Q&A

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?

Question: I often watch anime online and there is one word that characters often say in the anime that really makes me curious. What do they mean when they say “Nani??” especially when the characters are agitated?