Nationalities in Japanese

Resources for further reading:

• Tools to learn Japanese
• Perfect your Japanese pronunciation

Pronouncing Nationalities in Japanese

One of the first questions someone new you meet will ask you is "Where are you from?"

You can answer this simply with the country you’re from – わたしは イギリス しゅっしん です (Watashi wa Igirisu shusshin desu) – I’m from England.

But you can also answer by using the nationality form わたしは えいこく じん です (Watashi wa Eikokujin desu) – I’m English. This time we’ll be going over the second way of talking about where you’re from.

The easiest way to answer is to add です (desu) after your nationality. Here are some nationalities in Japanese:

How’d you do? How do you feel answering this question now? Many of these words aren't that different from their English counterparts. But the spelling and pronunciation can be a bit tricky so don’t forget to practice!

Here are a few recommended Japanese lessons to try next!

• Saying No in Japanese.
• At a Japanese restaurant? Try ordering in Japanese!
• There's lots of wonderful sights in Japan. Let's talk about sightseeing in Japanese.

Sayōnara!

Sayaka Matsuura: Rocket Japanese