withYokatta​ (That’s good). The meaning is therefore ​It’s good that it’s enjoyable ​ or
I’m glad you find it enjoyable. T​ his is quite a subtle phrase so it is better to learn
naturally through conversation practice in Japanese.

Learn Japanese Pod

Extra work related phrases
Here is a list of extra work related structures we drilled during the podcast:1) ...の仕事をしてるよ ...no shigoto o shiteru yo - I do ...work
Maaketingu​ no shigoto o shiteru yo.

マーケティング​の仕事をしてるよI do marketing work.
経理​の仕事をしてるよI do accounting work.

Keiri​ no shigoto o shiteru yo.

コンサルティング​の仕事をしてるよI do consulting work.

Consarutingu​ no shigoto o shiteru yo.

2) ...関係の仕事をしてるよ ...kankei no shigoto o shiteru yo - I do … related work
音楽​関係の仕事をしてるよI do music related work.

Ongaku​ kankei no shigoto o shiteru yo.

3) ...会社で働いてるよ ...kaisha de hataraiteru yo - I work at a … company.
ウェブデザイン​会社で働いてるよI work at a web design company.
マーケティング​会社で働いてるよI work at a marketing company.

Uebu ​dezain gaisha de hataraiteru yo.
Maaketingu​ gaisha de hataraiteru yo.

経理​会社で働いてるよI work at an accounting company.

Keiri​ gaisha de hataraiteru yo.

カフェ​で働いてるよI work at a cafe.

Kafe​ de hataraiteru yo.

Learn Japanese Pod

レストラン​で働いてるよI work at a restaurant.

Resutoran​ de hataraiteru yo.

Learn Japanese Pod​で働いてるよI work at Learn Japanese Pod.

Learn Japanese Pod​ de hataraiteru yo.

ウェブデザイン会社の人事部​で働いてるよ
Uebu dezain gaisha no jinjibu ​de hataraiteru yo
I work in a web design company in HR.
マーケティング会社の営業部​で働いてるよUebu dezain gaisha no jinjibu​ de hataraiteru yo
I work marketing firm in the sales department.

The most common phrase used at work everyday
An absolute must-know phrase for working in a Japanese office is as below:
A:B:

お先に失礼します
お疲れ様ですOsaki ni shitsurei shimasu.
Otsukaresama desu.

When you leave work before other people in your office it is polite to say ​ Osaki nishitsurei shimasu​ which literally means “Excuse me for leaving before you”. The people
who are still at work will reply ​Otsukaresama desu w​ hich means something like ​thanks
for your hard work ​or ​good job ​ or more naturally ​good bye!

Learn Japanese Pod

Random Phrase of the Week
This week’s random phrase is…
右も左も分からない
Migi mo hidari mo wakaranai
Lit. I don’t know my right from my left
This phrase is used to mean that you don’t know anything or you are lost and you haveno clue what you are doing.
Example 1:
右も左も分らなかったけど優しい先輩が全部教えてくれた
Migi mo hidari mo wakaranakatta kedo yasashii senpai zenbu oshiete kureta.
I didn’t have a clue what I was doing but my kind teacher* taught me everything.
*Senpai actually means someone who is senior, older or more experienced than you,not necessarily a teacher.
Example 2:
右も左も分らないから自分で頑張って色々覚えた。
Migi mo hidari mo wakaranai kara jibun de ganbatte iroiro oboeta.
I didn’t know what I was doing so I just tried my best and learned everything myself.

Learn Japanese Pod

Hi, this is Alex, the creator of Learn
Japanese Pod. Thanks for downloadingthese show notes, I hope you find themuseful. If you need any help with yourJapanese or have any questions orcomments please drop me a line at
info@learnjapanesepod.com
You can also get the latest info on oursocial networky thingies below:

Learn Japanese Pod

https://dojo.learnjapanesepod.com

My personal website:

http://alexbrooke.com

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/japanesepodcast

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/LearnJapanesePod/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/learnjapanesepod/

Enjoy!

AlexLearn Japanese Pod