Greetings & Basic Expressions
Lesson 1: Nice to Meet You
はじめまして — Self-Introduction
⏱️ About 25 minutes ／ 📊 Level: Beginner (N5) ／ 🗣️ Speaking + Reading
Before You Start
When you meet someone for the first time in Japan, there is a natural set of phrases you can rely on every time. In this lesson, you’ll learn the building blocks of a self-introduction — your name, where you’re from, and the polite phrase that ties it all together.
What you’ll learn:
- Say “Nice to meet you” — はじめまして
- Say your name — わたしは〜です
- Say where you are from — 〜から来ました
- End politely — よろしくお願いします
- Put it all together in a simple self-introduction
1. Key Phrases ／ きほんのフレーズ
2. Basic Self-Introduction ／ じこしょうかい
わたしは マリア です。
フィリピンから来ました。
よろしくお願いします。
3. Phrase Notes ／ ポイント
Don’t use はじめまして with people you already know. It is only for a first meeting. For people you see again, use こんにちは (hello) instead.
4. Conversation Practice ／ かいわ
💬 Conversation 1 — First Meeting
💬 Conversation 2 — Name and Country
5. Vocabulary ／ たんご
| Japanese | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|
| わたし | watashi | I / me |
| 名前 | namae | name |
| 国 | kuni | country |
| 日本 | Nihon | Japan |
| アメリカ | Amerika | America |
| インド | Indo | India |
| ベトナム | Betonamu | Vietnam |
| フィリピン | Firipin | Philippines |
| ブラジル | Burajiru | Brazil |
| 中国 | Chuugoku | China |
| 韓国 | Kankoku | Korea |
6. Check Your Understanding ／ クイズ
Think about each question first. The answer and explanation are shown below each one.
はじめまして is used only when you meet someone for the first time. It is not a way to say thank you (ありがとう) or goodbye (さようなら).
To say your name, use は after わたし → わたしはマリアです。 The particle は marks the topic. を marks an object and に marks a direction, so they don’t fit here.
The pattern is 〜から来ました, where から means “from.” に shows a destination and を marks an object, so neither works with 来ました here.
7. Make Your Own Introduction ／ れんしゅう
Fill in the blanks with your own information, then read it aloud three times. 🔊
🚀 Mini Mission
Today’s mission: Introduce yourself in Japanese.
Practice your introduction with:
📘 Review ／ まとめ
In this lesson, you learned how to introduce yourself in Japanese. The most important pattern is:
わたしは〇〇です。
〇〇から来ました。
よろしくお願いします。
💡 Remember: short and simple Japanese is okay. The most important thing is to speak clearly and politely.
FAQ
Want to Practice with a Teacher?
Anything from today’s lesson still unclear? A professional teacher can help you directly. Start with a free trial lesson and learn at your own pace — say your first self-introduction to a real person!
Online or in-person — both available on request.