I must admit to enjoying that I'm an adult now. I'm on my own and I can finally stay up as late as I want to with nobody nagging me.

As a full-fledged 大人/おとな/grown-up , I am happy with my independence and freedom, but as a wise man once said, with great power comes great responsibility. Which is why I find myself in a weekly battle with the mountain of clothes that is my bed (or worse, the chair I use for my computer) or with the muddy pool of dishes left in there "to soak, so that it's easier to wash later."

That 'later' usually comes only when my sense of shame kicks in--that is, when I have people over.

...I usually don't :)

But I decided to express my repressed feelings of "I should clean this place up" in this lovely lesson of ours. Of course, I have your best interest in mind; I mean, what if you end up living in Japan and you don't know this? It's vital, I'm telling you, vital!

洗濯をしましょう！
せんたく　を　しましょう！
Let's do the laundry!
Literally: 'laundry + を + let's do!'

部屋中に散らかってる服を集めよう。
へやじゅう　に　ちらかってる　ふく　を　あつめよう。
Let's gather the clothes that are scattered all over the room.
Literally: 'all-over-the-room + に + scattered + clothes + を + let's gather'.

Note: '部屋中’ isn't a word per se, and you won't find it in the dictionary. The suffix 中/ちゅう(with phonetic accommodation so it becomes じゅう)/middle, center, is attached after a place-word to mean all-over-that-place.

So you get

学校中/がっこうじゅう/all over the school

噂が学校中に広がった。
うわさ　が　がっこうじゅう　に　ひろがった。
The rumor spread all over the school.
Literally: 'Rumor + が + all-over-the-school' + に + spread'

そこら中/そこらじゅう/(here and there, all over the place)

花がそこら中に咲いてる。
はな　が　そこらじゅう　に　さいてる。
Flowers are blooming here and there/all over the place.
Literally: 'Flowers + が + all over the place + に + blooming.'

Note: Used like this, そこら中 has a nuance of things scattered about, hence the 'here and there' translation.

体中/からだじゅう/all over (one's) body

犬が体中ノミに噛まれた。
いぬ　が　からだじゅう　のみ　に　かまれた。
The dog was bitten by fleas all over his body.
Literally: Dog + が + all-over-his-body + fleas + に + got bitten.

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Let's get back to our chores now.

白いものと色ものを分ける。
しろい　もの　と　いろ　もの　を　わける。
Separate the whites and the colors.
Literally: 'White + stuff/things + and + color + stuff/things + を + separate'

洗った洗濯物を干しましょう。
あらった　せんたくもの　を　ほしましょう。
Let's hang out to dry the washed laundry.
Literally: '(the) washed + laundry + を + let's hang out to dry.'

Note: There is not much difference between 洗濯/せんたく/laundry and 洗濯物/せんたくもの/laundry, other than the fact that 洗濯 refers to laundry in a general sense and 洗濯物 refers to the stuff that is contained in the laundry.

乾いた服にアイロンをかけましょう。
かわいた　ふく　に　あいろん　を　かけましょう。
Let's iron the clothes that have dried.
Literally: 'dried + clothes + に + Iron + を + put on'

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Time to do the dishes...

食器を洗いましょう。
しょっき　を　あらいましょう。
Let's wash the dishes.
Literally: 'Dishes + を + let's wash'

I'm sure that some of you are yawning like 'pfff, this is sooo easy I can totally do housework in Japanese,' so let's step up the game a little.

スポンジでお皿をゴシゴシしたら水で洗剤をすすぐ。
スポンジ　で　おさら　を　ごしごししたら　みず　で　せんざい　を　すすぐ。
After (sfx) scrubbing the plate with a sponge you rinse the detergent with water.
Literally: 'Sponge + with + plate + を + *scrub-scrub* + after make + water + with + detergent + を + rinse.'

Note: ゴシゴシ is the general sound effect for scrubbing stuff, which means this also goes for 'scrubbing one's back' or 'scrubbing the floor.' And of course this goes with the verb 'to make' (ゴシゴシする) so you can 'make-scrub-scrub' on the plate with the sponge.

Let's see the literal translation remixed a little so you get a better idea of what's going on:

Re-literally: 'After you make scrub-scrub (on) the plate with the sponge, rinse the detergent with water.'

So there you go, fellas, I think that was enough housework for today. Maybe next time we could do some home economics!

Have fun and see you next week.

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This lesson was written by Adriana, a guest contributor.