JAPANESE Lesson Five - Professions

[Starry Starry Fright]

It's a fact of life that most people need to work. Now it's time to learn about jobs in Japanese.

You've already learned about telling people your grade, but if you are explaining that "student" is your profession, the words are slightly different.

College Student - gakusei

Non-College Student - seito

Of course, there are paid professions as well. Let's look at a few of those.

doctor - isha, or if you want to be polite, oishasan.

lawyer - bengoshi

teacher - sensei

company employee - kaishain. This refers to anyone who works at a desk-type job for a large company. CULTURE NOTE - it is typical for wives and children to have no idea what their husband/father actually does, or what department he works in. Work is not something usually discussed at home.

engineer - enjinia (this is written in katakana, NOT hiragana, for those of you who are learning to write)

housewife - shufu

These are the most common and/or respected Japanese professions, and they are the only ones I will make you learn for now.

The Japanese word for job is shigoto, or oshigoto in polite conversation (in a job interview, you would definitely use oshigoto. Polite versions of words are always used when you want something.)

Now that you know some basic jobs, you have all the information you need to make an even better self-introduction!

Hajimemashite! Watashi no namae wa Starry Starry Fright desu. Jyuu nana sai desu. Gakusei desu. Daigaku ichi nen sei desu. Watashi no kazoku wa haha to chichi to otouto to otouto to watashi desu. Haha wa shufu desu. Chichi wa kaishain desu. Douzo yoroshiku!

Or, in English:

Nice to meet you! I'm Starry Starry Fright. I'm 17. I am a University student. I am in my first year of University. My family is made up of my mom, my dad, my two younger brothers and me. Mom is a housewife. Dad works for a big company. Nice to meet you!

Now let's see all of you try.

Click here to return to lesson four.  

[x-Meoi-x]

Watashi wa 95Neko-chan95 desu.jyuu yon sai. koukou no ni nen sei desu. watshi no kazoku wa mama, papa, futatsu ane, watashi to watashitachi no inu desu.ryoushin no oshigotou wakaranai yo ^^'. Douzo yoroshiku♥  

[Starry Starry Fright]

95Neko-chan95

Watashi wa 95Neko-chan95 desu.jyuu yon sai. koukou no ni nen sei desu. watshi no kazoku wa mama, papa, futatsu ane, watashi to watashitachi no inu desu.ryoushin no oshigotou wakaranai yo ^^'. Douzo yoroshiku♥

I can see that you already know some Japanese. Well done!  

[x-Meoi-x]

Starry Starry Fright

95Neko-chan95

Watashi wa 95Neko-chan95 desu.jyuu yon sai. koukou no ni nen sei desu. watshi no kazoku wa mama, papa, futatsu ane, watashi to watashitachi no inu desu.ryoushin no oshigotou wakaranai yo ^^'. Douzo yoroshiku♥

I can see that you already know some Japanese. Well done!

only a bit... ^^'  

[Kuronuma Sadako]

Hajimemashite! Watashi wa kami desu. (kidding!) Watashi no namae wa Kuronuma desu. Ni jyuu sai desu. Gakusei. Daigaku ni nen sei desu. Watashi no kazoku wa chichi to haha to ani to otouto to watashi desu. Haha wa shufu desu. Chichi wa kaishain desu. Kyoudai wa gakusei iie shigoto. Douzo yoroshiku!

Is this right? rofl
Does "to" means "and"?
What does "no" and "wakaranai yo" mean? xd  

[Starry Starry Fright]

Kuronuma Sadako

Hajimemashite! Watashi wa kami desu. (kidding!) Watashi no namae wa Kuronuma desu. Ni jyuu sai desu. Gakusei. Daigaku ni nen sei desu. Watashi no kazoku wa chichi to haha to ani to otouto to watashi desu. Haha wa shufu desu. Chichi wa kaishain desu. Kyoudai wa gakusei iie shigoto. Douzo yoroshiku!

Is this right? rofl
Does "to" means "and"?
What does "no" and "wakaranai yo" mean? xd

This is mostly correct, yes. There shuld be a "desu" after gakusei - gakusei desu. It was my error in the original lesson. I apologize, it is fixed now.

"Kyoudai wa gakusei iie shigoto" - I assume you are trying to say "My siblings are university students and do not work". It's not quite correct. You could say "Kyoudai wa gakusei desu, demo kyoudai wa kubi desu. "demo" means "although" or "but" and "kubi" means "unemployed".

Japanese paritcles are difficult to explain... in some situations, "to" means "and". When listing family members, use "to". I will explain more about this in a later lesson.

"No" is the particle for possesion. If something belongs to you, it is "watashi no". Wakaranai yo means "to not know"... in this case, to not know what your parents do for a living.  

[Kuronuma Sadako]

Starry Starry Fright

Kuronuma Sadako

Hajimemashite! Watashi wa kami desu. (kidding!) Watashi no namae wa Kuronuma desu. Ni jyuu sai desu. Gakusei. Daigaku ni nen sei desu. Watashi no kazoku wa chichi to haha to ani to otouto to watashi desu. Haha wa shufu desu. Chichi wa kaishain desu. Kyoudai wa gakusei iie shigoto. Douzo yoroshiku!

Is this right? rofl
Does "to" means "and"?
What does "no" and "wakaranai yo" mean? xd

This is mostly correct, yes. There shuld be a "desu" after gakusei - gakusei desu. It was my error in the original lesson. I apologize, it is fixed now.

"Kyoudai wa gakusei iie shigoto" - I assume you are trying to say "My siblings are university students and do not work". It's not quite correct. You could say "Kyoudai wa gakusei desu, demo kyoudai wa kubi desu. "demo" means "although" or "but" and "kubi" means "unemployed".

Japanese paritcles are difficult to explain... in some situations, "to" means "and". When listing family members, use "to". I will explain more about this in a later lesson.

"No" is the particle for possesion. If something belongs to you, it is "watashi no". Wakaranai yo means "to not know"... in this case, to not know what your parents do for a living.

Ooh arigato! Wakarimashita heart  

[Swim47]

Hajimemashite! Watashi no namae wa Swim47 desu. Watashi no kazoku wa haha to chichi to watashi desu. Chichi wa bengoshi desu. Douzo yoroshiku!

English:

Nice to meet you! I'm Swim 47. My family is made up of my mom, dad, and me. My dad is a lawyer. Nice to meet you!

Is this right? :O  

[Asano Wakana]

Hajimemashite! Watashi no namae wa Sakuraoka Yuka desu. Seito desu. Chuugaku san nen sei desu. Watashi no kazoku wa haha to chichi to ane to watashi desu. Haha wa shufu desu. Chichi wa kaishain desu. Douzo yoroshiku!  

[x the abyss of dreams]

<3

Hajimemashite! Watashi no namae wa Abyss desu. Jyuu san sai desu. Chuugaku ni nen sei desu. Watashi no kazoku wa haha to chichi to ani to watashi desu. Haha wa shufu. Chichi wa kaishain.

Yaaayyy!! X3

 

[Starry Starry Fright]

x the abyss of dreams

<3

Hajimemashite! Watashi no namae wa Abyss desu. Jyuu san sai desu. Chuugaku ni sei desu. Watashi no kazoku wa haha to chichi to ani to watashi desu. Haha wo shufu. Chichi wo kaishain.

Yaaayyy!! X3

You're very close! Those last sentences should be

haha wa shufu desu.

and

chichi wa kaishain desu.

"wa" indicates that something is the topic of the sentence.  

[x the abyss of dreams]

Starry Starry Fright

x the abyss of dreams

<3

Hajimemashite! Watashi no namae wa Abyss desu. Jyuu san sai desu. Chuugaku ni sei desu. Watashi no kazoku wa haha to chichi to ani to watashi desu. Haha wo shufu. Chichi wo kaishain.

Yaaayyy!! X3

You're very close! Those last sentences should be

haha wa shufu desu.

and

chichi wa kaishain desu.

"wa" indicates that something is the topic of the sentence.

Okies. =]  

[x-AkaruiKijo-x]

Hajimemashite!
Watashi no namae wa xSaphire-Chanx desu.Jyuu Go sai desu. Seito desu.Koukou ichi nen desu.Watashi no kazoku wa chichi to sofu to watashi desu.Chichi wa Kaishain desu.Douzo Yoroskiku.  

[Starry Starry Fright]

xSaphire-Chanx

Hajimemashite!
Watashi no namae wa xSaphire-Chanx desu.Jyuu Go sai desu. Seito desu.Koukou ichi nen desu.Watashi no kazoku wa chichi to sofu to watashi desu.Chichi wa Kaishain desu.Douzo Yoroskiku.

Just one little mistake! That should read "koukou ichi nen SEI desu.  

[x-AkaruiKijo-x]

Starry Starry Fright

xSaphire-Chanx

Hajimemashite!
Watashi no namae wa xSaphire-Chanx desu.Jyuu Go sai desu. Seito desu.Koukou ichi nen desu.Watashi no kazoku wa chichi to sofu to watashi desu.Chichi wa Kaishain desu.Douzo Yoroskiku.

Just one little mistake! That should read "koukou ichi nen SEI desu.

Aww man >.< Sorry bout that