Japanese lessons, like any language, can be fun as long as you don’t put too much pressure on yourself to get everything perfect at the beginning. Focusing on a small amount and learning it well can be much more satisfying and effective when it come to learning how to speak Japanese.

So with that in mind, when travelling in Nihon, or practising your ‘Nihongo‘, you will need the basics in your mental/linguistic box of tricks; that is to say, all the usual niceties that everyone uses to get by. These should be memorized by heart before you go.

It is amazing how knowing a few of the social terms will smooth your way through awkward situations when all else fails. Please and Thank you are a good place to start:

• Please…Onegai shimasu. If you only learn one Japanese phrase, make sure it is this one!
• Thanks…Arigato
• Thankyou…Domo arigato.
• Thankyou very much…Domo arigato gozaimasu

Greetings and salutations:

• Excuse me...Sumimasen is also very handy to use with please and thankyou is. This word can be used in many situations when you are not sure of how to behave; like a ‘get out of jail free’ card. You will be forgiven a lot of ‘faux pas’ if you use sumimasen. The idea behind sumimasen is something like, ’sorry for the trouble I have caused you’ or ‘thanks for your effort on my behalf‘.
• You’re welcome…Do itashi mashite.
• Here you are…Dozo.
• Good morning…Ohayo gozaimasu! Pronounced ‘O-hi-yo go-zie-muss’
• Good afternoon/hello…Konnichiwa!
• Good evening…Konbanwa!
• Goodnight...Oyasumi nasai.
• Goodbye…Sayonara!More commonly used in an exterior environment .i.e when leaving a house.
• Goodbye…Shitsurei shimasu. This is more formal, like saying goodnight to your boss at the end of the day.
• Well then…Dewa mata/ja mata. A common phrase used when leaving family or friends.
• So long/see you…Itte rasshai. This means ‘go and come back‘, an equivalent of ‘mind how you go‘ or ‘take care‘. The reply to this is: Itte kimasu, ‘i’m coming back’.
• I’m back...Tadaima. ‘I’m back‘ or ‘I’ve returned‘. The reply to tadaima is this: Okaeri nasai meaning ‘welcome home‘.

How about YES and NO? The essential of how to speak Japanese!

• Yes/what you have said is correct…Hai.
• No/what you have said is not correct…Ie