Hover a line for its reading in kana and its translation; hover a word for its meaning. Tap 🔊 to hear it.
Alex has just arrived in Tokyo. Yuki, a colleague, introduces herself.
よろしくお願いします has no English equivalent. It closes an introduction, opens a request, and ends an email — the shared meaning is roughly 'please treat me favourably from here on'. Say it whenever a relationship begins and you will rarely be wrong.
How do I read these pronunciations? See the pronunciation guide.
1. AはBです — A is B
The basic Japanese sentence. は marks what you are talking about and です closes the sentence politely. は is the one kana that is not read as written: here it is wa, not ha.
2. か — turning a statement into a question
Add か to the end and the sentence becomes a question. Nothing else moves: no word order change, and in writing usually no question mark. 学生です becomes 学生ですか.
3. さん — the name suffix
Attach さん to someone else's name as a matter of course: アレックスさん, 田中さん. Never attach it to your own name. Japanese uses names where English would use 'you', so you will hear your own name far more than あなた.
4. Leaving out what is obvious
Japanese drops any part of the sentence both speakers already know. 学生です on its own means 'I'm a student' because the topic has not changed. Repeating 私は every time sounds oddly insistent, like saying 'as for ME' in English.
A. Fill in the Blank · 空欄をうめましょう
Fill in the blank with a word from this lesson's vocabulary.
- 1.私はアレックス。am
- 2.アメリカ人です。(question)
- 3.おは？name
- 4.こちらこそ、よろしくおします。request
B. Multiple Choice · えらびましょう
Choose the best answer.
- 1.How do you say "I'm a student"?
- 2.How is は read when it marks the topic?
- 3.Which is correct?
- 4.When do you say はじめまして?
C. Rearrange the Sentence · ならべかえましょう
Rearrange the words into a correct sentence, adding the punctuation shown in parentheses.
- 1.Tap tiles below…
- 2.Tap tiles below…
- 3.Tap tiles below…
- 4.Tap tiles below…
D. True or False · ○か×か
Based on the dialogue, mark each sentence T (true) or F (false).
- 1.Yuki's family name is Tanaka.
- 2.Alex is American.
- 3.Alex is a student.
- 4.Alex accepts the compliment about his Japanese.
E. Matching · せんでむすびましょう
Match each line on the left with the best response on the right.
F. Translation · やくしましょう
Translate items 1–2 into Japanese, and items 3–4 into English.
- 1.I'm Alex.
- 2.Are you a student?
- 3.日本語が上手ですね。
- 4.こちらこそ、よろしくお願いします。
Generate a brand-new dialog on any topic, using this lesson's 14 vocab words — plus any words you add below.
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Family name first, and -san
Japanese names put the family name first — 田中 before the given name — which is why a colleague is 田中さん rather than Yuki. さん attaches to the surname in almost every ordinary situation, including with people you know well, and dropping it is a real step in a relationship rather than a casual one. Never use it about yourself. Japanese also avoids あなた, the word for you, far more than English avoids someone's name: you address a person by surname and さん instead of by a pronoun.