Month: May 2020

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These are the Japanese dialogues for podcast #31: Convenience Store Japanese.

Introduction 

In this podcast you will learn useful Japanese phrases for shopping at a convenience store. Understanding the polite language used by convenience store staff can be a little confusing at first. However, if you learn common set phrases it’s not that hard to understand. 

Main Dialog (Japanese)

A: いらっしゃいませ、お次の方どうぞ.
B: ファミチキを一つとハッシュポテトを一つお願いします。
A: こちら温めますか。
B: はい、お願いします
A: お箸をお付けしますか。
B: はい、お願いします。
A: 袋お分けしますか。
B: 大丈夫です。
A: ポイントカードはお持ちですか。
B: はい。
A: 1500円になります。1万円からでよろしいですか。
B: はい
A: ありがとうございました

Main Dialog ( Japanese pronunciation)

A: Irasshaimase, otsugi no kata dōzo.
B: Famichiki o hitotsu to Hasshu potato o hitotsu onegaishimasu.
A: Kochira atatamemasu ka.
B: Hai, onegai shimasu.
A: Ohashi o otsuke shimasu ka.
B: Hai, onegai shimasu.
A: Fukuro owake shimasu ka.
B: Daijōbu desu.
A: Pointo kaado wa omochi desu ka.
B: Hai.
A: Sen gohyaku ni narimasu. Ichi man en kara yoroshii desu ka.
B: Hai
A: Arigatō gozaimasu.

Main Dialog (English)
A: Welcome, next customer please.
B: One Famichiki (fried Family Mart chicken) and one hashed potato please.
A: Would you like it heated?
B: Yes, please.
A: Would you like chopsticks with that?
B: Yes, please/
A: Would you like to use seperate bags?
B: No, that’s fine.
A: Do you have a point card?
B: Yes.
A: That’ll be 1500 yen. Shall I give you change from this 10,000 yen bill?
B: Yes.
A: Thanks.

Extra Phrases
Saying Yes and No 
To recap, when talking to Konbini staff you’ll mostly say:
はい、お願いします – Hai, Onegai shimasu – Yes please
大丈夫です – Daijōbu desu – No, it’s OK

Ordering stuff
One useful phrase is これ一つお願いします Kore o hitotsu onegai shimasu – which means I’ll have one of that. When you aren’t sure of the name for something, you can point and say that. So usually at the register or レジ reji – there’ll be a glass case with hot food such as fried chicken, potato and other foods. Sometimes the kanji can be hard to read so just point and say これ一つお願いします Kore o hitotsu onegai shimasu

Bags
One thing you’ll definitely be talking about is plastic bags. Here are some useful phrases:

袋にお入れしますか
Fukuro oire shimasu ka.
Do you need a bag?

袋お分けしますか
Fukuro owake shimasu ka.
Shall I put these in separate bags?

このままでよろしいでしょうか
Kono mama de yoroshii deshō ka
Do you want it just like this. You don’t need a bag right?

袋は結構です
Fukuro wa kekkō desu
No, I don’t need a bag.

Asking if you want chopsticks and other cutlery
Another thing you will almost definitely be asked is if you want chopsticks, a spoon, a straw etc.

お箸はご利用ですか
Ohashi wa goriyō desu ka
Will you be using chopsticks

お箸をお付けしますか
Ohashi o otsuke shimasu ka
Do you want chopsticks? (Shall I add chopsticks?)

スプーンをお付けしますか
Supuun o otsuke shimasu ka
Do you want a spoon?

ストローをお付けしますか
Sutoroo o otsuke shimasu ka
Do you want a straw?

Point card
Another thing that might throw you off is point cards. Many konbini have customer loyalty point cards which allow you to build up points every time you make a purchase. So they’ll usually say:

ポイントカードはお持ちですか
Pointo kaado wa omochi desu ka
Do you have a point card?

Random Phrase of the Week

居留守 Irusu – To pretend to not be at home

or

居留守を使う Irusu o tsukau – To pretend to not be at home

You use this when someone rings on your doorbell and you pretend to not be in. You can also use it for the telephone when someone rings and you don’t answer.