Learn Formal Business Japanese

the relationships between the speaker and listener using Keigo

外国人に敬語を教えるため、当サイトが最近使われていることを知り非常に
嬉しく思いました。 当サイトの情報量も増えるので、もし敬語の説明を英語で
載せてほしい内容等あれば、ご遠慮なくお申し付けください。
また、近々英語のビジネスマナーのサイトも構築を考えております。
こちらも勉強したい内容等あれば是非教えてください。

Keigo (敬語) - The Honorifics

  Keigo (敬語) is the umbrella term representing the three formal speech forms of the Japanese language, the Kenjo-go/謙譲語, Sonkei-go/尊敬語, and Teinei-go/丁寧語) . Details of each are explained in the links below or on the left of this webpage.

Using respectful Keigo is a must for all Japanese businessmen/women, so nearly all Japanese are taught to use proper Keigo before they join the business world. In fact, if a Japanese businessman can't use Keigo correctly, he will be viewed unprofessional and probably uneducated, and will be frowned upon by his colleagues and clients.  To the extreme, this can go as far as some business deals being called off just because the Keigo wording was not professional enough (regardless of what the product may have been).

Polite(TEINEIGO)
Humble(KENJOUGO)
Respectful(SONKEIGO)
A list of example KEI GOs

 

Fortunately, I have found that Japanese are generally forgiving to foreigners (i.e. non-Japanese), and that foreigners can be commonly excused from the practice of using perfect Keigo due to the difficulty in acquiring it. This should not be an excuse to give up on learning Keigo however, as there will still be the few hardcore staunch businessmen who will view it rude regardless if you are a non-Japanese or not if you can't use it eloquently. This is no different from other cultures. For example, if a non-native English speaker makes a spelling/grammatical mistake in English, many native speakers will understand that the speaker is not perfect and simply ignore it. There are obviously some, however, who willl annoyed by this and question why the speaker can't speak better English.

Although there is no perfect equivalent of what its like not using proper Keigo in English, it would be perhaps like going to a high-class fancy restaurant with somebody special, only to have the waiter approach you saying, "yo dudes, hows it going man. Get this steak is some good stuff man!!" Although the individual may have been trying to be helpful, not using the appropriate tone for the situation can make the individual look out of line. Similarly, using informal Japanese amongst friends is no problem, but not in business situations. At least "trying" to use Keigo (even if it is not 100% accurate) will make you look much more sharp and approachable to your Japanese audience.

Topic: Honorifics - Keigo (敬語)

Date 19/10/2022
By Chizu
Subject About Keigo

とてもわかりやすい図解だと思いました。
私は、今、日本語学習者のための役立つサイトを集めています。こういうシンプルな図は非常にわかりやすいので、仲間との情報共有ブログで紹介させて頂きたいと思います。

ありがとうございました。

 

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