In this podcast you will learn how to talk about your New Year’s resolutions, your plans and goals for the coming year. Check out the main dialogue to learn natural phrases and vocabulary for this lesson.

A: ね、新年の抱負はなに？

B: そうだね。やっぱり、日本語を上達させたいからもっと本を読むよ。後、もっと健康的になりたいな。あみは？

A: 私も本をもっと読みたい！後、音楽活動をもっと頑張りたいな。

B: なるほどね。

A: やる気があれば、なんでもできるよ。

B: よし！

A: Ne, shinnen no hōfu wa nani? 

B: Sō da ne. Yappari, nihongo o motto jōtatsu sasetai kara motto hon o yomu yo. Ato, motto kenkōteki ni naritai na. Ami wa?

A: Watashi mo motto hon o yomitai! Ato, ongaku katsudō o motto gambaritai na. 

B: Naruhodo ne. 

A: Yaruki ga areba nandemo dekiru yo.

B: Yosh! 

A: Hey, what’s your New Year’s resolution?

B: Well, let’s see. I guess I want to improve my Japanese and read more books. Also, I want to be more healthy. How about you Ami?

A: I also want to read more books. Also, I want to go for it with my music. 

B: I see.

A: If you have motivation you can do anything. 

B: Let’s do this!

Let’s drill a really useful phrase for talking about you goals for self improvement. Here’s the basic sentence structure:

[The activity or goal] + [もっと頑張りたいな]

I want to go for it (Lit. I want to try harder)

音楽活動をもっと頑張りたいな。

Ongaku katsudō wo motto gambaritai na.

I want to go for it with music

仕事をもっと頑張りたいな。

Shigoto wo motto gambaritai na.

I want to go for it at work

日本語の勉強をもっと頑張りたいな。

Nihongo no benkyō wo motto gambaritai na.

I want to go for it with my Japanese studies

運動をもっと頑張りたいな。

Undō wo motto gambaritai na.

I want to go for it for working out

ダイエットをもっと頑張りたいな。

Daietto wo motto gambaritai na.

I want to go for it for my diet

This week’s random phrase is…

奥が深い – Oku ga fukai 

This means something like it’s hard than you think or it’s deep or there’s more than meets the eye. 

Nihongo wa oku ga fukai

Japanese is a deep language / Japanese is a deep language

Kono hon wa oku ga fukai

This book is deep / There’s a lot more to this book than meets the eye

Nana korobi ya oki to iu kotowaza wa oku ga fukai

The saying “fall seven times, stand up eight” is very deep in meaning.