Learn Japanese phrases to use when you're meeting someone in an informal situation in Japan
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: なおみです！(Naomi desu!) |
| Kat: Kat here! Have you met my Japanese friend? |
| Naomi: So Kat-san, what are we going to learn in Lesson 2? |
| Kat: In this lesson you will learn how to introduce someone in a casual situation. |
| Naomi: Where does this conversation take place and who is it between? |
| Naomi: The conversation takes place at school, and it's between Kent, Madoka, and a new character, Shiroyama. |
| Naomi: What's the formality level? |
| Kat: The speakers are all about the same age so they’ll be speaking informally. |
| Naomi: それでは、(Soredewa,) |
| Kat: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| まどか (Madoka):白山君！(Shiroyama-kun!) |
| 白山 (Shiroyama):おお、まどかちゃん。おはよ。(Ō, Madoka-chan. Ohayo.) |
| まどか (Madoka):白山君、私のいとこ、ケント君。(Shiroyama-kun, watashi no itoko, Kento-kun.) |
| ケント、これ、私の彼氏、白山君。(Kento, kore, watashi no kareshi, Shiroyama-kun.) |
| 白山 (Shiroyama):よろしく。(Yoroshiku.) |
| ケント (Kento):あ、よろしく。(A, yoroshiku.) |
| もう一度、お願いします。今度はゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do, onegai shimasu. Kondo wa yukkuri onegai shimasu.) |
| まどか (Madoka):白山君！(Shiroyama-kun!) |
| 白山 (Shiroyama):おお、まどかちゃん。おはよ。(Ō, Madoka-chan. Ohayo.) |
| まどか (Madoka):私のいとこ、ケント君。(Watashi no itoko, Kento-kun.) |
| ケント、これ、私の彼氏、白山君。(Kento, kore, watashi no kareshi, Shiroyama-kun.) |
| 白山 (Shiroyama):よろしく。(Yoroshiku.) |
| ケント (Kento):あ、よろしく。(A, yoroshiku.) |
| 今度は英語が入ります。(Kondo wa Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| まどか (Madoka):白山君！(Shiroyama-kun!) |
| Kat: Shiroyama! |
| 白山 (Shiroyama):おお、まどかちゃん。おはよ。(Ō, Madoka-chan. Ohayo.) |
| Kat: Oh, Madoka. 'Morning. |
| まどか (Madoka):白山君、私のいとこ、ケント君。(Shiroyama-kun, watashi no itoko, Kento-kun.) |
| Kat: Shiroyama, this is my cousin, Kent. |
| ケント、これ、私の彼氏、白山君。(Kento, kore, watashi no kareshi, Shiroyama-kun.) |
| Kat: Kent, this is my boyfriend, Shiroyama. |
| 白山 (Shiroyama):よろしく。(Yoroshiku.) |
| Kat: Nice to meet you. |
| ケント (Kento):あ、よろしく。(A, yoroshiku.) |
| Kat: You too. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Kat: It's really nice to hear an entire conversation among young people using informal Japanese, isn't it? |
| Naomi: うん、そうですね。(Un, sō desu ne.) It's quite different from formal Japanese, isn't it? |
| Kat: Yeah, the phrases are shorter and easier to say. But it can be confusing if all you are used to is formal Japanese. |
| Naomi: キャットさんは (Kyatto-san wa), how did you learn informal Japanese? |
| Host: Well, I came to Japan for the first time in 2006 with two years of university-level textbook Japanese behind me. And I quickly realized that I was fine in a classroom situation at my host university, but when I was with my Japanese friends outside class, I could barely understand what they were saying, let alone participate in the conversation. |
| Naomi: 本当！(Hontō!) |
| Kat: Yeah, the vocabulary and grammar were that different - and the slang, and everything! It was just really hard. |
| Naomi: じゃ、アドバイスはありますか。(Ja, adobaisu wa arimasu ka.) Do you have any advice for listeners? |
| Kat: そうですね、あの...。(Sō desu ne, ano…) To learn informal Japanese and slang, more than textbooks, it's more by getting out there and speaking yourself. So one, don’t be afraid to make mistakes and just go for it. Talk as much as you can. And two, again even if you don’t understand what you are looking at, watch TV or the films with Japanese subtitles off. It’s what I recommend. |
| Naomi: そうね、いいアドバイスですね！(Sō ne, ii adobaisu desu ne!) |
| Kat: ありがとうございます。(Arigatō gozaimasu.) |
| Naomi: Good advice! |
| Kat: がんばってください！(Ganbatte kudasai!) |
| Naomi: がんばってください！(Ganbatte kudasai!) Good luck! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Kat: OK, so now let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Naomi: 私の (watashi no) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: my, mine |
| Naomi: 私の (watashi no) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 私の (watashi no) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, next. |
| Naomi: いとこ (itoko) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: cousin |
| Naomi: いとこ (itoko) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: いとこ (itoko) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, next. |
| Naomi: 君 (kun) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: name suffix often used for males younger or of lower status than you |
| Naomi: 君 (kun) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 君 (kun) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, next. |
| Naomi: これ (kore) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: this |
| Naomi: これ (kore) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: これ (kore) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, and next. |
| Naomi: 彼氏 (kareshi) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: boyfriend |
| Naomi: 彼氏 (kareshi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 彼氏 (kareshi) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, and next. |
| Naomi: よろしく (yoroshiku) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: Nice to meet you; please be kind to me as I will to you. |
| Naomi: よろしく (yoroshiku) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: よろしく (yoroshiku) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, and next. |
| Naomi: 私 (watashi) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: I, personal pronoun. |
| Naomi: 私 (watashi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 私 (watashi) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Kat: OK, so now, let's have a closer look at the usage or some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Naomi: The first word we will look at is 私 (watashi). |
| Kat: 'I', or 'me'. This is the most basic word that means "me" or "I", and it can be used by both genders, can't it? |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Right. But actually, there are a couple of things about this word that I want to warn everyone about. |
| Kat: A warning!! What's your warning, Naomi-sensei? |
| Naomi: 最初は (saisho wa), first, it's okay for girls to use this word in polite and casual situations. But guys should stick to this word only in polite situations. In casual situations, it might not sound that natural. |
| Kat: Ah,I see - that's a very good point. When talking with friends and people like that, there are some better words - or less formal words - for "I" that guys can use, aren't there? Can you possibly introduce one of them for us? |
| Naomi: もちろん。(Mochiron.) Sure. 僕 (boku) |
| Kat: 僕 (boku). We'll talk more about those in the next lesson, won't we? |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) Right. But remember, in polite situations, it's fine to use 私 (watashi). |
| Kat: OK, and you said you had a couple of warnings. What's your next tip? |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) Well, do not overuse this word 私 (watashi). |
| Kat: Overuse 私 (watashi)? Ah, you mean that some learners of Japanese use it in every sentence, don't you in Japanese? |
| Naomi: そうそう。(Sō sō.) Exactly, 私は.... (watashi wa...), 私は.... (watashi wa...). |
| Kat: I see – because us I mean, it's a hard habit to break, because in English, you always need to say the subject of your sentence, don't you? So when you are talking about yourself, you always use "I". You can't miss “I”. So think about it - "I went to the shops, and then I went to the bank, and then I had lunch, and then I had met my friends." I mean that's four 'I's' right there, isn't it? But in Japanese if you overuse 私 (watashi) and use it before every sentence, it'll sounds really unnatural and うるさい (urusai), noisy. |
| Naomi: そうね。(Sō ne.) That's exactly what I mean. Some learners think they have to use it before every sentence, but that's not the case. As long as the listener understands who you are talking about, it can be left out. |
| Kat: I see, so if you're talking about yourself, just one 私 (watashi) is fine - in the rest of the conversation you don't need to say it again. |
| Naomi: Exactly. |
| Kat: I see. So like we mentioned before, in the next lesson we'll review some alternative words for "I", so don't miss that, OK? And, okay, Naomi-sensei, and the next word is? |
| Naomi: いとこ (itoko) |
| Kat: This word means "cousin". Kent is Madoka's cousin, right? |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) Right. She referred to him as 私のいとこ (watashi no itoko). 'My cousin'. |
| Kat: We'll go over this の (no) more in the grammar section, but 私 (watashi) plus の (no) means "my", 私の (watashi no). So Naomi-sensei, after Madoka introduced the two, what did they say to each other? |
| Naomi: Good question, that's our next word! They both said よろしく (yoroshiku). |
| Kat: Ah, this is the informal version of the phrase よろしくお願いします (yoroshiku onegai shimasu). |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) Right. Here they took off お願いします (onegai shimasu), at the end and just said よろしく (yoroshiku). |
| Kat: よろしくお願いします (yoroshiku onegai shimasu) has a lot of different meanings depending on the situation, isn’t it? |
| Naomi: It really does! It's almost always used when meeting someone for the first time, though. |
| Kat: That’s right, isn’t it? It gets translated as "Nice to meet you", which is the basic idea, but it goes a bit beyond that, doesn’t it? When you use this with someone you meet for the first time, it's a request for you and the person to have a good relationship and help each other out from there on out, isn’t it? |
| Naomi: はい、いい説明ですね！ (Hai, ii setsumei desu ne!) Good explanation, Kat! |
| Kat: ありがとうございます！(Arigatō gozaimasu!) |
| Naomi: Normally you would use the polite version, but if you are meeting someone who is the same age as you or younger, it's possible to just use よろしく (yoroshiku). |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Kat: In this lesson, we'll look at how to make an introduction in a casual setting. Before that, though, we want to go over a grammar point that's useful in introductions. |
| Naomi: Yes, the particle の (no) used to show possession. |
| Kat: の (no) is used to show that one thing belongs to another. It's a lot like "apostrophe s" in English. So, A の (no) B would be "the B that belongs to A". Let's go over some examples, shall we? |
| Naomi: Sounds good. In the vocab section, we covered the word 私 (watashi), which means "I" or "me". So when you add の (no) to it and say 私の (watashi no), it means "my". |
| Kat: For example, cousin is いとこ (itoko) so 'my cousin' would be? |
| Naomi: 私のいとこ (watashi no itoko) |
| Kat: Or, how about 'my name'? |
| Naomi: Name is 名前 (namae), so... 私の名前 (watashi no namae). |
| Kat: How about some examples that don't use 私 (watashi). How would you say "my friend's house"? |
| Naomi: House is うち (uchi), so... 友達のうち (tomodachi no uchi) or you can even say 私の友達のうち (watashi no tomodachi no uchi). |
| Kat: I see. Okay, so now that we have that clear, we can show you how it was used in the dialogue. We'll take a look at how to make an introduction in a casual setting now. So Naomi-sensei, when Madoka introduced Shiroyama to Kent, what did she say? |
| Naomi: これ、私の彼氏、白山君。(Kore, watashi no kareshi, Shiroyama-kun.) |
| Kat: "Kent, this is my boyfriend, Shiroyama." Have you noticed something? The particles are all left out! |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Yes, if this were formal Japanese, we would need to include the particles, as in これ「は」私の彼氏 (kore “wa” watashi no kareshi). The copula is also left out. |
| Kat: Do you guys remember what the copula is? The copula です (desu) basically means "is" or "am" in English. Normally, it would come at the end of the sentence. So, for example… |
| Naomi: これは私の彼氏です。(Kore wa watashi no kareshi desu.) |
| Kat: "This is my boyfriend." This is the full, proper grammatical sentence with particles and です (desu). Now, can we hear what it sounds like in casual, informal Japanese again? |
| Naomi: Sure. これ、私の彼氏。(Kore, watashi no kareshi.) |
| Kat: There is no topic marking particle は (wa), and no です (desu) at the end. Okay, let's go through each part of this phrase. First, we have これ (kore), which means this. |
| Naomi: Here, これ (kore) is used instead of こちら (kochira), which is normally used to politely refer to people. When you introduce a person who is really close, you can use これ (kore), but otherwise, you should use こちら (kochira). |
| Kat: And then, after that, you introduce the person. It's a good idea to say what their relationship is to you, as well. |
| Naomi: You can use the 私の (watashi no) that we covered earlier. これ、私の友達。(Kore, watashi no tomodachi.) |
| Kat: "This is my friend". Madoka was introducing her boyfriend, so she said... |
| Naomi: これ、私の彼氏。(Kore, watashi no kareshi.) |
| Kat: And then, she gave his name. |
| Naomi: 白山君 (Shiroyama-kun) |
| Kat: This is his last name, 白山 (Shiroyama), plus くん (kun), which we covered in the last lesson. And then, after Kent and Shiroyama were introduced, they say よろしく (yoroshiku) to each other. |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) Right. We went over this earlier. And don't forget to say this if someone is introducing you to someone for the first time! |
| Kat: Okay, so why don't we try practicing a bit? |
| Naomi: Sounds like a good idea! |
| Kat: Let's try introducing different people. We'll give you a sentence in English - pretend like you are talking to your friends and try to say the same thing in informal Japanese! Are you ready? Here's the first one. "This is my friend". Here's a hint, ”friend”is 友達 (tomodachi). |
| [3 seconds] |
| Kat: OK, Naomi-sensei, so how do we say this? |
| Naomi: これ、私の友達。(Kore, watashi no tomodachi.) |
| Kat: Did you get that? これ (kore), 'this', 私の友達 (watashi no tomodachi), 'my friend'. これ、私の友達。(Kore, watashi no tomodachi.) 'This is my friend'. How about one more? "This is my cousin". |
| [3 seconds] |
| Kat: Okay, Naomi-sensei what is it? |
| Naomi: これ、私のいとこ。(Kore, watashi no itoko.) |
| Kat: Did you get that? Remember that cousin is いとこ (itoko)! |
Outro |
| Naomi: Let us know how you did! |
| Kat: Yes, and please don't forget to let us know if you have any questions too. That's |
| what we're here for! OK. |
| Naomi: Thanks for listening! ありがとうございました！じゃ、また！(Arigatō gozaimashita! Ja, mata!) |
| Kat: See you next time! |
| まどか (Madoka):白山君！(Shiroyama-kun!) |
| 白山 (Shiroyama):おお、まどかちゃん。おはよ。(Ō, Madoka-chan. Ohayo.) |
| まどか (Madoka):白山君、私のいとこ、ケント君。(Shiroyama-kun, watashi no itoko, Kento-kun.) |
| ケント、これ、私の彼氏、白山君。(Kento, kore, watashi no kareshi, Shiroyama-kun.) |
| 白山 (Shiroyama):よろしく。(Yoroshiku.) |
| ケント (Kento):あ、よろしく。(A, yoroshiku.) |
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