Q&A

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?

Question: I was chatting with my Japanese friend online when she said she has already had her lunch. It was not time for lunch yet in my country, so I was surprised to hear that. I wanted to ask, “What time is it?” in Japanese. How do I say it?

Question: My wife developed flu-like symptoms a few days ago and was tested positive for COVID-19. Naturally, this put our whole family on panic mode as all of us need to stay home and self-isolate for 14 days to see if we develop symptoms as well. My son goes to a Japanese elementary school. How do I tell his teacher that he is “on self-isolation” and cannot go to school in Japanese?

Question: I’m working part-time at a supermarket. We usually have many customers crowding around the cooked food section during lunch and dinner time. Now with the COVID-19 situation, crowding is strongly discouraged. My supervisor wants me to make an announcement in Japanese to advise customers to maintain safe social distancing. All my other colleagues were busy, and I couldn’t really ask them. How do I say “Please maintain social distancing” in Japanese?

Question: My city is under a lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic and there is no sign of reopening soon. Travel is restricted and those who can work from home are strongly encouraged to do so. I have already been working from home for several weeks now. Most of my friends in Japan still need to go to the office every day. I want to write a message in Japanese to tell them that I work from home. How should I say it?

Question: I’m working part-time at a supermarket. We usually have many customers crowding around the cooked food section during lunch and dinner time. Now with the COVID-19 situation, crowding is strongly discouraged. My supervisor wants me to make an announcement in Japanese to advise customers to keep at least 2m apart from one another. How do I say this in Japanese?

Question: My city is under lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic and there is no sign of reopening soon. Travel is restricted and I miss my Japanese friends. I’m arranging a Zoom meeting online to catch up with them. I want to ask how things are going recently for them in Japanese. Please help!