A2-06 / CEFR A2 / EPISODE 06

Talking About Our Hometowns

Comparing your hometown with your current city

SceneLooking at the night sky and discussing home.

Tina points into the night sky while talking with Frank on a hill.
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STORY English with optional Japanese translations

Narrator

Frank and Tina are talking about where they grew up. Frank's village is in the mountains; Tina's home is much farther away.

フランクとティナは育った場所について話している。フランクの村は山の中、ティナの故郷はずっと遠い。

Tina01

Your village is smaller than the city. Does the sky look bigger there?

あなたの村は街より小さいのよね。空はそっちのほうが広く見えるの?

Frank02

It does. The air's way clearer up there. Quieter, too.

そうだよ。あっちは空気がずっと澄んでる。それに静かだ。

Tina03

Were there farms? I want to picture all of it.

農場はあった?全部思い浮かべたいの。

Frank04

Rice fields by the river. And nobody for miles.

川のそばに田んぼ。それと、何キロも誰もいない。

Tina05

That sounds lonely.

…それ、寂しそう。

Frank06

It was. Your home is even farther, though. Beyond the stars.

寂しかった。…でも君の故郷はもっと遠いだろ。星のかなた。

Tina07

Way farther. Our town was noisy, but I watched the stars from a quiet hill. They were much brighter than the stars here.

ずっと遠いわ。街はにぎやかだったけど、私は静かな丘で星を見てたの。ここの星よりずっと明るかったわ。

Frank08

Brighter how?

どんなふうに明るいの?

Tina09

They looked like lanterns just above my head. I never felt lonely there.

頭のすぐ上にある提灯みたいに見えたの。あそこでは、寂しいと感じたことはなかったわ。

Frank10

Just above your head? If I visit, I'm bringing a helmet.

頭のすぐ上?遊びに行くなら、ヘルメットを持っていくよ。

WORDS & CONTEXT

Words & context

“And nobody for miles.”

For miles describes a distance of many miles. Nobody for miles conveys that no one is anywhere nearby. A mile is about 1.6 kilometers; the phrase shows how remote Frank's village was.

“Brighter how?”

Putting how after an adjective makes a short follow-up question: "In what way ...?" The full sentence would be How were they brighter? They refers to the stars of Tina's home. Tina has said they were much brighter than the stars here, so Frank asks her to describe them.

“They looked like lanterns just above my head.”

Look like ... means to seem similar to something, and just above ... means right over something. Tina compares the brightness and closeness of her home's stars to lanterns hanging overhead. She is not claiming the stars were really just above her head.

“If I visit, I'm bringing a helmet.”

This means "If I visit, I'll bring a helmet." Here I'm bringing ... is not about carrying something now; it states what he plans to bring at that time. Frank takes Tina's image of stars just above her head and jokes about protecting his head. No visit has actually been planned.