Say Goodbye

I can't say for sure, but as a kid, I think the first Japanese word I ever learned was さようなら, which means "Goodbye:"

さようなら。
Goodbye.
Literally: "goodbye."

There is a slight issue with learning this word, though: Japanese people don't say it all that often.

It has a slightly dramatic ring to it, a bit like if you were to say "Farewell" in English.

Instead, you'll probably hear something like this more often:

じゃあね!
See you!
Literally: "see you."

So, is that (↑) what I should say when saying "Bye" to my teacher in a lesson?

Uh... kind of. Yeah, you can say that, but there is another phrase you can say at the very end of the lesson, which I've already mentioned before (and which we'll see yet again later in this course):

失礼します。
しつれい します。
Goodbye.
Literally: "rudeness / rude + do."

↑ You would say this at the moment right before you disconnect the call.

失礼します (しつれい します) is a pretty versatile phrase. For example, in our Toby in Tokyo video course, we see a restaurant server say it before entering the private room in which our characters are dining together. In other words, it can be used to announce yourself when entering a room with people in it.



Practice time:

さようなら。
Goodbye.
Literally: "goodbye."

じゃあね!
See you!
Literally: "see you."

失礼します。
しつれい します。
Goodbye.
Literally: "rudeness / rude + do."




Noticed any typos we've missed or other issues?
Report them here at this link.

Have questions about something in this lesson? Something not quite clicking yet? Join our discord community and discuss any questions / comments with us and fellow students.
You can join by heading to this link.
Complete and Continue