As you know, you only get one chance to make a great first impression. When you're in Japan, you'll need to quickly and confidently tell people who you are, where you're from, and what you enjoy doing. These three simple facts about yourself are enough to form lasting friendships. Sentences as simple as, "My name is Cindy" and "I'm from America" along with those as complex as, "I enjoy running, reading, and cooking," are a critical part of making a killer first impression. This Newbie Japanese article provides you with all the tools you need to make a great first impression using Japanese. You'll first master shusshin to talk about your hometown, and shumi to discuss your hobbies. Next, you'll discover how easy it is to talk about those hobbies in Japanese. This Japanese article comes complete with helpful charts of countries and hobbies along with plenty of examples and practice sentences. If you want to make a perfect first impression, don't miss this Japanese article!

Vocabulary: In this article, you'll learn the following words and phrases:

kaunseraa - "counselor"

ryuugaku - "studying abroad"

jiko shookai - "self-introduction"

boku - "I, me" (male)

chuugoku-jin - "Chinese person"

chuugoku-go - "Chinese language"

nihongo - "Japanese language"

hanashimasu - "to speak, to talk" (-masu form)

mina-san - "everyone"

shumi - "hobby"

ryokou - "travel, trip"

shusshin - "person's origin" (hometown,country)

Grammar: In this article, you'll learn the following words and phrases:

Useful Vocabulary and Phrases For Self-Introductions

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shusshin - "hometown"

shumi - "hobby"

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Sentence Pattern:

(Watashi no) shusshin wa ______ desu. "My hometown is _____." / "I'm from _____."
(Watashi no) shumi wa _____ desu. "My hobby is _____." / "I enjoy ______ in my free time."

*Watashi no means, "my," and we usually omit it.

Hometown:

If you want to give detailed information such as "I'm from Akasaka in Tokyo," we use the particle no between the bigger geographical area and smaller geographical area. Please note that the bigger area comes first.

Shusshin wa [bigger area] no [smaller area] desu. "I'm from ____ in ____."

For example:

Shusshin wa Tokyo no Akasaka desu."I'm from Akasaka in Tokyo."
Shusshin wa Itaria no Napori desu. "I'm from Napori in Italy."

Hobbies:

Following is a word list of activities you might enjoy as hobbies.

"English" / Japanese

"Traveling" / Ryokoo

"Hunting" / Hantingu

"Golfing" / Gorufu

"Reading" / Dokusho

"Horseback riding" / Jooba

"Swimming" / Suiei

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Chuugoku jin "Chinese person"

Chuugoku go "Chinese language"

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jin, as in Chuugoku jin, is a suffix that means "person" or "people." We attach it to the name of a country to form the nationality.

go, as in Chuugoku go, is also a suffix, and it means "language." Although there are a few exceptions, we normally attach it to the name of the country in order to form the name of the language.*

Formation:

[ Name of a country ] + jin = Nationality

[ Name of a country ] + go = Language

"English Translation" / Name of a Country / Nationality / Language

"Australia" / Oosutoraria / Oosutoraria-jin / Eigo

"Brazil" / Burajiru / Burajiru-jin / Porutogaru-go

"Canada" / Kanada / Kanada-jin / Eigo / Furansu-go

"China" / Chuugoku / Chuugoku -jin / Chuugoku-go

"Egypt" / Ejiputo / Ejiputo-jin / Arabia-go

"France" / Furansu / Furansu-jin / Furansu-go

"Germany" / Doitsu / Doitsu -jin / Doitsu-go

"Italy" / Itaria / Itaria-jin / Itaria-go

"Japan" / Nihon / Nihon-jin / Nihon-go

"Korea" / Kankoku / Kankoku-jin / Kankoku-go

"Mexico" / Mekishiko / Mekishiko-jin / Supein-go

"Netherlands" / Oranda / Oranda-jin / Oranda-go

"New Zealand" / Nyuujiirando / Nyuujiirando-jin / Eigo

"Portugal" / Porutogaru / Porutogaru-jin / Porutogaru-go

"Russia" / Roshia / Roshia-jin / Roshia-go

"Spain" / Supein / Supein-jin / Supein-go

"The U.K" / Igirisu / Igirisu-jin / Eigo

"The U.S" / Amerika / Amerika-jin / Eigo

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