Hover a line for its reading in kana and its translation; hover a word for its meaning. Tap 🔊 to hear it.
Generate a brand-new dialog on any topic, using this lesson's 0 vocab words — plus any words you add below.
Sign in to generate dialogues. It needs a pass — the first ten lessons of every course are free either way.
The mail that is 90% template
A Japanese business mail of two hundred characters may contain twenty of original content. This is not padding and it is not insincerity — the formulae do a job that English does with tone of voice and paragraph rhythm, which writing cannot carry. お世話になっております establishes the relationship, お手数ですが marks that you know you are imposing, ご確認のほど softens an instruction into a wish, and 以上 closes without the awkwardness of a personal sign-off. Learn the fifteen or so that recur and the composition problem collapses to one question: what am I actually asking for? That is 高橋's point, and it is why she started with the subject line — the one place where the template runs out and you have to say the thing.