Happy New Year! Let’s start with a Japanese mini lesson!
The phrase ”New Year’s resolutions” is expressed in Japanese as 新年の抱負（しんねんのほうふ shinnen no hoofu）Do you have any resolutions this year related to learning Japanese? At Nihongo Picnic, one of our resolutions is to regularly share useful Japanese language tips on this newsletter! We hope to introduce useful expressions, tricky grammar points, and other helpful topics with you!
Now, let’s start the year with a Japanese mini lesson! This time, it’s about the greeting, はじめまして (hajimemashite). The New Year often brings chances to meet new people. Do you know the expression, はじめまして in Japanese? It’s the phrase we say when meeting someone for the first time.
In English, you might say “Nice to meet you” both when meeting someone and when saying goodbye on the same day. But in Japanese, はじめまして is only used right at the moment you meet someone for the first time. It’s not used when saying goodbye or in a follow-up message. When introducing yourself, it’s natural to start with はじめまして before saying your name, job or where you are from.
By the way, while はじめて meaning for the first time is written as 初めて and はじめる meaning to start is written as 始める, はじめまして as in “Nice to meet you,” it’s usually written in hiragana.
We wish you many wonderful encounters this year!
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