Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Erin: In this lesson, you'll learn how to introduce yourself in Japanese.
Erin: Okay, Risa. When I meet someone for the first time, how can I introduce myself?
Risa: It’s simple. First, say はじめまして(hajimemashite).
Erin: This means “It’s nice to meet you.”
Risa: Then, you are going to introduce your name, using a very essential sentence pattern, A は B です。 (A wa B desu.)
Erin: One more time.
Risa: A は B です。 (A, wa, B, desu.)
Erin: Let’s break it down. So we have A, followed by...
Risa: は (wa)
Erin: And then B, followed by...
Risa: です (desu) .
Erin: Okay, so the pattern one more time?
Risa: A は B です。 (A wa B desu.)
Erin: So where we have A and B, we can start inserting different words to make a sentence to introduce myself, right?
Risa: Yes, you can say, わたしはしおりです。 (Watashi wa Shiori desu.)
Erin: わたし (watashi) means I, and しおり(Shiori) is a person's name. So we just put one of those into the A is B structure. A は B で す。 (A wa B desu.) And we get?
Risa: わたしはしおりです。 (Watashi wa Shiori desu.)
Erin: What do we have so far?
Risa: はじめまして。わたしはしおりです。(Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Shiori desu.)
Erin: “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Shiori.” So I can use this when I meet someone for the very first time in Japan. Okay, listeners, now you try! Imagine your name is John. Say “It’s nice to meet you. I'm John.” in Japanese.
[Pause]
Erin: Did you get it?
Risa: はじめまして。わたしは、ジョンです。(Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Jon desu.)
Erin: "It’s nice to meet you. I'm John."
Erin: Now, imagine your name is あいこ. Say "It’s nice to meet you. I'm Aiko" in Japanese.
Risa: はじめまして。わたしは あいこ です。(Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Aiko desu.)
Erin: "It’s nice to meet you. I'm Aiko."
Risa: You can leave off わたしは (watashi wa) and simply say your name plus です (desu). So you can also say あいこです。 (Aiko desu.) to say "I am Aiko.”
Risa: And next, you can say... よろしくおねがいします。(Yoroshiku o-negai shimasu.)
Erin: This expression means "Please be good to me." It is a commonly used expression which corresponds to "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Risa: All together, when you meet someone for the very first time, you can say... はじめまして。わたしはしおりです。よろしくおねがいします。(Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Shiori desu. Yoroshiku o-negai shimasu.)
Erin: "It's nice to meet you. I'm Shiori. Please be good to me." This is a set phrase commonly used when you meet someone for the first time.

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