Learn common Japanese phrases you would likely use at work
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Peter: Learn the Proper Way to Do Business in Japan. In the previous lesson, you learned how to say where something is. Such as |
| Naomi: ロビーにトイレがあります。 |
| Peter: In the lobby, there are restrooms. There are restrooms in the lobby. And we also learned the usage of "to understand" Such as |
| Naomi: わかりますか？ Do you understand? |
| Peter: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask how something is. |
| Naomi: How to ask how something is? |
| Peter: Yeah, you know "how's work?", "How's school?" "How's Japan?" |
| Naomi: はい。わかりました。I see. We'll also learn useful phrases to use in business situations, correct? |
| Peter: Right. This conversation takes place at |
| Naomi: ネッサン自動車 |
| Peter: Nessan Automobile co., ltd. Now if you remember from the previous episodes, Ashley is a manager at Nessan Automobile. In the last episode, she was taking a taxi to the headquarters of Nessan. She has arrived and now she is talking to the receptionist at the main entrance. So first, you'll hear the conversation between, |
| Naomi: アシュリーと受付 Ashley and the receptionist. |
| Peter: And then in the last part of the conversation, Ashley will be talking to |
| Naomi: 松田部長 the manager, Matsuda. |
| Peter: They'll be using |
| Naomi: Formal Japanese. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 受付:おはようございます。 |
| アシュリー:おはようございます。 |
| :９時に松田部長と約束があります。 |
| 受付:お客様のお名前は。 |
| アシュリー:ニューヨーク支社のアシュリーと申します。 |
| 受付:申し訳ございません。もう一度お名前おねがいします。 |
| アシュリー:アシュリーです。 |
| 受付:アシュリー・ジョーンズ様ですね。こちらです。どうぞ。 |
| (knock knock) |
| 部長:はい。 |
| 受付:失礼します。アシュリー・ジョーンズ様です。 |
| 松田部長:おー、アシュリーさん、久しぶり。 |
| アシュリー:お久しぶりです。松田部長。 |
| :お元気ですか。 |
| 松田部長:元気ですよ。アシュリーさんは？ |
| アシュリー:はい、おかげさまで、元気です。 |
| :あ、これ、どうぞ。お土産です。 |
| 松田部長:あー、すみませんね。ありがとう。 |
| :で、日本はどうですか。 |
| 受付:おはようございます。 |
| Peter: Good morning. |
| アシュリー:おはようございます。 |
| Peter: Good morning. |
| :９時に松田部長と約束があります。 |
| Peter: I have an appointment with Mr. Matsuda at nine. |
| 受付:お客様のお名前は。 |
| Peter: May I have your name? |
| アシュリー:ニューヨーク支社のアシュリーと申します。 |
| Peter: I'm Ashley from the New York office. |
| 受付:申し訳ございません。もう一度お名前おねがいします。 |
| Peter: I'm sorry; can I have your name again? |
| アシュリー:アシュリーです。 |
| Peter: Ashley. |
| 受付:アシュリー・ジョーンズ様ですね。こちらです。どうぞ。 |
| Peter: Ms. Ashley Jones, yes? This way, please. |
| (knock knock) |
| Peter(knock knock) |
| 部長:はい。 |
| Peter: Yes? |
| 受付:失礼します。アシュリー・ジョーンズ様です。 |
| Peter: I'm sorry to interrupt. Ashley is here. |
| 松田部長:おー、アシュリーさん、久しぶり。 |
| Peter: Oh, Ashley! Long time no see! |
| アシュリー:お久しぶりです。松田部長。 |
| Peter: Long time no see, Mr. Matsuda. |
| :お元気ですか。 |
| Peter: How are you? |
| 松田部長:元気ですよ。アシュリーさんは？ |
| Peter: I'm great! And you? |
| アシュリー:はい、おかげさまで、元気です。 |
| Peter: I'm great, thank you. |
| :あ、これ、どうぞ。お土産です。 |
| Peter: Oh, and this is for you. It's a gift. |
| 松田部長:あー、すみませんね。ありがとう。 |
| Peter: Ohh, thank you! |
| :で、日本はどうですか。 |
| Peter: So, how's Japan? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: Is it common to bring gifts when you visit a company? |
| Naomi: I'm not sure. I would say it depends on the company, the person and of course the relationship. In this conversation, it seems like Ashley knows Mr. Matsuda very well and they have a good relationship. So... that's the reason Ashley brought お土産 |
| Peter: O-mi-ya-ge. Can you say it one more time? |
| Naomi: お土産. |
| Peter: When you visit someone's house do you always bring "Omiyage" gift? |
| Naomi: はい yes. |
| Peter: So if someone is planning to do a homestay in Japan, would you recommend that the person bring omiyage gift ? |
| Naomi: そうですね。It doesn't have to be expensive. But if the お土産 is from your home country, then you can have something to talk about. I think it's a nice gesture. |
| Peter: Like a conversation starter. And when do you give the Omiyage gift? |
| Naomi: I usually give it right after I enter the house. I said souvenir is おみやげ but some people just say みやげ |
| Peter: Ah... without the polite prefix "o". |
| Naomi: Right. So お土産 is more polite than 土産. |
| Peter: Speaking of the polite prefix "o", I noticed Mr. Matsuda is using formal Japanese but slightly less formal than Ashley. |
| Naomi: Right Look at the phrase 久しぶり"Long time to see." |
| Peter: Mr. Matsuda said "Hisashiburi" but Ashley put polite prefix "O" in front and said |
| Naomi: おひさしぶり |
| Peter: "Long time no see " |
| Naomi: Also look at the word 元気 |
| Peter: Ashley put "o" but Mr. Matsuda didn't put "o." See that? From this information, you can assume that Mr.Matsuda has higher social status than Ashley. |
| Naomi: そうですね。Mr. Matsuda Also said "ありがとう”, which is not even formal Japanese. |
| Peter: The person who is in a higher social position can choose whatever level of formality they like but the person who is in a lower social position has to use formal speech. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Peter Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Naomi 約束 [natural native speed] |
| Peter promise |
| Naomi 約束 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi 約束 [natural native speed] |
| Naomi 部長 [natural native speed] |
| Peter department head, section chief |
| Naomi 部長 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi 部長 [natural native speed] |
| Naomi 元気 [natural native speed] |
| Peter good, fine |
| Naomi 元気 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi 元気 [natural native speed] |
| Naomi 支社 [natural native speed] |
| Peter branch office |
| Naomi 支社 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi 支社 [natural native speed] |
| Naomi おかげ様で。 [natural native speed] |
| Peter Thanks to you. Thanks for asking. |
| Naomi おかげ様で。 [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi おかげ様で。 [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Peter Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Peter: Let's check some useful words or phrases for the work environment. What's the first word? |
| Naomi: 約束 |
| Peter: promise, appointment |
| Naomi: I don't think 約束 is always an appointment though. 約束 sounds very private. |
| If there is money involved, 約束becomes 予約. |
| Peter: As you learned in lesson10 "yoyaku" means "reservation." If you're talking about a reservation at a hotel or a restaurant, that's |
| Naomi: 予約 But you can use 予約 for doctor's appointments too. |
| Peter: Hence, if you have to pay money for the time or space that's "yoyaku". If not - "yakusoku" In the dialogue, Ashley said... |
| Naomi: 約束があります. |
| Peter: I have an appointment. If you want to specify who you have an appointment with, say the person's name and add "to", which means "and or with" |
| Naomi: ピーターさんと約束があります。 |
| Peter: With Peter, I have an appointment. I have an appointment with Peter. |
| Naomi: 松田さんと約束があります。 |
| Peter: With Mr. or Ms. Matsuda, I have an appointment.OK. That's the next phrase? |
| Naomi: 申し訳ございません。 |
| Peter: "I'm very sorry." It's a very formal way to apologize. |
| Now, sumimasen, meaning "I'm sorry" is usually good enough, however if you're speaking to your boss or client and make a serious mistake, you really should use |
| Naomi: 申し訳ございません |
| Peter: It's a long sentence isn't it. Let's break down. The first part is |
| Naomi: もーしわけ |
| Peter: Now what does this part mean? |
| Naomi: Well... もうしわけ means "excuse" |
| Peter: And the following part is |
| Naomi: ございません |
| Peter: It means "there isn't" So moushiwake gozaimasen literally means "There's no excuse", "There's nothing I can say." |
| Naomi: Right. Because I feel so guilty, or maybe "I can't even think of any excuse." |
| Peter: So it means "I'm deeply sorry","we're deeply sorry" "Please accept my apologies." Can we hear the whole phrase again? |
| Naomi: もーしわけございません |
| Peter: I'm very sorry. OK what's the next phrase? |
| Naomi: 失礼します。 |
| Peter: "Please excuse me."/ "I'm sorry to interrupt." |
| This phrase is often said when entering or leaving a room. This phrase has two word, correct? |
| Naomi: そうです correct. 失礼 |
| Peter: "to be rude" "discourtesy" |
| Naomi: and します |
| Peter: "to do" So literally, "I do discourtesy" "I'll be rude" "I'll be bothering you" |
| Naomi: So... "Sorry in advance" |
| Peter: The closest translation would be "Excuse me." Can we hear the phrase again? |
| Naomi: 失礼します |
| Peter: Now, "sumimasen" is also "Excuse me" so...can we say "sumimasen" and "shitsureishimasu" are interchangeable? |
| Naomi: Yeah. Pretty much. |
| Peter: What do you have next? |
| Naomi: ともうします as in アシュリーと申します |
| Peter: I'm Ashley. "[name]＋to moushimasu" is a very formal way to introduce yourself. |
| Now if it's a regular formal situation, Ashley might say |
| Naomi: アシュリーです。 |
| Peter: But since it's a very formal situation, she put "to moushimasu" instead of "desu" |
| Naomi: アシュリーと申します。 |
| Peter: "to" is called a "quotation particle" and "moushimasu" means "to say" or "to be called" but it's a very humble expression, so it literally means "I'm called such and such" |
| Naomi: So the pattern is [ Name ] plus と申します。 |
| Peter: So in my case, "Peter Galante to moushimasu." Of course you can put the company name and say "Japanesepod101.com no Peter Galante to moushimasu." |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: In this grammar section, you'll two things. One. How to greet someone that you have not seen for a long time. |
| Naomi: Basically how to day "It's been a long time" in Japanese. |
| Peter: Two.How to ask how something is. |
| Naomi: Like "How's school?""How's work?" and so on. |
| Peter: OK. Let's start with "It's been a long time." How do you say that phrase in Japanese? |
| Naomi: To a friend, I say 久しぶり |
| Peter: Break it down by syllable? |
| Naomi: ひ・さ・し・ぶ・り |
| Peter: At natural speed? |
| Naomi: ひさしぶり |
| Peter: You can use this for any situation correct? |
| Naomi: Sure. Like you haven't eaten chocolate for a long time and you eat it.... then you can say...[あーひさしぶり！」 |
| Peter: Now "Hisashiburi" is an informal expression. If you want to be more polite, you have to add |
| Naomi: です at the end. ひさしぶりです。 |
| Peter: Or as we mentioned previously you can put the polite suffix in front and say |
| Naomi: お久しぶりです。 |
| Peter: Can we hear all the phrase? "It's been a long time" in casual situation, |
| Naomi: 久しぶり |
| Peter: Now if you want to be polite: |
| Naomi: 久しぶりです |
| Peter: And you can even go one step further with the polite prefix and say: |
| Naomi: お久しぶりです |
| Peter: OK. On to the second grammar point. |
| Naomi: question word どう |
| Peter: "How" In the dialogue, Mr. Matsuda asked Ashley about Japan |
| Naomi: 日本はどうですか。 |
| Peter: How's Japan? Let's break down this sentence. |
| Naomi&Peter: 日本は Japan and topic marking particle "wa" so... "As for Japan," どう "how" です"copula"is かquestion. So "As for Japan, how is?" Of course "How is Japan?" |
| Naomi: So the pattern is [ Such and such ] は どう です か。 |
| Peter: How is [such and such] |
| Naomi: 東京はどうですか。 |
| Peter: How is Tokyo? |
| Naomi: ニューヨークはどうですか。 |
| Peter: How's NY? So by using this sentence pattern you can ask how someone is feeling toward a certain thing. OK. How do you say "Job" in Japanese? |
| Naomi: 仕事 |
| Peter: So...Naomi-sensei. Shigoto wa dou desu ka? |
| Naomi: え？。。。ああ、大丈夫ですよ。 |
| Peter: Only Daijoubu? Only OK? |
| Naomi: I was just kidding. とてもいいです。It's very good. |
| Peter: Let's recap this lesson with a quiz. The quiz will be multiple choice. We'll give a question and three possible answers. Your job is to guess the answer.OK. The first question. Which of the following phrases is the most formal way to say "It's been a long time?" |
| Naomi: A)ひさしぶり B)ひさしぶりです C)おひさしぶりです |
| Peter: The answer is |
| Naomi: C)お久しぶりです |
| Peter: Because it has polite prefix "O" and polite copula "desu" OK next. Question 2. Which of following phrase is the most formal way to say "I'm very sorry." |
| Naomi: A)申し訳ございません B)すみません C)失礼します |
| Peter: The answer is |
| Naomi: A)申し訳ございません |
| Peter: C)Shitsureishimasu means "Excuse me" |
| Naomi: そうです。 |
Outro |
| Peter: This concludes this lesson. In the next lesson, you'll learn more business related formal expressions so before you listen to the next lesson, be sure to review this lesson. |
| Naomi: では、失礼します。 |
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