Key phrases
kaishain company employee
watashi wa kaishain desu. I’m a company employee
Suzuki no kaishain. a Suzuki employee
watashi wa Suzuki no kaishain desu. I’m a Suzuki employee
Sumisu-san wa kaishain desu ka? Mr. Smith, are you a company employee?
Listening and speaking
Konnichiwa, Sumisu-san. Hello, Mr Smith.
Konnichiwa, Yamada-san. Hello, Mrs Yamada.
Sumisu-san wa kaishain desu ka?
Mr Smith, are you a company employee?
Hai, so‾ desu. Yes, that’s right.
Konnichiwa, Gurı‾n-san. Hello, Miss Green.
Konnichiwa, Yamada-san. Hello, Mrs Yamada.
Gurı‾n-san wa gakusei – desu ka?
Miss Green, are you a student?
Iee, chigaimasu. No, that’s incorrect.
Watashi wa ko‾muin desu. I’m a civil servant.
Yamada-san wa? And you, Mrs Yamada?
Watashi wa enjinia desu. I’m an engineer.
Sumimasen. Suzuki-san wa Suzuki no kaishain desu ka?
Excuse me. Mr Suzuki, are you a Suzuki employee?
Iee, chigaimasu. No, that’s incorrect.
Watasi wa Eigo no kyo‾shi desu.
I’m an English teacher.
So‾ desu ka. Is that right?
NOTE
no means “of”, but works the opposite way round to English, e.g. an “English teacher” is a “teacher of English”, but in Japanese it becomes an “English of teacher” –Eigo no kyo‾shi.
LANGUAGE INFORMATION
Kaisha means “company” and -in means “member”, so kaishain is literally “company member”. Here are some other common professions:
ko‾muin civil servant
gakusei student
kyo‾shi teacher
isha doctor
ryoko‾sha traveller
ongakuka musician
shashinka photographer
bengoshi lawyer
keisatsukan police officer
konpyu‾ta‾ purogurama‾ computer programmer
enjinia engineer
Sararı‾man is another word for “company employee”. Sararı‾ comes from the English word “salary” and man comes from “man”. Although strictly speaking anyone earning money can be a sararı‾man, this is used only to describe those who work for commercial companies.
CULTURAL INFORMATION
Don’t be offended if Japanese people ask you a lot of personal questions. Because of the importance of hierarchy and different politeness levels in Japanese speech, they are just trying to determine your status and how they should address you.