Survival Phrases Season 2 S2 #22 - Riding the Bus 2
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Part 2 of our bus ride. Now, once you're on the bus, you'll hear announcements informing the passengers of where the bus will stop next. Now, in case there's no English announcement, you may not catch the location. So, the phrase, what's the next stop, may be indispensable. In Japanese, what's the next stop is 次のバス停はどこですか?

Tsugi no basutei wa doko desu ka? Let's break it down by syllable. Tsugi no basutei wa doko desu ka? Now let's hear it once again. Tsugi no basutei wa doko desu ka? The first word, tsugi, means next. Tsugi, tsugi.

This is followed by の, which in Japanese is the rough equivalent of of. の. So to recap here, we have this is followed by バス停,バス停, which means bus stop. So far we have 次のバス停. Literally this means the next bus stop. 次のバス停。 Let's take a look at the remaining half. はどこですか?

"wa" is a topic marker. "Doko" means "where". "Doko" "Doko" "Desu" is a copula and "ka" turns a sentence into an interrogative. So the last half is "wa doko desu ka?" literally meaning "where is it?" Altogether, "where is the next bus stop?" would be "Tsugi no basutei wa doko desu ka?" "Tsugi no basutei wa doko desu ka?"

Literally, this means, next bus stop. Where is it? Pretty simple. Now, another thing you could do is simply ask if your desired destination is the next stop. For this phrase, we'll use Narita Airport as a destination. So, the phrase, is Narita Airport the next stop? Would be, Narita Kūkō wa tsugi desu ka? Narita Kūkō wa tsugi desu ka?

Let's break that down by syllable. Now let's hear it all together. Don't worry, we're going to break this down by word. The first word, of course, is Narita Airport. This is followed by the topic marker, that's followed by 次.

Which means next. 次. 次. です again is a copula. And the last か is a particle that turns a sentence into an interrogative. So all together we have 成田空港は次ですか? Literally this means Narita Airport is next. 成田空港は次ですか?

Today's Sachiko secret is pretty special. It's a tactic I employ and I'm only giving it out to you guys. There's a way to make sure you're on the right bus and get the bus driver to remind you where to get off. Killed two birds with one stone, right? Because there are so many buses in Tokyo, it really makes it difficult to figure out which bus is going where. So this is what I do. Before you pay for the bus, you ask the driver whether this bus stops at your desired destination.

You can simply say the name of the destination and wait for the driver to nod or shake his head. Then, ask him to tell you when the bus reaches that destination. Simply say the destination name and 教えてください which means please tell me. 教えてください 教えてください 教えてください

That way, he can call out to you when he stops there. And it's happened. People are pretty friendly. They want to help just as much as anybody else. And remember, when getting off a bus, exit from the rear doors. The front doors are reserved for passengers getting on the bus. Okay, so to close out today's lesson, let's practice what you've just learned. I'll give you the English equivalent of the phrase, and you're responsible for shouting it out loud in Japanese. You got that?

I'll give you a few seconds before I give you the answer. So good luck! 頑張ってください。 What is the next stop? 次のバス停はどこですか? Next phrase. Is Narita Airport the next stop? 成田空港は次ですか?

And lastly, from Sachiko's Secret, we have, please tell me. All right, that's going to do it for today. See you later, which in Japanese is, mata ne!