Someone Thanks You in Japan. The Word You Memorized Is Not the One They Use.
To say not at all in Japanese, say いえいえ (ieie).
You did something small and kind, they thanked you, and the long word from your textbook is already halfway out of your mouth.
Why this phrase
A street role play. Hana plays a woman who drops her IC card at a ticket gate; Kōfuku picks it up, hands it back, and she says 「ありがとうございます」. He answers 「いえいえ」, the light doubled 'not at all' people actually use in a small everyday exchange. 「どういたしまして」 is not wrong, but it lands heavy and textbook, and toward someone senior it can even sound a little above yourself, so natives usually reach for 「いえいえ」 or 「とんでもないです」 instead. Give Kōfuku the full line 「いえいえ、大丈夫ですよ。」 so the interjection is not left alone in a beat.
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Four Minutes to the Last Train. Don't Ask Where. Ask This.
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Survival
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If You Hear This Word Behind You, You're Standing In The Wrong Place.
jama · in the way, a nuisance
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The Konbini Sells Fireworks All August. Where You Can Light Them Is the Catch.
koko de hanabi o shite mo ii desu ka? · Is it okay to do fireworks here?
More phrases like this
- Two Seats on the Same Shinkansen Cost the Same. Only One of Them Sees Mount Fuji. · madogawa de onegai shimasu
- You Booked Two Shinkansen Tickets. Japan Gave You Two Seats in Different Rows. · sumimasen, seki, kawatte moraemasen ka?
- The Konbini Clerk Asks You Something Before They Scan Anything. It's Not About Money. · pointo kādo wa o-mochi desu ka?
- Japanese Hotels Ask Every Foreign Guest for the Same Thing. It Is Not Your Booking. · pasupōto o onegai shimasu
- A Stranger in Japan Will Ask You One Question. Most Tourists Just Smile and Nod. · sugoku tanoshii desu
- "Sorry, We Are Full." In Japan That Is Not the End of the Conversation. · kyanseru-machi wa dekimasu ka?
- Your Ryokan Is a Two Thousand Yen Taxi From the Station. It Also Runs a Free Van. · sougei basu wa arimasu ka?
- The Karaoke Desk Asks One Thing Before They Hand You a Room. · nijikan de onegai shimasu
- Two ATMs on the Same Street in Japan. Only One Takes Your Foreign Card. · kaigai no kaado wa tsukaemasu ka?
- Everything at a Japanese Izakaya Lands on One Giant Plate. Nobody Tells You to Ask for This. · torizara o kudasai
- Booked a Ryokan? Breakfast Is Half the Reason You Came. Ask What Time It Starts. · asagohan wa nanji desu ka
- At a Japanese Konbini, the Clerk Asks About a Bag. Saying No Saves You Money. · fukuro wa irimasen
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