Last lesson, we were getting down on the tricky topic of holding a conversation with someone in Japanese.

There was just one problem--most of the language we saw wasn't casual!

Seems a little hypocritical coming from me. I mean, I don't even own a suit. (Got rid of those when I quit my teaching job two years ago.) Well, maybe not hypocritical, as polite Japanese is still pretty useful.

On a completely different topic, Rei and I went and saw cherry blossoms in Nakameguro the other day:

Can you handle all of these flowers right now?

I can't.

OK, focus. Focus. Focus. Lesson:

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Conversation Topics (The Casual Version)

テ→テレビ（TV）
キ→気候（ きこう / weather）
ド→道楽（ どうらく / hobbies）
ニ→ニュース（news）
セ→生活（ せいかつ / life(style)）
イ→田舎（ いなか / countryside）
リ→旅行（ りょこう / travel）
ス→スター・スキャンダル（celebrities; scandals）
ベ→勉強（ べんきょう / studies）
シ→仕事（ しごと / work）

Ready. Set. Go.

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テ　→　テレビ

👔 Formal 👔
テレビはよくご覧になりますか？
テレビ　は　よく　ごらん　に　なります　か？
Do you watch TV often?
Literally: "TV + は + often + watch?"
Note: ご覧になる（ごらんになる） is a fancy (i.e. very polite) way to say "to see," 見る（みる）.

🍻 Casual 🍻
テレビよくみる？
テレビ　よく　みる？
Do you watch TV often?
Literally: "TV + often + watch?"

🐯 Sweet Level-Up Tips 🐯

Although the phrase ご覧になる is uber-polite, there is also a casual construction that uses ご覧, which is ～ てごらん.

This means "try to VERB" and the VERB is whatever verb we have in the て-form coming before it.

So, 食べてごらん（たべてごらん） would mean "Try it" (and "it" is some kind of food).

This is a bit softer than saying 食べてみて（たべてみて）, which we'd also translate to "Try it" (where "it" is some food).

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キ　→　気候

👔 Formal 👔
暑い日がつづいていますね。
あつい　ひ　が　つづいています　ね。
It's still hot out, isn't it? // It's been hot for a while now, hasn't it?
Literally: "hot + day + が + are continuing + ね."

🍻 Casual 🍻
暑い日つづいてるね。
あつい　ひ　つづいてる　ね。
It's still hot out, isn't it? // It's been hot for a while now, hasn't it?
Literally: "hot + day + are continuing + ね."

🐯 Sweet Level-Up Tips 🐯

Since we are literally saying "Days are continuing," we use the intransitive verb 続く（つづく）. To rephrase that, we have "A is continuing," a sentence with no direct object. This is different than saying something like "A is continuing B," which would use the transitive verb 続ける（つづける）, like this:

ダイエット続けてる。
ダイエット　つづけてる。
I'm continuing my diet.
Literally: "diet + am continuing."

A is "I," and B is "diet," so we're using a transitive verb.

Transitive: "A continues B."
Intransitive: "A continues."

You'll mostly learn these naturally through high levels of language exposure.

By the way, while the "diet" sentence above is accurate, you'd be more likely to hear someone say:

ダイエットまだやってる。
ダイエット　まだ　やってる。
I'm still on my diet. // I'm still dieting.
Literally: "diet + still + am doing."

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ド　→　道楽

👔 Formal 👔
何か趣味はありますか？
なにか　しゅみ　は　あります　か？
Do you have any hobbies?
Literally: "something + hobby + は + have?"

🍻 Casual 🍻
なんか趣味ある？
なんか　しゅみ　ある？
Do you have any hobbies?
Literally: "something + hobby + have?"

🐯 Sweet Level-Up Tips 🐯

何（なに） means "what." Add a か and we get 何か（なにか）, meaning "something." Change the に to ん, and it becomes casual: なんか, "something."

A similar word to 趣味（しゅみ / "hobbies; tastes; preferences"）is the word 興味（きょうみ / "interest [in something]）. You might have a 興味（きょうみ） in "military history," but "fishing" is your 趣味（しゅみ）... assuming that you actually go fishing. If you're attracted to the idea of going fishing, but you haven't actually gone, then it's nothing more than a 興味（きょうみ）. Hope that makes sense. 💀

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ニ　→　ニュース

👔 Formal 👔
駅で火事があったそうです。
えき　で　かじ　が　あった　そう　です。
I heard there was a fire at the station. // Apparently there was a fire at the station.
Literally: "station + で + fire + が + there was + そうです."

🍻 Casual 🍻
駅で火事があったらしい。
えき　で　かじ　が　あった　らしい。
I heard there was a fire at the station. // Apparently there was a fire at the station.
Literally: "station + で + fire + が + there was + らしい."

🐯 Sweet Level-Up Tips 🐯

While a 火（ひ）is a "fire," the incident of a fire occurring is a 火事（かじ）, literally a "fire-thing."

In this first sentence, we have the "そう of hearsay," which is talked about in this article. This is the そう that attaches to full plain-form verbs (NOT ます-stems, which is the "そう of conjecture"). Despite what your Japanese teacher might tell you, people don't use the "そう of hearsay" in casual conversations. Rather, use ～ らしい, like in our second sentence.

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セ　→　生活

👔 Formal 👔
お休みの日は何をされていますか？
おやすみ　の　ひ　は　なに　を　されています　か？
What do you do on your days off?
Literally: "holiday + の + day + は + what + を + are doing (=passive form) + か?"

🍻 Casual 🍻
休みの日何してる？
やすみ　の　ひ　なに　してる？
What do you do on your days off?
Literally: "holiday + の + day + は + what + are doing?"

🐯 Sweet Level-Up Tips 🐯

Since we're speaking politely in the first sentence, we snap an お onto 休み（やすみ / "day off; holiday"）.

Also in that polite sentence, you'll notice that the verb する, "to do," is in the passive form of the present progressive. In English, this would be like saying, "As for your days off, what is being done to you?" The real meaning of the Japanese, however, is not passive. Instead, this is just a polite way to speak about the actions of someone you're being very polite to.

Here's the simple version:
Passive Form = Honorific Form (sometimes).

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イ　→　田舎

👔 Formal 👔
ご出身はどちらですか？
ごしゅっしん　は　どちら　です　か
Where are you from?
Literally: "ご- (person's) origin (=city, country, etc.) + は + where + is + か?"

🍻 Casual 🍻
出身どこ？
しゅっしん　どこ？
Where are you from?
Literally: "(person's) origin (=city, country, etc.) + where?"

🐯 Sweet Level-Up Tips 🐯

ご attaches to 出身（しゅっしん） to make it more polite, just like お attached to 休み（やすみ）earlier. The simple rule is ご for words of Chinese origin and お for words of Japanese origin. We're gonna look at this in a lesson (relatively) soon, so don't worry about it too much right now.

どちら, which technically means "which direction," is also a very polite way to say どこ, "where." I don't know why. It just is. Memorize it! 👹

Or don't, I guess.

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リ　→　旅行

👔 Formal 👔
インドに行ったことはありますか？
インド　に　いった　こと　は　あります　か？
Have you ever been to India?
Literally: "India + に + went + thing + は + there is + か?"
Note: "Have you ever VERB-ed" in Japanese is ～ たこと（が・は）ありますか, where た is the end of a verb in plain past tense form. Drop the が (or は, depending on tricky particle nuances that you'll pick up slowly over time) and just say ある in casual sentences.

🍻 Casual 🍻
インド行ったことある？
インド　いった　こと　ある？
Have you ever been to India?
Literally: "India + went + thing + there is?"

🐯 Sweet Level-Up Tips 🐯

Nah. Sorry.

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ス　→　スター・スキャンダル

👔 Formal 👔
大物歌手が逮捕されましたね。
おおもの　かしゅ　が　たいほ　されました　ね。
So that famous singer was arrested, right? // That famous singer was arrested.
Literally: "important person / big shot + singer + が + was arrested + ね."

🍻 Casual 🍻
大物歌手逮捕されたね。
おおもの　かしゅ　たいほ　された　ね。
So that famous singer was arrested, right? // That famous singer was arrested.
Literally: "important person / big shot + singer + was arrested + ね."

🐯 Sweet Level-Up Tips 🐯

We are casual-ifying されました ("was done") by making it された, then dropping the particle が. I know nothing about "stars and scandals," so please don't use this ネタ on me.

What's a ネタ、you ask? We learned that last lesson!

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ベ　→　勉強

👔 Formal 👔
大学では何をお勉強されていたんですか？
だいがく　では　なに　を　おべんきょう　されていた　ん　です　か？
What did you study in college?
Literally: "college + では + what + を + お-studying + was doing (=passive form) + です + か?"

🍻 Casual 🍻
大学で何勉強してた？
だいがく　で　なに　べんきょう　してた？
What did you study in college?
Literally: "college + で + what + studying + was doing?"

🐯 Sweet Level-Up Tips 🐯

Look at how gross and convoluted that polite sentence is. I love the casual version: "College at, what studies was doing?" (←read that with a caveman voice)

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シ　→　仕事

👔 Formal 👔
何のお仕事をしていますか？
なん　の　おしごと　を　しています　か？
What do you do for work?
Literally: "what + の + お-work + を + are doing + か?"

🍻 Casual 🍻
何の仕事してるの？
なん　の　しごと　してる　の？
What do you do for work?
Literally: "what + の + work + are doing + の?"

🐯 Sweet Level-Up Tips 🐯

This の at the end of the casual sentence just makes the speaker sound more interested in the answer. You'll get a feel for this particle over time.

°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°
🎂 Finished! 🎂
★　☆　★　☆

Are you reading the last line of this lesson? If so, you're awesome. Props. Props. Props.