Posts Tagged: japanese language

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16
Jul 10

How to Talk About Health in Japanese

If you plan on spending time in Japan or around Japanese-speaking people, it’s better that you over prepare than under prepare. Knowing how to talk about your health problems with your host family or a physician can help you get the treatment you need quickly—and accurately. Although you’ll likely be able to find an English-speaking doctor, you can get treatment faster if you’re able to explain yourself in Japanese as well.

(A cultural note: Unless it’s serious and you need medical assistance, it’s generally not considered polite to talk about your health in social situations. If you have a minor stomachache and you’re not that close to your host, for example, you might just excuse yourself without going into detail.)

Medical Term or Phrase in English Japanese Translation
I’m not feeling well. Kibun ga warui desu.
I’m sick. Byoki desu.
I injured myself. Kega wo shimashita.
I’m allergic to X. X ni arerugii ga arimasu.
My X hurts.* X ga itai desu.*
I have diarrhea. Geri desu.
I’m constipated. Benpi desu.
I have a cold. Kaze wo hiite imasu.
I have the flu. Infuruenza wo hiite imasu.

-or-

Ryuukan wo hiite imasu.
I’m on my period. Seiri desu.
I have hay fever / I have allergies (to pollen). Kafunshou desu.
I have a headache. Zutsuu ga shimasu.
I have a stomachache. Itsuu ga shimasu.
I have a toothache. Haita ga shimasu.

-or-

Shitsuu ga shimasu.
I have a runny nose. Hanamizu ga demasu.
I’m sneezing. Kushami ga demasu.
I’m coughing. Seki wo shimasu.
I vomited. Hakimashita.
I feel dizzy. Memai ga shimasu.
I have rashes. Hasshin ga arimasu.
My X itches.* X ga kayui desu.*
I want to go to the hospital/a doctor. Byouin ni ikitai desu.

*Some body parts that may hurt or itch (which you can use in place of “X” in the phrases above) include:

Body Part Japanese Translation
head atama
stomach onaka
tooth ha
chest mune
back senaka
shoulder kata
neck kubi
throat nodo
knee hiza
ankle ashikubi
toe tsumasaki
foot ashi*
leg ashi*
elbow hiji
wrist tekubi
finger yubi
hand te
arm ude
nose hana
ear mimi
eye me

* Yes, “foot” and “leg” are the same word in Japanese. Just point to which one you mean.

Just one more note. If you plan on working in Japan, you may become accustomed to their cultural views on becoming sick. As a whole, Japanese society values hardworkers and most companies actually discourage their employees from taking off from work, even when sick! If you do feel sick enough to stay home, your boss may pressure you to go to the hospital (as in a non-emergency walk-in clinic) and you may have to get a note from the doctor that says you should be permitted to stay home. If you don’t think you’re sick enough to get a note from the doctor, your boss will likely expect you to come in to work. If you have a cold or a contagious virus, you’ll be expected to wear a cold mask, which looks a bit like a dust mask, while you work. These can be very uncomfortable, especially after a while, but they’re important in an overcrowded country to prevent the spread of germs. However, while you won’t need to change your mask throughout the day to satisfy Japanese society’s requirements, scientists have doubted the ability of these masks to prevent the spread of germs after one hour of wear, so you may want to buy a bunch and change your mask every hour.

Even when you’re not sick, you’re likely to see people in public with these masks, especially in cold season. Now you know why!

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7
Jun 10

Japanese Suffixes, Part 2

Today we’re continuing our lesson on Japanese suffixes by going over a couple more important suffixes in the Japanese language.

Sensei

Sensei is a suffix used only with family names as a term of respect. More polite than san, sensei is primarily used with those who have earned a wide level of respect in their fields. It’s used for all teachers and doctors, at least when addressed by their co-workers and students and patients. It can also be used when referring to successful professionals in a variety of fields, such as scientists, politicians, religious figures, lawyers, accountants and even mangaka (comic artists), authors, artists, and musicians.

*Nakamura (family name) Kenji (given name) = Nakamura-sensei, Nakamura Kenji-sensei*

An English translation may include “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Miss,” “Ms.,” “Dr.,” “Professor,” “Father (as in priest),” or something similar, depending on the exact context. Unlike other suffixes, sensei can actually stand on its own as well, meaning that you can directly address these professionals or people whom you respect with “Sensei” without even stating their names. This use of the word is similar to that in English when you think of calling a college professor “Professor.”

A little less formally, but still in a way that demonstrates respect, students may even use the term when addressing their tutors, who may not be that much older than them. If you visit Japan, you might use the term when coming in contact with any of the abovementioned professionals or someone from whom you expect to learn a lot. You may also find yourself addressed with the suffix if you tutor someone or teach English or are a professional in one of these fields.

Sama

Not extremely frequently used in day-to-day conversations, sama is still an important suffix that you’ll find in entertainment, media, and sometimes in customer service interactions. Sama is traditionally only used with family names, but it may be used with given names depending on the context.

*Nakamura (family name) Kenji (given name) = Nakamura-sama, Nakamura Kenji-sama, Kenji-sama*

Sama demonstrates that the person being addressed with this suffix is being regarded with one of the highest levels of esteem. The suffix is traditionally only used when there is a great level of hierarchal disparity in the relationship between the speaker and the addressee, such as a servant speaking to his or her employer. Its English translation varies depending on the context, but could be as elegant as “Lord,” “Lady,” “Master,” or “Mistress,” or as normal as “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Miss,” or “Ms.,” or have no translation at all.

Businesses often employ this suffix when addressing their customers to demonstrate how important the customers are to them. Official forms or mailings traditionally give everyone the title of sama over san.

Perhaps less traditionally but fun nonetheless is the fact that people also use the term (most often with given names) for people whom they worship—not quite literally, but people with whom they are enamored, but whom they consider far beyond their reach. Fans shouting out to or making signs for celebrities are the most frequent examples, but even students might (somewhat jokingly) use the suffix for popular boys and girls whom everyone in class wishes to date.

Whom in your life might you address with sensei or sama if you were speaking Japanese? Would you deserve the title sensei yourself?

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4
Jun 10

Japanese Suffixes, Part 1

In Japan, where politeness in language is so important, suffixes are quite essential. What are suffixes? They’re words that come after other words—in this case, these suffixes are titles of address. A rough English equivalent could be the prefixes “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Ms.,” etc., but you’ll see that it’s not so straightforward as that.

Below are some of the Japanese language’s most common suffixes. As you may know from studying the language, differences in level of politeness are more common than gender differences.

San

San is by far the most common Japanese suffix. It’s a polite suffix that’s not overly polite and works in nearly any situation. When you’re not sure which suffix is appropriate, fall back on san.

*Nakamura (family name) Kenji (given name) = Nakamura-san, Kenji-san, or Nakamura Kenji-san.*

San can be used with both family names and given names, but you’ll be exhibiting an extra level of politeness by using it with family names and only addressing someone by his or her given name when given permission. When used with a family name, it can be translated as “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Miss,” or “Ms.,” depending on the person’s gender and marriage status. (There is no differentiation.) However, unlike in the U.S., co-workers, business associates and the like are more likely to address each other by each other’s family names, even after knowing each other for years, so even if in the English translation, using “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Miss,” or “Ms.” would sound weird, it’s correct in Japanese.

When used with a given name, there’s no English translation. However, you should use san with people who have given you permission to address them by their given names but with whom you’re not extremely close, especially if the person is older than you. For example, if you live with a host family, they may give you permission to use their given names, but it would be polite for you to add the suffix san to the names of all of the family members who are about your age or older.

Chan

Another common suffix is chan. You should not use chan to address anyone unless you know the proper context because chan does not demonstrate any level of politeness or respect. Instead, it’s closer to a term of endearment.

*Nakamura (family name) Kenji (given name) = Kenji-chan*

Chan is used only with given names and has no direct English translation. Very close friends, particularly girlfriends who are teenage or younger, may choose to address each other with this suffix added to their names. It is also sometimes used in a romantic, cutsey way between couples (for both males and females, but especially females). Most commonly, it’s used by anyone speaking to a young child, particularly young girls. (But it may also be used with very young boys.)

If you speak to a young child in Japan, you may use chan. Otherwise, wait until you’re invited to address a close friend with this term (you can usually tell if they address you with the term). If you’re older than high school age, you probably won’t use chan for anyone but young children.

Kun

Somewhat similar to chan, but less cutely endearing, is kun, which has no direct English translation.

*Nakamura (family name) Kenji (given name) = Nakamura-kun, Kenji-kun*

Kun is most often, but not always, used with given names by people to address younger boys (elementary to middle school age especially). It may also be used with family names for boys and even girls by those in a hierarchical relationship with the youths, such as teachers or mentors addressing their students. (Teachers don’t address their students by given names.) It may also be used with family names by students, particularly girls, to address the fellow male students in their class with whom they’re not especially close.

Come back Monday to learn a few more Japanese suffixes!

How would you address the people whom you encounter in your daily life if you were speaking Japanese? Decide which suffix is most appropriate.

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26
May 10

Going Shopping

If you intend to spend time in Japan—or if you frequent stores run by Japanese people—you’re bound to need to know how to ask questions when shopping. If you’re not sure how much something costs, you’ll need to have the basic language knowledge to ask and to understand the answer. Here are a few words and phrases that will help you when you’re going Japanese shopping:

“Ikura”

Ikura means “How much?” When you want to know the price of an item you can ask, “Ikura?” on its own or, for a more polite version of the phrase, you can ask “Ikura desu ka?” You can also point to the item, stating “Kore wa ikura desu ka?” (“How much is this?”) or “Sore wa ikura desu ka?” (“How much is that?”)

“X en desu”

The answer to “how much [does this cost]?” is usually the person telling you how many yen something is. This will probably be in the form “X en desu.” (The Japanese pronunciation for “yen” is actually “en.”) The “X” is however much it costs. So if an item costs ¥1000 (approximately US$10), the shop employee may answer, “Sen-en desu.”

“Takai” and “Yasui”

Once you hear how much something costs, you might be surprised that it’s more expensive than you thought. Or it could be an incredible deal! If you want to comment on that fact (and if you’re at a market, perhaps you can haggle a better price!), you can use the words “takai,” which means “expensive,” and “yasui,” which means “cheap.” To put those words into a phrase, you can say, “Sonna ni takai desu ka?” or “Sonna ni yasui desu ka?” which mean, “It’s that expensive?!” or “It’s that cheap?!” respectively.

“X wo kudasai” and “X wo onegai shimasu”

Once you decide to buy an item, you can ask for it by adding “please.” Remember that “kore” means “this,” “sore” means “that [thing close to you],” and “are” means “that [thing way over there].” Use the word that accurately describes your distance to the item you want to purchase in place of “X” and then say, “X wo kudasai” or “X wo onegai shimasu.”

Practice shopping in Japanese with a partner. Have the shopkeeper decide how much items cost and then the shopper can ask for the different prices and comment on how expensive or cheap they are. Have you ever shopped in a Japanese store before?

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7
May 10

Common Japanese Phrases and When You’ll Hear Them

A few weeks ago, when studying introductions, you learned two basic phrases of introduction: hajimemashite (roughly, “nice to meet you”) and yoroshiku onegaishimasu (“please take care of me”). Today we’ll look at a few more common Japanese phrases as well as the situations in which you’ll hear—and/or be expected to use—them.

Tadaima: “I’m home!”

A cliché from old American sitcoms is when a dad comes home from work and exclaims, “Honey, I’m home!” even if his wife is a few feet in front of him and can see that he walked through the door. Well, in Japan, it’s proper manners to exclaim, “tadaima!” or “I’m home” (literally “I’m back”) every time you come home, even if everyone can see that you’re home. If you spend time living with a Japanese family or roommate, it’s proper manners for you to exclaim “tadaima!” once you walk through the door. This behavior is so ingrained that even Japanese people living on their own tend to say, “tadaima!” to no one once they return home.

Okaeri or okaeri nasai: “Welcome home!”

When someone comes back home, it’s polite to say, “okaeri!” (casual) or “okaeri nasai!” (polite) to the person who’s returning. The literal translation means something like, “You’ve returned!” but the sentiment is “Welcome home!” If you live with a Japanese host family or roommate, it would be polite for you to say this to them upon their return home. It doesn’t matter who speaks first—the person returning home saying, “tadaima!” or the person already at home saying, “okaeri!”—but the person returning home tends to speak first more often than not, particularly if the rest of the family is not immediately present.

Ittekimasu: “I’m leaving!”

When you leave the house, it’s polite manners to shout, “ittekimasu!” as you go out the door. The phrase literally means, “I’ll come back, having gone!”

Itterasshai: “Have a good day!”

“Itterasshai,” which literally means “go and return,” has more of the sentiment of “Be careful!” or “Have a good day!” You say it to anyone who’s leaving the house (when you’re still at home) after or before the person who’s leaving says, “ittekimasu.”

Irasshaimase: “Welcome [to our store]!”

Unless you get a job at a store, restaurant or other customer service-heavy business while in Japan, you probably won’t find the need to say this yourself, but every time you enter such a shop, you’ll hear the people who work there welcome you with the phrase, “irasshaimase!” While many customer service employees will greet you with a smile, don’t be surprised if you don’t always hear the phrase with a lot of enthusiasm. Just like with customer service employees here, if their bosses tell them to greet customers with a certain phrase, they generally will. But a bad day, a general dislike for the job, or a shy personality may make the greeting come out as rather bland and unenthused. Some foreigners, not knowing the phrase is meant to welcome them as patrons of the shop, have even reported that they didn’t know what the employees were saying—and wondered if they were telling them to get out of the store! (But now you’ll know better.)

Maido or maido arigatou: “Thank you, come again!”

When you’re leaving a store, the same employees should shout another phrase at you, which generally means, “Thank you, come again!” but could also be thought of as “Please come back soon!” if you didn’t bought something. “Maido” is a shortened form of the phrase.

Have you ever heard these phrases before? (If you shop in Japanese stores even in the US, you might have heard employees shout the latter phrases, for example.)

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20
Apr 10

Saying the Year in Japanese

The last time we talked about language in this blog, we covered how to say the day and date in Japanese. Conspicuously missing was how to state the year. In this short lesson, we’ll take a look at how to pronounce the year in Japanese, but first you’ll need to review the Numbers Lesson.

There are two ways to state the year in Japanese. The first is based on the international Gregorian calendar, in which this year is considered 2010. To state the year in Japanese according to the Gregorian calendar, simply state the number followed by one pronunciation for the word for “year,” which is “nen.” Just remember that 2010 is not “twenty ten,” but actually “two thousand and ten.” For example:

Year Japanese Pronunciation
1910 sen kyuu-haku juu-nen
1920 sen kyuu-haku ni-juu-nen
1930 sen kyuu-haku san-juu-nen
1940 sen kyuu-haku yon-juu-nen
1950 sen kyuu-haku go-juu-nen
1960 sen kyuu-haku roku-juu-nen
1970 sen kyuu-haku nana-juu-nen
1980 sen kyuu-haku hachi-juu-nen
1990 sen kyuu-haku kyuu-juu-nen
2000 ni-sen-nen
2010 ni-sen juu-nen

To get the years in between the decades, just count upwards. For example, 1976 is “sen kyuu-haku nana-juu roku-nen” and 2009 is “ni-sen kyuu-nen.”

There is another way to state the year in Japanese that is based on the Japanese imperial rule. According to this calendar, a year is referred to by the title for the emperor’s reign, the number of years for which he has been crowned emperor at that point, and the word for year, “nen.” (Note: The first year in the emperor’s reign is not referred to as “year 1” [“ichi-nen”], but is instead referred to as “gannen,” which means “original year.”)

Although this system wasn’t widely adopted until the Meiji Era (1868-1912), this system of dating stretches back thousands of years. However, we’ll just worry about the most recent imperial eras here.

Imperial Era Years Applicable
Meiji 1868-1911
Taisho 1912-1925
Showa 1926-1988
Heiwa 1989-present
Year (Gregorian Calendar) Year (Imperial Calendar) Japanese Pronunciation (Imperial Calendar)
1910 Meiji 43 Meiji yon-juu san-nen
1920 Taisho 9 Taisho kyuu-nen
1930 Showa 5 Showa go-nen
1940 Showa 15 Showa juu go-nen
1950 Showa 25 Showa ni-juu go-nen
1960 Showa 35 Showa san-juu go-nen
1970 Showa 45 Showa yon-juu go-nen
1980 Showa 55 Showa go-juu go-nen
1990 Heisei 2 Heisei ni-nen
2000 Heisei 12 Heisei juu ni-nen
2010 Heisei 22 Heisei ni-juu ni-nen

The most recent imperial years are sometimes abbreviated with the roman letters “S” for “Showa” and “H” for “Heisei” on official documents.

So how do we say today’s date? First, let’s use what we learned earlier this month to state, “Today is Tuesday, April 20th” in Japanese:

Kyou wa shigatsu hatsuka kayoubi desu.

Remember that the order is: month, day of the month, day of the week. To add the year to that sentence, you should state it in the following order: year, month, day of the month, day of the week. So “Today is Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 (Heisei 22)” is:

Kyou wa ni-sen juu-nen shigatsu hatsuka kayoubi desu.

-or-

Kyou wa Heisei ni-juu ni-nen shigatsu hatsuka kayoubi desu.

How about stating when you were born? State the date, year first, and finish the sentence with “ni umareta (casual)” or “ni umaremashita (polite)” (“[I] was born.”) So “I was born on October 15th, 1983 (Showa 58)” is:

Watashi wa sen kyuu-haku hachi-juu san-nen juugatsu juugo-nichi ni umareta.

-or-

Watashi wa sen kyuu-haku hachi-juu san-nen juugatsu juugo-nichi ni umaremashita.

-or-

Watashi wa Showa go-juu hachi-nen juugatsu juugo-nichi ni umareta.

-or-

Watashi wa Showa go-juu hachi-nen juugatsu juugo-nichi ni umaremashita.

What year were you born? Practice converting it into the imperial equivalent. State your full birthday in Japanese. Continue practicing by stating the full birthdays of all of your friends and family members.

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9
Apr 10

Saying the Day and Date in Japanese

If you’ve been teaching yourself Japanese with the grammar lessons on this site, you ought to have a firm grasp on basic counting in Japanese. You’ll need to know those numbers to be able to say the date in Japanese—but it’s not as simple as saying the word “one” for the first of a month, for example.

Let’s start with the days of the week. The vocabulary for the days of the week are:

Sunday nichiyoubi
Monday getsuyoubi
Tuesday kayoubi
Wednesday suiyoubi
Thursday mokuyoubi
Friday kinyoubi
Saturday doyoubi

Each day of the week is named after an element or the sun or moon. Interestingly, the word for “Sunday” uses the kanji for “sun” and the word for “Monday” uses the kanji for “moon.” These two days of the week are named after the sun and moon in English as well.

The months of the year are a little easier than the days of the month because they follow a basic pattern. Just state the number of the month in Japanese and add one pronunciation of the word for “month,” “gatsu.”

January ichigatsu
February nigatsu
March sangatsu
April shigatsu
May gogatsu
June rokugatsu
July shichigatsu
August hachigatsu
September kugatsu
October juugatsu
November juuichigatsu
December juunigatsu

Most of the days of the month are simply the basic number in Japanese plus one pronunciation for the word “day,” which is “nichi.” However, there are a few exceptions, which are bolded:

1st tsuitachi 17th juushichi-nichi
2nd futsuka 18th juuhachi-nichi
3rd mikka 19th juuku-nichi
4th yokka 20th hatsuka
5th itsuka 21st nijuuichi-nichi
6th muika 22nd nijuuni-nichi
7th nanoka 23rd nijuusan-nichi
8th yooka 24th nijuuyokka
9th kokonoka 25th nijuugo-nichi
10th tooka 26th nijuuroku-nichi
11th juuichi-nichi 27th nijuushichi-nichi
12th juuni-nichi 28th nijuuhachi-nichi
13th juusan-nichi 29th nijuuku-nichi
14th juuyokka 30th sanjuu-nichi
15th juugo-nichi 31st sanjuuichi-nichi
16th juuroku-nichi

Now you should have enough information to say today’s date, minus the year. But first you’ll need to know the word for “today,” which is “kyou.”

Kyou wa shigatsu kokonoka kinyoubi desu. = Today is Friday, April 9th.

(Notice that the order is month, day of the month, day of the week.)

You might also want to say when your birthday is. The word for “birthday” in Japanese is “tanjoubi.”

Watashi no tanjoubi wa juugatsu juugo-nichi desu. = My birthday is October 15th.

There’s one more set of vocabulary you may need to know when talking about the date—the questions to ask when you don’t know what day it is (or what day someone is going to make plans). Just say the word for “what,” “nan,” and add the common ending for that particular question.

What day of the week? nanyoubi
What month? nangatsu
What day of the month? nan-nichi

Kyou wa nanyoubi desu ka. = What day of the week is it today?

Kyou wa nan-nichi desu ka. = What’s today’s date?

Tanjoubi wa nangatsu desu ka. = What month is your birthday?

When is your birthday? When is your friends’ birthdays? State them all in Japanese. Practice stating the day’s date in Japanese every day from now on.

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5
Apr 10

Osaka: The Home of Cuisine and Comedy, Part 2

On Friday, we discussed Osaka as “the nation’s kitchen.” Today we’ll talk instead about Osaka as the home of comedy. But first, we’ll take a closer look at Osaka-ben, or the Osakan dialect.

Just like in the U.S., where an American southerner often speaks with a remarkably different accent than a New Englander, for example, there are multiple distinguishable accents throughout the nation of Japan. The standard Japanese accent, which foreigners are most likely to study and which is the frequent accent used in TV and movie productions, is the Tokyo-ben (the Tokyo dialect). The next most famous accent is the Kansai-ben and in particular, the Osaka-ben (Osaka is a prefecture in the Kansai area).

The Osaka-ben involves putting the emphasis on different syllables in most any given word as well as a different intonation. Some sentence-ending particles and verb conjugations are changed slightly. There are also a few phrases synonymous with the accent, including “ookini” (“thank you,” “arigatou” in standard Japanese, or “please,” “onegai” or “kudasai” in standard Japanese) and “kore nambo” (“how much is this?” or “kore wa ikura desu ka” in standard Japanese).

While Osakans are stereotypically known to be jovial and friendly, the Osaka-ben is characterized as being a bit goofy and backwards by the rest of Japan, although of course that’s just a stereotype. However, it’s the stereotype that the accent is “funny-sounding” that makes it an integral part of Osakan comedy.

The most famous type of Osakan comedy is manzai, which actually was developed roughly 1000 years ago in other parts of Japan. However, since the late 19th century, manzai has been so strongly associated with Osaka that performing the act in an Osakan accent (whether or the performers are Osakan natives) is virtually a prerequisite, even when taking the show on the road to other parts of Japan.

The manzai act involves two comedians, one called the tsukkomi (literally, “butt in,” but basically the straight man) and the other the boke (literally “senility,” and in other words, the funny man). Like in the Western straight-man-funny-man combos, the humor is derived from one comedian trying to tell a story and the funny man acting incredibly airheaded and dumb, “unintentionally” causing the audience to laugh with his incorrect and simple observations and increasingly exasperating and the frustrating the straight man.

However, unlike such combos in the West, the tsukkomi is really much harsher to the boke, constantly interrupting him (“butting in”) to insult him for his stupidity and correct him or to even hit him on the head with a large paper fan or some other item! The tsukkomi frequently ends an act with the phrase, “Yamesashite moraimasu wa!” which means “Let’s quit!” because he can’t take the boke’s stupidity any longer.

While there are currently female comedian manzai duos and male/female duos in Japan, the art has traditionally been exclusive to men and the number of male performers greatly outnumbers the number of female performers. The M-1 Grand Prix competition for manzai features over 3000 duos competing for the title of best in Japan each year.

See an example of a manzai comedy routine here.

Have you ever seen a manzai comedy routine in person? Do you think the tsukkomi-boke style of humor is funny? Have you ever spoken with a person from Osaka? Did you notice his or her different Japanese accent?

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19
Mar 10

Talking About Family in Japanese

Today we’re going to review the Japanese words for family members so that if you have a Japanese discussion, you can talk about your family and background. If you’ve been paying attention to what we’ve had to say about the Japanese language and culture so far, you ought to have noticed that politeness is essential when speaking Japanese. This includes being humble and referring to yourself in less exalted terms than you refer to other people. Similarly, you should be humble when speaking about your own family to others while being polite when speaking about other people’s families.

In Japanese, there are three important variations of words for family:

1.)    Titles you use when speaking to the family members. If you had grown up in a Japanese family, these are the words you would use to address your own family members. English equivalents include “Mom,” “Dad,” “Grandma,” “Grandpa,” etc. when speaking directly to those family members. If you marry into a Japanese family or spend time with a Japanese host family, you might receive permission to address the family members with these titles. In any case, you might want to know these words if you observe a Japanese family interacting with one another.

2.)    Words to use when speaking about your own family to other people. These words are different than the words you use when speaking to your own family members and the words you use when speaking about other people’s families because you need to demonstrate humbleness when speaking to other people. All of these words automatically imply “my” in them, so there is no need for you to say “my” (“watashi no”), as you will only be referring to your own family with these words.

3.)    Words to use when speaking about other people’s families. You may notice that most of these words are the same as the titles you use when addressing your own family members. This is because you want to show older members of your family respect when speaking to them, just as you want to always show respect when speaking about other people’s families.

Kazoku (Family)

Family Member Title Your Own Family Other People’s Families
Mother

Mom

Mommy

 okaasan

okaachan / kaachan

mama

 haha okaasan
Father

Dad

Pops

Daddy

 otousan

otouchan / touchan

oyaji

papa

 chichi otousan
Parents – ryoushin goryoushin
Older Sister oneesan

oneechan / neechan

 ane oneesan
Younger Sister By her name imouto imoutosan
Older Brother oniisan

oniichan / niichan

 ani oniisan
Younger Brother By his name otouto otoutosan
Sibling – kyoudai kyoudai
Son By his name musuko musukosan
Daughter By her name musume musumesan
Husband By his name or by anata (which means “you,” but can be translated as “darling” or “honey”) or, if a father, by otousan. (It’s customary to start calling your husband “Father” once you have children together.) otto

shujin

 goshujin
Wife By her name or by anata (which means “you,” but can be translated as “darling” or “honey”) or, if a mother, by okaasan. (It’s customary to start calling your wife “Mother” once you have children together.) tsuma

kanai

 okusan
Grandmother

Grandma/Nana

 obaasan

obaachan / baachan

 sobo obaasan
Grandfather

Grandpa/Papa

 ojiisan

ojiichan / jiichan

 sofu ojiisan
Grandparents – sofubo sofubo
Grandson By his name magomusuko magomusukosan
Granddaughter By her name magomusume magomusumesan
Aunt obasan

obachan

 oba obasan
Uncle ojisan

ojichan

 oji ojisan
Nephew By his name oi oisan
Niece By her name mei meisan
Cousin By his or her name or possibly by oneesan or oniisan if the cousin is older itoko itokosan

You may have noticed that if the family member is older than you, there’s some form of respectful title with which you address them, but if the family member is younger, you address them by their names. This is because age is one component of how you determine what level of politeness to use. People who are older than you, even in your family, always deserve some level of respect when you’re speaking in Japanese.

What words would you use to refer to your family when speaking Japanese? Does it seem odd to refer to older siblings by titles and not their names?

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3
Mar 10

Introductions Part 2: Occupation, Nationality and Greeting Phrase

After you’ve stated your name, you have the option of giving your occupation and nationality, but you don’t have to if you don’t think it’s appropriate. However, to exchange introductions politely, you must say one of two greeting phrases.

Occupation

To state your occupation, you must first know some vocabulary for common professions. However, this is by no means a complete list:

Middle school student = chuugakusei

High school student = koukousei

College student = daigakusei

Teacher = kyoushi

Professor = kyouju

Office worker = kaishain

Doctor = isha

Retail worker = tenin

Lawyer = bengoshi

Journalist = jaanarisuto

To state your occupation, after you state your name, you simply say:

OCCUPATION desu. = I’m a/an OCCUPATION.

In other words, college students would say:

Daigakusei desu. = I’m a college student.

Nationality

Assuming you’re a native English speaker in the West, here are the three primary nationalities you could be:

1. America = amerika -or- beikoku

American (person) = amerikajin

American (thing): amerika no


2. Canada = kanada

Canadian (person) = kanadajin

Canadian (thing): kanada no


3. Great Britain = igirisu -or- eikoku

British (person) = igirisujin

British (thing): igirisu no

There are two ways to state your nationality in your introduction. You can simply state, “I’m NATIONALITY” or you can combine it with your occupation to state, “I’m a/an NATIONALITY OCCUPATION.”

NATIONALITY desu. = I’m NATIONALITY

NATIONALITY no OCCUPATION desu. = I’m a NATIONALITY OCCUPATION.

In other words, an American college student could say:

Amerikajin desu. = I’m American.

Amerika no daigakusei desu. = I’m an American college student.

Greeting Phrase

After you have stated your name, occupation, and nationality (the latter two are optional), you should say one of two phrases:

1. Hajimemashite = Nice to meet you. (Literally “we meet for the first time.”)

2. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu = Please take care of me. (Literally “I ask that you be kind to me, please.”)

You use the first phrase with people whom you don’t expect to see much or people who won’t be living, working, or attending classes with you. For example, your host mother introduces her nephew. You can say, “Nice to meet you” to the nephew.

You use the second phrase with anyone with whom you will have a working relationship or who will be literally taking care of you. These include a host family, your work colleagues and boss, and your classmates and teachers. It is proper Japanese to humbly request that the person treats you kindly throughout your working relationship. These people will say the same to you.

Summary

Jane Doe, a Canadian office worker, introduces herself to the host family with whom she will be staying during her stay:

Konnichiwa. Jane Doe desu. Kanada no kaishain desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

Tom Taylor, a British traveler, introduces himself to a friend of a colleague in Japan:

Ohayou gozaimasu. Watashi no namae wa Tom Taylor desu. Iigirisujin desu.

Hajimemashite.

Don’t recognize the greeting expressions used before the introductions? Review Essential Vocabulary here.

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