Listening to the news
News reports on weather, traffic, and the economy run on a fixed set of formulas, and shadowing only makes sense once you understand them.
What this page practisessource attribution with によりますと · prediction expressions with 見込み/恐れ · service suspensions and resumptions · numbers and rises and falls · broadcast sign-offs
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Weather and traffic
These are the two broadcasts you hear most often, built on highly formulaic sentence patterns.
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According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, heavy rain is expected in the Kanto region tomorrow.
「〜によりますと」= "according to...", the fixed opening news reports use to state their source; 「見込み」= "expected".
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There is a risk of landslides, so please take extra care.
「〜恐れがあります」is only used for the possibility of something bad happening, never for good things.
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東海道新幹線は、強風のため、上下線で運転を見合わせています。
Due to strong winds, Tokaido Shinkansen services are suspended in both directions.
「運転を見合わせる」 means service is suspended; it's the set phrase in railway announcements, and they don't say 「止まる」.
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Economic news
Prices and exchange rates make this the most number-dense type of broadcast.
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male anchor
総務省の発表によりますと、先月の消費者物価指数は、去年の同じ月と比べて、二・一パーセント上昇しました。
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Consumer Price Index for last month rose 2.1 percent from the same month last year.
Read the decimal point as 「てん」: 2.1 = にてんいち. In broadcasts, 「前年同月比」 is often spoken as 「去年の同じ月と比べて」.
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male anchor
This is believed to be due to continued increases in food prices.
「〜とみられます」 means "is believed to be" or "is thought to be"; in news it signals conjecture without asserting it as fact.
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Female anchor
The government says it will launch new support measures starting next month.
「〜としています」= (someone) states that..., used when relaying official statements, so the responsibility for the claim stays with the source, not the speaker.
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male anchor
一方、円相場は、一時、一ドル百五十円台まで値下がりしました。
Meanwhile, the yen fell at one point to the 150-yen range against the dollar.
「一方」 is the connective news reports use to switch topics; 「一時」 means "at one point, during the session".
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Female anchor
In the markets, there's a growing view that the yen will remain weak for the time being.
円安 = the yen weakening (not "cheap"); 円高 = the yen strengthening. Learners often get these two reversed.
Audio on this page is AI-synthesized speech (Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS), not a human recording; the sentences are original.


