Japanese Phrases for Travellers (Beginners)

[@ThatJapaneseManYuta]

When I went to Italy many years ago, I didn't know any Italian and not even Spanish like I do. But I watched some KZbin video and remembered a few phrases. I still remember this phrase: Che giorno è oggi? (What day is it today?) I forgot most of the phrases, but that one just stuck. When I went to a cafe in Italy, I just remembered that phrase. "Che giorno è oggi?" I said to the waitress who was taking orders. "Giovedì (Thursday), she replied. It worked! That was a really simple phrase, but I was ecstatic. I felt like I just passed a difficult test. It was one of the most memorable moments of my trip. So remembering a few Japanese phrases can make your trip so much more fun. But if you want to actually learn Japanese, I'll teach you "real" Japanse that we actually speak which can be pretty different from "textbook" Japanese. So click here and subscribe: bit.ly/3q4sDfZ

[@kofee710]

Just today at my level 1 japanese classes, our japanese teacher asked us to ask one of the other japanese teachers their age, name and occupation (in japanese) and to take note of their answers. I felt the same way! These phrases will be useful. ありがとうございます！

[@leighannjohnston3353]

Yuta! After being a subscriber for a long time I’ve finally signed up for your lessons! I’m not sure why I haven’t before (I’ve been trying to learn Japanese for a year now) and it seems like your lessons will be awesome. Can’t wait to get them!

[@bonsainangsapian]

Thank you my Yuta 😊😘

[@najmomohamed8768]

That Japanese Man Yuta 今 私は 、覚えてね よりや日本語 。ありがとうございます 私は 勉強日本語 まだばり 好きい これの ユチーブ ビデオ。

[@valerio2658]

Good Italian Yuta! It's only "che" not "que". The last one is spanish

[@mayochi]

Can you do a "Japanese Phrases for Travellers (Intermediate)" like ordering food, and simple phrases that could kick off a conversation with a local? Apparently, Japanese are more likely to chat with you with English if you start a convo with them using broken Japanese, making them less conscious about their own broken English.

[@KMO325]

This is special. We don't often have Yuta giving us Videos teaching the Japanese language so close together. Definitely following this lesson closely-much appreciated.

[@salmawassim9047]

ゆたさん、ありがとうございます。I am Egyptian and I am majoring in Japanese, I've started college three weeks ago... Your videos really help me alot.. Thank you very much and hope you can make it to Egypt one day😀

[@imad8107]

Muhammad Avodol?

[@commenterperson4481]

@@imad8107 ...I though wisdom comes with age...?

[@user-lj5ri3gp5o]

Good luck to you in your studies

[@mat2468xk]

@@imad8107 *Avdol voice.* YES! HE IS!

[@kingcalm7161]

日本語頑張って👍 Hope your Japanese will be much much better!

[@sharoona]

Thank you so much for the lesson. I loved the fact that you waited for us to practice. More lessons, please.

[@AntoineBandele]

Gomi is a good one to know too with very few of them around on the streets.

[@coolbrotherf127]

One thing I thought I would mention is that when they say Irasshaimase you don't have to respond. It's just a greeting they say out of habit, and they don't expect you to greet them back with more than maybe a smile or a slight nod if you don't feel comfortable ignoring then completely.

[@Elviajeroastuto15]

More of these videos please YUTA sensei

[@godmarzpopy362]

This is very useful. Thumbs up

[@GordonSlamsay]

Hope everyone is ok after that typhoon. I'm coming to Japan in March for 16 days, very excited!!

[@redfish337]

Hopefully you can catch some of the sakura. But it's a good time of year regardless. Good luck with the prep.

[@GordonSlamsay]

@@redfish337 ya tryna go a little before then cause I hear it gets insanely crowded.

[@redfish337]

@@GordonSlamsay There are a lot more foreign tourists, so particularly once the forecast is released the prices of a lot of the housing increases substantially for the sakura. (The lower end stuff like hostels and business hotels aren't affected so much, but many will reach capacity). However, it's the new school year / business year, etc at that time so most Japanese people are actually pretty busy and so domestic tourism is probably down overall despite the sakura. So, it's not actually all that crowded. But again, if you ever go for sakura you have to be more diligent in securing your lodging.

[@GordonSlamsay]

@@redfish337 ok, thanks! Gonna try to start officially booking next week (kinda shot for time cause 2 jobs) any and all tips and advice is welcome.

[@redfish337]

@@GordonSlamsay I assume you already got the plane then? Anyway, the first thing you have to do is decide where you'll be going in terms of cities. It needs to be considered with the fact the national JR railpass can only be bought for 7, 14 or 21 day periods. The railpass is expensive and not necessary but the alternatives of flying and buses are a much bigger bother in most situations. As the pass is expensive, you generally don't want it active while in Tokyo. The lack of a 10 day pass is a pretty big bother- because many trips are as your own... ~16 days, which doesn't line up very well against the offered 7 and 14 day passes. If you won't be leaving Tokyo area (fair enough, if you want to keep the price down, but uncommon for most tourists)... or just going 1 or maybe 2 other places the train pass can be skipped though. Even though you're going for 16 days it's unlikely the 14 day one would pay off so no pass or 7 day is most likely. Of course you need to figure out where you're going in order to secure the lodging- I'm just letting you know that buying or not buying the train pass is a major factor in deciding what that itinerary looks like. I'll also add that you should look at any events that will occur while you're there. For example, the March Sumo Tournament is held in Osaka, not Tokyo. Few tourists go to see sumo, but if that's something you're interested in you have to plan accordingly. Everyone has their own little interests, so see what lines up while you're there. As for the actual housing, I would need to know how many of you are going and at least if you're going budget, "fun" or spendy. But no matter what it is, my main recommendation is to be within 5 minutes of a station, and ideally within 10 minutes of multiple. Anyway, just some stuff to chew on for now.

[@onewingedsongbird]

Thanks for your video Yuta. I agree with the other commenters who suggest an Intermediate level. Honestly the thing that throws me off the most when traveling in Japan is the super polite forms used by shop people. Also, they often ask a lot of questions when you buy things that don't come up in any lessons I've seen. Most lessons cover the things you might say, "How much is it?" or "Do you have a different size/color." But they don't cover all of the things the shop people might ask you. Like "Do you want the price tag cut off?" or "Would you like a bag?" or "Do you need gift wrap?" or "To stay, or to go?" Yes, it somehow never occurred to me to learn the words for "to stay" and "to go" which totally flustered me the first time I was in a cafe.

[@MilosMomcilovic89]

Hey, Yuta, your videos are really fun and clear and I thank you for your efforts to bring the everyday Japanese closer. I've learned the language by myself using G-translate and a lot (I mean, 7 hours a day a lot) of practice with your countrymen. However, I was in a very formal situation and I was afraid to experiment, to not start sounding too informal. But yeah, I'm breaking those habits slowly, it's all good. :)

[@epg96]

Did you just make a treaty with that interdimensional creature, Kyuubey?

[@marikojournals]

No cuz hes not a shoujo

[@eldaftbro]

Very helpful and handy. Thumbs up!

[@Philson]

Good simplified version for foreigners.

A nice compact set of useful phrases. Consider a series of these and I'm sure you'll get plenty of attention (which you rightfully deserve).

[@beyondvainilla]

Best video out there! Thank you so much

[@JimboVigilante]

I started copying irasshaimase from Japanese business owners thinking it meant hello, I didn't know that I was telling them that their business was in fact my business, before I proudly sat down and ate my ramen.

[@FF7Cayn]

Really cool but if people do not understand the answers, especially when given directions, those help not that much I suppose? Maybe add a few answer examples too? Keep it up, love your stuff!

[@whatisthis1958]

Good point! You may already know how to say directions and were just pointing out a flaw in the video but if not then I'm currently learning how to say directions (kinda) but I am only learning very VERY basic directions. It could be useful if you specify if you don't speak much Japanese so maybe the person you're talking to will point if it's close in proximity For example, if I said "トイレはどこですか (toire wa doko desu ka- where is the toilet?)" then the person could respond by pointing and saying "あそこです (asoko desu- over there)" They may say トイレはあそこです (toire wa asoko desu) but if I'm correct, depending on the context that can sound kinda weird? I don't really know, I'm very new to the language hhhhh. Similarly they could respond with "そこです(soko desu- there)" or "ここです(koko desu- here)" From what I can tell, asoko basically means over there. Soko means there or near you and koko means here or near me. Sorry if I made any mistakes or if I rambled :/

[@renscosplay]

@@whatisthis1958 thank you!! thats very useful >

[@40EntrepreneurDrive]

i'm really enjoying the email lessons you send out!

[@Stephisvideos]

I love #7. I’ve heard that phrase numerous times and never knew what they were saying. Arigato!

[@TetsusaigaDrgn]

This is great yuta! Please make more of these vids

[@mandeep3.14]

This is very helpful, thanks dude Also made me chuckle quite a bit

[@immarii0]

This video totally helped. You’re videos are amazing keep it up!

[@Dokudokis]

This helped me very much thank you

[@Jmc401]

Thank you! Love this breakdown

[@miguelsantos1038]

Hi yuta woow you really teach so well japanese thanks. Your videos are great keep it up. Best regards from portugal

[@yahir-z437]

I feel like I’m watching Dora xD

[@pinky6740]

we're just missing the damn talking animals

[@prity777]

This one was really good and what I liked, it was funny :) you made my day. Especially the confusing part, I will remember this for next year when I will be parcipating the Olympics :3

[@Humanistic_]

Very useful. Thank you

[@cherryblossom3145]

Arigatou Yuta. This really helps me

[@manunitedphong]

Thanks Yuta, very useful

[@KrystineBrown]

Thank you! These are helpful

[@XSpImmaLion]

You just have to sign a contract with this here Kyubey...

[@colorfulconstellation437]

Nice video! Cool! Thank you Yuta senpai ^_^

[@trinidadiannerd]

arigatou gozaimasu, I go on duolingo everyday for the past 128 days but yet I was never sure if I pronounce the words right since the audio sounds very robotic

[@jakirischartner5304]

Thank you Yuta san! Was really funny and helpful! You made once a video with real situations were people argued with each other - that would be cool to have similar videos again with real situations :) - Thanks again!

[@mikhailcc]

this is so helpful thank you!!

[@bigolgeek1693]

Thanks! Real helpful!

[@pseudopsychonym]

Nice video. I have some phrases ready to communicate but hearing and understanding is a little hard. any usefull tipps?

[@u.kw1461]

I love your content man どうもありがとう

[@Lordofhavoc]

Very important sentence:おへっそはどういう意味ですか? Ohesso ha douiu imi desuka?

[@Frdnnd]

Yeah yeah, what does it means?

[@yejikai]

@@Frdnnd lmao

[@Yoru720]

Love your videos❤❤❤

[@goldentrout4811]

Thanks!

[@DuoZock]

realy usefull video how ever I probably have to watch it a lot of times to learn all of it :D

[@stayawayfromdrugskids6846]

So I had this guy who is probably from America come into a 7 eleven without his wallet. Lmao the next few seconds of conversation between him and the cashier was golden.

[@marikojournals]

Wat was the convo

[@stayawayfromdrugskids6846]

@@marikojournals A hilarious mix of English and Japanese being exchanged. Looks like he wanted to buy a Coke but forgot his wallet. Wanted to leave but the cashier didn't understand what he said so the cashier asked for 140 yen again and then the man asked for some time to find his wallet. Which he didn't have. Basically what happens when people don't bother learning some basic language before going somewhere.

[@lesliemarie8650]

Love your videos ❤️ from Washington, DC

[@FreshmakerLP]

After watching this video I have realised how awkward I must have sounded using so much textbook Japanese, such as leading every interaction with "Sumimasen. Eigo o hanasemasu ka?"

[@PerspectiveEngineer]

100th. Thanks to you. I like to see more videos like this very informative And useful in my limited Japanese Curriculum.... Anyway enjoy most your videos Thanks.

[@kariito_art]

Hohoho I really like this! It was very easy and helpful, thank you! Even if I never will go to Japan it's pretty easy to memorize

[@erickj.933]

Good video, I'd add possible answers after the questions though. I really want to travel to Japan one day! ♡

[@cssean2912]

Wow, I learned some Japanese phrases, I somehow enjoy this more...

[@catwise]

Would love a video to understand what they say at the supermarket. We are always very confuse when we have to pay and they said a lot of things 😵

[@commenterperson4481]

Yuta, can you please cover Nihon, Nippon...?

[@ameemahrehan2438]

Nippon or Nihon is Japan in Japanese. Most say Nippon but both are correct

[@river1403]

So basically, the two phrases you need to know in Japanese are, “I don’t speak Japanese” and “Do you speak English?” Lol

[@BluesyBor]

Well yes, but actually no. You may hear すみません、英語がわかりません and?

[@moritzh5168]

@@BluesyBor Then it's time to run away and ask someone else

[@BluesyBor]

@@moritzh5168 you may hear this over and over again from a dozen of persons, so what's the plan?

[@chillernokiller1926]

@@BluesyBor yeah one of the reasons i am studiyng japanese is that i heard a lot of people saying that japanese dont speak english at all and i want to visit japan in my life at least once so there i go xD

[@BluesyBor]

@@chillernokiller1926 I'm with you, man. In fact the same problem exists in many developed countries. You have a chance to communicate in english in places like hotels or gas stations, but in most cases it will be a veeeeery crude english (which still helps!) or none at all.

[@1156511]

It's interesting that there is such a heavy reliance on "context", and the leaving out of words, and there are likewise many unwritten rules, and "you should know" is the response if you break them.

[@maricalovesjapan]

Thank you for this video! ^_^

[@stevencohn39]

much to easy for me. i lived in japan for 12 years . do you have intermdiate or upper intermediate lessons?

[@xeno1503]

You should go around and see what Japanese people think of Americans specifically The United States and the UK

[@adumbedgyname7158]

By Americans, I assume you mean citizens of the USA? Or do you mean subjects of the American Empire, hence the mention of the UK?

[@leecrawford6560]

put this on repeat, when getting ready my future trip to Japan (haven't started, but, gotta know this)

[@commenterperson4481]

Don't need this to travel to Japan; but it'll fun and can be helpful. FYI: if you speak clearly and slowly, many Japanese people should be able to understand you.

[@towada1066]

maybe a special video on dialects! (^_^)

[@Deedric_Kee]

Thanks 👏

[@petardjordjevic9925]

Subbed i watched your interview

[@nathand2542]

Arigatou gozaimashita

[@MegaPompoen]

Protip: Instead of saying in Japanese that you can't speak Japanese, you can also just use any phrase from any other language... Thus far this has worked for me in England, France and Germany (and their respective languages).

[@commenterperson4481]

It might help to simple say "no Japanese". "No" is common enough...

[@jaycal1920]

Oh can contribute and review..new feature? Your auto generated captions need work. You might want to have a look at the caption placement so you can put your text in a different spot. I use templates. Same for the thumbnail. Make a template for the timestamp and the little red bar to overlay onto your work. Like a little place holder mask.

[@srkuleo]

I might be too late but i was wonder if i could use japanese word for takeout 持ち帰り instead of テイクアウト. And phrase it like this あの、すいません持ち帰りできますか。

[@Seraphy-jp]

Is: eigoga wakarimasu ka? Correct too?

[@pendragnx]

Is it more common to say Eigo dekimasu ka? vs. Eigo wakarimasu ka?

[@zeemon9623]

Wouldn't you write "takeout" as テークアウト rather than テイクアウト? Is there a situation when Katakana doesn't use the dash for elongated vowels?

[@electronresonator8882]

the word dekimasen means can't do,.. but what if you say irrashaimasen?, does it means "you're not welcome here" or "I can't welcome you?"

[@attackisback]

Great lesson, learned the word dengen.

[@phyllisbeima2447]

It seems that if a word ends in “u”, it is silent when you say it.

[@redfish337]

Not exactly. However in polite form, almost every sentence will end in a -masu or a -desu, and so that particular "u" is almost always more or less silent. I think they're technically "voiceless" rather than silent though, but I don't think voiceless vowels really occur in English so I suppose silent is close enough. I don't know the rule. But I think aside for the example I mentioned above- sentence ending vowels in polite form, voicing the "u" is probably the better guess until you learn what it actually is.

[@redfish337]

@St0rm Ranger Women pronounce it without the u basically all of the time. Over the top cutesy anime character may accentuate it, but I'm having a hard time finding any videos of real people that do.

[@ameemahrehan2438]

In certain words like "-masu" and "-desu". There are words that you do pronounce them in like "mizu". Hope that helps.

[@sriisland9856]

Arigato....

[@LellePrinter82]

I know that the phrase for "excuse me, do you speak english?" is "Sumimasen, eigo wa hanasemasuka?"

[@拓真-l2w]

Is 駅は？ formal?

[@redfish337]

The two most important words are: "Sumimasen" and "Daijoubu" But one that no one ever mentions that I think is quite helpful is "saikoubi" or end of a line.

[@ManojKumar-id8gj]

saikoubi meaning'

[@redfish337]

@@ManojKumar-id8gj "end of the line" as I said. To make sure you aren't cutting, in cutting in line basically unheard of Japan. And it can also check that you're standing in the correct line.

[@andisupriantoars]

arigatou

[@ravenlaucw]

what is the meaning of tzu me dai ino ? i watch it in movie.

[@ummokay]

WHy KYuBEyYYYY Being Meguca is Sufferingggggggg

[@xnobodyx99]

more videos with same type!

[@TheRealKazutrash]

You are like the father I never had.

[@DuoZock]

is "watashi wa nihongo ga hanasemasen" the same as "nihongo dekimasen" ?

[@leipzigergnom]

I find it hard to say the "r" sound in Japanese.

[@leipzigergnom]

@Razorback73, thank you for the advice!

[@qualifiedidiots2165]

I'm just thinking. I'm doing TEFL. (Teach English Foreign Language) I'd love to teach in Japan. But I'm just imagining this. Me walking into the class: おはいよございます！私は　アンソニー　です。日本語の区政です。　　（Hope I got that all right) Sensei: And you're the English teacher, yes? Me: え？英語できません。Just completely deny the fact that I speak English for ten seconds or so. Then just wait a few seconds before I can no longer contain my laughter. Me: Sorry everyone, I am here to teach you English. I like to open with a joke. ;)

[@CanuckJim]

I agree - being able to ask if they speak English in their language just seems a polite approach. When we're in Germany I always lead with "Entschuldigung, aber verstehen Sie Englische?" and stumble along in my "shopping German" if they don't.

[@cosmari1]

Why dekimasuka and not hanashimasu ka?

[@ytube777]

the u sounded silent in gozaimasu, but in the syllable break down it sounded like you said "sooo"?

[@redfish337]

The syllable is su, pronounced "sue". In some situations, the u is unvoiced, or very weakly pronounced. It comes up a lot in polite talk because the present form of polite sentences very often ends with desu or a -masu verb, which would normally have an unvoiced u.

[@DonS90]

I already remember all of these phrases

[@CugnoBrasso]

I'm getting really passionate about learning Japanese. The problem is that I'm not a manga/anime lover, so I hope that my motivation will stay strong.

[@something3638]

Same here. It is difficult, but I'm sure we can do it

[@rattlehead001]

Same here but I love Japanese music. That’s what keeps me motivated.

[@redfish337]

Find some music. Or dramas. Or video games. Or books. I mean, you want it for something, right?

[@CugnoBrasso]

@@redfish337 I just want to reach a decent level of fluency in a language that works in a totally different way compared to Indo-European languages.

[@redfish337]

@@CugnoBrasso I doubt that clicking a box off will be sufficient motivation when the difficult stuff hits. I'm not really into anime or manga myself. I started because of a video game. But I realized that's one of the hardest mediums to learn Japanese from. But there was Japanese music in the video games, so that was something I could stick onto. When I'm more serious about studying, dramas are the next best thing to real people, but I can listen to the music whenever. Even if I'm not motivated to study I can still listen to the music, and that at least keeps me thinking about it. Japan has ample cultural stuff besides anime and manga- it should be easy to find something to hook onto. And that'll give you something to actually do if you ever make a trip over there. People aren't all that openly friendly, but if you're actually both at something, they can be pretty chatty about their interest if they know you're interested in it too.

[@mikicerise6250]

WaiFai arimasu ka? Most important phrase these days, I think. More than the bathroom. xD Arigatou gozaimasu!

[@Latiosx123]

wait till the kind japanese person start answering in japanese, and foreigners like us reply: ha??? wakarimasen

[@らいら-l4w]

I know every phrase except kuukou, that's a new word

[@electronresonator8882]

aaah, I see,... wa can be replaced by tte, I see Japanese comments use a lot of it at the end, for example 顔て草 I usually type it with the word w at the end....for example 声ｗ

[@ThatWeebyGamer]

I've never heard すいません used as すみません. To me すいません means I don't smoke.

[@masterp443]

That's the beauty of colloquialisms and dialects

[@PakDeJa]

Eigo dekimasu ka?

[@Geonaute2]

If dekimasu = speak Does shaberu = talk ?

[@BlackHei711]

The lessons I've been taking has called a toilet a 便所 "benjyo". Is this a common word, or is it like if asked in America, "Where is the latrine?" No one says that.

[@yuki9612]

Just say Toire

[@redfish337]

Ben jo is out of style and sounds crude. Don't use it. It's kinda like asking "where's the pisser" You can use "toire" Or you can use "otearai" (hand-washing) Both of those are standard, though otearai may be borderline too polite. I've never heard it said, but just FYI, many are marked as 化粧室 (ke-shou-shitsu). "Powder room"

[@saito853]

What is the difference between 日本語出来ません and 日本語話せません? I've been using the 話せません a lot, is it bad? :O

[@redfish337]

You can't do Japanese, and you can't speak Japanese. The latter is probably what most books say, but the former seems more common. Because it seems to be the form used when a Japanese person flubs something in Japanese and jokes that they "can't do Japanese" whereas the latter would just be textbook language for foreigners. If you want to use something more natural.... "sumimasen, nihongo wa chotto...." is probably better.

[@saito853]

@@redfish337 Thanks a lot for the explanation!

[@WhitePhoenixUS]

Are the rest of your lessons that you have been sending here?

[@WhitePhoenixUS]

I ask this because I am still having problems watching videos. Midori suddenly stopped working for some reason, and Opera still will not play videos on that site.