Latest / Learn Japanese with Fexingo / Japanese Asking Where - Location Words
Transcript
- Lucas: Welcome back to Learn Japanese with Fexingo, episode 68. I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. Ready to learn something new today? Lucas: Absolutely. If you've been following along, you already know some greetings, numbers, and even how to tell time. Today we're tackling a super practical skill: asking where something is. Luna: Oh, like 'where is the restroom?' — that kind of thing? Lucas: Exactly. The key word is どこ. It means 'where'. Let me say it slowly: どこ. Luna: どこ. Lucas: Great. Now to ask 'where is the restroom?' you say: トイレはどこですか. トイレ is toilet or restroom. は is the topic particle, どこ is where, です is 'is', and か makes it a question. So: トイレはどこですか. Luna: トイレはどこですか. Lucas: Perfect. You can replace トイレ with any place. For example, 駅はどこですか — where is the station? 駅 means station. Luna: 駅はどこですか. Lucas: Nice. Now, when someone answers, they might say 'here' or 'there'. The word for 'here' is ここ. Say it with me: ここ. Luna: ここ. Lucas: Good. 'There' is そこ, and 'over there' is あそこ. Let's practice: ここ, そこ, あそこ. Luna: ここ, そこ, あそこ. Lucas: So if someone points and says 'ここです', it means 'it's here'. If they say 'そこです', it's near you. 'あそこです' means over there. Luna: Got it. So if I ask トイレはどこですか and they say あそこです, I know it's over there. Lucas: Exactly. Let's do a quick scene. Imagine we're at a park. Luna, you ask me where the station is. Luna: 駅はどこですか. Lucas: あそこです — over there. You hear that? Luna: あそこです. Got it. Lucas: Now, you might also hear ここです if something is right here. Let's practice a mini conversation. I'll be the local, you ask about a coffee shop — 喫茶店. Luna: 喫茶店はどこですか. Lucas: ここです — right here. See? Easy. Luna: Oh, ここです. So if I'm looking for something and they point down, I know it's here. Lucas: Yes. And you can combine with other words you know. For instance, if you want to know where your friend is, you can say: 友達はどこですか. 友達 means friend. Luna: 友達はどこですか. Lucas: Answer could be あそこです if they're over there. Luna: That's so useful. I can already imagine using this. Lucas: By the way, if Fexingo has been helping you make actual progress with your Japanese, we want you to know something. We deliberately keep this show ad-free because we think that's a better experience for learners. If that matters to you and you'd like to support that choice, the link is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to keep the show going and free for everyone. Now back to those location words. Lucas: Right. Let's do a quick review. Repeat after me: どこ. Luna: どこ. Lucas: ここ. Luna: ここ. Lucas: そこ. Luna: そこ. Lucas: あそこ. Luna: あそこ. Lucas: And the question: トイレはどこですか. Luna: トイレはどこですか. Lucas: You can also ask about a restaurant: レストランはどこですか. Luna: レストランはどこですか. Lucas: Or a hotel: ホテルはどこですか. Luna: ホテルはどこですか. Lucas: Now let's try a dialogue. I'll be the shopkeeper. You come in looking for the exit — 出口. Luna: すみません、出口はどこですか. Lucas: あそこです — over there, pointing. Luna: ありがとうございます. Lucas: See? You just had a real interaction. Luna: That felt good. I think I've got どこ and ここ down. Lucas: And あそこ. Don't forget あそこ. Luna: Right, あそこ. Over there. Lucas: Alright, let's wrap up with a final repetition. Listen and repeat: どこ. Luna: どこ. Lucas: ここ. Luna: ここ. Lucas: そこ. Luna: そこ. Lucas: あそこ. Luna: あそこ. Lucas: トイレはどこですか. Luna: トイレはどこですか. Lucas: Great job today, everyone. Practice asking where things are around you. Say it out loud. Luna: Thanks for joining us. Keep practicing and we'll see you next time. Lucas: This is Learn Japanese with Fexingo. Bye for now.