This lesson will assist you with some answers from this previous lesson.

(Full Title: 🔊I Want to Tell You | Focus: 出身はどこですか? Where are you from?| Earth Continents in Japanese | | Basic Answers (First Meeting) | 基本的な答え (初対面) || Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Japanese Language Learning Essentials )

 皆様みんなさま、こんにちにゃあぁ！Welcome to Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online! We take you around the globe from the comfort of your own electronic device, helping you travel in futuristic style, but today, we’re not simply focusing on where you’re going, but where you’re from! Hmm, 🤔 very interesting indeed, yes? During the previous lessons, we’ve been introducing you to 疑問詞, gimonshi, otherwise known as (Japanese) question words. We’ve walked you through the first several basic ones, but we want to do much more than introduce you to them. We want you to embrace the gimonshi! You have to sniff the gimonshi! You’ve gotta wash the gimonshi! You’ve gotta date the gimonshi! You’ve got to BE the gimonshi!! … By which we mean, you should probably know how to answer the basic questions with at least basic answers. So, this lesson, we’re focusing on something important to anyone who lives on Earth, and that’s geographical location.

Whilst this will definitely be a good basic answer to the question, ‘where are you from?’, this should be a good answer to ‘where are you going?’, or ‘where are you travelling?’. However, there are nearly 200 countries in the world, so we won’t exactly be able to list them all in one ‘basic’ / ‘essentials’ article. We’re so sorry if your country isn’t listed, but to make up for it, we’ll be sure to at least list all of the continents. (No worries! We’ll cover countries in the next one—unless it’s Australia, then you’re in luck, friends.)

Sadly, we won’t be able to include one of our favourite places: Rand McNally. In fact, in Rand McNally, they wear hats on their feet and hamburgers eat people…. We’re having a laugh, of course, for all of you classic Simpsons fans out there. But, never fear, though we’re covering Earth, we’re not forgetting any aliens. If you’re from another planet, then you’ll want to take a look at our previous lessons concerning Japanese space vocabulary. Even though it’s only this solar system, it gives a bit to work with.

Though this is very useful vocabulary on its own, we definitely think it would be important to use this to practise sentences. That is to say, these would fit wonderfully with the previous lessons, and the true point of vocabulary is to put it to use through communicating and comprehending. We think you would benefit from the previous lessons, if you haven’t experienced them already. But, even still, you can keep them open in a separate tab. In order to use these vocabulary, you’ll certainly want to have a look at the ‘essentials’ section, which is linked through one of the top thumbnails. There, you can have a look at what are called particles. Also, you may benefit from learning how to refer to yourself using first-person pronouns, there are quite a few more of them than the single triad in English. From there, you can have a revise/review whilst looking deeper into the first several basic question words.

Alrighty, that should give you more than enough to work with to understand the point of this lesson. Otherwise, we would continue to repeat information and you wouldn’t be able to get to the heart of the lesson as easily. We’re here to assist you on your journey through Japanese language, so we want to make sure we provide each of the modes of transportation to get you from point A to point B, and every point betwixt and between! Without further ado, let’s hop, skip, and jump right into this.

Quick Introduction

You may have hopped and skipped, but before we jump into this, let’s take a quick look at something important from the previous lesson that you may find important to this one. We know, we said we didn’t want to repeat anything, but this is the entire point of the article, so we reckoned it important enough to break our own rule from thirty seconds ago. It includes a few examples of answers, and each of these answers have a blank– You can learn about the blanks in the previous lesson, but most importantly, you can fill them in with the answers we’re giving you, this lesson. That’s right, we’re just giving you the answers!

Q: Where are you from?

(あなたの)　出身は　どこですか。
(あなたの)　しゅっしんは　どこですか。
(anata no) shusshin wa doko desuka?

A: I’m from______.

(私は) 　○○出身です。
(わたしは）○○しゅっしんです。
(watashi wa) ○○shusshin desu.

A:  ____.

○○です。
○○desu.

例: I come from another planet.

僕は　他の　惑星から　来ました。
ぼくは　ほかの　わくせいから　きました。
boku wa hoka no wakusei kara kimashita.

Don’t know how the Japanese writing system even works? This is the place to start~!

When you do have a look at each of the continent and country names, you’ll notice that there are kanji associated, however you’ll usually see it written in katakana. Sometimes, in some abbreviations, you may see the kanji, though. Maybe in a future lesson, we will cover these. Though, in a ‘basic’ lesson, that may be a bit much, and we’ll try to stick to more absorbable concepts for beginners.

Even still, you will see kanji when referring to a Southeast Asian country that uses kanji. So, it’s definitely something to keep in mind. This lesson, it’s truly about focusing on the vocabulary, so don’t let the kanji bog you down, it’s just something that your future self will be glad to have to reference.
Let’s NihonGO!!

Basic Answers: Where are you from?
| 基本的な答え: 「出身は　どこですか。」

Continents |大州

Asia

亜細亜 (アジア)【あじあ】 ajia

アジア出身です。
あじあ出身です。
ajia shusshin desu.
I’m from Asia.

Europe

欧羅巴 (ヨーロッパ)【よーろっぱ】 yooroppa

欧州　【おうしゅう】 oushuu

ヨーロッパから　来ました。
よーろっぱから　きました。
yooroppa kara kimashita.
I have come from Europe.

Africa

阿弗利加 (アフリカ)【あふりか】 afurika

アフリカに　旅行する予定です。
あふりかに　りょこうする　よていです。
afurika ni ryokou suru yotei desu.
I plan to travel to Africa.

North America

北アメリカ【きたあめりか】 kita amerika

北米【ほくべい】 hokubei

北アメリカという　ところから　来た。
きたあめりかという　ところから　きた。
kita amerika to iu tokoro kara kita.
I come from a place called North America.

South America

南アメリカ 【みなみあめりか】 minami amerika

南米【なんべい】nanbei

私の　友達は　南アメリカ　出身です。
わたしの　ともだちは　みなみあめりか　しゅっしんです。
watashi no tomodachi wa minami amerika shusshin desu.
My friend is from South America.

Australia

濠太剌利 (オーストラリア)【おーすとらりあ】 oosutoraria

豪州　【ごうしゅう】goushuu

何度も　言ったでしょう。オーストラリア出身じゃないのです。
なんども　いったでしょう。おーすとらりあ　しゅっしんじゃないのです。
nandomo itta deshou. oosutoraria shusshin jyanai no desu.
I’ve told you over and over. I’m not from Australia.

Oceania

オセアニア　【おせあにあ】 oseania

大洋州 【たいようしゅう】taiyoushuu

彼女は　オセアニアから　来ました。
かのじょは　おせあにあから　きました。
kanojo wa oseania kara kimashita.
She comes from Oceania.

Antarctica

南極大陸　【なんきょくたいりく】 nankyokutairiku

南極【なんきょく】 nankyoku

南極大陸で　生まれた人は　あまりいませんね。
なんきょくたいりくで　うまれたひとは　あまりいませんね。
nankyoutairikude umareta hito wa amari imasen ne.
Not many people were born in Antarctica.

So, if you live on, or are from, the planet Earth, you’ll have hopefully found this lesson helpful! And, if not, and you’re conversing with someone in Japanese about the continent you’re on or are planning to visit, then you’ll still be in luck. As you can see, the continents can be a little less than simple, so we decided to focus simply on the continents for this, as we never want to give you too much to memorise in one session. Though, there is never a time limit, you can take as many times—and as much time—as you’d like! That’s the beauty of the site~! You can return as many times as you like to review and revise. But, if you want to make sure to be able to return to the site as many times as you’d like so you can keep your Japanese language survival kit stocked with the latest tools, be sure to support the site by subscribing to the Electronic Mailing List of Tomorrow, today, found usually at the bottom of the site page or the sidebar on desktop. You’ll get the latest tools and resources to surviving in Japanese language in straight to your inbox. That’s articles, videos, podcasts, and more.

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