#JapaneseCulture

じゃんけん [janken] or 'rock-paper-scissors" can be very serious in Japan, it's even been used to decide which company would get to hold the auction of a collection of impressist paintings worth millions of dollars

you can put ね at the end of a sentence to say something like 'isn't it" or "right?"

for example, you can change

この焼き鳥は美味しいです [このやきとりはおいしいです] 'This Chicken is good/tasty!"

to

この焼き鳥は美味しいですね [このやきとりはおいしいですね] 'This chicken is good/tasty, right?"

you would drop the は and the です in an informal setting, so you'd say

この焼き鳥美味しいね [このやきとりおいしい] 'this chicken's good/tasty, right?

焼き鳥 yakitori is skewered chicken

to ask someone about their age you say

何歳ですか [なんさいですか] 'how old [are you]?"

in a more informal setting, it would be more like

何歳？ [なんさい?] 'how old [are you]?"

it's rather uncommon to ask this, unless people are relatively close in age (they don't distinctively look older than the other), but in a bar or social event where people are consuming alcohol, it's likely to happen, because people are supposed to show respect to their elders, even in informal situations, this might be more of a Societal thing in Asian countries, not just in Japan

in a formal setting, or when talking to someone with more renown, you might ask 年はいくつですか [としはいくつですか] 'how old are you?" which is more formal

#JapaneseGrammar

you can say ながら to say you do something, while doing something else

for example

'talk while drinking coffee"

コーヒーを飲みながら話します [コーヒーをのみながらはなしします]

here the 'main" action is talking, not drinking, this is important, because of the order it's said in Japanese, you say the main thing after ながら

other combinations are possible using this, for example

'let's talk while drinking coffee" would be

コーヒーを飲みながら話そう [コーヒーをのみながらはなそう]

'wouldn't you like to talk while drinking coffee?" would be

コーヒーを飲みながら話しませんか [コーヒーをのみながらはなしませんか]

'I want to eat chocolate while listening to music"

音楽を聴きながらチョコレートを食べたい [おんがくをききながらチョコレートをたべたい]

you might use

佐藤さん [さとうさん] for a coworker whose last name is 'Satou", and you don't know very well
ひなちゃん for a small child whose name is "Hina" or "Hinata"
篠田先輩 [しのだせんぱい] for a senior coworker whose last name is "Shinoda"
田中くん [たなかくん] for a coworker whose last name is "Tanaka", and you know, or are friendly with, or if you were a professor, and "Tanaka" were a student, you might use this as well
神様 [かみさま] to refer to god, if you don't use さま, it might seem disrespectful, or like you meant to say "a God"
白神先生 [しらがみせんせい] for a professor, a physician, or a famous professional (like an author) whose last name is "Shiragami"

#JapanesePhrase

〇〇気がする [〇〇きがする] means 'I feel that 〇〇" or "I get the feeling of/that 〇〇"

this is VERY common in Japanese

in episode 14 of ３月のライオン, at about minute 00:12:14, Mr. Shimada says: ちょっと分かった気がするよ[ちょっとわかったきがするよ], which could be translated as 'I kind of understand", or "I think I understand", though it's closer to saying
'I get the feeling I understand", or "I get the feeling I understood" (分かった [わかった] means "understood", it is in past tense)

you would say that particular phrase if you get the general idea of what someone said to you, but you recognize there might be some gaps in your understanding

another example (not from ３月のライオン)

先生の言ってた事を分かった気がする [せんせいのいってたことをわかったきがする] 'I think I understood what the teacher was saying" or "I think I understood what the teacher said"

though in a more natural conversation, they would drop the を, leaving it as

先生の言ってた事分かった気がする [せんせいのいってたことわかったきがする]

and another example, with another verb

何か忘れた気がする [なにかわすれたきがする] 'I feel like I forgot something", or "I get the feeling I forgot something"

#JapanesePhrase
To say 'Thank you" you can say ありがとうございます [arigatou gozaimasu], you can drop the ございます [gozaimasu] if you’re speaking casually, like with a close friend or a family member

#JapanesePhrase
To say 'Thanks" you can say どうも [doumo], this is very casual, and unlike ありがとう [arigatou] it can mean other things, depending on the context, whereas ありがとう will always mean "Thanks"

#PolitenessInJapanese
there are many different 'levels of politeness" in the Japanese language, these imply different social standing or different levels of respect and familiarity between people, casual speech is different from formal speech, and can have different uses, if you look in a dictionary, you'll only find casual speech, and some grammatical constructs are done only in casual speech

#JapanesePhrases
#SelfIntroduction
Here are some example phrases you can use when first meeting someone:

1. はじめまして [hajimemashite]
Nice to meet you / How do you do?

note that はじめまして [hajimemashite] is said only the first time you meet someone, it is literally “for the first time” but is used like “nice to meet you”

and to pronounce it correctly drop the 'i" in "mashite" to sound similar to "mashte"

2. (なまえ) と もうします [(namae) to moushimasu]
I am (name)

Although there are other ways to introduce yourself, this is a very polite and humble way to go about it.

3. よろしく おねがい します [yoroshiku onegai shimasu]
Best regards / I look forward to working with you / Let’s get along

This phrase is very interesting and useful, it literally means “please treat me well”, but it can take many different meanings depending on the context.

4. こちらこそ よろしく おねがい します [kochira koso yoroshiku onegai shimasu]
It’s me who should say that
Said after the other person says phrase #3. it means “I also look forward to working with you” or “I also hope we get along”

#PolitenessInJapanese
敬語 [けいご] [keigo] is 'formal speech", this can be identified with verbs ending in ます, です, and with ください, so 食べます [たべます] [tabemasu] is keigo, whereas 食べる [たべる] [taberu]is not, despite both being "eat" or "to eat"

#JapanesePhrase
しゅっしんはどちらですか [Shusshin wa dochira desu ka], literally means 'where do you come from?" but can be interpreted as "where are you from?" (the difference is subtle, but it is there); however, it is more common to just ask どちら からです か [dochira kara desu ka], since in a conversation it's obvious what people are asking from the context, but in a formal setting you may hear the former

#JapaneseConversation
after answering a question, you can say あなたは? [anata wa]? to effectively ask the same question you were asked, e.g. a person asks どちらからですか [dochira kara desu ka] and the second answers カナダからです,あなたは? [kanada kara desu, anata wa]? (I'm from Canada, and you?) the first then answers back with コスタリカからです [kosuta rika kara desu] (I'm from Costa Rica)

#JapanesePhrase
another way to say コスタリカからです [kosuta rika kara desu] (I'm from Costa Rica) is to say コスタリカじんです [kosuta rika-jin desu] (I'm Costa Rican) you can change the country in the phrase to say it for the country you're from

#JapanesePhrase
じん [jin] is put after a country to indicate someone is from it, during an introduction saying (country) じんです [(country)-jin desu] means you're from that country, but you could also ask if someone is from a specific country, for example
ドイツじんですか [doitsu-jin desuka?] (are you from Germany?)
いいえ、オスとリアじんです [iie, osutoria desu] (no, I'm from Austria)

#JapnesePhrase
もしもし [moshimoshi] is what is said when answering the phone in Japanese, though はい [hai], literally “yes” is sometimes also used. A very common way to answer is saying one of these and then your name followed by です [desu], for example *phone rings* もしもしすずきです [moshimoshi Suzuki desu] (Hello, this is Suzuki speaking)

in a more formal setting, like an employee of a company answering the phone, they might say 魚コーポレショーンの鈴木です [さかなコーポレーションのすずきです]

の can be used to express possesion, this is similar to 's in English

so 'my little sister" is 俺の妹 [おれのいもうと]

and "my little sister's dog" is 俺の妹の犬 [おれのいもうとのいぬ]

and "my little sister's dog's weight is 10kg" is 俺の妹の犬の重さは１０キロ [おれのいもうとのいぬのおもさは１０キロ]

キロ can mean kilogram, or kilometer depending on the context, Japanese people love to use shorter versions of everything, another example of this is あけおめ which is short for 明けましておめでとう [あけましておめでとう], which means 'happy new year!"

#JapanesePhrase
いただきます
itadakimasu
literally 'I humbly receive"
this, is said before eating, to express gratitude for all who played a role in preparing, cultivating, ranching or hunting the food
it's similar to saying grace before a meal

#JapaneseGrammar
The Japanese language does not have plurals like English does. An example of that is 花 (はな, [hana]) means 'flower" or "flowers", depending of the context involucrated in the sentence