Hello and welcome to this Bizmates words and phrases video series for Japanese businesspeople.
And today I'm excited about this question, this phrase. Could you elaborate on this?
But I have to hold my excitement because we have our usual test first.
OK, so here's our test.
And my question is what does your work schedule depend on?
OK, you should say it depends on the day.
It depends on the amount of work I have. It depends on my boss.
It depends on projects and so on.
OK, so this one. Could you elaborate on that? Elaborate.
It's kind of a big word, but it's so useful.
Because imagine a situation where someone says something like this,
you know, "Taro I think we should increase our budget."
And you don't really understand what he's saying.
You don't really understand, but you're afraid to say, Ah, sorry Hika, I don't understand.
You feel a little bit shy. And you kind of ignore it.
Well, some people will say, "Hika, could you please give me more details?",
which sounds a little bit unnatural. Instead, you could use this expression here.
"I think we should increase our budget." Could you elaborate on that?
And it means could you tell me more about your idea because I'm interested?
Could you explain that in more detail because I want to know?
OK, it makes you sound smart. It makes you sound interested.
Could you elaborate on that? And it's how you say it that really makes the difference.
OK? So, let's practice this. So, it's not could you elaborate on that?
But it's coujya, coujya elabotaton, coujya elaboraton tha? It's not T. It's tha.
Coujya elaboraton tha? OK, let's try. Coujya elaboraton tha? OK, one more time.
Coujya elaboraton tha?
OK, so I'm going to say, I'm going to give you an idea that you don't understand. So, you want more details.
You say this. I think we should increase our budget.
OK, good. So for homework, I just want you to practice this phrase.
Coujya elaboraton tha? Coujya elaboraton. Because next time, I'm going to say,
"Hey, I think we should do something", and you're going to say, "Hika, coujya elaboraton tha?"
OK, so that's for homework. Practice it a few times. OK. And we'll see you next time. Thank you.