Learn about introducing yourself
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 |
| Yoshi and Chigusa: おはよう、東京。(Ohayō, Tōkyō.) |
| Chigusa: ちぐさです。(Chigusa desu.) |
| Yoshi: ヨシです。(Yoshi desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. Welcome to JapanesePod101.com. I am joined in the studio by the lovely Chigusa Yamaguchi and the manly Yoshi Watanabe. We should explain. In Japanese, the polite suffix is さん (san). So, what I’m going to do is I’m going to use Yoshi’s first name and attach the suffix さん (san). So, I’m going to be calling Yoshi, ヨシさん (Yoshi-san) and Chigusa, ちぐささん (Chigusa-san). Okay? Does that work for everybody? |
| Yoshi: Yes. |
| Chigusa: Hope so. |
| Peter: All right. So, Yoshi-san, does manly Yoshi Watanabe work for you? |
| Yoshi: Yes, thank you! |
| Peter: All right. There we have it. Yes, Yoshi-san has an eccentric personality, which we’ll be introducing to you throughout the series. And Chigusa-san’s voice, what a voice it is. Can we get a little more of that voice, Chigusa-san? |
| Chigusa: 初めまして。(Hajimemashite.) |
| Peter: Nice to meet you, too. How do you do, too? Now, today’s lesson is designed to give you a real introduction to the language. We’re going to start from the basics with introductions, self introductions. This is designed for people studying at universities or high schools - the lower level, first level Japanese. So, if you’re just getting into Japanese, if you’re taking a course at school, these lessons are for you. And not only that, you can go back and review these lessons over and over. Plus, these lessons are stepping stones to all the other levels we have. We also have survival phrases. We have beginner lessons. We have intermediate lessons. They’re designed to take you from the beginning all the way through intermediate. Now, what this lesson today is designed to do is to welcome you to the language. In today’s lesson, Chigusa-san will be coming home to Japan. She’s been living overseas with her family. So, she is coming back to Japan. So, she has a working knowledge of Japanese. Yoshi-san is going to the airport to meet her. He’s not 100% sure what she looks like. He has a description. He knows what she’s wearing. So, before he introduces himself, he’s going to make sure, okay? So, with that said, please listen to your first dialogue. Here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 渡辺好博 (Watanabe Yoshihiro):すみません。山口さんですか。(Sumimasen. Yamaguchi-san desu ka.) |
| 山口ちぐさ (Yamaguchi Chigusa):はい、そうです。(Hai, sō desu.) |
| 渡辺好博 (Watanabe Yoshihiro):初めまして。渡辺です。(Hajimemashite. Watanabe desu.) |
| 山口ちぐさ (Yamaguchi Chigusa):初めまして。山口です。(Hajimemashite. Yamaguchi desu.) |
| 渡辺好博 (Watanabe Yoshihiro):どうぞよろしく。(Dōzo yoroshiku.) |
| 山口ちぐさ (Yamaguchi Chigusa):どうぞよろしく。(Dōzo yoroshiku.) |
| Peter: One more time, slowly please. Chigusa-san, can you give us the Japanese for that? |
| Chigusa: もう一度お願いします。ゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do onegai shimasu. Yukkuri onegai shimasu.) |
| Peter: Here we go. |
| 渡辺好博 (Watanabe Yoshihiro):すみません。山口さんですか。(Sumimasen. Yamaguchi-san desu ka.) |
| 山口ちぐさ (Yamaguchi Chigusa):はい、そうです。(Hai, sō desu.) |
| 渡辺好博 (Watanabe Yoshihiro):初めまして。渡辺です。(Hajimemashite. Watanabe desu.) |
| 山口ちぐさ (Yamaguchi Chigusa):初めまして。山口です。(Hajimemashite. Yamaguchi desu.) |
| 渡辺好博 (Watanabe Yoshihiro):どうぞよろしく。(Dōzo yoroshiku.) |
| 山口ちぐさ (Yamaguchi Chigusa):どうぞよろしく。(Dōzo yoroshiku.) |
| Peter: This time, Chigusa-san and Yoshi-san will give you the Japanese, and I’ll give you the English. |
| 渡辺好博 (Watanabe Yoshihiro):すみません。山口さんですか。(Sumimasen. Yamaguchi-san desu ka.) |
| Yoshihiro Watanabe: Excuse me, are you Miss Yamaguchi? |
| 山口ちぐさ (Yamaguchi Chigusa):はい、そうです。(Hai, sō desu.) |
| Chigusa Yamaguchi: Yes, that’s right. |
| 渡辺好博 (Watanabe Yoshihiro):初めまして。渡辺です。(Hajimemashite. Watanabe desu.) |
| Yoshihiro Watanabe: How do you do? I am Watanabe. |
| 山口ちぐさ (Yamaguchi Chigusa):初めまして。山口です。(Hajimemashite. Yamaguchi desu.) |
| Chigusa Yamaguchi: How do you do? I am Yamaguchi. |
| 渡辺好博 (Watanabe Yoshihiro):どうぞよろしく。(Dōzo yoroshiku.) |
| Yoshihiro Watanabe: Please be kind to me. |
| 山口ちぐさ (Yamaguchi Chigusa):どうぞよろしく。(Dōzo yoroshiku.) |
| Chigusa Yamaguchi: Please be kind to me. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Peter: So, let’s move on to the vocabulary part. Now, in the vocab section, we have both words and phrases. Today, we’re going to start out with a phrase. Yoshi-san, can you give us a first phrase? |
| Yoshi: すみません (sumimasen) |
| Peter: “Excuse me.” Can you break that down by the syllables? |
| Yoshi: すみません (sumimasen) すみません (sumimasen) |
| Peter: Now, すみません (sumimasen) roughly corresponds to, “I’m sorry” or “Excuse me” in English. You can use this in cases where you make mistakes or accidentally do something. Say, for example, you’re walking on a street and you accidentally bump into someone. Chigusa-san, you can say… |
| Chigusa: すみません。(Sumimasen.) |
| Peter: Or if you’re on a train and you step on someone’s foot, Yoshi-san? |
| Yoshi: すみません。(Sumimasen.) |
| Peter: Now, this is just one use. Yoshi-san, can you think of another use for this phrase, すみません (sumimasen)? |
| Yoshi: When you want to ask someone about something, you can call the person すみません (sumimasen) to get the person’s attention. |
| Peter: Examples of this are in a restaurant when you want the waiter or waitress, you would say? |
| Yoshi: すみません。(Sumimasen.) |
| Yoshi: Or I really like kaiten sushi. Chigusa-san, what’s kaiten sushi? |
| Chigusa: It’s revolving sushi? |
| Peter: Yes, it’s on the conveyor belt and it’s going around and around. In the middle is the sushi chef. And when you want his attention… |
| Chigusa: すみません。(Sumimasen.) |
| Peter: And then he’ll say, Yoshi-san, something like… |
| Yoshi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: Yes, he’ll acknowledge that he’s been called, and then you can place your order. Now, this has one more use. So, so far we have two uses for すみません (sumimasen). One is saying sorry, apologizing for something you did accidentally or in a case you make a mistake. That's not the usage in this dialogue. The usage in this dialogue was the second use, which is getting someone’s attention. But we have a third and final use. That is, Chigusa-san? |
| Chigusa: It can also be used to express thanks or appreciation. |
| Peter: For example, in the same restaurant, you said or you used すみません (sumimasen) to get the waiter’s attention. When he brings the food over and places it in front of you, Yoshi-san? |
| Yoshi: すみません。(Sumimasen.) |
| Peter: So, when you receive something, some people use すみません (sumimasen). And it’s kind of an indirect way of showing your appreciation, kind of a way of thanking him. Maybe we can think of it as like, “I’m sorry for you going through the trouble for me.” Okay? Next phrase is, Chigusa-san? |
| Chigusa: そうです (sō desu) |
| Peeter: “That’s right.” Break it down. |
| Chigusa: そうです (sō desu) そうです (sō desu) |
| Peeter: “That’s right.” Next we have… |
| Yoshi: 初めまして (hajimemashite) |
| Peter: The literal meaning is, “For the first time.” But here, it’s a set phrase, “How do you do?” Break it down. |
| Yoshi: はじめまして (hajimemashite) 初めまして (hajimemashite) |
| Peter: So whenever you meet someone, right off the bat, Yoshi-san? |
| Yoshi: 初めまして。(Hajimemashite.) |
| Peter: Yes, and when I say meet someone, we should really put in here “for the first time.” The first time you meet someone, just as in English, it would be, “How do you do? Nice to meet you.” This is the Japanese equivalent, and therefore you would use it when you meet someone for the first time. Next we have… |
| Chigusa: です (desu) |
| Peter: The polite form of the copula. And the copula is roughly equivalent to the English verb “to be.” Now, the reason we say ‘roughly,’ this will become apparent in time. But from now, it’s roughly equivalent to the English verb “to be.” Next we have… |
| Yoshi: どうぞよろしく (dōzo yoroshiku) |
| Peter: “Please be kind to me.” Break it down. |
| Yoshi: どうぞよろしく (dōzo yoroshiku) どうぞよろしく (dōzo yoroshiku) |
| Peter: First part of this word is actually どうぞ (dōzo) which means “Please.” The second part is よろしく (yoroshiku) which is the adverbial form of よろしい (yoroshii) which is “good”, “nice.” Now, this phrase here is very simple and quite informal. Now, there’s another expression that usually follows this. Chigusa-san, what phrase usually follows this? |
| Chigusa: お願いします (onegai shimasu) |
| Peter: “Please.” Chigusa-san, can you just break that down? |
| Chigusa: おねがいします (onegai shimasu) お願いします (onegai shimasu) |
| Peter: You can use this phrase to request things. “Please,” as in, “Please give me this.” So, if you go into a shop and you take something, you can say to the shopkeeper, Yoshi-san? |
| Yoshi: お願いします。(Onegai shimasu.) |
| Peter: As in, “I want this.” So, when you combine this with どうぞよろしく (dōzo yoroshiku), you’re asking for kindness from the listening party. So, どうぞよろしく (dōzo yoroshiku) again, in Japanese, so much is inferred. It’s a set phrase, どうぞよろしくお願いします (dōzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu). That お願いします (onegai shimasu) is left off, making it informal, a bit more informal. Still polite but lower level of politeness. Next is the polite suffix… |
| Yoshi: さん (san) |
| Peter: Now, this roughly equates to the English “Mister,” “Mrs.,” Miss,” depending on the marital status of the person. But here, it’s attached at the end. It’s a suffix as opposed to English in which it comes in the front. So, this is one difference. So, we have the last name plus さん (san), which roughly translates to “Miss Yamaguchi.” Okay? |
Outro |
|---|
| Peter: So, I think that’s going to do it for today. Now, what we’d like you to do is stop by JapanesePod101.com. Pick up the PDF. Inside the PDF, we have a detailed write up of what we talked about in today’s lesson. And this is really important. This lesson is going to be the building blocks for the next several. We’re going to really repeat, reinforce what we learned here. So, you really want to make sure you have this lesson. Plus, we have done several other lessons on self introductions. And this lesson coupled with them should really give you a solid, solid foundation. Okay? That’s going to do for today. |
| Yoshi: またね。(Mata ne.) |
| Chigusa: またね。(Mata ne.) |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get complete breakdowns, review with quizzes and download printable practice sheets! Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide