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Learning Japanese is a lot of fun and in this article I am going to teach you Japanese Greetings

Before I explain exactly how to greet someone in Japanese I want to briefly provide you with some cultural insight into the Japanese language.

When learning Japanese you need to know that with in the language is a form of speech called Keigo. This differentiates between the polite form and the informal way of speaking. Therefore you will use different words depending on the person that your a in conversation with. One simple example is when you greet a teacher in the morning you would say the polite “ohayo gozaimasu”, where are good morning amongst friends is a simple “ohayo”

Also when we consider the way the verbs in conversation are used it depends on the social status of whom you are speaking to.

Ok let take a look at how to say the most useful greetings in Japanese:

If you meet someone for the very first time then you say “Hajimemashite” sounds like ha-jimi-mush-tay. make sure that you don’t forget to bow, so with you hands at the side lean forward from the hips and don’t go overboard and reach for your toes, just a slight tilt will do.

Now you will want to say pleased to meet you and in Japanese you say: “Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu”.

Just as in most languages the greeting that you use will change depending on the time of the day. So let now have a quick look at a few common terms:

Good Evening = Konban wa

Good Night = Oyasumi Nasai

Good Day = Konnichi wa

Hi (more imformal) = Domo

One other quick tip that might help you avoid an embarassing situation in Japan is make sure that you remove you shoes when entering someones house!

That’s a good start to learning Japanese greetings and if you want more free Japanese lessons you can get more clicking here: Learn Japanese For Free

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