0:03

Welcome to Can Do Japanese by JapanesePod101.com.

0:06

In this lesson, you'll learn

0:09

how to talk about your nationality in Japanese.

0:11

For example, I'm American is アメリカ人です. Two

0:17

passengers, Megumi Sasaki and

0:19

Ken Kobayashi, are seated next to each other

0:22

as passengers on a plane to Japan. Before

0:25

you hear their conversation, let's preview

0:27

some of its key components.

0:31

Listen

0:43

to the conversation and focus on the response.

0:46

Ready? Once

0:58

more with the English translation. Are

1:02

you American? Yes,

1:08

I'm American. Let's

1:12

break down the conversation.

1:14

Do you remember how Ken Kobayashi asks, Are

1:16

you American? First is, アメリカ人.

1:27

American, as in, an American

1:29

person. There

1:33

are two components. This starts

1:35

with, アメリカ. America.

1:38

After this is, 人.

1:46

Person. Together, アメリカ人.

1:55

Literally means, America person, but

1:57

translates as American, as in, an American

1:59

person. American person. America

2:02

jin. Note.

2:05

America jin. Is a noun, not

2:07

an adjective. Next is desu.

2:11

Here it's like the R in R

2:14

U. desu,

2:17

desu. Last is the

2:19

particle ka. The

2:22

question marking particle ka

2:26

ka. This turns

2:28

the sentence into a question. Altogether

2:31

it's America jin desu ka. This

2:34

literally means America person you

2:36

are, but it translates as are

2:39

you American America

2:41

jin desu ka. Note

2:44

the you is understood from context as

2:47

this is a two person conversation. Let's

2:50

take a closer look at the response. Do

2:52

you remember how Megumi Sasaki says, yes,

2:55

I'm American. Hi,

3:01

America jin desu. The

3:04

first part is hai, meaning

3:07

yes. Hi,

3:11

hi. It

3:13

answers Ken's yes or no question. Are

3:15

you American? America jin

3:18

desu ka. Next is

3:20

America jin. American

3:23

as in a person from America. America

3:26

jin. After

3:28

this is desu. Here

3:31

it's like the M in I am. Desu.

3:36

Note the I is understood through context.

3:39

Altogether it's hi, America

3:42

jin desu. This literally

3:44

means yes, American person

3:47

I am, but it translates as

3:49

yes, I'm American. Hi,

3:53

America jin desu. The

3:57

pattern is nation. jīn

4:00

desu. I'm nationality.

4:04

nation, jīn desu. To

4:07

use this pattern, simply replace the nation

4:10

placeholder with the country you're from. Imagine

4:13

you're from Japan. nihon. nihon.

4:18

nihon. Say,

4:21

I'm Japanese. Ready? nihon

4:27

jīn desu. I'm

4:29

Japanese. nihon jīn

4:32

desu. In

4:35

the conversation, the response to the yes-no

4:37

question was yes. If

4:40

the answer had been no, the corresponding

4:42

Japanese response would be yie.

4:45

Meaning no. yie.

4:50

yie. For

4:52

example, if Ken Kobayashi asks

4:55

nihon jīn desu ka? Are you

4:57

Japanese? yie. America

4:59

jīn desu. No.

5:02

I'm American. Again,

5:07

the key pattern is nation,

5:09

jīn desu. I'm nationality.

5:13

nation, jīn desu. Let's

5:16

look at some examples. Listen and repeat

5:19

or speak along with the native speakers. America

5:22

jīn desu. I'm

5:24

American. America

5:27

jīn desu. nihon

5:30

jīn desu. I'm

5:32

Japanese. nihon

5:35

jīn desu. Australia

5:38

jīn desu. I'm

5:41

Australian. Australia

5:44

jīn desu. Igerisu

5:47

jīn desu. I'm

5:49

English. Igerisu

5:52

jīn desu. Jū

5:55

no karaki mashita. I'm

5:58

from China. Did

6:07

you notice how the last speaker uses a different

6:09

pattern? I'm

6:13

from China. First is 今院见啊 China

6:23

Next is 今院 From 今院

6:28

From 今院见啊 After

6:31

this is 今院见啊 Came as in I came

6:39

Note the I is understood through context.

6:46

Is from the verb 今院 Meaning

6:48

to come Altogether

6:53

it's 今院见啊 This literally means China

6:57

from I came But

7:00

it translates as I'm from China.

7:06

This pattern is 今院见啊 I'm

7:12

from home country You

7:15

should be aware of this but for this lesson

7:17

we'll use the pattern I'm

7:21

nationality Let's

7:28

review the new words British

7:32

person Australian

7:39

person Australian

7:41

person China

7:55

Chinese person Shugokujin.

8:02

Shugokujin. America-jin.

8:33

America-jin. Do you remember

8:35

how to say, yes? Hi.

8:40

Hi. Do

8:43

you remember how Miss Sasaki says, yes, I'm

8:45

American. Hey, America-jin desu. Hi,

8:50

America-jin desu. Hi,

8:54

America-jin desu. Hi,

8:58

America-jin desu. Do

9:01

you remember how to say, the question marking particle?

9:08

Ka. Ka. Do

9:11

you remember how Ken Kobayashi asks, are

9:13

you American? America-jin

9:19

desu ka? America-jin

9:22

desu ka? Do

9:24

you remember how to say, Japanese, as

9:26

in, a person from Japan? Nihonjin.

9:34

Nihonjin. And

9:37

how to say, British, as in, a British

9:39

person? Igerisujin.

9:46

Igerisujin. Do

9:49

you remember how to say, Australian, as

9:51

in, an Australian person? And

10:00

how to say no. yie

10:10

yie Let's

10:12

practice.

10:15

Imagine you're in Sasaki

10:18

and your home country is America or... America

10:21

...in Japanese. Respond to the question.

10:24

Ready?

10:37

Listen again and repeat.

10:48

Let's try another.

10:49

Imagine you're Mia and your home country

10:51

is Australia or... Australia ...in

10:54

Japanese.

10:56

Pay attention to the nationality in the question. Ready?

11:12

Listen again and repeat.

11:14

here

11:25

Let's try one more. Imagine

11:27

you're Jack Jones and your home country

11:29

is England or...

11:46

Listen again and repeat.

12:00

In this lesson, you learned how to talk about your

12:03

nationality in Japanese. This

12:05

plays an essential role in the larger skill

12:07

of introducing yourself. Let's

12:09

review.

12:10

Do you remember how Megumi Sasaki says,

12:12

I'm Megumi Sasaki.

12:25

And do you remember how Megumi Sasaki

12:27

says, Nice to meet you. I'm

12:30

Megumi Sasaki, pleased to meet you.

12:53

Do you remember how to say, Hometown.

13:04

And do you remember how Megumi Sasaki

13:06

says, I'm from Florida.

13:12

you seem that

13:16

Do you remember how to say, Where.

13:26

Do you remember how Ken Kobayashi asks,

13:28

Where are you from.

13:41

Imagine you're Jack Jones, from London,

13:43

and your home country is England. Do

13:46

you remember how to pronounce Jack Jones in

13:48

Japanese?

13:58

Respond to Ken Kobayashi's self-introduction

14:00

and follow-up questions. Ready? Hajime

14:04

maste, watashi wa kobayashi

14:06

desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

14:12

Hajime maste,

14:14

watashi wa jonsu jacku

14:16

desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

14:21

Listen again and repeat. Hajime

14:23

maste, watashi wa jonsu

14:26

jacku desu. Yoroshiku

14:28

onegaishimasu. Hajime

14:35

maste, watashi wa jonsu

14:38

jacku desu. Yoroshiku

14:40

onegaishimasu. Do

14:43

you remember how to say London in Japanese?

14:51

London.

14:52

London.

14:55

Now respond that you are from London. Shushinwa

14:58

dokodessuka. Shushinwa

15:05

london desu. Listen

15:07

again and repeat. Shushinwa

15:10

london desu. Shushinwa

15:17

london desu. And

15:21

do you remember how to say England in Japanese?

15:32

Now respond that you are English. Hajii,

15:42

Iguirisu jin desu. Listen

15:45

again and repeat. Well

16:02

done. This is the end of the lesson. In

16:04

this lesson, you learned how to talk about your nationality,

16:07

an essential skill for introducing yourself. Remember,

16:11

these can-do lessons are about learning practical

16:13

language skills. What's next? Show

16:16

us what you can do. When you're ready, take

16:18

your assessment. You can take it again

16:20

and again, so try any time you like. Our

16:23

teachers will assess it and give you your results.

16:26

Now you know how to talk about your nationality

16:28

in Japanese. That's all there is to

16:30

it. Keep practicing and move on

16:32

to the next lesson.