Latest / Learn Japanese with Fexingo / Japanese Post Office - Buying Stamps
Transcript
- Lucas: Hey Luna, welcome back to Learn Japanese with Fexingo. Episode 177. You ready for a tiny trip to the post office? Luna: Ready. Last episode we sent a package, right? That was useful. Today what are we doing? Lucas: Today we're buying stamps. 切手を買います. Have you ever tried buying stamps in Japanese? Luna: No, but I bet I'll need to send postcards someday. So let's learn! Lucas: Perfect. First phrase: 切手をください. That means 'Please give me stamps.' Say it with me: 切手をください. Luna: 切手をください. Lucas: Good. 切手 is stamp, をください is 'please give me.' Let's try again: 切手をください. Luna: 切手をください. Lucas: Great. Now, if the clerk asks how many, they'll say: 何枚ですか. 何 means 'what,' 枚 is a counter for flat things like stamps, ですか makes it a question. So 何枚ですか means 'How many sheets?' Luna: 何枚ですか. Lucas: Exactly. So you need to answer with a number plus 枚. For example, 五枚ください. 五 is five, 枚 is the counter, ください means 'please give me.' So 五枚ください means 'Please give me five.' Luna: 五枚ください. Lucas: Perfect. Now, what if you want to know the price? You can say: いくらですか. That's 'How much is it?' Luna: いくらですか. Lucas: Or more specifically, これは何円ですか. これ means 'this,' 何円 means 'what yen,' ですか. So 'How many yen is this?' Luna: これは何円ですか. Lucas: Good. Let's put it together. Imagine you're at the counter. You say: 切手をください. The clerk says: 何枚ですか. You say: 五枚ください. Then maybe: いくらですか. The clerk says the price. Then you pay. Simple. Luna: Okay, let me try the whole thing. 切手をください. 五枚ください. いくらですか. Lucas: Wow, that was smooth. I love it. Luna: Thanks. So 切手 is stamp, 五枚 is five stamps, ください is please give me. Got it. Lucas: Exactly. Let's do a quick practice. I'll be the clerk, you be the customer. Ready? Luna: Ready. Lucas: いらっしゃいませ. 何枚ですか. Luna: 切手をください. 五枚ください. いくらですか. Lucas: いいですね. 五枚で五百円です. Luna: Ah, so 五百円 is 500 yen. Got it. That's really useful. Lucas: Yeah, and if you want to ask specifically 'How much is this stamp?' you can point and say: これは何円ですか. Luna: これは何円ですか. Lucas: Perfect. So now you can buy stamps confidently. Let's review all the phrases one more time. First: 切手をください. Luna: 切手をください. Lucas: 何枚ですか. Luna: 何枚ですか. Lucas: 五枚ください. Luna: 五枚ください. Lucas: いくらですか. Luna: いくらですか. Lucas: これは何円ですか. Luna: これは何円ですか. Lucas: Fantastic. You've got them. And you know, if Fexingo has been helping you make actual progress with Japanese, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going. Buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to support the show and keep it ad-free. Every bit helps. Lucas: Right. And for everyone who does, thank you. Now, let's try one more scenario. You want to buy stamps for a postcard to the US. How would you ask? Luna: Uh, 切手をください. 何枚ですか. 一... 一枚ください? And then いくらですか. Lucas: Yes, 一枚ください is perfect for one stamp. And the clerk might say the price for an international stamp. So you're all set. Luna: Great. I think I can actually do this now. Lucas: That's the goal. Keep practicing these phrases, and next time you're at a post office in Japan, you'll be ready. Luna: Thanks Lucas. This was fun. Lucas: You're welcome. And remember, you can find all the phrases in the show notes. Practice them till we chat again. See you next time! Luna: Bye!