B1-01 / CEFR B1 / EPISODE 01

Quarter-Life Crisis

Talking about uncertainty about the future

SceneLate evening at their usual café. Tina has been quiet, stirring a cold matcha latte. Then it spills out.

Frank and Tina talking in a cafe at night. — Select the illustration to view it at full size in a new tab.

Narrator

Late evening at their usual café. Tina has been quiet, stirring a cold matcha latte. Then it spills out.

夜更けのいつものカフェ。ティナはずっと黙って、冷めた抹茶ラテをかき混ぜていた。そして、ふいに口を開く。

Tina01

I have no idea what I'm doing with my life, Frank.

自分の人生、何に向かってるのか全然わからないの、フランク。

Frank02

Nobody our age has it figured out. It's okay to feel lost.

僕たちの年で全部わかってる人なんていないよ。迷ってもいいんだ。

Tina03

What I want changes every single week. Sometimes every day.

やりたいことが毎週変わるの。ときには毎日よ。

Frank04

Then try a few things. That's kinda how you find what fits.

なら、いくつか試してみなよ。そうやって自分に合うものが見つかる。

Tina05

But what if I pick the totally wrong one?

でも、完全に間違ったのを選んじゃったら？

Frank06

Nothing you choose now is set in stone. You can change your mind.

今決めたことを、一生変えちゃいけないわけじゃない。いつでも考え直せるよ。

Tina07

My friends all seem to know exactly where they're headed.

友達はみんな、自分の行き先がはっきりわかってるみたい。

Frank08

Nah, they're faking it. You're only seeing the highlight reel.

そう見せてるだけだよ。いいところだけを見てるんだ。

Tina09

You really think so?

本当にそう思う？

Frank10

Tina, I was assembled in a basement, and even I'm improvising.

ティナ、僕は地下室で組み立てられた身だけど、それでも行き当たりばったりさ。

Tina11

Okay. That actually helps.

ふふ。それ、ちょっと救われるわ。

Frank12

If we're both lost, we should at least be lost together.

二人とも迷ってるなら、せめて一緒に迷おう。

Tina13

Deal. I'll figure out my life. You figure out being a person.

決まりね。私はこれからどう生きるか考える。あなたは人間としてどう生きるか考えてね。

WORDS & CONTEXT

Words & context

“Quarter-Life Crisis”

A quarter-life crisis is uncertainty and anxiety about your direction in life, often around your mid-twenties. The name imagines a hundred-year lifespan and a crisis one quarter of the way through it. It plays on mid-life crisis and describes Tina's worries.

“Nobody our age has it figured out.”

Have it figured out informally means to have found the answers or know what you are doing. It loosely refers to life or the future. With nobody, Frank reassures Tina that no one their age understands everything.

“Nothing you choose now is set in stone.”

Be set in stone means to be fixed and unchangeable. Nothing reverses that meaning: today's decisions can be changed later. Frank reassures Tina that one choice does not determine her entire life. Be carved in stone has the same meaning.

“Nah, they're faking it. You're only seeing the highlight reel.”

Fake it means to pretend to know what you are doing. A highlight reel collects only the best moments, originally in sports footage. Here it compares the successful-looking parts of friends' lives to selected clips, a common image in the social-media era. Nah is an informal No.

“Deal.”

Deal. comes from agreeing to a transaction and informally accepts a proposal. Tina warmly accepts Frank's suggestion that they figure things out together.

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