1. Watashi wa Suzuki Yota desu.

This sentence means "I am Yota Suzuki." It is standard for Japanese to use their family name first followed by their given name. The sentence pattern is "Noun wa noun desu" which translates as "Noun is Noun". The wa is a particle indicating a subject or a topic, while desu is an equivalent to "am", "are", and "is".

Examples:	Watashi wa Sumisu desu.
		I am Mr. Smith.

		Watashi wa Tanaka desu.
		I am Mr. Tanaka.

2. Anata wa Amerika-jin desu ka.

This sentence means "Are you an American?" The word ka is a particle which makes a sentence a question.

Examples:	Anata wa Nihon-jin desu ka.
		Are you Japanese?

		Anata wa Suzuki-san desu ka.
		Are you Mr. Suzuki?

3. Otomo-dachi mo kookoo-sei desu ka.

This sentence means "Is your friend also a high school student?" The word mo is a particle and means "also".

Examples:	Sumisu-san mo Amerika-jin desu ka.
		Is Mr. Smith also an American?

		Watashi mo daigaku-sei desu.
		I am also a college student.

4. Nihon-jin desu.

This sentence means "I am Japanese". The word Nihon-jin is a compound of the two words, Nihon and jin. Nihon means "Japan" and jin means "person". The word jin is added to the end of a country's names to signify a person of that country.

Examples:	Gaadana-san wa Igirisu-jin desu.
		Mr. Gardiner is English. (Igirisu=England)

		Rozenbawa-san wa Doitsu-jin desu.
		Mr. Rosenbauer is German.(Doitsu=Germany)

5. Watashi wa kookoo-sei desu.

This sentence means "I am a high school student". The word kookoo-sei is a compound of the two words, kookoo and -sei. Kookoo is a shortened form of the word kootoogakkoo which means "high school" and -sei is an ending which means "student".

Examples:	Waatamanu-san wa daigakuin-sei desu.
		Mr. Waterman is a graduate student.(daigakuin=graduate school)

		Rassoru-san wa daigaku-sei desu.
		Mr. Russell is a college student.

1. The expression kon'nichiwa should be used only in the daytime, perhaps between 10 am and 5 pm since its literal translation is "good day". It also should be used when you greet someone, not when you're saying goodbye.

2. Watashi and watakushi means "I" "me" or "myself". In a more formal situation, Japanese people use watakushi.

3. Hajimemashite is used only to greet someone for the first time. It literally means "nice to see you for the first time". Doozo yoroshiku really means "may I ask you to be kind to me". An expression like this is not normally used in English. However, it is necessary when speaking Japanese.

4. Hai means "yes" in English. However, it can be used differently. This will be explained later in a later section.

5. Otomo-dachi means "your honorable friend". This is a more formal way of saying tomodachi which means simply "friend" Adding o- in front of certain words makes them more polite.

6. Yota did not mention the fact he is attending the most prestigious university in Japan, Tokyo University or Todai. Graduates of Todai are given preferential treatment in terms of jobs and salaries. Government positions in particular, are filled by graduates from Todai and other top schools. Acceptance into Todai is a process that many parents begin at the preschool level with their children. Good grades at the "right" pre-school, elementary, middle and high schools and many additional hours at "cram" schools (Jyuku) are typically required to prepare a student to pass the brutal college entrance exams.