It might seem a bit odd so early in our series of travel lessons, but I want to take a look at a couple of things that random Japanese people are very likely to say to you.

Maybe you're thinking, I'm nowhere near being able to make small talk in Japanese. Just teach me how to say "When is the next train?" or something!

Hold your horses, Speedy Gonzales. We'll get to that.

But I actually think that being able to respond to the following questions and statements will come in handy more often...

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Where are you from?

I can't count how many times I've been asked some form of "Where are you from?"

Taxi drivers, friends of friends, restaurant workers―all kinds of people are liable to ask you this question.

I suppose it's just the first thing that comes to mind when wanting to fill an awkward silence with a foreigner. Or maybe they're secretly testing our Japanese abilities! Agh!

There's just one problem: There are a few ways that this question might be phrased.

Here are two common versions you may be asked:

どちらの国の方ですか？
どちら　の　くに　の　かた　です　か？
Which country are you from?
Literally: “which + の + country + の + person + です + か?”

どこから来たんですか？
どこ　から　きた　んです　か？
Where do you come from? // Where are you from?
Literally: “where + from + came + んです + か?”

Challenge #1 is being able to understand one of those questions when it comes flying at you.

Challenge #2 is being able to respond...

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I'm from [country].

This is easy. Just say です after the name of your country:

アメリカです。
アメリカ　です。
The U.S.
Literally: “the U.S. / America + です.”
Note: Sorry if you're from a country in America other than the U.S. I didn't choose this word; Japanese people did!

ドイツです。
ドイツ　です。
Germany.
Literally: “Germany + です.”

フランスです。
フランス　です。
France.
Literally: “France + です.”

This list of countries on Wikitravel may help... although those are official country names which can be a bit different. For example, they have アメリカ合衆国 (アメリカがっしゅうこく // the United States of America) instead of just アメリカ (the U.S.; America).

Aside from saying your country, another option is to say your nationality...

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I'm [nationality].

To state your nationality, just add the suffix ～人 (じん) to the end of your country's name.

A few examples:

アメリカ人です。
アメリカじん　です。
I’m American. // I’m from the U.S.
Literally: “U.S. person / American person + です.”

ドイツ人です。
ドイツじん　です。
I’m German.
Literally: “German person + です.”

フランス人です。
フランスじん　です。
I’m French.
Literally: “French person + です.”

宇宙人です。
うちゅうじん　です。
I'm an alien. // I'm from outer space.
Literally: "alien (=outer space + person) + です."

To become the ultimate master of "Country-人," check out this lessons from the Bunkai Beast grammar guide: Fusing 「A は B だ」 with Katakana English.

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Wow, you're so good at Japanese!

Japanese people tend to be very polite. Accordingly, flattery is common.

Saying こんにちは with a natural accent, let alone responding to a question like the one listed above, will earn you showers of undeserved praise in Japan:

わあ、日本語お上手ですねえ！
わあ、　にほんご　おじょうず　です　ねえ！
Wow, you're so good at Japanese!
Literally: “wow, + Japanese + skilled + です + ねえ！"

You might also hear it without the honorific お before 上手 and without the わあ or the extra emphatic え on ねえ:

日本語上手ですね。
にほんご　じょうず　です　ね。
You're (very) good at Japanese.
Literally: “Japanese + skilled + です + ね."

How do you respond to this? Especially if your Japanese... well, sucks?

You have a couple of options...

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Receiving Praise

Rei (my wife) thinks that the best way to respond to "You're (so) good at Japanese" is:

ありがとうございます。
ありがとうございます。
Thank you.
Literally: “thank you.”

As a native English speaker, this response feels odd to me. Saying "thank you" feels to me like I'm saying "I know I'm good; thank you for noticing what a badass I am."

OK, maybe that's a bit extreme. But it feels boastful to me.

According to Rei, though, it doesn't sound boastful in Japanese. It just sounds like you're thanking the person for saying something nice (even though both of you may suspect/know it's not true).

Personally, I've always enjoyed responding like this:

とんでもないです。（まだまだです。）
とんでもない　です。　（まだまだ　です。）
Not at all. (I'm still far from good.)
Literally: “outrageous + です. + (far from it + です.)”

...but there are some other issues that come with a response like this.

For one, とんでもないです is very humble sounding, so much so that it puts a bit of distance between you and the other person. That's part of why it would be very uncommon to hear a Japanese person respond to a compliment this way when talking to a random strange (i.e. not the president of your company, a client from another company, etc.).

That said, you might get some pretty fun reactions from people if you respond this way. Maybe something like, "Wow, you even know humble language?!?!"

You won't sound like a Japanese person, but you will sound like you know a lot of Japanese, strange as that sounds.

For more on deflecting praise, check out this lesson: [NDL #112] - Dealing with Japanese Flattery.

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In the next travel lesson, we're going to be looking at numbers in Japanese.

*Ominous music plays.* Yeah, Japanese numbers are kind of a nightmare. I'll try to keep you from wanting to cry...