ジョージ：「僕まだワープロの使い方がわかりません」
門倉教授：「じゃ、僕が手ほどきしてあげよう」
Tehodoki Suru
Jooji: Boku mada waapuro no tsukai-kata ga wakarimasen.
Kadokura
Kyooju: Ja, boku ga tehodoki shite ageyoo.
George: I still don't how to use a word processor.
Prof.
Kadokura: Then let me give you a few lessons.
* * *
Tehodoki suru means to teach someone the rudiments of an academic subject or the techniques of a particular art of craft.
George studied French Literature at Cambridge University and came to my class to study Japanese, initially, for just a short time. After studying the language for a while, however, he found it so interesting he decided he wanted to study even more.
No matter how inexpensive one might think it is to live in Yamaguchi, without a scholarship it's still beyond the budgets of most foreign students. Fortunately for George, however, he was awarded a scholarship from the Ministry of Education. He's been studying at Yamaguchi University since January.
A strong student, he has picked up Japanese very quickly. One day not long ago he told me he wanted to write a report using the word processor in our research center. "Watashi wa kadokura sensei kara waapuro no tehodoki wo shite moraimashita" ("I was taught the basics of how to use the word processor by Professor Kadokura.") "Anata mo tehodoki shite morau to yoi desu yo" ("You should have him teach you the basics, too.")
Anyone who has a word processor is already aware of the fact that the manuals that accompany such machines are often as thick as telephone books. Even a fast reader needs a week or so to work through it all.
(Beginners, of course, can probably get by after only reading one or two chapters.) The notes I took while listening to Professor Kadokura's lesson amount to just a few pages. They've answered all the questions I've had so far and so I always keep them handy when using the machine. Kare ni tehodoki shite moraeba sugu ni jozu ni narimasu yo (After having him.give me some basic hints and pointers, I soon became quite skilled at using the machine.)
There are always people skilled at teaching things to other people. Such people often have a lot of patience and so can put up with students who make many mistakes. They're people who don't rush things, who understand what it's like to be a beginner. Gaikokujin ni nihongo wo tehodoki suru no ga watashi no shigoto desu (It's my job to introduce foreigners to the world of the Japanese language.) For this reason, when I teach I try to be humorous rather than staid. I try to put myself in my students' shoes-to understand the problems they're having learning. When it comes to something I'm not skilled at, however, it's very dif- ficult to teach someone else the basics (Jibun ga tokui de nai mono wo hito ni tehodoki suru no wa totemo muzukashii. )
Word processors are gradually shrinking in size- the past year even saw the advent of machines the size of a notebook. Considering Japanese has three ways to write words (kanji, katakana, and hiragana) and that kanji number in the thousands, it's truly amazing that Japanese are now able to write by only pressing a small number of keys, much like using; an English-language typewriter.
Finally, some other examples of the expression in use: shodo no tehodoki (an introduction to Japanese calligraphy), chesu no tehodoki (the rudiments of chess), eigo no tehodoki (an English primer), jidosha no unten no tehodoki (the basics of driving a car),, togei no tehodoki wo suru (initiate someone into the
art of making pottery. )