Q&A

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?

Question: My department is organizing a company dinner. It’s the first time we are having a company dinner since the pandemic and I’m actually quite excited about it. I’ve never been to a Japanese company dinner before and I’m looking forward to it. When my colleague asked me whether I’m going, I wanted to tell him in Japanese “Of course, I’m going”. But I realized I don’t know how to say “Of course” in Japanese. How do I say “Of course!” in Japanese?

Question: My team members and I have been working on a project where we each have our own tasks to complete. Most of my team members are Japanese. When I’m done with my task, how do I tell them that “I’m done” with my tasks?

Question: My Japanese partner and I were having a big argument the other day. I was tired and frustrated with the whole thing and I wanted to stop arguing. But he would not leave me alone and continued to keep on and on about the same thing. How do I tell him to just go away in Japanese?

Question: My Japanese colleagues and I are at a work-related dinner and we are done for the day. As we are getting ready to leave the venue, what would be the best way to say “Have a good night” in Japanese?