hanamaruEpisode 1 · JLPT N5
おはよう・はじめまして
How to say good morning, hello and good evening in Japanese, and how to introduce yourself to someone you are meeting for the first time.
Listen to the conversation first, with no text, the way the video plays it. Then answer.
It is the first morning of school, and Yuki and Kenji meet at the gate.
Have they met before?
Play any line again, or the whole scene. Tap a word to hear only that part. Hide the English to test yourself.
Good morning!
Good morning. Are you Yuki?
Yes, that's right. Nice to meet you, I'm Yuki.
Nice to meet you. I'm Kenji. I look forward to getting to know you.
Likewise — I hope we get along!
What the video teaches, to read at your own pace.
The greeting depends on the time of day. In the morning, until about ten or eleven, you say おはようございます. Good morning — and with friends, a short おはよう is enough. From then until about six in the evening, you say こんにちは. Hello. From about six, you say こんばんは. Good evening.
When you meet someone for the first time, your name goes between two set phrases. はじめまして means nice to meet you. You say it only at a first meeting. Then you say your name, with です after it. Then you say よろしくお願いします. There is no single English for it. Roughly, it asks the other person to be good to you from here on. The English for it shifts with the moment: at a first meeting it lands near I hope we get on well, and before working together it is closer to I look forward to working with you. You will see it translated a little differently each time. That is the phrase, not a slip. The reply is こちらこそ、よろしくお願いします. こちらこそ means likewise, and the rest is the same phrase said back to you.
Two more things you will hear. さん goes after someone else's name, never your own. And か at the end turns a sentence into a question. ゆきさんですか means, are you Yuki? The answer, はい、そうです, means yes, that's right.
Listen to the end of です. The last vowel is only whispered, so the word sounds short. The same happens to the し in the middle of はじめまして and よろしく. Copy the sound when you repeat.
