I just want to make friends - in Japanese

[hiroshikingchan9139]

Hello!

Could somebody please help me translate this sentence in Japanese?

"I just want to make friends" or "I just want to be friends with you"

Thank you very much!

[Psy]

A word of advice: On forums like this, you'll generally get a much better reaction when you first demonstrate some kind of attempt at figuring it out yourself, before asking people for translation work. Still, I'll throw a bone this time:

「友達になってくれませんか？」 tomodachi ni natte kuremasen ka?
"Will you be my friend?" / "Won't you do me the favor of becoming my friend?"

There is an important cultural observation to be made: you aren't directly expressing your own wants as you would in English. You aren't even talking from your own perspective. Instead, you're asking if someone else will do a favor for you. This kind of indirectness applies to a lot of things in learning Japanese, and if you can get your brain thinking that way now, it'll help a lot as you progress... just sayin'.

This however, doesn't apply quite as strictly when you're not asking favors of anyone:

「友達をつくりたいです」tomodachi wo tsukuritai desu
"I want to make friends."

Hope that helps. Try not to mind my grumpiness.

[Javizy]

Would you say something like that in English? I don't know where you're from, but it sounds like a strange thing to say to someone you don't know. How about striking up a conversation like you would with anyone else? In fact, if she's a native Japanese living outside Japan, she probably went there to improve her English and experience the culture, and she might be happy at the chance to practise with a native. Imagine how you'd feel in Japan.