Hover a line for its reading in kana and its translation; hover a word for its meaning. Tap 🔊 to hear it.
At a party, Alex meets Mori, a friend of Yuki's.
The お on お仕事 is politeness, not part of the word: you ask about someone else's お仕事 and answer about your own 仕事. The same お appears on お名前, お願い and お待ちください.
How do I read these pronunciations? See the pronunciation guide.
1. …ています — what you do for a living
働いています and 教えています describe an ongoing state, which is how Japanese talks about a job: not 'I work' as a single act but 'I am in the state of working'. 住んでいます from Lesson 4 is the same shape.
2. で — the place you work
Working and teaching are actions, so the place takes で, following Lesson 8: 会社で働きます, 高校で教えます. Only existing somewhere takes に.
3. …から — because
から at the end of a clause gives the reason, and Japanese puts the reason first or tacks it on afterwards as an afterthought: 元気ですから. Note this is a different から from the 'from' of Lesson 5 — position tells them apart.
4. …が好きです — liking something
好き is an adjective, not a verb, so what you like takes が rather than を: 日本語が好きです. English 'I like Japanese' hides this — Japanese is closer to 'Japanese is likeable to me'.
A. Fill in the Blank · 空欄をうめましょう
Fill in the blank with a word from this lesson's vocabulary.
- 1.おは何ですか。job
- 2.会社で。work
- 3.高校で英語を。teach
- 4.日本語好きです。(subject marker)
B. Multiple Choice · えらびましょう
Choose the best answer.
- 1.How do you say what you do for a living?
- 2.Complete: 日本語___好きです。
- 3.Which particle marks the workplace?
- 4.What does 元気ですから mean?
C. Rearrange the Sentence · ならべかえましょう
Rearrange the words into a correct sentence, adding the punctuation shown in parentheses.
- 1.Tap tiles below…
- 2.Tap tiles below…
- 3.Tap tiles below…
- 4.Tap tiles below…
D. True or False · ○か×か
Based on the dialogue, mark each sentence T (true) or F (false).
- 1.Alex works at a trading company.
- 2.Alex has been in Japan for ten years.
- 3.Mori teaches English at a high school.
- 4.Mori has grown tired of the job.
E. Matching · せんでむすびましょう
Match each line on the left with the best response on the right.
F. Translation · やくしましょう
Translate items 1–2 into Japanese, and items 3–4 into English.
- 1.What do you do?
- 2.I work at a company.
- 3.大変ですが、楽しいです。
- 4.学生が元気ですから。
Generate a brand-new dialog on any topic, using this lesson's 18 vocab words — plus any words you add below.
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The business card is a small ceremony
Exchanging 名刺 is a set piece with rules. You offer yours with both hands, turned to face the other person and held slightly lower than theirs if they are senior; you take theirs with both hands, read it properly, and say something about it. You do not write on it, bend it, or push it into a pocket — it goes into a card case, or onto the table in front of you for the length of the meeting, arranged to match where people are sitting. The card stands for the person.