Understanding Japanese
Learning Japanese is a lot of fun and in this article I am going to teach you Japanese for beginners and in oarticular Japanese greetings.
Before I explain exactly how to greet someone in Japanese I want to briefly provide you with some cultural insight into the Japanese language.
When learning Japanese you need to know that with in the language is a form of speech called Keigo. This differentiates between the polite form and the informal way of speaking. Therefore what you find is that some words change depending on who it is that you are talking to. One simple example is when you greet a teacher in the morning you would say the polite “ohayo gozaimasu”, where are good morning amongst friends is a simple “ohayo”
Also when we consider the way the verbs in conversation are used it depends on the social status of whom you are speaking to.
Ok let take a look at how to say the most useful greetings in Japanese:
If you meet someone for the very first time then you say “Hajimemashite” sounds like ha-jimi-mush-tay. You should also bow from the waste but don’t exaggerate you bow just a slight bend from the hips with hands at the side will suffice.
Next the phrase you want to say is “Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu” which simply means ‘pleased to meet you’.
Just as in most languages the greeting that you use will change depending on the time of the day. So let now have a quick look at a few common terms:
Good Evening = Konban wa
Good Night = Oyasumi Nasai
Good Day = Konnichi wa
Hi (more imformal) = Domo
One other quick tip that might help you avoid an embarassing situation in Japan is make sure that you remove you shoes when entering someones house!
That’s a good start to learning Japanese greetings and if you want more free Japanese lessons you can get more clicking here: Japanese Learning Software or Learn Speak Japanese
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