Voice Japan

Useful Expressions:

• もしもし、吉川さんですか？ — Hello, is this the Yoshikawa residence?
• おじゃまします — when entering someone’s home
• はじめまして — when meeting someone for the first time
• よろしくお願いします — to show respect and build a relationship
• おなかがペコペコです — to say “I’m really hungry!” in a friendly way

You also heard Jane say ペコペコ today. Japanese has lots of fun words like this. Some of them are sound-mimic words — words that imitate sounds. Others are state-mimic words — words that describe how something feels or moves. ペコペコ is a state-mimic word — it describes feeling very hungry.

Sound-mimic words (words that imitate sounds):

• ワンワン — woof woof (dog barking)
• ピンポン — ding-dong (doorbell)

State-mimic & sound-mimic words

State-mimic words (words that describe feelings or states):

• ドキドキ — heartbeat feeling when you’re nervous or excited
• ワクワク — feeling excited, looking forward to something
• クタクタ — feeling completely tired or worn out
• ニコニコ — smiling happily You’ll hear many more sound-mimic and state-mimic words as you learn Japanese — and they make the language really fun!

Words made of 方 (-kata)

Also, in this episode, you heard:

• 来方（きかた） — how to come here
• 行き方（いきかた） — how to go there
• 卵焼きの作り方（つくりかた） — how to make something

You can use ～方 with many verbs to say how to do something. It’s a very useful and common pattern in Japanese!

Challenge of the Episode:

Japanese: 京浜東北線ですね。わかりました。もし道にまよったら、電話します。
English: The Keihin-Tohoku Line, got it. If I get lost, I’ll give you a call, okay?

Japanese: 北浦和では、西口に出てください。駅についたら、電話してください。車でむかえに行きますから。
English: At Kita-Urawa, go out the west exit. Call me when you arrive at the station—I’ll come pick you up by car..

Japanese: ちょうどお昼ですから、かんたんなランチを用意しましたので、　いっしょに食べましょう。
English: It’s almost lunchtime — I’ve prepared a simple lunch. Let’s eat together.