FREE N4 READING · CHOOSING A COOKING CLASS
野菜のクラスに決めた理由
Why I Chose the Vegetable Class
Read once, check the English, then switch style and reread. Dotted words open help, which closes when you scroll or tap outside.
、仕事から帰ると同じばかり作っているので、少し新しいを習いたくなりました。
のをと、土曜日の朝にはパンのクラスとのクラスがありました。
パンはきですが、パンのクラスは三時間もあるので、午後の仕事に間に合いません。
のクラスはで終わりますが、なピーマンを使うと書いてありました。
先生に電話をすると、「でも食べやすい作り方をえますから、大丈夫ですよ」と言われました。
私は午後の仕事の時間にも合うので、まずのクラスにことにしました。
初めての授業では、ピーマンを細く切って卵と焼くを習い、ったよりおいしくできました。
帰りにを買ったので、次の日はいつものではなく、習ったばかりのを作りました。
Read for meaning
私がのクラスを選んだ理由は、どれですか。
English translation
Recently, I had been making the same dishes whenever I got home from work, so I started wanting to learn a few new ones. When I looked into a nearby cooking school, I found a bread class and a vegetable class on Saturday mornings. I love bread, but the bread class lasts a full three hours, so I would not make it to my afternoon job on time. The vegetable class ends after an hour and a half, but the description said it uses green peppers, which I do not like. When I called the teacher, I was told, “It will be fine. I will teach you a way of preparing them that makes them easy to eat even if you do not like them.” Since it also fit my afternoon work schedule, I decided to sign up for the vegetable class first. In my first lesson, I learned a dish made by slicing green peppers thinly and cooking them with eggs, and it turned out tastier than I had expected. I bought vegetables on my way home, so the next day I made the dish I had just learned instead of my usual food.
Useful vocabulary
- cooking; a dish
- to learn from someone
- neighborhood; nearby area
- to investigate; to look into
- vegetables
- not good at; not fond of
- to apply; to sign up
- thin; narrow
Grammar in context · to decide to do something
～ことにする
Use a verb’s dictionary form before ことにする to express a decision made by the person involved. Here, ことにしました shows that the narrator chose to sign up after considering the schedule. For a decision not to do something, use the verb’s nai-form before ことにする.
私は午後の仕事の時間にも合うので、まずのクラスにことにしました。
ALSO NOTICE · A SECOND USEFUL PATTERN
～やすいeasy to do
Add やすい to a verb stem: 食べる becomes 食べやすい. The teacher offers a preparation that makes the disliked peppers easier to eat. The statement does not mean the narrator already likes every pepper dish.
FROM THIS STORY · POLITE
先生に電話をすると、「でも食べやすい作り方をえますから、大丈夫ですよ」と言われました。English: When I called the teacher, I was told, 'It will be fine. I will teach you a way of preparing them that makes them easy to eat even if you do not like them.'
Compare styles: The teacher's quoted えます and 大丈夫ですよ stay polite in both versions. Only the narrative 言われました becomes 言われた.