After you have met and had a number of initial conversations with Japanese people in Japanese, you will start to notice certain conversational patterns repeatedly appearing.
While this might feel slightly disconcerting, it also enables you to become familiar with the particular topics that are likely to come up and to handle such conversations fairly proficiently, even early on in your studies.
Introductions in Initial Conversations
Of course, any conversation with someone you haven’t met before is likely to begin with you giving your name (なまえ,名前) and your home country (くに,国). Talk may then progress to one’s job (しごと,仕事). This often includes mentioning the name of one’s company, if it is well known, and, for Japanese, one’s job status, using a set of terms that specifically and universally define one’s place in the company hierarchy. The question about how long (どのぐらい) you have been in the country may also be raised.
After these pleasantries, one might expect that the conversation would branch off into any number of other possible topic areas, precluding a beginner from being able to prepare or practice any phrases that might be useful. However, in fact, the conversation’s flow may not be as unpredictable as you might think (note that the involvement of alcohol might dramatically increase the unpredictability of your conversation’s path).
Other Common Topics in Japanese
After introductions have been made, foreigners will then surprisingly often be asked what their favorite Japanese food (にほんりょうり,日本料理) is, or indeed whether they can eat Japanese food or specifically raw fish at all. This may reflect a widely held conception in Japan that Westerners don’t eat fish (we do indeed eat less).
After you have convinced your interlocutor of your taste for sushi (すし,寿司), okonomiyaki (Japanese savoury pancakes), or takoyaki (octopus dumpling balls), you will often find the issue of your favorite hobbies (しゅみ,趣味) being raised. You may be taken aback if your typical response back home to such a question would be “beer and sleeping,” but the ‘hobby’ is a serious business in Japan, often a focus of dedication and pride rather than a lighthearted way to spend a few free hours from time to time. An additional and key question that may arise is ‘Nihon wa dou desu ka?’ (日本はど うですか, What do you think of Japan?). Here a number of responses are available.
One possible reply is ‘Sumeba miyako’ (住めば都,すめばみやこ, roughly translatable as ‘Wherever you live is best’) or, even better, ‘Daisuki desu’ (大好きです,だいすきで す, I love it!).
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