Closing the gap between what you learn and what you say in Japanese

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Closing the gap between what you learn and what you say in Japanese

A few tweaks to the conversations you learn in your Japanese class will help you sound like a native when you step out the door. | GETTY IMAGES

By Yuko Tamura
Contributing writer

May 16, 2025

In any language, there’s a gap between the 教科書に載っているフレーズ (kyōkasho ni notte-iru furēzu, phrases found in textbooks) and 実際に使われている表現 (jissai ni tsukawarete-iru hyōgen, the expressions actually used).

This gap may discourage Japanese learners from utilizing what they've learned in real-life situations, but sometimes it’s necessary to get over any jitters and just step up and ask questions at your local 店 (mise, shops), デパート (诲别辫ā迟辞, department stores) and 飲食店 (inshokuten, restaurants) to buy what you really want.

Let’s look at the following polite conversation at a cafe between a customer, Noah, and a 店員 (迟别苍’颈苍) — which is a word that can refer to both shop staff and servers in Japanese. Noah asks some questions when ordering and being served: