Q&A

Question: Japan is accepting individual travellers and I’m going to Japan next week! I’m so excited that I can set foot on Japan again. I want to try communicating in Japanese as much as I can this time. As I’m traveling alone, it’s a bit troublesome when I want to take a picture of myself with the beautiful scenery. How do I say “Can you please take a picture for me” in Japanese?

Question: I got to know a Japanese girl that I like through online gaming. We have similar interests and we often like the same songs and things. How do I ask her whether she “also” likes or has the same interests as me? For example, I also like the song. Do you also like the song?

Question: I’m a 26-year-old American on a working holiday in Japan. I got a job teaching English to Japanese children. I have had experience as a babysitter in America but over here, I have many students. As we don’t speak a common language, the children’s attention span is short and sometimes the class gets too noisy to continue. There is one boy who is overly energetic and sometimes I have to reprimand him, but he doesn’t even understand me. How do I say “Be quiet” in Japanese?

Question: I have started learning judo. My master is quite cool but he’s a little strict. I always try not to be late or absent for my class, but I have a slight fever today. I don’t think I can go for class. I’m going to call him but how should I explain my reason? How do I say “I will not join the class because I have a fever.”?

Question: I am an American Japanese from Hawaii. I’m in Japan for a training course. I look like a Japanese so people often speak to me in Japanese, but I can’t speak Japanese at all. How do I say “I don’t speak Japanese” in Japanese?

Question: I’m a cabin attendant. Passengers are slowly taking flights again. I enjoy working on flights to Japan. As I have a lot of Japanese customers, I want to serve them in Japanese. “Coffee or tea?” “Chicken or fish?” As in the above example, I want to be able to ask my passengers about their menu options in Japanese. Please tell me how to say “or” in Japanese.

Question: I’ve just started learning Japanese. How do I say “the” in Japanese? I’ve learned demonstratives like “kore” “sore” “are” in Japanese. Are these different from “the”?

Question: I often play with Japanese players in online games. We became good friends as we are all regular players. It’s still difficult for me to converse in Japanese but I often ask them about slangs, trendy words, and expressions that are not found in dictionaries. What do you mean by “Rimuru”? I want to ask questions about the meaning of different words. Please teach me how to say the above.

Question: I’ve a Japanese girlfriend. As she’s good in English, we usually communicate in English but I’m also studying a little Japanese. I always want to compliment her in Japanese but I’m not sure how to say it. How to say “You are amazing” in Japanese?

Question: I have been working at a Japanese company for two years but we have never had a company dinner before due to the pandemic. Now that the rules have relaxed somewhat, my manager is suggesting we hold a company dinner again next week. I hear that Japanese people drink a lot of alcohol during company dinners but I don’t drink. I’m also not sure what Japanese people say when they are giving a toast. How do they say “Cheers!” in Japanese?