Learn how to introduce yourself formally in a business situation
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Business Japanese for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 1 - Introducing Yourself in a Japanese Business Meeting. Eric here. |
| Natsuko: こんにちは。 なつこです。 |
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to introduce yourself in a business situation. The conversation takes place at a business meeting. |
| Natsuko: It's between Linda and Mr. Katsumata. |
| Eric: The speakers have a business relationship, so they’ll be using formal Japanese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Linda: はじめまして。ABCコーポレーションの ベーカー リンダと申します。 |
| : よろしくお願いいたします。 |
| Katsumata:はじめまして。 |
| : あさい商事 の かつまた と申します。 |
| : どうぞよろしくお願いたします。 |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Linda: はじめまして。ABCコーポレーションの ベーカー リンダと申します。 |
| : よろしくお願いいたします。 |
| Katsumata:はじめまして。 |
| : あさい商事 の かつまた と申します。 |
| : どうぞよろしくお願いたします。 |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Linda: Nice to meet you. I'm Linda Baker from ABC Corporation. |
| : Pleased to meet you. |
| Katsumata: Nice to meet you. |
| : I'm Katsumata of Asai Shoji. |
| : Pleased to meet you too. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Natsuko, do Japanese people exchange business cards when they meet each for the first time? |
| Natsuko: Yes, we do. Exchanging business cards is one of the most important aspects of business culture in Japan. |
| Eric: And I guess, there are some rules for how to do it in accordance with Japanese business etiquette. What is the etiquette we need to know when exchanging business cards? |
| Natsuko: There are two essential rules I want our listeners to remember in this lesson. |
| Eric: What’s the first one? |
| Natsuko: When you exchange business cards, give or take them with both hands. |
| Eric: Is it rude to receive someone’s business card with just one hand? |
| Natsuko: Yes, it is. |
| Eric: I see. What’s the second rule? |
| Natsuko: When you give your business card, make sure that your card is turned towards the receiver. |
| Eric: That makes sense. That way, the receiver can read your business card easily. |
| Natsuko: Exactly. |
| Eric: Is there a rule for who should give a business card first? |
| Natsuko: It depends on the situation, but it is said that if you exchange your business card with a person in a higher position than you, get his or her business card first, then give yours later. |
| Eric: Those are some good tips. Now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let's take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Natsuko: はじめまして [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Nice to meet you. |
| Natsuko: はじめまして[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: はじめまして [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: 申す [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to be called, to say |
| Natsuko: 申す[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: 申す [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last we have.. |
| Natsuko: よろしくお願いいたします。 [natural native speed] |
| Eric: (literally) Please be good to me. |
| Natsuko: よろしくお願いいたします。[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: よろしくお願いいたします。 [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is… |
| Natsuko: 申す |
| Eric: It’s a verb meaning “to be called”. |
| Natsuko: You can use this verb to introduce yourself in a very polite way, as in もうします. |
| Eric: It seems that in business situations, this verb is more commonly used than です when a person’s name is introduced. For example, in a daily conversation I’d say “Eric desu” to mean “I’m Eric”, but in a business situation, I’d probably introduce myself as “Eric to mōshimasu” because it sounds more suitable. |
| Natsuko: That’s right. In a business situation, I’ll introduce myself as やまもりなつこともうします。 |
| Eric: Meaning “I am Natsuko Yamamori.” Natsuko, can we also use the verb [mōshimasu] to introduce other people? |
| Natsuko: No. You can use mōshimasu only to introduce your own name. |
| Eric: I see. Can you give us an example using this verb? |
| Natsuko: Sure. For example, you can say.. 私は、田中と申します。 |
| Eric: ..which means “I'm Tanaka.” |
| Natsuko: Here, we have the person’s name 田中, and it’s followed by と申します to say “I am Tanaka.” |
| Eric: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Natsuko: ベーカー リンダ |
| Eric: “Linda Baker”. |
| Natsuko: I’d like to mention Japanese name order here. |
| Eric: Unlike English, when introducing someone’s full name, you need to say the Family name first, then the given name. |
| Natsuko: That’s right. |
| Eric: So the name of the lady in this lesson’s dialogue is “Linda Baker”. If you want to refer to her in the Japanese way, it would be… |
| Natsuko: ベーカー リンダ. The family name ベーカー comes first. |
| Eric: So the Japanese name order is opposite to the Western one. The family name comes first and the given name after. |
| Natsuko: Right. But here’s a good rule. Non-Japanese people can state their name in any order they like, Western or Japanese, so if you want to follow the western order, that’s okay too. |
| Eric: Good to know. Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Eric: In this lesson, you will learn how to introduce yourself at a business meeting. |
| Natsuko: You can start your self-introduction with the phrase はじめまして which means “Nice to meet you”. |
| Eric: In Japan, when you introduce yourself in business situations, it is quite common to mention the company you’re working for. The sentence structure is pretty simple. First, say your company name. |
| Natsuko: For example, if you work at “JapanesePod101.com”, say the company's name. ジャパニースポッドイチマルイチドットコム。 |
| Eric: then add the particle no, and after it, say your full name. |
| Natsuko: I'm Natsuko Yamamori, so I can say の やまもりなつこ。 |
| Eric: and finally you can add… |
| Natsuko: ともうします |
| Eric: which is a humble phrase meaning “am called”. So, altogether we will have… |
| Natsuko:ジャパニースポッドイチマルイチドットコム のやまもりなつこともうします。 |
| Eric: “I am Natsuko Yamamori from JapanesePod101.com” So, once again, the sentence structure is… |
| Natsuko: [Company name] の [your name] ともうします。 |
| Eric: At the end of your self-introduction, please say… |
| Natsuko: よろしくお願いいたします。 |
| Eric: which is often translated as “please be good to me”, but in this case it means something similar to “It's a pleasure to meet you”. |
| Natsuko: The verb いたします is a humble version of verb します, which means “to do”. |
| Eric: Natsuko, let's give our listeners some sample sentences. |
| Natsuko: Sure! はじめまして。株式会社サミーの桜井と申します。よろしくお願いいたします。 |
| Eric: which means “Nice to meet you. I'm Sakurai from Samy Inc.” |
| Natsuko:花井自動車の伊藤と申します。どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。 |
| Eric: which means “I'm Ito from Hanai Motor Corporation. Nice to meet you.” |
| Natsuko:林たかしと もうします。どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。 |
| Eric: which means “I'm Takashi Hayashi. Pleased to meet you.” |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that's all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we'll see you next time! Bye! |
| Natsuko: またね。 |
Comments
Hide