Learn Japanese Phrases – The Most Useful Japanese Shopping Phrases To Get The Best Gifts From Japan
The Japanese language is not very easy to learn for a new person who is trying to become fluent. However, if you are planning to go to Japan for a visit, then you should try to learn some basic Japanese phrases, it’s actually not that difficult. Read on to learn the essential phrases to try and remember to make your shopping experience memorable and fun. Imagine telling your friends that you were actually able to speak Japanese to bargain and buy their gifts!
The vast majority of words used in Japanese are very different from English or any other language in the world. Still, there are some very common words and phrases in the Japanese language that we use on a daily basis in our conversation. Some of the commonly used Japanese words include samurai, geisha, karaoke, kimono, etc., and you can find even more if you look around. Here I will show you some of the basic Japanese shopping phrases that you should learn to have a great shopping experience in Japan:
1. Whenever you go to a market, the first thing you might ask is “What is this?” and in Japanese you can ask “Kore wa nan desu ka?”
2. You can ask the price of the item you choose by asking “Ikura desu ka?” which means “how much?”
3. If you’re trying to find something useful or just window shopping and the store manager asks if you need anything in particular, then you can reply “Just looking!” saying “Miteru dake desu!”
4. When the store manager shows you something and you don’t like it, but you still want to see something similar, then you can ask “Anything else?” or in Japanese “Nanika hokani arimasu ka?”
5. If you find some items to buy and the shop keeper keeps showing you different items, you can end your shopping by saying “Sore de zenbu desu!” which means “That’s it!”
6. If you would like something smaller or larger than what is shown, you can ask “Anything smaller?” saying “Motto chiisai no wa?” or “Something bigger?” saying “Motto ookii no wa?”
7. If you think the store manager is asking a huge amount for the item, you can express your concern by saying “Too expensive” or “Takasu-gimasu.”
8. Also, you can apply for some discount on the item by using the common Japanese shopping phrase “Waribiki wa arimasu ka?” which means “Any discount?”
9. If you think the item shown to you is small, you can tell the seller that it is “Too small!” saying “Chiisasugiru”.
10. Similarly, if the item is larger than what you need, you should tell the store manager “Ookisugiru!” which means “too big”.
Just by learning these small but useful Japanese shopping phrases, you can easily go through the markets of Tokyo or any other Japanese city and find what you want to buy for your friends and family.