Introducing yourself and saying your name

Hello,

I wondered why in the Introduction module, Sayaka and Shota introduced themselves differently.  Shota used, “Boku no namae wa Suzuki Shota desu,” and Sayaka used, “Watashi no namae wa Yamaguchi Sayaka desu.”  Does the word choice depend on the situation?  Or is it simply two ways to introduce oneself?

Thank you!

Hi Alonzo!

In Japanese their is different ways of saying things. For example Chichi means Father and Otōsan also means Father. Sayaka and Shota introduced themselves differently, but they both said their first and last name starting with “My name is.”  Both of these ways of introducing your self sound like they can be used in any situation.  I hope this helped! :)

こんにちは (Konnichiwa) AlonzoW-4mnj,

Thanks for your question! 

As Fuuka mentioned, Japanese often has multiple ways of communicating the same thing. 

Although Sayaka and Shota both say “My name is…," they say so in different ways: Shota says 僕の名前 (boku no namae) “my name” and Sayaka says 私の名前 (watashi no namae) “my name.” These both mean the exact same thing; however, they have slightly different nuances due to the pronouns that are used: 

僕 (Boku) “I / me” is the polite masculine pronoun for “I / me." It's often used by males. 

私 (Watashi) “I / me” is the polite gender-neutral pronoun for “I / me.” It can be used by any gender. 

Since Shota is a male, he uses the masculine pronoun 僕 (boku) “I / me” instead of 私 (watashi) “I / me," which allows him to sound a little more masculine - the meaning remains the same, though. 

You can read about the use of these pronouns in this lesson:

https://app.rocketlanguages.com/members/products/5/lesson/5067#respectful-pronouns

I hope this helped!
勉強を頑張ってください！ (Benkyō o ganbatte kudasai!) 

Thank you Fuuka and Emma.  These explanations help.  I can play with both ways to expand my vocabulary.