Planning a Birthday Party
- 1こんにちは。
こんにちは。
Hello.
- 2こんにちは！
こんにちは！
Hello!
- 3たんじょうびはいつ？
誕生日はいつ？
When is your birthday?
- 4らいしゅうです。
来週です。
It's next week.
- 5パーティーしよう！
パーティーしよう！
Let's have a party!
- 6いいね！
いいね！
Sounds good!
- 7どこでやる？
どこでやる？
Where should we do it?
- 8いえでいい？
家でいい？
Is home okay?
- 9いいよ。
いいよ。
That's fine.
- 10なにをたべる？
何を食べる？
What should we eat?
- 11ケーキは？
ケーキは？
How about cake?
- 12いいね！
いいね！
Sounds good!
- 13のみものは？
飲み物は？
What about drinks?
- 14ジュースがいい。
ジュースがいい。
Juice is good.
- 15なんじにする？
何時にする？
What time should we do it?
- 16ごごさんじは？
午後三時は？
How about 3 PM?
- 17いいね。
いいね。
Sounds good.
- 18だれをよぶ？
誰を呼ぶ？
Who should we invite?
- 19ともだちをよぼう。
友達を呼ぼう。
Let's invite friends.
- 20たのしみだね！
楽しみだね！
I'm excited!
Coaching notes
Two friends are casually planning a birthday party in a conversational setting. They discuss the timing, location, and invitees in a relaxed and friendly manner.
Pronunciation focus
- 誕生日 (たんじょうび) — Make sure to elongate both じょう and び
- パーティー — Notice the elongated 'ー' making the 'ティ' longer
- いいね — Make 'いい' distinct with a long 'i' sound
- ジュース — The 'ー' elongates the 'u' sound, making it 'juusu'
- 家 (いえ) — Keep the pitch high on 'い' and lower on 'え'
Rhythm & pacing
The conversation flows smoothly with short, punchy exchanges that maintain a lively and upbeat rhythm.
Key grammar
- 〜しよう = Let's do X (suggestion)
- 〜は？ = How about X? (suggestion)
- 〜を呼ぶ = Invite X
- どこで = Where to (place)
Natural speech features
- The repetition of 'いいね' mimics affirmative responses in a conversation.
- く is often pronounced softly, almost like 'k' in 'いいね'.
Practice strategy
Listen to the entire dialogue twice before attempting to shadow. Focus on keeping your responses quick and natural. Practice each mini-exchange separately to master the back-and-forth rhythm.
Common mistakes
- Mispronouncing '誕生日' by shortening じょうび
- Skipping the elongation in 'パーティー' which affects the natural flow
- Overlooking smooth, natural affirmative responses like 'いいね'
- Adding unnecessary pauses between sentences, disrupting the rhythm
Practice shadowing on the go
The Kanji 360 app adds recording, playback comparison, and dozens more shadowing clips with stroke-order kanji and SRS review.