Let's read Red Shoes part 1! / Japanese Learning Support LLC | blog

Do you know the story of The Red Shoes?

This is one of Andersen's fairy tales, and it's a very famous story, so some of you may have heard of it.

"The Red Shoes" is a bit long, so I will introduce it in two parts: part 1 and part 2.

So let's get started!

"The Red Shoes"

Once upon a time, there was a very beautiful girl named Karen.

Karen lived with her mother, but the family had no money and no shoes to wear in summer or winter, so Karen's feet were always bright red.

My mother was seriously ill and could not afford medicine, so she grew weaker day by day.

Their life was very shabby.

A shoemaker took pity on Karen and made shoes out of red cloth for her.

Uncle: "Here you go, Karen. If you have nothing else to wear, wear these."

Karen: "Wow, thank you, Uncle! I'll treasure it!"

And that day was the funeral of Karen's mother, who had finally passed away.

Karen didn't have any other shoes, so she wore the red shoes to the funeral.

The pastor and the people at the funeral were surprised to see Karen's red shoes, but they knew that she was poor so they said nothing.

As Karen, whose family had disappeared, was walking with the pastor, an old woman in a beautiful carriage passed by.

The old lady said: "Hello. If you have nowhere to go, why don't you come to my house? I will take good care of you."

So Karen was taken in by her wealthy grandmother and moved into her big house.

The grandmother threw away Karen's tattered clothes and shoes and gave her a beautiful dress and shoes.

Karen lived happily in her big house, reading books and cooking.

Every guest who came to the house had nothing but praise for Karen.

Customer: "Oh, what a beautiful girl!"

Both the grandmother and Karen lived happily.

However, the old woman was getting old and was getting weaker day by day.

Years later, Karen had grown into a beautiful young woman and was about to be confirmed into the Church.

For her confirmation, the old woman gave Karen some money and told her to go to town and buy some nice clothes and shoes.

Karen took the money and immediately went out into town.

First, I went to a clothing store and bought some nice clothes.

Later, while walking around town looking for shoes, I found a pair of red shoes.

They were shiny, clean shoes.

Karen knew that she shouldn't wear red shoes to Confirmation, but she desperately wanted them.

And finally I bought the shoes.

Karen: "Grandma, I bought these clothes and shoes for you."

Granny: "Oh, it's beautiful."

The old woman, because she was old and her eyesight had deteriorated, did not realize that the shoes were red and said they were nice.

And then the day of Confirmation came.

Everyone in the church, including the pastor, was looking at Karen's red shoes.

That evening, the people gathered at church told the old lady that Karen had worn red shoes.

To be continued...

How was it?

What will happen to Karen, who has become completely captivated by the red shoes?

Stay tuned for part 2!

Now, let's review some of the Japanese that appears in the text.

This time, we will introduce the meaning and usage of "must have."

The main text said, "Karen desperately wanted those red shoes."

When should you use this "by all means"?

Strong hope and desire

"No matter what" can be used together with words that express desire, such as "I want to do ~" or "I want ~", to express the feeling that you want to do something so badly that you can't help it!

It can also be used in the negative form, such as "I don't want to do ~."

Sample1 I really want that bag!

Sample2 My dog is sitting in front of the box of treats. He really wants to eat them.

Sample 3 I really don't want to lose this game.

Sample4 I really want this project to succeed.

Please try using this phrase when you want to express strong feelings such as "I want to do this!", "I don't want to do that!", or "I want that!".

No matter how hard you try, no matter what method you use,

The negative form "nai" is often added at the end, and it often means "cannot do something."

Sample1 I just can't agree with his opinion.

Sample 2: Natto is the one thing I just can't eat.

Sample 3: I can't beat my wife no matter what.

Sample4 It takes an hour to get to Tokyo Station.

Sample 4 does not end in a negative form, but it does have a negative nuance that says that no matter what method you use, it will take at least an hour. You can't go any faster than that.

You can also use it like this.

How was it?

This time, we introduced part 1 of "The Red Shoes" and how to use "No matter what."

I hope you enjoyed it.

Part 2 of "The Red Shoes" will be uploaded soon, so please check it out.

Well, see you in the next blog!