Learn the rules to correctly introduce yourself in a business situation
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
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.
Intro |
|---|
| Becky: Hello, and welcome to JapanesePod101.com. This is Introduction to Business Culture, Lesson 2, Business Self-introductions. In this lesson, we’ll teach you how to introduce yourself in a business setting. I’m Becky. |
| Risa: ...and I’m Risa. |
| Becky: When you meet a person for the first time, one thing that you should always do is introduce yourself. In this lesson we’ll learn how to do a polite self-introduction, which is in line with Japanese business practices. |
| Summary |
| Risa: These self-introduction phrases also reflect Japanese culture. |
| Becky: We’ll learn two fundamental things, first is the structure of a polite self-introduction and then also a key phrase. The key phrase that we will learn in this lesson is... |
| Risa: よろしくおねがいいたします。(yoroshiku onegai itashimasu) |
| Becky: So let’s get started! |
Lesson focus |
| Becky: You probably already know how to introduce yourself in Japanese in a non-business context. Now, we’ll learn the business version. Risa, can you give us an example of how to introduce ourselves in a business setting? |
| Risa: 「日本商事の田中と申します。」 (Nihon shōji no Tanaka to mōshimasu.) |
| Becky: This means "I am Mr. Tanaka of Nihon Shoji." |
| Risa: First is “Nihon Shoji,” the company name. |
| Becky: Next is “Tanaka,” the family name of the person introducing themselves. It is common to introduce your company name, followed by your own name. |
| Risa: We also use our family names. |
| Becky: That’s right, instead of using your full name. So the sentence structure is... |
| Risa: [Company name] plus [の and Your family name] plus [と申します。] (to mōshimasu.) |
| Becky: Let's look closer at the expression that comes at the end of the sentence. What is that? |
| Risa: と申します (to mōshimasu) |
| Becky: If you want to express formality or politeness, you should use this expression at the end of the sentence when introducing yourself. |
| Risa: と申します (to mōshimasu) |
| Becky: It’s used to express a higher level of formality and politeness. Would it be wrong not to use the honorific form? |
| Risa: 「です」(desu) is okay, but the best choice for official business situations is 「[Family name]～と申します」. |
| Becky: How about when you are introducing other people? |
| Risa: You only use 「[Family name]～と申します」 for you. |
| Becky: So you don’t use it to introduce other people? What should we use then? |
| Risa: 「です」. For example, 「こちらは上司の佐藤です。」(Kochira wa jōshi no Satō desu) |
| Becky: “This is my boss, Sato.” Thanks for pointing that out to us, Risa! |
| Becky: Okay, next, we’ll see the key phrase... |
| Risa: 「 よろしくおねがいいたします。」(yoroshiku onegai itashimasu) |
| Becky: In everyday conversation, we say... |
| Risa: 「よろしくお願いします。」(yoroshiku onegai shimasu) |
| Becky: ...but when you are in a business situation, you should use the humble version... |
| Risa: 「お願いいたします。」.(onegai itashimasu) |
| Becky: So all together, our introduction becomes... |
| Risa: 「はじめまして。日本商事の田中と申します。よろしくお願いいたします。」(Hajimemashite. Nihon Shōji no Tanaka to mōshimasu. Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu.) |
| Becky: This means “Nice to meet you, I’m Mr. Tanaka of Nihon Shoji. Be kind to me.” In this introduction, we first have... |
| Risa: 「はじめまして」(Hajimemashite) |
| Becky: This is a greeting that means "Nice to meet you." Following this is the company name, followed by your name. Remember, surname only! |
| Becky: The introduction was finished by saying... |
| Risa: 「よろしくお願いいたします」 |
| Becky: Now, this expression doesn’t have a direct and easy translation in English. It’s made up of two words though, so let’s look at each word. The first word is... |
| Risa: 「よろしく」(Yoroshiku) |
| Becky: ...meaning ”well,” and the second word is... |
| Risa: 「お願いいたします」(onegai itashimasu) |
| Becky: ...meaning ”Please.” When meeting someone for the first time and establishing a relationship, it's a very useful expression. |
| Risa: This is because it has many meanings. |
| Becky: Yes, it can mean various things such as "Let’s get along well," “Thank you for your help in advance," "I am happy to know you," and "Let's work together and do our best." |
Outro |
| Becky: Those are the key facts when introducing yourself in a business setting. If you want to find the related Japanese keywords, make sure to check out the lesson notes. |
| Becky:Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Risa: Bye! |
Comments
Hide