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You are planning a trip to Japan and would like to learn some Japanese phrases. However, you are worried that this is going to be a difficult task.
You are not sure if you would be able to utter a single word of Japanese. Relax, it is not that hard – really.
There are two points that will make learning Japanese and especially only a couple of phrases easier for you. The first point is that Japanese is a phonetically based language.
What that means is that you pronounce it the way it is written. There are no exceptions like there are in English.
Once you learn the basic building blocks of the language, to pronounce words is simply a case of putting together the syllables and you will be able to pronounce the words correctly.
For example, “thank you” in Japanese is “arigatou.” If you pronounce the word and write out how it sounds in English, it would be “ah ri gah toh.”
The second point is that many phrases in English are only one or two words in Japanese. For example, “how do you do?” is only one word in Japanese, “hajimemashite.”
Another example is “let’s start eating,” in Japanese, it is only one word “itakakimasu.” Japanese uses a different sentence structure from English.
When you are first starting to learn Japanese, you are better off learning the phrases as they are and not try to understand every single word, as it may confuse you.
Later, if you continue learning, you will then learn how sentences are put together. Of course, not all phrases will be one or two words.
But you should find that after you have learnt the basic sounds of the language, putting together words and sentences is not so hard after all.
Click Play below and listen to learn some basic Japanese phrases. Most of the phrases below are one or two words which makes them good ones to start learning Japanese with.
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| English | Japanese |
| Hello | Konnichi wa |
| Excuse Me | Sumimasen |
| Yes | Hai |
| No | Iie |
| I don’t understand | Wakarimasen |
| Thank-you | Arigato |
| No Thank-you | Kekko desu |
| You’re welcome | Do Itashimashite |
| I’m sorry | Gomen Nasai |
| I’m pleased | Ureshii desu |
| I’m sad | Kanashii desu |
Next, why don’t you check out some Japanese greetings and learn how to tell the time in Japanese?