Q&A

Question: I had the chance to stay with my Japanese friend and his family during my trip to Japan. I noticed that whenever we came back from outside, he would say something to his mum, and she would respond to it. I guess he’s saying that he’s back but I’m not sure. I’m also a bit embarrassed to ask him directly as I don’t want to seem like I’m eavesdropping on their conversation. How do I say “I’m home” in Japanese?

Question: I was in the photocopy room at the office when I heard someone asking for me. How do I reply “I’m here” in Japanese?

Question: We were talking about our family over lunch and my Japanese colleague asked me how many children I have. I wanted to say I have a girl. How do I say “Girl” in Japanese?

Question: My Japanese friend’s birthday is coming soon and I want to send her a birthday message. How do I say happy birthday in Japanese?

Question: I was interning at a Japanese company. During lunchtime, someone called the office and I picked up the phone. The man spoke rapidly in Japanese but I could not understand. Nobody was around to take the call in Japanese. I spoke in English but he could not understand me either. We had to end the call. When my colleagues returned to the office, I could only tell them that a man called the office but I could not provide more information. How do you say “man” in Japanese?

Question: I have started learning conversational Japanese and in class, I learned how to say, “I take a bus to school every morning” which is “maiasa basude gakkoo e ikimasu”. I actually have to walk quite a bit to school after alighting from the bus. So how do I say “I take a bus and walk to school”? Can I say “watashi wa basu to aruite gakkoo e ikimasu”?

Question: I will be starting my internship in a Japanese company. I want to leave a good impression on my Japanese supervisor and colleagues and am thinking of saying “nice to meet you” in Japanese. How do I say it in Japanese?

Question: I have started my internship in a Japanese company. It was my first day at work and it was almost time to go home. I wanted to leave a good impression on my Japanese supervisor so I said “Sayoonara” to her as I was preparing to leave. She looked at me in surprise and then she laughed and replied “Ja, mata ashita ne”. I was quite embarrassed. I had the feeling that I said something wrong, but I did not dare to clarify. Was I wrong to say “sayoonara” for “good bye”?

Question: I am starting internship at a Japanese company soon and I want to make a good impression at work. How do I say “Good morning” in Japanese?

Question: My Japanese friend went to Kyoto and bought me a box of sweets. I have never seen anything like it before. The skin of the sweet looks like gyoza skin and the filling is red bean. I wanted to ask her what this sweet is. How do I say “what is this?” in Japanese?