Speak Like Natives! -Vol.3 Girls’ Night out at Izakaya-

For those of you who are tired of studying Japanese
from your minna no nihongo,
and willing to speak more natural Japanese like natives,
you clicked on the right page!

We post natives’ casual conversation skits for you
to show how Japanese people talk in real life.

There are useful key phrases you can try just from tomorrow.
Enjoy!

Vol. 3 Girls’ Night out at Izakaya

Situation

Natsuko and Aya are meeting up at IZAKAYA* on Friday night. 
Then Aya gets a call from work…
*Japanese style bar

Conversation

なつこ

ごめん、お待たせー！ちょっと残業になって。

あや

気にしないで。おつかれ！何飲む？

なつこ

とりあえず、生で。

==10mins later…==

あや

うわ、最悪。ごめん。上司から電話…。出なきゃ

== After a call ==

あや

先週出したプレゼンのデータ、月曜日までに見直すように言われた！今日金曜日ですけど！週末にすればいいってこと！？

なつこ

まあまあ、落ち着いて。とりあえず飲んで！話聞くから。

あや

もう！！ほんと、めっちゃ腹立つ！
なんでこんなギリギリに確認するわけ！？

Key Phrases

1. おまたせ　Omatase –
   I’m late, Thank you for waiting

It is a very frequently used phrase when you arrive late for the appointment or simply make someone wait for you. 

2. 残業になって Zangyo ni natte-
   I had to work overtime.

Zangyo means working overtime.
ex.) 今日は残業になりそう。
Kyo wa zangyo ni narisou.
It seems like I will have to work overtime today.

3. 気にしないで Ki ni shinaide –
   No worries, Don’t worry

気にする（kini suru）means “concerned” or “worried” about something.
so 気にしない(kini shinai) is the negative form of kini-suru,
meaning “not concerned”

Now, negative form of verb(nai form) +でください（Naide kudasai）can make a sentence of “Please don’t (verb）〜”.
When talking with your friends, however,
kudasai is often ommitted,
so “Kini shinaide kudasai” becomes “Kini shinaide!”.

4. とりあえず生で Toriaezu nama de –
   Beer for now, I start off with some beer

We learned the expression “toriazezu” in the conversation vol.1
(Reference to the previous post )
Now what does 生(なま／Nama) mean?

At Izakaya pubs in Japan, tap beer is called 生ビール（nama bi-ru）.
Since ordering nama-bi-ru is so common, poople often shorten the word as “nama”.
So instead of saying,
まずは生ビールをおねがいします
Mazu wa nama bi-ru wo onegaishimasu.
It would sound very native if you could say
とりあえず生で！

5. 最悪！ Saiaku –
   Worst,  Awful, Terrible

When something really bad happens,
you can say “Saiaku!”,
literally translated as “the worst”.
In the situation like above, with English language,
you say “oh Great” or “how nice…” in an ironic way,
but In Japanese we simply shout out  “Saiaku!”

6. 落ち着いて Ochitsuite –
   Calm down, Take it easy

落ちる（ochiru）literally means fall down, and
着く（tsuku）literally means arrive.
When it’s combined as 落ち着く（ochitsuku）,
it means to calm down, or settle down.

7. 腹立つ！Hara (ga) tatsu –
   I’m pissed off!

It is an Idiom to show your temper, how you get angry, mad.

ex.) 妹は私に腹を立てている。
Imoto ha watashi ni hara wo tatete iru.
My sister is angry at me.

8. ぎりぎり Girigiri – at the last minute

ex.) 電車にぎりぎり間に合った。
Densha ni girigiri maniatta.
I made it to the train at the last minute.

or there’s a slang, ギリギリセーフ （”girigiri se-fu”）
セーフcomes from English word, “safe”
girigiri se-fu can be used in a more frank conversation.

ex.)
A: 締め切り間に合った？(Shimekiri maniatta? Did you make it for the deadline?)
B: うん！ギリギリセーフ！（Un, girigiri se-fu! Yes, I made it just in time!）

Hope you liked the contents!

じゃ、またね〜！