A quick look at Japanese gift giving etiquette

The exchange of gifts is a central part of business etiquette and of Japanese culture in general. Whether it is for your boss, coworkers or friends, there are a few things you should know about Japanese gift giving etiquette. Some of them not only are Japanese etiquettes but also be the rules you should follow.

Read more: How to say i love you in Japanese                                                                                        How to say good morning in Japanese                                                                                     Japanese Kanji

1. What kind of Japanese gift giving are the best?

   

   For women, flowers can be nice.

If you visit a Japanese company, your host family or meet with Japanese business partners, this question always pops up.

Food (especially sweets like cake, cookies etc.) from your region are very welcome. You should not be finical about Japanese gift giving. For women, flowers can be nice, but avoid white flowers, lotus blossoms, lilies and camellias since they are associated with funerals. Also, potted plants are associated with sickness, so better look for something else.

High-quality alcohol or pens, as well as business card holders, are also a nice idea. For business gifts, it can be on the expensive side, but never have your own company’s logo on it!

If you’re visiting your host family, then anything that’s typical for your region / country (especially if it’s edible) is the best choice.

2. Be careful with colors when giving the gift in Japan.

   

   These etiquette tips for Japanese gift giving is very necessary.

Although you may write with black ink in your own country, when signing a gift card in Japan, you may want to change your pen. Colors have a lot of meaning and are something to be cautious of. Same goes for the color of the gift wrapping. Here is a quick guide on what you may or may not use color wise. Remember these etiquette tips for Japanese gift giving :

• Red is used on tombstones. Do not use it for signing cards. Also, don’t send red Christmas cards as funeral notices are red in Japan. Red and white gift wrapping is good for weddings, though.
• Black can mean death or bad luck. Black combined with red expresses sexuality, so try to avoid it.
• Green can mean eternity and good luck. It is perfect for almost any gift card.
• White can mean holiness. If the card is a solid color, white ink can be perfect for a baby shower.
• Purple can mean celebrations and decadence. It is a great color for a festive holiday.

3. Numbers to avoid in Japanese gift giving culture.

   

   You never see the gifts in sets of 4 in Japan.

If you have to send a gift never involve the numbers 4, 9 and 43 (e.g. don’t send four pieces of cake).

• FOUR: 4 (四、し、shi) can sound like the word death (死、し、 shi)
• NINE: 9 (九、く、ku) can sound like suffering (苦、く、ku)
• FOURTYTHREE: if it’s for a baby shower, 43 (四三、しさん、shisan) is similar to stillbirth (死産、しざん, shizan).

To be on the safe side, better avoid anything that has a “4” or “9” in it. ;)

4. Japanese gift giving and receiving etiquette

   

   One of the Japanese gift giving etiquette must remember is handing the gift with both hands.

Carry the gift in a normal shopping bag, so nobody will know immediately that you bring a present.

When handing it over, do it with both hands (also when receiving it). If it is for an individual, you need to do it in private and you want to give it to the person towards the end of your visit, not in the beginning like in the USA.

It’s very common to present a gift with the words “Tsumaranai mono desu ga …” (つまらないものですが・・・, lit.: It’s something boring, but please accept it …). It just shows that the relationship is more important that the present itself.

If you receive a present, don’t open it right away. Do it later when you’re alone, so you don’t have to worry about how to react if you don’t like it.

Also, it’s polite if you reject the present humbly once or twice. But don’t overdo it!

Always wrap a present beautifully. Let the shop do it where you purchased it.

The presentation and meaning of the gift are more important than the gift itself so make sure there is thought behind it.

Most of these rules don’t apply when you give a present to a (close) friend or family member of yours. It’s a much more casual situation after all.

Learn basic Japanese phrases just in 5 minutes.

To learn and get used to Japanese as quickly as possible, it had better if you should become familiar with the basic Japanese phrase which are often encountered in life. Memorizing the fixed communication, you have 20% more confident to communicate with the Japanese then. Now, let’s begin with us !

Read more: How to say i love you in Japanese                                                                                        How to say good morning in Japanese                                                                                     Japanese Kanji

Basic Japanese phrase in daily life

1. 

   Basic japanese phrases are very useful in daily life.

Hiragana	Transcription	Translation
どう した？	Dou shita?	What is going on ?
げんき だた？/どう げんき？	Genki data?/ Dou genki?
なに やってた の？	Nani yatteta no?	How are you doing ?
ひさしぶり ね。 ひさしぶり だね。	Hisashiburi ne. (Woman) Hisashiburi dane. (Man)	Long time to see.
げんき？	genki	How are you ?
げんき。 げんき よ。 げんき だよ。 まあね。	Genki Genki yo (woman) Genki dayo (man) Maane. (+)	I’m fine.
どか した の？ ど した の？ なんか あった の？ ど したん だよ？	Doka shita no? (Woman)(n–> p) Do shita no? (Woman)(n–> p) Nanka atta no? (**) Do shitan dayo? (Man)	What’s up ?
なに かんがえてん？	Nani kangaeten?	What are you thinking about ?
べつ に。	Betsu ni.	Not thing
ひとり に して！() ほっといて！	Hitori ni shite! Hottoite!	Leave me alone !
ほん と？() ほんと に？( まじ で？ まじ？ うそ？ うそ だ？	Hon to? Honto ni? Maji de? Maji? Uso? Uso da?	Right ? / Really ?
そう なの？ そう？	Sou nano? Sou?	Really ?
どう して？ どう して だよ？ なんで？	Dou shite? Dō shite dayo? Nande?	Why ?
どう いう いみ？	Douimi?	What do you mean ?

Basic Japanese phrase in restaurant

2. 

   Communication with customer in restaurant is very important

If you intend to work part-time at Japanese restaurant , or you're working in a Japanese restaurant , you can’t ignore this basic Japanese phrase to greeting customers as follows :

Hiragana		Transcription	Translation
いらっしゃい ませ	Irashai mashe		Welcome to our restaurant ( when customers enter the restaurant)
何名 さま で いらっしゃいますか	Nanmei samade irashai masuka		How many people do you have ?
こちらへどうぞ。	Kochira e douzo		Please go follow this direction.
きょう は こんで います ので、 ご あいせき で よろしい でしょうか?	kyoo wa konde imasu node, go aiseki de yoroshii deshoo ka		Because of this crowded. Would you mind to sit with others?
何 に なさい ます か	Nani nasai masuka		What do you order ?
おまたせ しました。	Omatase shimashita		Sorry for let you waiting so long.
どうぞ おめしあがり ください。	Douzo omeshiagari kudasai		Enjoy your meal !
おたべものは いかがですか。	Otabemono wa ikaga desu ka		Would you like to anything else ?

Basic Japanese phrase in class

Hiragana	Transcription	Translation
はじめましょう	hajimemashou	Let’s start
おわりましょう	owarimashou	Let’s finish.
やすみましょう	yasumimashou	Let’s to have break.
おねがいします	onegaishimasu	Plesase
きりつ	kiritsu!	Nghiêm !
どうぞすわってください	douzo suwattekudasai	Sit down, please
わかりますか	wakarimasuka	Do you understand ?
はい、わかります	hai,wakarimasu	I got it.
いいえ、わかりません	iie, wakarimasen	No, I don’t understand
もういちど	mou ichido	One again.
じょうずですね	jouzudesune	Great/ good !
いいですね	iidesune	Good
しけん/しゅくだい	Shiken/shukudai	Test/ home work.
しつもん/こたえ/れい	Shitsumon/kotae/rei	Question/answer/example

Actually, when you learn a foreign language, especially learn Japanese. This is a long process requires interactions and continuously exposed to the language, especially to talk with native speakers. So learn the basic communication phrase will initially be very useful for communicating in the future. To help you learn effective japanese dialogue, we will continue to improve further to bring the most useful lessons for you.

>> Back to our blog http://blog.akirademy.com/ <<<

How can I say I love you in Japanese?

Everybody who learns foreign languages will find out the way to greet or to say the love and compassion. The Japanese are very special, they has the unique way to express love and feelings for their lover. Now let’s explore the Japanese culture from the way to say I love you in Japanese.

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how to say I love you in Japanese

In Japanese, "love" is, "愛" (ai) , and the verb form "to love" is, "aisuru（愛する）". "I love you" can be literally translated as, "aishite imasu （愛しています）". "Aishiteru （愛してる）", "aishiteru yo （愛してるよ）" or "aishiteru wa (愛してるわ, female speech)" is normally used in conversation. "Yo" and "wa" at the end of the sentence are sentenced ending particles.

However, the Japanese don't say "I love you" as often as people in the west do, mainly because of cultural differences. I am not surprised if someone from Japan says that they have never used this expression in their life.

The Japanese generally don't express their love openly. They believe that love can be expressed by manners. When they put their feelings into words, it is preferred to use the phrase "suki desu （好きです）". It literally means, "to like". "Suki da （好きだ）," "suki dayo" (好きだよ, male speech) or "suki yo (好きよ, female speech)" are more colloquial expressions. There are many variations of this phrase, including regional dialects (hogen). "Suki yanen （好きやねん）" is one of the versions in Kansai-ben (the Kansai dialect). Since the phrase can also mean "I love it", and because of the popularity of Kansai-ben, it is used as the name of an instant noodle soup product

If you like somebody or something very much, "dai (literally means, big)" can be added as the prefix, and you can say "daisuki desu （大好きです）".

The word "koi" also means love in English

There is another word to describe "love" which is "koi （恋）" can be roughly translated as "love" in English. However, they have a slightly different nuance.The kanji character for "kokoro (心, heart)" is included as part of both kanji characters. Compare the kanji characters below (From left "kokoro," "ai" and "koi").

心、愛、恋

Both "ai （愛）" and "koi （恋）" can be roughly translated as "love" in English. However, they have a slightly different nuance. Here are some proverbs that include "koi."

• 恋に師匠なし

Koi ni shishou nashi      - Love needs no teaching.

• 恋に上下の隔てなし

Koi ni jouge no hedate nashi   - Love makes all men equal.

• 恋は思案のほか

Koi wa shian no hoka    - Love is without reason.

• 恋は盲目

Koi wa moumoku.         -        Love is blind.

• 恋は熱しやすく冷めやすい。

Koi wa nesshi yasuku same yasui     Love becomes deep easily, but cool

The Japanese sometimes use the English word "love" as well, though it is pronounced as "rabu （ラブ）" (since there is no "L" or "V" sound in Japanese). "A love letter" is usually called "rabu retaa （ラブレター）." "Koibumi （恋文）" sounds a bit dated, and it is more of a literary word than a conversational word. "Rabu shiin （ラブシーン）" is "a love scene". Young people say "rabu rabu (ラブラブ, love love)" when they are very much in love.

Expressing your love in a foreign language is way trickier than it seems. And in Japan, love is quite a serious affair so use the true sentences in the true situation to expressing yourself.

Guide to Japanese writing for Beginners

Japanese - a hard language to master indeed, and how can a Japanese beginner begins to learn it? How to start learning Japanese writing? To lessen beginners' burden, this time we would like to share the guide to Japanese Writing for beginners. Hope you can learn something, and have fun.

Read more: How to say i love you in Japanese                                                                                        How to say good morning in Japanese                                                                                     Japanese Kanji

STEP 1 - Learn Hiragana and Katakana

Of course this is obvious. In order to write something with a new language, we need to grasp the alphabet or syllable system of that language. As you know, in Japanese, Hiragana and Katakana are the 2 syllable charts which we must learn. While Hiragana is the most basic syllable chart and considered to be simplified version of Chinese characters, Katakana is mostly used for borrowed from other countries, such as English, and sometimes used to emphasize information. Why there is no Kanji listed here you may ask? It will be left for later, but the first step, Hiragana and Katakana is enough. As you grasp both syllable charts, you can start to practice Japanese writing.

STEP 2 - Learn basic grammar structures

After we master Hiragana and Katakana, it's time to learn some basic grammar structures before we start to practice writing Japanese. So what is basic grammar structures? We will take Minna no Nihongo lessons as the foundation. In Minna no Nihongo, there are total 50 lessons, however for beginners, we only need to learn approximately first 10 lessons. With the first 10 lessons, we can already start to write basic Japanese sentence and even a paragraph. Here are some examples:

STEP 3 - Start practicing Japanese writing

So, as we learned Hiragana, Katakana, and some basic grammar structures, we should be able to write basic sentences and paragraphs. But that is enough to start learning Japanese writing. Think of this not as a chore, but as a way to express self through Japanese writing. Normally if we mention about writing, mostly we will think of rigorous training with bunch of writing exercises. However, in this case it is not that recommended. By putting this way we don't mean that writing exercises are not effective. The thing is after doing exercises for a period of time, we will start to get bored, and of course our learning progress will also be slowed down. So as beginners, and also to make it more exciting, why don't we try another approaches? One of them is to write diary, not just "dairy", but "dairy in Japanese". There is no need to write complicated essay or paragraphs, we just need to write what we like to, what we experience during the day. Isn't it more exciting and interesting than doing plain exercises? There are lots of other choices, but it is up to the creativity of the learners. For now, diary is a good enough start.

STEP 4 - Gradually use Kanji in the writing

As we get used to write diary in Japanese, it's time to combine with Kanji words we know. Since Kanji takes an extremely important role in Japanese, we should also be able to use Kanji while writing Japanese. This will be a long process so we just need to be patient. Start off with some basic Kanji words such as 先生 (Sensei - Teacher/Master), 大学 (Daigaku - University), 食べます (Tabemasu - Eat), etc..., we will gradually get used to Kanji, we will be able to remember more Kanji words and apply them in our writing, making our writing more fluent.

STEP 5 - Continue and Develop

This should be called as a tip more than a step since it is just about the continuation of what we have been doing. As we become more skilled in Japanese, we learn more grammar structures, vocabularies, and Kanji words. As we advance to the next level, we can write much longer and better paragraphs, diary stories, or even essays. In this stage, we can also do some self-challenges in which we try to write about particular things, topics that we are interested in. It should be good learning experience as we continue writing Japanese.

Some TIPS for writing Japanese (According to this guide)

TIP 1 - Read manga

"Manga? That is not even related to writing Japanese!" If this is what comes to your mind (or something else similar), then there is explaination for it. The special part about manga is that it is for all ages. It is widely excepted in Japan, also there are many varieties of manga, from children stories to adult world, serious contents. So you can expect to learn alot from manga. Another reason, which is also the most important. is most manga series include plenty of Furigana - basically Kanji words with Hiragana version written above. This special trait of manga actually helps you alot in your Kanji learning, thus, help you write Japanese better as your Kanji words resource increases. 

TIP 2 - Always start writing with basic grammar structures

This one does not mean that you have to hinder your imagination and you must stick to the basic grammar structures as close as possible. To be more precise, this tip is for beginners. As beginners, we always want to be good in Japanese in the fastest way possible. We also want to write what we want, going as wild as possible. But, the problem is as beginners, we are tend to make lots of mistakes regarding grammar structures, vocabularies. Especially if we learn writing Japanese alone, there is high chance that we will make the same mistakes again and again because there is no one else to correct us. So, as beginners, try to stay close to the basic in order to understand how Japanese writing works before inventing something out of the league.

TIP 3 - Read news, articles, books in Japanese

Besides manga, Japanese newspapers and books are another reliable sources for learning Japanese writing. As there are many newspapers and books focus on real-life context, they will help us learn alot, both writing style and new vocabularies. If you are able to read Japanese articles and books, it is recommended to do so.

And those are the guide to Japanese writing for beginners! Stay tune, have fun and good luck in your Japanes learning experience!

4 Steps to Speak Japanese for Beginner

It is not difficult to pick up the basics of Japanese - the entire language is made up of just 46 distinct sounds - but it can take many years of practicing to master the nuances of this beautiful language. Begin by exploring Japanese on your own, we will show you how to speak Japanese for the beginner.

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Step 1: Learn Japanese pronunciation.

The sounds corresponding to the Hiragana and Katakana alphabets are composed of either one of five vowel sounds or a combination of a consonant and a vowel sound, with the exception of a few consonant-only sounds.

Since each character in Hiragana and Katakana has only one distinct sound, it is relatively easy to learn how to pronounce all 46. Pay special attention to intonation, though, since variations on these basic sounds can drastically change the meaning. Learn to speak two alphabets of Japanese is the first basic step to learn how to speak Japanese fluently.

Whereas English pronunciation is based on accents, Japanese pronunciation is based on pitch. A word may be pronounced the same way and mean something different depending on whether it is spoken in a high or low pitch. To speak Japanese like a native speaker, getting intonation right is key.

Step 2: Practice Japanese greetings

Learning how to greet people properly is one of the first steps to speaking any language especially speaking Japanese. Following are some common ways to say "hello" and "goodbye" in Japanese. Look up the sounds that correspond to the characters to make sure you pronounce them correctly:

• はじめましてーHajimemashite ("Nice to meet you.")
• おはようございます - ohayogozaimatsu ("Good morning.")
• こんにちは -konichiwa ("Good Day" {can be used only till sunset and thus can also be used as "Good Afternoon"})
• おやすみなさい - oyasuminasai ("Good night.")
• さようなら - sayonara ("Goodbye.")

Practice Japanese greeting to learn how to speak Japanese

Step 3: Practice some conversation phrases

Now that you know the most basic way to start a conversation, learn a few phrases that will help you move it along by expressing interest in the person to whom you're talking. So here some common phrases you can use to speak japanese.

おげんき ですか？ー ogenki desuka ("How are you?")

• げんき です。ありがとう。- genki desu. Arigatou ("I'm fine, thanks.")
• ありがとう ございます - Arigato gozaimatsu ("Thank you.")
• すみません - Sumimasen ("Excuse me.")
• ごめん なさい - gomen nasai ("Sorry.")
• わかります - wakarimatsu ("I understand.")

Step 4: Understand Japanese grammar and vocabulary

Japanese grammar is quite different from other languages, but it follows a logical format that is easy to learn. The following is true about Japanese grammar:

• Nouns don't have plural forms and they don't change according to gender.
• Verbs don't change according to gender, number, or whether the subject is an object or persons.
• The predicate is always at the end of the sentence.
• Personal pronouns vary based on different levels of politeness and formality.

Particles directly follow the word they relate to. For example, instead of saying "I am Japanese," it would be "I Japanese am."

Be good at Japanese grammar and vocabulary will help you become professional in speaking japanese. Let's imagine when you can describe one matter in several ways by using your multiform Japanese grammar. Day by day, not only your grammar will be improved but also your japanese speaking skill will be better. You will not feel be hard-pressed for speaking japanese because of your wide vocabulary and solid grammar.

But Japanese is one of the most complicated languages in the world. If you can't learn Japanese by your own and you find difficult to speak Japanese, let's come to the offline course. In this class, you will not only be exposed to the knowledge of the Japanese standards but also be trained to communicate, be introduced to Japanese culture, ...

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Source: Blog Akirademy

5 RECOMMENDED BOOKS for JAPANESE GRAMMAR

Learning Japanese grammar is quite a difficult journey since it is so different from what we have learned from English. Because the 2 grammars system are not the same, people have hard time understanding and remembering Japanese grammar structures. Regular translating from Japanese to English is not a good option as learners might miss translate many sentences. This time, we would like to introduce you some of most recommended books for Japanese grammar and we with hope that with these suggestions, you can improve your Japanese grammar study.

Read more: How to say i love you in Japanese                                                                                        How to say good morning in Japanese                                                                                     Japanese Kanji

1 - Minna no Nihongo

Probably every Japanese learners know this books serie. Minna no Nihongo can be considered to be one of the most common used books in Japanese classes curriculum, Universities, .etc... If you focus on Japanese grammar, you will need at least these 2 books: Minna no Nihongo Honsatsu and Minna no Nihongo English Translation. While Honsatsu provides grammar structures, dialogues, and grammar exercises in Japanese, English Translation book provides English translation for vocabulary, grammar explanation and example in English. In addition to these two books, there are exercise book and listening material for further training. Overall Minna no Nihongo offers basic Japanese grammar lessons and its lesson structure is easy to catch up, so it is most recommended for beginners.

2 - Shin Nihongo no Kiso

Similar to Minna no Nihongo, Shin Nihongo no Kiso is also another popular learning material among schools, Universities, Japanese classes. If you are Japanese beginners, Shin Nihongo no Kiso is also another good choice besides Minna no Nihongo as they both offer basic Japanese grammar structures. Shin Nihongo no Kiso provides many books from grammar book to exercise book, listening material. The lesson structure is also similar to what Minna no Nihongo has so if you already learned a bit from Minna no Nihongo then it should be easy for you to study with Shin Nihongo no Kiso.

3 - A Guide to Japanese Grammar: A Japanese approach to learning Japanese grammar

If you usually search for Japanese learning on the Internet then you probably know the author of this book: Tae Kim. He can be considered to be an advanced Japanese speakers, and he created his own blog dedicated for learning Japanese purpose so if you are learning Japanese, you should check out his website. In this book, he covers a wide range of grammar structures with detail explanation. Also the book provides vocabulary and examples of real life Japanese, as well as casual speech, slang which are normally not covered in other textbooks. For people who want to learn online, they can always check out his website as it has the same content as the book offers. But if you prefer to learn from physical material, it is always recommended to get this book from Amazon with relatively cheap price.

4 - A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar

This one is one of the most famous Japanese learning material, probably the best as there are lots of people who highly recommend it for Japanese learners. As mentioned above, since English and Japanese are the two distant languages, many people find hard time in understanding Japanese grammar. The more they learn and try to translate to English, the more they get confused. The arrival of this book totally "rescue" Japanese learners from drowning in the sea of confusion and frustration. The book provide clear and precise Japanese grammar explanation in English, along with lots of examples and usages. Needless to say this book is much recommended if you are Japanese beginners, and if you are at higher level, don't hesitate to get the higher level versions of this book: "A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar" - The Blue one, and "A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar" - The Red one.

5 - Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese

For starters, it will be hard for them to find the right Japanese learning material for their study. Minna no Nihongo, Shin Nihongo no Kiso are both solid choice. But if you used to learn Japanese, and now you want to start learning Japanese again but you think it will be boring if using Minna no Nihongo or Shin Nihongo no Kiso again. Why not try Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese? Just like its name, Genki is suitable for Japanese beginners, even for the people who have just started to learn Japanese and have no prior knowledge about Japanese. It covers lessons and exercises for full 4 skills - reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The lessons in Genki are well structured and they are probably best used in class with teachers and friends. Though there are several parts designed for exercises with friends, it is still a good choice for people who like to self-study. 

And those are the 5 recommended books for Japanese grammar learning. Good luck and have fun in your Japanese learning adventure! In the meantime, check out our website for more news and tips, and also don't hesitate to check out the link below to join in our new fun and exciting Japanese learning experience!

Source: Blog Akirademy

Do you know how to thank you in japanese?

When you want to thank you in Japanese, first, you should determine the level of polite that you want to express. And remember that thank you in Japanese is a culture which is not similar to any country in the world. Now, we are going to explore how to thank you in Japanese in a true way.

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Way 1 : Casual thanks

• Doumo arigatou （どうも ありがとう）

This is a fairly standard yet casual way to say "thank you”. You will hear this sentence thousand times if you have occasion to visit Japan because Japanese have the habit of saying thank you when they are helped in spite of tiny things.

But you only use this expression with friends and co-workers, but avoid using it with someone who is in a position of authority over you. Also avoid using it in formal situations.

• Arigatou （ありがとう）

  

  Arigatou is standard casual way to thank you in Japanese

Arigatou is an even more informal way of saying "thank you."

You can use this phrase with friends and family members. It is appropriate with people who share your status, but someone with a higher status, like a supervisor or teacher, should be treated with more respect.

• Doumo（どうも ）

This means "very much," but is understood to mean "thank you" depending on the context of the conversation. Although "domo" is more polite than "arigatou" and you can use this in most polite contexts, but if you need to be extremely polite to someone, you should opt for a more formal phrase

Way 2 : Formal way

If you are wondering how to say thank you in Japanese more polite or extremely polite, this is the answer :

• arigatou gozaimasu. （ありがとうございます）

This phrase essentially means "thank you very much". Use it if you are in a situation where you would like to be more polite (perhaps an older person offered their assistance), you would want to use the slightly more formal Arigatou gozaimasu. This is a step up from just Arigatou and means “Thank you” in a more sincere and personal sense.

"arigatou gozaimasu" means thank you very much

• Doumo arigatou gozaimasu （どうも ありがとうございます）

Finally, there is the most formal and sincere expression, "Doumo arigatou gozaimasu". As you can see, it includes all three of our “Thank you” words. This means “Thank you very much”

Way 3 : Thank you in special situation

• Use "gochisou sama deshita"（ごちそう さまでした）after a meal.If a host serves you dinner or if someone treats you to meal, you should use this phrase at the end of the meal to express gratitude.And  remember that at the beginning of a meal, you would say "itadakimasu" instead. This is the phrase you must remember unless be assessed unpolite or uncultured.
• At the end of a work day, say "o-tsukaresama desu."（おつかれさまです） It essentially means something along the lines of "thank you for your hard work," but a stricter interpretation would be "you are a tired person."The implication is that the listener has worked hard and deserves to rest. The phrase is polite and shows gratitude for that person's hard work.

  

  おつかれさまでした is thanks for working hard

• Ookini －おおきに

This is not standard Japanese. Instead, this form of saying "thank you" is only found in Osakan dialect.

Ookini can mean "thank you" or "please." It can be used at the end of a sentence to smooth relations, or it can be used on its own to show appreciation to someone close.

• Sumimashen – すみません

This phrase is learning Japanese people known as "Excuse me / I'm sorry '. But it was interesting to know that “sumimasen” also means" Thank you "in case you feel bothered when somebody helps you.

If you are sick and someone has cooked dinner or drove you to the hospital, you will say “sumimasen”, it would make sense to thanks also meant to apologize for the inconvenience. It is a polite term and expressed gratitude to the speakers.

How to thank you in Japanese is always a question of showing gratitude, used in certain cases. Pay attention to this "culture"- it is easy but also difficult !

Source: Blog Akirademy

Tips of HOW to learn JAPANESE GRAMMAR

Some people may think that Japanese grammar is not that difficult because it does not have so many tenses like English, however, the problem is Japanese grammar has tons of structures to learn and remembering all of them is not an easy task. So today, we would like to share some tips of how to learn Japanese grammar to help you learn Japanese grammar better.

Read more: How to say i love you in Japanese                                                                                        How to say good morning in Japanese                                                                                     Japanese Kanji

1 - Getting Suitable Books

Getting appropriate books is important to learn a new language, especially learning grammar. And by saying "appropriate books" or "suitable books", it means that we cannot just learn Japanese grammar from some random books. We need something that can guide us through this difficult learning Japanese journey. Its hard to define "suitable books" for everybody since each person may have different preferences, so in this case, we will recommend some of popular Japanese learning books:

     a) Minna no Nihongo

This one is probably one of the most common Japanese learning books as it is used in almost all curriculums, Universities, schools, Japanese learning center, .etc... The book, or books serie to be more precise, provide 50 lessons in total and it covers Japanese grammar level from beginner to intermediate (N5 - about N3). We could say the books serie provide somewhat standard learning structure with lots of exercises and English translations. Another choice would be Shin Nihongo no Kiso and it also has the similar structure to Minna no Nihongo so it is also a close choice.

     b) Japanese the Manga Way

This one is very interesting, especially for those who interested in manga. Different from standard Japanese learning structure, Japanese the Manga Way delivers the lessons in form of... manga, just like its name suggests. To be more details, each lesson will deliver knowledge through scenes just like in manga. Also there are romaji form of written Japanese above, along with word-on-word translations and English translation version of the sentences. And of course there are grammar and vocabulary explaination. If you do not like to learn in old school style, this one should give you a new approach to learn Japanese grammar.

     c) Genki

Genki is probably the most popular Japanese learning book nowadays, and yes it is really good at it. Each lesson from the book comprises of 2 sections: Conversation - Grammar and Reading - Writing, along with many exercises to practice. The Conversation - Grammar is pretty well done as grammar structures are showed in the real-life conversation. Overall, Genki is recommended by many people and it is also recommended for people who wish to learn Japanese alone.

2 - Enroll in a Japanese class

Enrolling in a Japanese class does not necessary means that you have to enroll in a real-class, you could also join online class. This tip is ideal for beginners because most beginners will likely to get lost during their Japanese learning journey, therefore, a guide hand is important to assist them until they are familiar with Japanese and be able to learn alone. Some people may wonder whether real-life class is better than online class, and vice-versa. To answer this question, we have to say there is no common answer for it. For those who have time and want to have assistance from real people, it is recommended to enroll in a real-life class. But for those who prefer to self-study then having online course is probably better choice as it will require more effort and self-determination. Afterall, it is still a good idea to have a Japanese class for beginners, whether getting an online course or enrolling a real-life class is a matter of needs.

3 - Practice Japanese writing

Writing will require a firm foundation of grammar, and of course, if we think about it, writing is also a good way to learn grammar. So how to practice Japanese writing you may ask? Actually it is very simple. There are many ways to practice Japanese writing, and one of the simpliest ways is to write diary in Japanese. Just start writing diary with basic grammar structures, then when we learn more complicated structures, we can gradually apply what we have learned in writing diary. However, just to make sure that you have some Japanese document to compare in order to check your Japanese grammar. Since probably we don't want to show our diary to other people easily so it is a good idea to have something to compare grammar.

4 - Try to work hard on exercises

This one is more like an advice than a tip, however, we have to say in order to learn Japanese grammar, doing exercises is extremely important. If we want to remember a grammar structure, we will need to practice it. The more we practice, the better we remember it. Of course when saying this, we don't mean that we must focus on doing exercises because it will distract us from learning other Japanese language skills. Keep it balance, but don't get lazy, afterall, we can be pretty lazy when it comes to doing exercises.

So those are the tips of how to learn Japanese grammar! Some of us may want to listen to the best way to learn Japanese grammar, but as we mentioned before, it will depend on each person's needs and preferences. The best way can only be found when we get serious. Stay tune, have fun and good luck in your Japanese learning journey!

Source: Blog Akirademy