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Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! You’re about to meet a bunch of Japanese people for the first time, so you’re a bit nervous. You wonder whether they’ll be able to understand your Japanese. Maybe they’ll send you back for remedial Japanese lessons after they hear you! Your friend tells you in Japanese, “You should relax.” You respond in Japanese, “That’s easy for you to say…you’re not the one meeting a bunch of people who don’t speak your language.” Your friend replies in Japanese, “Are you seriously nervous? All you have to do is be on your best behavior, and you’ll be fine. Since you don’t know this group of people, err on the side of being extremely polite and a little more formal with your Japanese. If you do that, you won’t have any problems.” You tell your friend in Japanese, “In other words, now you’re telling me I can’t relax!”

Learning Japanese with JapanesePod101.com is the most fun and effective way to learn Japanese! This Japanese Newbie lesson will show you how to introduce yourself and others in Japanese in a polite, formal way. You’ll also learn how to express your nationality in Japanese. Visit us at JapanesePod101.com where you will find many more fantastic Japanese lessons and learning resources! Leave us a message while you are there!

learn Japanese, introducing oneself, new student
Grammar: | Function: | Topic: , | Politeness Level:


This entry was posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Newbie Season 5 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

45 Responses to “Newbie Lesson S5 #3 - Being Polite Is Not Just a Formality in Japanese”

JapanesePod101.com says:

みなさん、こんにちは!Mina-san, kon’nichi wa!
わたしはジェシーです。アメリカ人です。Watashi wa Jessi desu. Amerika-jin desu.
よろしくおねがいします!Yoroshiku onegai shimasu! :smile:

Now please tell me about yourself!

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aish says:

Mina san.. konnichiwa!
Hajimemashite…
watashiwa aishiwaria desu.
senmon wa conpyuta desu.
douzou yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

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steph says:

Mina-San Konnichiwa ^^ !
Hajimemashite !
Watashi wa Sutefuani desu
Yorudan-jin desu
Koukousei desu
Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu! *bow*

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Andrea says:

こんにちは :grin:
わたし は Andrea です。
コロンブアじん です。
よろしく おねがいしもす

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Stewart says:

こにちわ ジェシー先生 

私はスチュワートです  ぼくはアメリカ人です  ぼくは写真家です

僕はにほんご学習をだいすきです

スチュワート

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Stewart says:

ごめん  どうどうよろしくおねがいします わすれた

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billycrowe says:

hi my name is bill

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billycrowe says:

hi my name is bill

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Sonjainvictoria says:

私は sonjaです  osutoriajin desu. but living in Australia.
yoroshiko onegai shimasu.
I am an absolute beginner.
How are you able to use japanese characters? e.g. 私は (I had to copy and paste…)

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LittleDebbie11 says:

What about when female singers use Boku? I’ve never heard women use ぼく except sometimes in songs… Why do they do that?

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Jessi says:

aishさん,
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu! Does your job involve computers? :smile:

stephさん,
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu :mrgreen: Great introduction!

Stewartさん,
Nice introduction!
That’s very cool that you are a 写真家 :grin: What kind of pictures do you take??

Andreaさん,
はじめまして!So you’re from Colombia! Hola, mucho gusto :wink:
And just a tip - Colombia spelled in Japanese would be コロンビア!

billycroweさん,
Hajimemashite! Nice to meet you!

Sonjainvictoriaさん,
Welcome to the site!! Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!
Please check out this link to learn how to type in Japanese on your computer.
http://tinyurl.com/typejp

LittleDebbie11さん,
That’s a good question! A lot of female J-pop singers use ぼく to refer to themselves in their songs. A few decades ago, you wouldn’t have heard this, but these days it looks like it’s becoming more and more accepted. As for WHY… hmm.. maybe a native teacher could shed some light on that for us!

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Kat says:

Thanks everyone for your comments and self-introductions (and thanks Jessi for the answers! :smile: )

LittleDebbie11さん, just to expand on Jessi’s answer a little (I wrote my graduation dissertation related to gender expression in Japanese pop culture!), I tend to find that when female singers use “boku”, it’s when they’re expressing their feelings in a free, uninhibited, and therefore more “masculine” way. For example, take Hamasaki Ayumi’s song (whose style is girly, kawaii-rashii, and not the least bit butch) “From Your Letter”:

Kimi ni totte boku ga hitsuyou nan da to omotta wake ja nai
Boku ni totte kimi ga hitsuyou da to omotta kara soba ni iru
Sore dake tada sore dake no koto sa

Translation:

It’s not that I thought you needed me.
The reason I’m by your side is that I thought I needed you.
That’s it. That’s all.

Notice that she uses “boku” as well as the traditionally masculine ending particle “sa”. It’s hard to explain (if you have a look at the Japanese version of Yahoo! Answers, Yahoo!知恵袋, there are people asking the same question as you), but generally if the lyrics express strong or traditionally “unfeminine” emotions, then the female singer will use “boku”. It should also be noted that there are many middle- and high-school girls who use “boku” and even sometimes “ore” to refer to themselves in daily conversation nowadays.

Hope that helps! :smile:

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sonjainvictoria says:

Domou arigatou gozaimasu!!! I will check this japanese typing page out asap! Great! Sugoi!

The use of “boku” and female singers was most interesting!!
Reminded me slightly, little bit of the use “chan” for very grown up people.
I always do wonder, when above 21 year old japanese facebook users (mainly females) or even 45 year old men being in contact to those give themselves or address others with -”chan” instead of “san”.
….

forever young???

thanks again
sonja

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Chenoa San says:

:mrgreen: konnichi wa watashi wa chenoa desu dozo yoroshiku :eek: learnin nihong is fun

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Zakaria says:

Hajimemaste dozo yourosoka .o genki desu ka Watashi wa Zakaria desu . bokuwa pakistan gin desu nhingo sikoshi wakarimash arigato matt

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Steph says:

Jessiさん!
どうもありがとうございます!

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Steph says:

Also Katさん!どうもありがとうございます!^^
you guys are awesome ! God bless you^^!!! :mrgreen:

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Naomi says:

Minna-san kon’nichi wa!
Hajimemashite.
Watashi wa Naomi desu.
Yorushiku onegaishimasu!

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Kat says:

sonjainvictoriaさん

Thanks for the comment! :smile: And yes, you’re right about “-chan”; even though your textbook probably says it’s only for little girls and young women, in actual fact everyone can be called “-chan”! For example my friend/co-worker from my baito (part-time job), Tamoto (his second name), I call “Tamo-chin”, which is a corruption of “Tamo-chan” (I hope he never reads this :mrgreen: ). Girls also often call their boyfriends -chan! :mrgreen:

Chenoaさん
Douzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu! Nihongo wa tanoshii desu ne! Japanese is fun, right?! :grin:

Zakariaさん
Hajimemashite! Kat desu. Douzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu. Nihongo wo ganbatte kudasai ne! :smile:

Stephさん
どういたしまして! You’re welcome, and thank you! :grin:

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Naomi says:

Naomi -san
Hajimemashite. Watashi mo Naomi desu. :razz: Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. :wink:

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Sivasakthivel says:

Junichiro Tanizaki have written a book named 痴人 の 愛 ( Naomi ). The main character of the book is Naomi. A salary man loves a girl who is acting like a modern girl . It is a interesting story. In that novel, Naomi is described negatively.

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Naomi says:

Sivasakthivel -san
Yeah. I’ve read that book before. It was quite shocking.
But I believe(or hope :wink: ) the problem is not the name, but her nature.

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nichatha says:

皆さん こんにちは
私はNicha です。タイ人です。
日本の料理が大好きですから日本語を勉強しています。
よろしくお願いします。

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Naomi says:

nichatha-san
こんにちは。よろしくおねがいします。わたしは、タイ料理が大好きです!

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sonjainvictoria says:

Ohio gozaimasu!

Nichatha-san, I could follow the first two lines.
The third with
“Nihon no…….. timasu.” :shock:
is far too hard to even read not to think of translation
for a total beginner in beginner lesson. (Please tell me, you are not a total beginner, I get frustrated…hehehe)

Could I kindly ask for Romanji and translation?
While this is learning as well!
Thank you! :lol:

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Naomi says:

sonjainvictoria -san
I’m sorry. I totally forgot that this comment section is for newbie lesson… :oops:
Here are vocab lists for the sentence nichatha-san wrote.
料理=りょうり=ryouri=cooking, meal
大好き=だいすき=daisuki = like a lot
から=kara=because, so, therefore
日本語=にほんご=Nihon-go=Japanese (language)
勉強しています=べんきょうしています=benkyoushiteimasu=is/am/are studying

So…
>>日本の料理が大好きです
=Nihon no ryouri ga daisuki desu (I like Japanese food a lot)
から日本語を勉強しています。
=kara Nihon-go o benkyou shiteimasu (so I’m studying Japanese.)
よろしくお願いします。
=yoroshiku onegaishimasu.(Nice to meet you.)

I hope this helps. And again thank you for pointing out!!!

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sonjainvictoria says:

AAAAwsome! Thank you!
Helps a LOT of course. :wink:

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Sarah says:

みなさん。。こんにちは 
はじめまして、
私はサラーと申します。
インドネシア人です。
どうぞよろしくお願いします。。
:smile:

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mj says:

ohayo! watashi was Majoyree desu :smile:

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Jessi says:

Sarahさん,
はじめまして!
よろしくおねがいします :mrgreen:

Majoyree-san,
Hajimemashite! :wink:
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

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steph says:

すみません, but i have a question!
It is not related to this, but i hope you don’t mind ^^
There is a song called ” Kanashi ” by a japanese band called Radwimps
i was wondering why Kanashi was written as 愛し since that is pronounced as Aishi?
lol :)

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Sivasakthivel says:

Sensei
I did not mean that way..When I come across the name Naomi, I usually recollect that story. I did not mean to hurt any other with that name. I am sorry If I have hurt you.

Thanks
Siva

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Naomi says:

Sivasakthivel-san
I wasn’t offended or anything, so please don’t worry about it. :grin:
I didn’t know that story was well-known overseas. :razz:

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LittleDebbie11 says:

(oops, I didn’t see the 2nd response to my question)

Katさん:あ、なるほど!わかった、ありがとう! It’s more assertive, and sometimes Tom-boyish, ね。I wasn’t surprised if ぼく was used in girl-punk bands, but I was confused when people like あゆ or 椎名林檎 (2 of my favorites singers ^^) would use them. Thanks, that’s definitely the best answer I’ve gotten!

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Kiki says:

Mina-san, konnichiwa! Hajimemashite. Kiki desu. Amerika-jin desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu :D . JapanesePod101 ga suki desu yo! :D . Hooray! :33

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Charms says:

わたしはCharmsです、イギリスー人です。どうぞよろしくおねがいします:)

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Ruben says:

こんいちは
わたしのなまえは Ruben です。
コロンビアじんです。
よろしくおねがいします。
Hola, Mucho gusto.(スペイン語で) :wink:

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Naomi says:

Kiki-san
Afrigatougozaimasu.
Charms -san
よろしくおねがいします。
Just a quick note. I’m sure it’s a typo, but we don’t put ー between the country name and 人. :wink:
Ruben-san
こちらこそ、よろしくおねがいします。(Nice to meet to you, too.)

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soufian says:

おはようございます (good morning, because its 2 am in Germany)
僕はsoufianです (my name is Soufian)
ドイツじんです (i am german)
お父さんは アルジェリア人です (my father is from algeria)
宜しくおねがいします

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Naomi says:

soufian-san
こんにちはSoufianさん。よろしくおねがいします。 :razz:

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Manasa says:

Konbanwa Naomi-san,

Yoroshiku onegaishimahs.
Watashi wa indojin desu.

Anata noh koe ga kirei dehs;) Benkyoni narimasu Naomi-san; domo domo arigatou~

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Naomi says:

Manasa-san
Arigatou gozaimasu. :razz:

Kochirakoso yoroshiku onegaishimasu. :grin:

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王凱 says:

皆さん、こちらは赤木ケントさんです。ケント君のお父さんは日本人です。お母さんはイギリス人です。ケント君はケントさんのいとこです。
俺は、
僕は赤木ケントです。どうぞ、宜しくお願いします。

また、明日。

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Sebastian says:

はじめまして。セバスチャンです。フランス人です、でもカナダにいます。(I hope that made sense)
よろしくお願いします。

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Naomi says:

Sebastian-san
こんにちは。こちらこそ、よろしくお願いします。 :grin:

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