Learn the question "Where are you from?" in Japanese and how to answer it
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gabriella: In each lesson of this 25 part series, you'll master a common question for Japanese learners, and then learn how to answer it like a native speaker. You'll learn how these key phrases work by breaking them down into each component. Then through repetition and new vocabulary, you'll expand your understanding of the question, its answers, and any variations. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Gabriella: In this lesson, you'll learn how to respond to the common question “Where are you from?” In Japanese this is |
| Kaori: 出身はどこですか。 |
| (しゅっしんはどこですか。 Shussin wa doko desu ka.) |
| The first word in the question is |
| Kaori: 出身 |
| (しゅっしん shussin) |
| Gabriella: meaning something like “hometown” in English. |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) 出身 |
| (しゅっしん shussin) |
| Gabriella: Listen again and repeat. |
| Kaori: 出身 |
| (しゅっしん shussin) |
| {Pause} |
| Gabriella: This pattern of first introducing a word at natural speed, providing the translation, breaking it down, and then giving it again at natural speed will be repeated throughout the series. Try to speak aloud as often as possible. The next word in the question is |
| Kaori: は |
| (wa) |
| Gabriella: subject marking particle, meaning something like "is". |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) は |
| (wa) |
| Gabriella: Now repeat. |
| Kaori: は |
| (wa) |
| {Pause} |
| Listen to the the first 2 words of the question and repeat. |
| Kaori: 出身は |
| （しゅっしんは shussin wa） |
| {pause} |
| And next |
| Kaori: どこ |
| (doko) |
| Gabriella: meaning “where.” |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) どこ |
| (doko) |
| Gabriella: Now repeat. |
| Kaori: どこ |
| (doko) |
| {Pause} |
| Listen to the the first 3 words of the question and repeat. |
| Kaori: 出身は どこ |
| （しゅっしんは どこ shussin wa doko） |
| {pause} |
| And after that |
| Kaori: です |
| (desu) |
| Gabriella: sentence ending particle meaning something like “is.” |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) です |
| (desu) |
| Gabriella: Now repeat. |
| Kaori: です |
| (desu) |
| {Pause} |
| Listen to the the first 4 words of the question and repeat. |
| Kaori: 出身は どこです |
| （しゅっしんは どこです shussin wa doko desu） |
| {pause} |
| Next is |
| Kaori: か |
| (ka) |
| Gabriella: the Question marking particle. |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) か |
| (ka) |
| Gabriella: Now repeat. |
| Kaori: か |
| (ka) |
| {Pause} |
| Listen to the entire question and repeat. |
| Kaori: 出身は どこですか。 |
| （しゅっしんは どこ です か。 shussin wa doko desu ka.） |
| {pause} |
| Gabriella: You will hear this common question again and again throughout your studies. Master the following pattern and responses to the question “Where are you from?” |
| Kaori: アメリカです。 |
| (Amerika desu.) |
| Gabriella: "I'm from the U.S." Again, slowly. Repeat the phrase. |
| Kaori: (Slow) アメリカです。 |
| (Amerika desu.) |
| {pause} |
| Gabriella: Let's break it down from the beginning. The first word: |
| Kaori: アメリカ |
| (Amerika) |
| Gabriella: which is “America” or “the U.S.A.” |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) アメリカ |
| (Amerika) |
| Gabriella: Now repeat |
| Kaori: アメリカ |
| (Amerika) |
| {Pause} |
| Gabriella: And next |
| Kaori: です |
| (desu) |
| sentence-ending particle, meaning something like "is". |
| Kaori: (Slow, by syllable) です |
| (desu) |
| Gabriella: Now repeat. |
| Kaori: です |
| (desu) |
| {Pause} |
| Gabriella: Listen to the speaker say, “I'm from the U.S.,” and then repeat. |
| Kaori: アメリカです。 |
| (Amerika desu.) |
| {pause} |
| Gabriella: To expand on the pattern, replace “the U.S.” with “Mexico.” |
| Kaori: メキシコ |
| (Mekishiko) |
| Gabriella: Mexico |
| Kaori: (slow) メキシコ (regular) メキシコ |
| (Mekishiko) (Mekishiko) |
| Gabriella: Listen to the phrase again, this time with “Mexico.” |
| Kaori: メキシコです。 |
| (Mekishiko desu.) |
| Gabriella: It mostly stays the same. Simply replace “the U.S.” with “Mexico.” Say “I'm from Mexico.” |
| {pause} |
| Kaori: メキシコです。 |
| (Mekishiko desu.) |
| Gabriella: To use a different phrase, replace “Mexico” with “France.” |
| Kaori: フランス |
| (Furansu) |
| Gabriella: France |
| Kaori: (slow) フランス (regular) フランス |
| (Furansu) (Furansu) |
| Gabriella: Listen to the phrase again, this time with “France.” |
| Kaori: フランスです。 |
| (Furansu desu.) |
| Gabriella: It mostly stays the same. Simply replace “Mexico” with “France.” Say “I'm from France.” |
| {pause} |
| Kaori: フランスです。 |
| (Furansu desu.) |
| Gabriella: To use a different phrase, replace “France” with “Vietnam.” |
| Kaori: ベトナム |
| (Betonamu) |
| Gabriella: Vietnam |
| Kaori: (slow) ベトナム (regular) ベトナム |
| (Betonamu) (Betonamu) |
| Gabriella: Listen to the phrase again, this time with “Vietnam.” |
| Kaori: ベトナムです。 |
| (Betonamu desu.) |
| Gabriella: It mostly stays the same. Simply replace “France” with “Vietnam.” Say “I'm from Vietnam.” |
| {pause} |
| Kaori: ベトナムです。 |
| (Betonamu desu.) |
| QUIZ |
| Now it's time for a quiz. Imagine you are visiting Japan and someone asks you where you're from. You're from the U.S. Respond to the question. |
| Kaori: 出身はどこですか。 |
| (しゅっしんはどこですか。 Shussin wa doko desu ka.) |
| (five seconds) アメリカです。 |
| (Amerika desu.) |
| Gabriella: Now, imagine you're from Mexico. Respond to the question. |
| Kaori: 出身はどこですか。 |
| (しゅっしんはどこですか。 Shussin wa doko desu ka.) |
| (five seconds) メキシコです。 |
| (Mekishiko desu.) |
| Gabriella: Now, imagine you're from France. Answer the speaker's question. |
| Kaori: 出身はどこですか。 |
| (しゅっしんはどこですか。 Shussin wa doko desu ka.) |
| (five seconds) フランスです。 |
| (Furansu desu.) |
| Gabriella: Imagine you're from Vietnam. Respond to the question. |
| Kaori: 出身はどこですか。 |
| (しゅっしんはどこですか。 Shussin wa doko desu ka.) |
| (five seconds) ベトナムです。 |
| (Betonamu desu.) |
| Gabriella: Now you want to ask that person where they're from. Ask the question. |
| (5 seconds) |
| Kaori: 出身はどこですか。 |
| (しゅっしんはどこですか。 Shusshin wa doko desu ka.) |
| Gabriella: Now it's time to answer the question with actual information about yourself. |
| Kaori: 出身はどこですか。 |
| （しゅっしんは どこですか。 Shusshin wa doko desu ka.） |
| (5 seconds) |
Outro |
| Gabriella: This is the end of Lesson 2 |
Comments
Hide出身はどこですか？しゅっしんはどこですか？Shussin wa doko desuka?
Where are you from?
Hello Charles,
Thank you for your question. Your sentence is very close! But the correct way to ask "Where are you from in Japan?" would be "Nihon no doko shusshin desu ka?" (日本のどこ出身ですか？)
Here are the corrections:
1. "Nihon no doko shusshin desu ka?" (日本のどこ出身ですか？): This translates to "Where in Japan are you from?" In your sentence, you have the words in the wrong order. The correct order is "Nihon (Japan)" then "doko (where)" then "shusshin (from)" then "desu ka (is it?)".
Keep practicing! Your Japanese is improving every day.
ありがとうございます！(Arigatou gozaimasu! "Thank you!")
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
How would you say "where are you from in Japan ?"
Would it be "Shusshin no Nihon was doko desu ka ? "
Gaynorさん
コメントありがとうございます😄
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
りょうま（Ryoma）
Team JapanesePod101.com
こんにちは！
南アフリカしゅっしんです.
エイサさん
コメントありがとうございます😄
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
キューバです。
Fahidaさん
Thank you so much for your comment😄
Yes, the first one is only as a response to the question.
The rest are correct👍
And yes, Igirisu jin desu means I am British😉
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
Are these all correct ways to say I'm from England?
Ingurando desu
Ingurando kara desu
Igirisu shusshin desu
Watashi wa Ingurando shusshin desu.
Is the first one only as a response to where are you from?
Also is Igirisu jin desu the correct way to say I am British?
リサさん
コメントありがとうございます😄
インドネシアですか！
Please let us know if you have any question :)
Sincerely
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
こんにちは、
私はインドネシア出身です。
Hi Boris,
Thank you for posting.
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Sincerely,
Cristiane (クリスチアネ)
Team JapanesePod101.com
ありがとう
すいすです 😄 ありがと
こんにちは、アニさん
コメントありがとうございます！
どうぞよろしくお願いしますね😄
Miki(美希)
Team JapanesePod101.com
こんにちは！
出身はアルメニアです！
ありがとございます！
おもしろい！
Hi shreya,
Thank you for posting!
Please check out this entry in our Japanese dictionary:
https://www.japanesepod101.com/learningcenter/reference/dictionary/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89
Looking forward to seeing you often here!
Sincerely
Cristiane (クリスチアネ)
Team Japanesepod101.com
what do we say india in japnese
＞こんにちは、丽娟さん
コメントありがとうございます！
そうですか。わたしはにほんのみえしゅっしんです?
I see. I'm from Mie, Japan.
＞こんにちは、ダニエル（だにえる）さん
そうですか。アメリカに2かいいったことがありますよ?
I see. I've been to America twice.
Keep studying with JapanesePod101.com
Cheers,
Miki(美希)
Team JapanesePod101.com
出身 は アメリカ です。*
ごめなさい。