Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Business Japanese for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 1 - Introducing Yourself in a Japanese Business Meeting. Eric here.
Natsuko: こんにちは。 なつこです。
Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to introduce yourself in a business situation. The conversation takes place at a business meeting.
Natsuko: It's between Linda and Mr. Katsumata.
Eric: The speakers have a business relationship, so they’ll be using formal Japanese. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

Linda: はじめまして。ABCコーポレーションの ベーカー リンダと申します。
: よろしくお願いいたします。
Katsumata:はじめまして。
: あさい商事 の かつまた と申します。
: どうぞよろしくお願いたします。
Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Linda: はじめまして。ABCコーポレーションの ベーカー リンダと申します。
: よろしくお願いいたします。
Katsumata:はじめまして。
: あさい商事 の かつまた と申します。
: どうぞよろしくお願いたします。
Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Linda: Nice to meet you. I'm Linda Baker from ABC Corporation.
: Pleased to meet you.
Katsumata: Nice to meet you.
: I'm Katsumata of Asai Shoji.
: Pleased to meet you too.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: Natsuko, do Japanese people exchange business cards when they meet each for the first time?
Natsuko: Yes, we do. Exchanging business cards is one of the most important aspects of business culture in Japan.
Eric: And I guess, there are some rules for how to do it in accordance with Japanese business etiquette. What is the etiquette we need to know when exchanging business cards?
Natsuko: There are two essential rules I want our listeners to remember in this lesson.
Eric: What’s the first one?
Natsuko: When you exchange business cards, give or take them with both hands.
Eric: Is it rude to receive someone’s business card with just one hand?
Natsuko: Yes, it is.
Eric: I see. What’s the second rule?
Natsuko: When you give your business card, make sure that your card is turned towards the receiver.
Eric: That makes sense. That way, the receiver can read your business card easily.
Natsuko: Exactly.
Eric: Is there a rule for who should give a business card first?
Natsuko: It depends on the situation, but it is said that if you exchange your business card with a person in a higher position than you, get his or her business card first, then give yours later.
Eric: Those are some good tips. Now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Eric: Let's take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Natsuko: はじめまして [natural native speed]
Eric: Nice to meet you.
Natsuko: はじめまして[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: はじめまして [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: 申す [natural native speed]
Eric: to be called, to say
Natsuko: 申す[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: 申す [natural native speed]
Eric: And last we have..
Natsuko: よろしくお願いいたします。 [natural native speed]
Eric: (literally) Please be good to me.
Natsuko: よろしくお願いいたします。[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: よろしくお願いいたします。 [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is…
Natsuko: 申す
Eric: It’s a verb meaning “to be called”.
Natsuko: You can use this verb to introduce yourself in a very polite way, as in もうします.
Eric: It seems that in business situations, this verb is more commonly used than です when a person’s name is introduced. For example, in a daily conversation I’d say “Eric desu” to mean “I’m Eric”, but in a business situation, I’d probably introduce myself as “Eric to mōshimasu” because it sounds more suitable.
Natsuko: That’s right. In a business situation, I’ll introduce myself as やまもりなつこともうします。
Eric: Meaning “I am Natsuko Yamamori.” Natsuko, can we also use the verb [mōshimasu] to introduce other people?
Natsuko: No. You can use mōshimasu only to introduce your own name.
Eric: I see. Can you give us an example using this verb?
Natsuko: Sure. For example, you can say.. 私は、田中と申します。
Eric: ..which means “I'm Tanaka.”
Natsuko: Here, we have the person’s name 田中, and it’s followed by と申します to say “I am Tanaka.”
Eric: Okay, what's the next word?
Natsuko: ベーカー リンダ
Eric: “Linda Baker”.
Natsuko: I’d like to mention Japanese name order here.
Eric: Unlike English, when introducing someone’s full name, you need to say the Family name first, then the given name.
Natsuko: That’s right.
Eric: So the name of the lady in this lesson’s dialogue is “Linda Baker”. If you want to refer to her in the Japanese way, it would be…
Natsuko: ベーカー リンダ. The family name ベーカー comes first.
Eric: So the Japanese name order is opposite to the Western one. The family name comes first and the given name after.
Natsuko: Right. But here’s a good rule. Non-Japanese people can state their name in any order they like, Western or Japanese, so if you want to follow the western order, that’s okay too.
Eric: Good to know. Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you will learn how to introduce yourself at a business meeting.
Natsuko: You can start your self-introduction with the phrase はじめまして which means “Nice to meet you”.
Eric: In Japan, when you introduce yourself in business situations, it is quite common to mention the company you’re working for. The sentence structure is pretty simple. First, say your company name.
Natsuko: For example, if you work at “JapanesePod101.com”, say the company's name. ジャパニースポッドイチマルイチドットコム。
Eric: then add the particle no, and after it, say your full name.
Natsuko: I'm Natsuko Yamamori, so I can say の やまもりなつこ。
Eric: and finally you can add…
Natsuko: ともうします
Eric: which is a humble phrase meaning “am called”. So, altogether we will have…
Natsuko:ジャパニースポッドイチマルイチドットコム のやまもりなつこともうします。
Eric: “I am Natsuko Yamamori from JapanesePod101.com” So, once again, the sentence structure is…
Natsuko: [Company name] の [your name] ともうします。
Eric: At the end of your self-introduction, please say…
Natsuko: よろしくお願いいたします。
Eric: which is often translated as “please be good to me”, but in this case it means something similar to “It's a pleasure to meet you”.
Natsuko: The verb いたします is a humble version of verb します, which means “to do”.
Eric: Natsuko, let's give our listeners some sample sentences.
Natsuko: Sure! はじめまして。株式会社サミーの桜井と申します。よろしくお願いいたします。
Eric: which means “Nice to meet you. I'm Sakurai from Samy Inc.”
Natsuko:花井自動車の伊藤と申します。どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。
Eric: which means “I'm Ito from Hanai Motor Corporation. Nice to meet you.”
Natsuko:林たかしと もうします。どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。
Eric: which means “I'm Takashi Hayashi. Pleased to meet you.”

Outro

Eric: Okay, that's all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we'll see you next time! Bye!
Natsuko: またね。

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