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Brighton, Step Up Students, Sussex, Japanese Food Fran Wrigley Brighton, Step Up Students, Sussex, Japanese Food Fran Wrigley

2021 Student Summer Picnic!

Thank you to everyone (including those not pictured) who came to our student picnic at the weekend!

We had fun meeting up outdoors, drinking tea, eating Japanese snacks and talking about Japan-related (and non-Japan-related) things.

It was so good to see students in person after such a long time!

Step Up Japanese student picnic summer 2021 Fran Wrigley Brighton.jpg

Thank you to everyone (including those not pictured) who came to our student picnic at the weekend!

We had fun meeting up outdoors, drinking tea, eating Japanese snacks and talking about Japan-related (and non-Japan-related) things.

It was so good to see students in person after such a long time!

Although all my teaching is online now, I still plan to run occasional social events in Brighton for students. I’m looking forward to seeing you all again soon.

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Japanese language Fran Wrigley Japanese language Fran Wrigley

How Do You Say "Nice to Meet You" in Japanese?

Hurray! You've met another Japanese-speaking person. Time to introduce yourself.

But how do you say "It's really nice to meet you" in Japanese? The first phrase you'll want is:

はじめまして。Hajimemashite. "Nice to meet you"

Hajimemashite literally means "we are meeting for the first time". So you can only use it the first time you meet someone.

Hurray! You've met another Japanese-speaking person. Time to introduce yourself.

But how do you say "Pleased to meet you" in Japanese?

The first phrase you'll want is:

はじめまして。

Hajimemashite.

"Nice to meet you"

Hajimemashite  (almost literally) means "we are meeting for the first time". So you can only use it the first time you meet someone.

The other super-useful phrase is:

よろしくおねがいします。

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

"Please be kind to me."

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu is hard to translate, but means something like "please be kind to me".

It means that you are looking forward to having a good relationship with someone.

Shop “Nice To Meet You” Japanese necklaces (Step Up Japanese x designosaur):

Make it more polite

Add douzo to make your greeting more polite:

どうぞよろしくおねがいします。

Douzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

"Nice to meet you" (polite & a bit formal)

You could also say:

お会いできてうれしいです。

O-ai dekite ureshii desu.

"I'm happy to meet you." (more polite & formal)

or even:

お会いできて光栄です

O-ai dekite kouei desu.

"I'm honoured to meet you." (even more polite & formal)

Keep it casual

If you don't feel like being so polite, you could also say:

どうぞよろしく。

Douzo yoroshiku.

"Nice to meet you" (a bit more casual)

よろしくね。

Yoroshiku ne.

"Nice to meet you" (very casual)

It's good to be nice-mannered when you meet new people though, right?

"Nice to meet you too!"

Last but not least, when someone says yoroshiku onegaishimasu, you can add the feeling of "me too!" by replying with kochira koso  ("me too!"):

こちらこそ宜しくお願いします。

Kochira koso yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

"No, I'm pleased to meet you." / "The pleasure is mine."

Now, go and find someone new to speak to, and tell them how pleased you are to meet them.

Yoroshiku ne!

Shop “Nice To Meet You” Japanese necklaces (Step Up Japanese x designosaur):

Updated 26th Oct 2020

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I didn't get the job.

Sitting in a smokey cafe after the interview I remembered The Michael Jackson Joke which is probably the best beginner-Japanese joke of all time. I should've told him that one! Although he probably would have rolled his eyes at that too...

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"How Did You Learn Japanese?"
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When I tell people I'm a Japanese teacher they quite often ask: how did you learn Japanese? And I don't find this question particularly easy to answer.

Sometimes I give a quick answer which is that I used to live there.

But you can live in Japan for years and not learn Japanese.

I've met lots of people like this (and there's nothing wrong with that, unless learning Japanese is the reason you moved to Japan).

The long and more honest answer to "how come you speak Japanese?":

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