Introduction to Essential Japanese : Lesson 5 - 自己紹介 (Self Introduction)

Time to commence Lesson 5 of "Introduction to Essential Japanese"!

For the past 4 lessons, just to recap, we've went through all that's there in the building blocks of Japanese - Hiragana and Katakana.

But nothing's complete without knowing how to express it. You can't be just going "あ、あ、あ" like what a baby does every day, can you?

So let's start conversation proper - to learn, to understand and to use Japanese in everyday speech. *applause please*

In Japan, as you would probably know from anime, courtesy and politeness is crucial. Thus, the following lessons will be mainly conducted using 丁寧語 （ていねいご）, or polite speech as what we call it in English.

With that set, what's the first thing you do when you meet someone for the first time? That's right, self-introduction, or at least, a "Hello".

Let me start with my introduction first.

初（はじ）めまして。私（わたし）はメロディー（Melody)です！どうぞよろしくお願（ねが）いします！Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Merodii desu! Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

That's the simplest introduction you can ever have. Breaking it down bit by bit,

初（はじ）めまして --- Nice to meet you (for the first time)

私（わたし）はメロディー（Melody)です --- I am Melody. (Note that は is pronounced as wa (わ）when used as a particle)

どうぞよろしくお願（ねが）いします！ --- Thank you very much/Please Take care of me! (For Chinese fans, this translates best to 请多多指教)

It's possible to substitute phrases from your introduction though,and you can sort-of mix-and-match some of these following phrases...

Saying Hi/Nice to meet you (Pick one):

こんにちは！ - Good Afternoon / Hi

Konnichiwa

!初（はじ）めまして - Nice to meet you

Hajimemashite

More about yourself (pick any amount):

私（わたし）はメロディーです。 -- I am Melody.

Watashi wa Merodii desu

(Optional, if you have a long name): XXを呼(よ）んでもいいですよ！ --- You can call me XX!

xx wo yondemo iidesu yo!

メロディーと申（もう）します。 -- My name is Melody (more polite)

Merodii to moushimasu.

今年（ことし）十八歳/才（じゅうはっさい）です。 -- I'm 18 this year. (Note: This is not my true age.)

kotoshi jyuuhassai desu.

日本からです。 --- I am from Japan (Note: Neither am I from Japan)

Nihon kara desu.

趣味（しゅみ）はアニメを見る、本を読むことです。 --- My interest is watching anime and reading books.

shumi wa anime wo miru, hon wo youmu koto desu.

Conclusion (pick one):

どうぞよろしく -- Please take care of me

douzo yoroshiku

More formal:（どうぞ）よろしくお願いします --- Note that adding どうぞ makes it even more formal and polite.

(Douzo) yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

Even more formal: どうぞよろしくお願いいたします (This is usually used in very formal, business occasions or in books, and rarely used in everyday life)

これからお世話(せわ）になります。--- I'll be in your care from now on/Please take care of me

kore kara osewa ni narimasu

That was a long post, but I hope everyone had got it! 

Here is a short clip of Ichinose Kotomi's introduction. Enjoy! ^^(Introduction starts at 11:14 and ends at 16:33)

http://youtu.be/tHwn8UCemA0?t=11m14s

Note : I'm sorry if there's any wrong words D:
I'm learning here, too! :)