Nihongo no Tane 152: 神童（しんどう）Child Prodigy | Japanese Immersion podcast

にほんごのたね Nihongo no Tane with Yumi

Have you ever heard the term "神童" (shindou)? It refers to child prodigy, and this time, Yumi will talk about it. Listen to the podcast and let us know what you think about it in the comments below!

KEY VOCABULARY:

1. 神童(しんどう) child prodigy; genius; wonder child [神(しん) (god); 童(どう) (child)]
2. 大(おと)人(な)に負(ま)けない as good as adults; comparable to adults; unyielding to adult; unbeatable by adult [literally, “unbeatable by adults”; 大(おと)人(な) (adult); に(to; against); 負(ま)けない (unbeatable; unyielding); a fixed phrase which is used when describing young child of high skill or strength]
3. 理(り)解(かい)力(りょく) ability to understand; comprehension; ability [理解(りかい) (understanding; comprehension); 力(りょく) (power; ability)]
4. めちゃくちゃ incredibly; really; super (when used as adverb)
5. 何(なに)気(げ)なくunintentionally; inadvertently; casually
6. 大(おと)人(な)でも難(むずか)しい difficult even for grownups; even grownups would struggle
7. コンクール competition; contest
8. 審査員(しんさいん) judge
9. 感想(かんそう) comment
10. 特別(とくべつ)賞(しょう) special award; special prize
11. 受(う)け答(こた)え (her) answer (in the interview) [literally, “receiving answering” which means “answering to the question that were received”. 受(う)け答(こた)え doesn’t only mean “the answer” which was spoken but also means the way one carries herself or himself in the whole conversation as well]
12. 立(りっ)派(ぱ) splendid; elegant; impressive; fine
13. 教育(きょういく)が行(ゆ)き届(とど)いている well educated in every way (by her parents) [教育(きょういく) (education); 行(ゆ)き届(とど)いている (ているcontinuous form of 行(ゆ)き届(とど)く(to be complete; to be through); ている here is indicating state of “well educated”, not an ongoing action)]
14. バイオリンバカ　violin fanatic; violin nut; violin enthusiast [バイオリン (violin); バカ (“fool/ idiot” is used as suffix which means “fanatic” or “enthusiast”)]
15. 鼻(はな)が高(たか)い very proud [literally, “one’s nose is tall”; it is used when parents are proud of his/her child or a teacher being proud of their students]
16. 出来過(できす)ぎてしまう overly capable; too intelligent; too good (in a lot of things) [ 出来過(できす)ぎて(て-form of 出来過(できす)ぎる (出来(でき)る (can) + 過(す)ぎる (beyond; surpass)); しまう(to be ~ unfortunately; to end up ~))]
17. 助(たす)けてあげないといけない must help; should help; unavoidable to help; absolutely necessary to help [literally, “it’s not good if (her parents) don’t help”; 助(たす)けてあげない (negative of 助(たす)けてあげる; あげるindicates providing the action(helping)); と (if); いけない (not good); “～ないといけない” is “must do ~”]
18. 同年代(どうねんだい) same generation [同 (same); 年代 (age; era)]
19. 話(はなし)が 合(あ)わない to have different interest [Literally, “talk don’t match” which means “not able to engage in the same subjects” which really means “can’t have close relationship” or “can’t get along”]
20. ～ならではの unique to ～ [～ならでは (unique to ~); の (“of”; connecting the words before and after it)]
21. 思(おも)いやりconsideration; compassion; understanding (of others situation or emotion)

For upper beginners to intermediates. Listen to the short podcast and then answer the comprehension questions on the website: https://thejapanesepage.com/nihongonotane-index/

Take a quiz on this episode here:

https://thejapanesepage.com/podcast-nihongonotane-152

If you are a Makoto+ member, you can find the transcript, English translation, key vocabulary, and a downloadable PDF for printing:

https://MakotoPlus.com/podcast-nihongonotane-152-m

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