I always ask my students if they want to practice casual speech,

like that you would use with friends in daily life, or formal speech,

like that you would use when you shop or ask directions from someone in the street.

However it is likely that most teachers, including me, will initially talk to you

or introduce themselves in formal speech unless you start speaking informally.

This is because Japanese people always act politely in front of someone new.

Therefore I would like to concentrate on giving you some highly useful formal phrases

that you can use with your Japanese teacher, especially on your first Japanese lesson.

How to introduce yourself

自己紹介 ・じこしょうかい・jikosyoukai – Self-introductions

Even if you are a complete beginner, you should at least try to do this in Japanese.

Nani?

What?

You think Japanese phrases and words sound like long wizard spells?

No worries, even little 7-year-old Misa could memorize the Harry Potter spell

「ウィンガーディアム・レビオーサ」(Wingardium Leviosa)! You can do it too!

Like a witch dipping a quill into a pot of ink, dip your はし(chopstick) into しょうゆ (soy sauce)

and take notes on what you didn’t know. If you already know these,

you should take some rest and have some sushi instead!

Here’s how to begin your first Japanese lesson:

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Sensei (Teacher):

こんにちは！(Konnichiwa!) – “Hello!”

You: こんにちは！ (Konnichiwa!)

Sensei:

はじめまして。〔なまえ〕です。よろしくおねがいします。 *bow*

You:

初めまして / はじめまして /Hajimemashite.

“Nice to meet you.”

(初めまして <- the first character is called “Kanji”.

The second one はじめまして is written all in Hiragana for beginners.)

Hajimete （初めて）means first time,

so the literal translation is something like, “This is our first meeting.”

〔name〕です/ des(u). – “I’m [name].”

Have you read somewhere that it’s correct to say

“Watashi no namae wa [name] desu” / わたしのなまえは～です?

Well, it’s grammatically correct, but you would rarely hear it from a native speaker.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. / よろしくおねがいします。

The word “yoroshiku” is hard to translate, but something like “Please be kind to me and take care of me.”

Onegai shimasu / おねがいします。

means “I beg you/ please,” and you put it after yoroshiku for politeness.

But you can just remember all of this together as a phrase, beginning with Hajimemashite.

Recite the above sentences. Or, if you wanna step out

from beginner level and impress your sensei a bit,

you could add kochira koso / こちらこそ

in front of yoroshiku onegaishimasu. / よろしくおねがいします。

This magical kochira koso means, “I’m the one that should really be saying that.

So, kochira koso yoroshiku onegai shimasu would basically mean,

“I’m the one who should be askingyou for kindness.”

(笑) *lol*

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How to tell your teacher you don’t get it

Sensei : *super fast what-on-earth-am-I-listening-to Japanese*

You : あの・・・すみません。わかりません・・・。

• Ano /あの… is like “ehm… well…”In fact, あの (ano) and えっと (etto)
  are both filler words that mean “Well…”.
  When you stutter or don’t know what to say, you just say those.
  Just like that, you’ll start sounding authentic.
  
  Iya, hontouni. (No, seriously.)

• Sumimasen / すみません
   – “I’m sorry / Excuse me.”

Gomen / ごめん
is the casual way of saying “sorry”.

• Wakarimasen / わかりません
• – “I don’t understand.”

Sensei : *After explaining*

• わかりましたか？(Wakarimashitaka?) – Did you understand?

You : いいえ、まだ・・・（わかりません。） / あんまり・・・ / なんとなく・・・

• Iie, mada…(wakarimasen.)　いいえ、まだ・・・（わかりません）。– mada (まだ） + a negative adjective or verb
  (or a phrase implying something negative)means “not yet“.
  Mada by itself, without a negative word, means “still“.

• Anmari （あんまり） + a negative word
  (or a phrase implying something negative) means “not really“.
  The actual word is amari（あまり）,
  but pronouncing it “properly” would sound too formal here.

• Nantonaku （なんとなく）- here, this means “sort of” or “vaguely“.
  But it also has a meaning similar to “Just because” or “somehow“.
  For instance, nantonaku suki means, “I just… like it, for some reason.”

Alternatively, after being asked  わかりましたか？,

you could respond: もうすこしゆっくり いってください／しゃべってください。

• Mou sukoshi （もうすこし）- a little bit more

• Yukkuri （ゆっくり）– slowly

• Itte kudasai （いってください）- please say

• Syabette kudasai （しゃべってください）- please talk

• Together, mou sukoshi yukkuri itte kudasai/syabette kudasai
  means, “Please say it/talk a little bit more slowly.”

Sensei : *Explains more slowly*

You : あ、なるほど  (A, naruhodo) – “I got it.”

This is a very nice phrase for expressing that you understood. It sounds like you really listened to it carefully, too.

Sensei: よかった！(Yokatta!)

“Thank god” or “Good to hear”.

How to ask the meaning of a word

Sensei : にほんごはむずかしいですか？(Nihongo wa muzukashii desu ka?)

You : 「むずかしい」はなんといういみですか？

-“muzukashii” wa nan to iu imi desu ka?

／ むずかしいはえいごでなんですか？

– muzukashii wa eigo de nan desu ka?

Nihongo means “Japanese language”.
Muzukashii means “difficult”. So, the teacher asked if Japanese is difficult.

• ~wa nan to iu imi desu ka? （～はなんといういみですか）
  means, “What does ~ mean?”
• Imi （いみ)
  means “meaning”.
• Alternatively,
  ~ wa eigo de nan desu ka?  (～はえいごでなんですか）
  means, “What is ~ in English?”
• Eigo means “English.”

You could say it this way too:

wa nihongo de nan desu ka?

（～はにほんごでなんですか）

“How do you say in Japanese?”

Or

wa nihongo de nan to iimasuka?

（～はにほんごでなんといいますか）

This means the same thing, it’s just longer.

Casually, you can ask: ~ wa eigo de nani?　（～はえいごでなに）

– “What is ~ in English?”

Another casual way to ask this is

~ wa nihongo de nan te iu? 　（～はにほんごでなんていう）

“How do you say ~ in Japanese?”

How to thank your teacher :

You : きょうはありがとうございました。たのしかったです。

• Kyou wa arigatou gozaimashita. – “Thank you for today.”
• Tanoshikatta desu. – “It was fun.”

Sensei : いえいえ、こちらこそありがとうございました。

• Ieie – “Don’t mention it.”
• Kochira koso arigatou gozaimashita. – “I’m the one that should be thanking you,” or “No, thank you,” or simply, “Thank you, too.”

How to say goodbye to your teacher:

Sensei : では、さようなら。　／　じゃ、さようなら。　／　じゃ、また。

• Dewa – “Well then.” Casually, you can say Ja or Jaa.
• Sayounara – Goodbye. A casual alternative is Mata, which literally means “again” or “next time”.

Thank you for reading. And, I hope your lesson is a successful one. ^_^

がんばってね！ Ganbatte ne! Good luck!