Lesson 1a: Greeting

You see Utada Hikaru walking by and you have to introduce yourself.

Hitori Nakamura wa nihojin desu. kireide, shinsetsu desu. - Hitori is japanese. She is pretty and nice.

You want to meet her. Well, of course you want to impress herself by introducing yourself in Japanese and then asking her what her name is. Here's the respectful way to do it.

You walk up to the person and then begin.

You: Hajimemashite. Your name desu. O-namae wa?

Hitori: Hitori desu. Hajimemashite.

Hajimemashite can be a polite way of asking - how do you do. Just respectful. O-namae wa is a colloquial style of asking what is your name? It is short for O namae wa nan desu ka?

Memorize the conversation, but this is what you should remember:

1. O namae wa nan desu ka - what is your name?


2. Hajimemashite. ____ desu. O-namae wa?

Here's a list of some cool vocabulary words on this website that go with today's lesson. Get on it. Since this is a simple lesson you should have no problem memorizing this.