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.
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