Latest / Learn Japanese with Fexingo / Japanese Days of the Week
Transcript
- Lucas: Hey Luna, welcome back to Learn Japanese with Fexingo! Ready for episode 16? Luna: Yeah, I'm so ready! What are we learning today? Lucas: Today, we're going to talk about the days of the week. Super useful for making plans. Luna: Oh, I've been wanting to know these! In English, Monday, Tuesday... in Japanese, I have no idea. Lucas: Don't worry, we'll take it slow. The pattern is actually pretty cool. Each day ends with 曜日, which means 'day of the week'. Luna: Okay, so every day has 曜日 at the end? Lucas: Exactly. So let's start with Monday. Monday is 月曜日. Listen: げつようび. Luna: 月曜日... げつようび. That sounds kind of like 'getsu-yoobi'? Lucas: Perfect! 月 means moon, so Monday is moon day. Now you try. Luna: 月曜日. げつようび. Got it! Lucas: Great. Now Tuesday. Tuesday is 火曜日, かようび. Fire day. Luna: 火曜日... かようび. That's 'ka-yoobi'? Lucas: Yes! And Wednesday is 水曜日, すいようび. Water day. Luna: 水曜日... すいようび. So Monday is moon, Tuesday is fire, Wednesday is water? Lucas: You're catching on. Thursday is 木曜日, もくようび. Wood day. Luna: 木曜日... もくようび. That one's a bit longer. Let me repeat: もくようび. Lucas: Beautiful. Friday is 金曜日, きんようび. Gold day. Luna: Oh, I like that one! 金曜日... きんようび. Sounds shiny. Lucas: Now Saturday is 土曜日, どようび. Earth day. Luna: 土曜日... どようび. And Sunday? Lucas: Sunday is 日曜日, にちようび. Sun day. Very fitting, right? Luna: 日曜日... にちようび. So Sunday is sun day, Monday is moon day, it all makes sense. Lucas: Let's do a quick run through all seven. I'll say the English, you say the Japanese. Luna: Okay, bring it on. Lucas: Monday. Luna: 月曜日. Lucas: Tuesday. Luna: 火曜日. Lucas: Wednesday. Luna: 水曜日. Lucas: Thursday. Luna: 木曜日. Lucas: Friday. Luna: 金曜日. Lucas: Saturday. Luna: 土曜日. Lucas: Sunday. Luna: 日曜日. Lucas: Perfect! Now let's use them in a sentence. How about 'Today is Monday'? In Japanese, you say '今日は月曜日です'. Luna: 今日は月曜日です. So 今日 is 'today'? Lucas: Right. And です is 'is'. So 'Today is Monday'. Luna: 今日は月曜日です. Okay. And what's 'today is Tuesday'? Lucas: 今日は火曜日です. Just swap the day. Luna: 今日は火曜日です. Easy. Lucas: Let's try a little dialogue. Imagine I ask you '今日は何曜日ですか?' That means 'What day is today?'. Luna: 今日は何曜日ですか? So 何曜日 is 'what day'? Lucas: Exactly. Now you answer. Let's say it's Wednesday. Luna: 今日は水曜日です. Lucas: Wonderful. Now one more thing: how about 'tomorrow'? Tomorrow is 明日. Luna: 明日? How do you say it? Lucas: It's あした. So 'Tomorrow is Thursday' would be '明日は木曜日です'. Luna: 明日は木曜日です. あしたはもくようびです. Lucas: Perfect. And 'yesterday' is 昨日, きのう. 'Yesterday was Sunday' is '昨日は日曜日でした'. Luna: 昨日は日曜日でした. でした is past tense of です? Lucas: Yes, you're learning fast. So let's do a quick story. Yesterday was Sunday. Today is Monday. Tomorrow is Tuesday. Luna: Let me try: 昨日は日曜日でした。今日は月曜日です。明日は火曜日です. Lucas: That was excellent, Luna! You just said a whole sequence. Luna: Thanks! It feels good to talk about days. So if I want to ask someone what day they're free, how would I say that? Lucas: Good question. You can say '何曜日がいいですか?' meaning 'What day is good?'. Luna: 何曜日がいいですか? And if I want to say 'Saturday is good', I say '土曜日がいいです'. Lucas: Exactly! You're already making sentences. Luna: This is so useful. I can finally make plans in Japanese. Lucas: Right? And don't forget, the week starts on Monday in Japan, not Sunday. Luna: Oh, good to know. So Monday is the first day. Lucas: Yes. Let's do one more practice. I'll say a day in Japanese, and you tell me which day it is. Luna: Okay. Lucas: 金曜日. Luna: Friday. Lucas: 日曜日. Luna: Sunday. Lucas: 水曜日. Luna: Wednesday. Lucas: Great! Now you try saying them in order from Monday to Sunday. Luna: 月曜日, 火曜日, 水曜日, 木曜日, 金曜日, 土曜日, 日曜日. Lucas: Perfect! You've got it. Luna: Thanks Lucas! I feel like I can actually use these now. Lucas: That's the goal. Keep practicing with Fexingo, and soon you'll be chatting about your schedule in Japanese. Luna: I will! See you next time. Lucas: See you! またね.