Need phrase in Japanese please

[bronferrier8571]

I am having a great time learning survival Japanese on Japanesepod101.com for my upcoming tourist visit to Hokkaido next month. My plan is to be confident with thirty or so phrases.
I have practised some of them to a Japanese speaker and she said "you speak that very well" in Japanese. Can you please give me the romanji phrase for that or similar.
I would like to know the phrase to reply along the lines of "thank you but I speak very little!".
Doumo arigato,

Bronwyn, Queensland, Australia

[williamchooi]

i just came back from japan but the phrase that you are asking would be something like
"arigatou gozaimasu, sore hodo dewa nai desu"

In japanese would be "ありがとうございます、それほどではないです"

I used this very often when i was in Japan and it does the job very well. The japanese culture likes humble people.

I'm not sure whether there are any other phrases. If so, please let me know

Have a nice trip to Hokkaido.

[bronferrier8571]

Thank you for your quick response. I shall add that phrase to my book.
I agree, a bow and a greeting goes a long way in Japan! I had two weeks in Japan a few years ago and am so looking forward to returning.

[Javizy]

The standard response to compliments is 'sonna koto wa nai desu,' which means something like 'that's not true'. Saying thank you to compliments isn't altogether common. You can also say 'mada mada desu' if it's about your language skills, which implies that you have a long way to go before you're any good. That one is easy enough to remember.

[mangara99]

I agree with Javizy. Since japanese people are traditionally humble, it's better to avoid saying Thank you to that kind of compliment, it may sound arrogant and conceited. Normally, in this situation a simple 'iie' will do, and then you can add other stuff like the SONNA KOTO NAI YO, SONNA KOTO WA NAI, MADAMADA DESU, MADA HETA TO OMOU and the likes

[Javizy]

You should probably keep in mind that the phrase 'nihongo ga jouzu desu ne' basically means 'you are speaking Japanese.' The last time somebody said it to me, all I had said was hello. It's completely meaningless, so don't get too excited by the compliment

[bronferrier8571]

Thanks for the new responses; I think I shall keep to a simple, "iie, mada mada desu".
Although I am working on these phrases, I am unlikely to understand many Japanese responses I like Japanesepod101.com to hear the whole conversation in a typical situation. I wish I had known about this learning system before I visited Portugal a couple of years ago. Their language was so much harder to pick up than Spanish:)
Cheers.