Nihongojouzu

Office Japanese - the Telephone: Part Four

Answering the phone and transferring a call is straightforward, but when you have to take a message it becomes a little trickier. Here are the basics.

Part Four    Answering the Phone and Taking a Message

１。名乗る

はい、XXでございます。

２。相手を確認する、あいさつをする

YYのZZでいらっしゃいますね。
いつもお世話になっております。

-Same as the beginning of Part Three

３。名指人を確認、おわび

AAでございますね。
申し訳ございません、あいにくAAは…[and continue in 4.]

４。情報提供する、理由・予定

出かけておりますが４時頃には戻る予定でございます。

Or:

出張しておりますが、木曜日には出社いたします。

-Don’t just say “She’s out at the moment” – provide the caller with additional information before they ask for it
-Don’t however say WHERE the person is (they might be at a competitor’s office!)
-And then immediately make a suggestion for a course of action, as per 5.

５。意向を伺う

（戻りましたら）お電話を差し上げるようにいたしましょうか。

Is the person in a hurry?

お急ぎでいらっしゃいますか。

Perhaps you, or someone else, can deal with it:

よろしければ用件を承りますが。

-Volunteer to call the person back – don’t wait for them to ask
-Don’t forget to get the caller’s phone number:

念のためお電話番号をお願いします。

６。復唱確認する

復唱させていただきます。
（電話番号）、YYのZZでいらっしゃいますね。

-Repeat the message to make sure you have the details correct, and to reassure the caller of the same (Name, Phone Number, Concerning What?)

７。名前を告げる

かしこまりました。私BBと申します。

-Let the caller know who they are talking to so they have the information for future reference

８。処置について確認する

AAが戻りましたらお電話を差し上げるよう申し伝えます。

AAが戻りましたらYYのZZ様からお電話いただきましたことを申し伝えます。

９。終わりのあいさつをする

失礼いたします。

ありがとうございました。

Part Five will feature a whole bunch of set phrases not covered in Part One, Part Two, Part Three or Part Four.

Office Japanese - the Telephone: Part Three

Part One and Part Two dealt with making a call. Today we deal with handling an incoming call, or you can think of it as what the person at the other end of the line was saying in Part One.

Part Three    Answering the Phone and Transferring the Call

１.名乗る

(phone rings - pick it up within 3 rings)

お電話ありがとうございます。XXでございます。

-Before 10am you can start with:

おはようございます。XXでございます。

-If the phone rings more than 3 times you should say:

お待たせいたしました。XXでございます。

-Saying thank you at the beginning has two purposes: (1) if you dive into announcing your company/division etc the caller may not be ready, and miss what you say; (2) saying thank you acts as a buffer and starts proceedings on a friendly note.
-Answer the phone as quickly as possible - within 3 rings is OK, but 2 is better.
-Always have pen and paper ready to take a message. Don't just have them sitting on your desk somewhere, when you pick up the phone you should also grab a pen and be ready to write.
-Speak cheerfully and clearly

2. 相手を確認する

(the caller gives their name and company)

YYのZZ様でいらっしゃいますね。

-If the caller doesn't announce themselves:

恐れ入れますが、どちら様でいらっしゃいますか？

-Make sure you confirm whom the caller is - it is sloppy if you just put the call through and say "It's someone from Toyota"  and means that the next person has to ask again.
-You already have a pen in your hand - use it.  Get into the habit of writing down the caller's name and company every time

３．あいさつをする

いつもお世話になっております。

-Say it with feeling!
-It doesn't matter if you have never done business with this company before - just use the set phrase! (you don't actually mean "God be with you" when you say goodbye in English - same principle)

４．名指人*を確認

AAでございますね。かしこまりました、少々お待ちくださいませ。

-If there are two people in your company with the same name, confirm which of them its is by offering the personal name of the most likely candidate:

鈴木由香でございますね。

５．取次ぎ

AAさん、YYのZZ様からお電話です。

-Hit the 保留　button
-Stay in polite mode when transferring - the last thing you want is to screw up the transfer and have the caller hear you say "鈴木さん、NTTのやつだよ“

Tomorrow - Part Four -  dealing with the caller when the person requested isn't  available.

*名指人 (なざしにん)

Office Japanese - the Telephone: Part Two

Yesterday I posted an introductory piece on the fine art of placing a business phone call in Japanese.

As you will recall, we left proceedings at the point where you, the caller, had just given your name and company name and had asked to be put through to someone.

Part Two    Being Put Through to the Other Party

１．相手を確認する

XX様でいらっしゃいますね。

-Necessary if the person coming to the phone simply says "はい”, or if you don't catch what they say, but not required if they announce themselves clearly.

 

２．名乗る

私、YY社のZZでございます。

-note that 私 in this context has the super formal reading わたくし

３．あいさつをする

先日お忙しいところありがとうございました。

If you don’t have a specific event to refer to (for example, when you last met) you can offer a more generic greeting:

いつもお世話になっております。

およびたてして、申し訳ございません。

-Obviously if you have had some interaction with the other party it is a good idea to mention it and give the call some context. Other possible greetings:

この度は、弊社の○○をご購入いただき、誠にありがとうございます
先ほどはお問い合わせありがとうございました

-Politeness and brevity are key
-呼び立てる　means to ask a person to come, or in this case, to call someone to the phone

４．用件を伝える

今、お時間をいただいてよろしいでしょうか。

早速ですが＿＿＿＿の件につきましてご連絡いたしました。

If you think the matter will take a while, forewarn the other person and give them the option of dealing with it later:

お時間長くなりますが、ただ今よろしいでしょうか？

What follows is the meat of the phone call and while equally polite it won’t necessarily be as formulaic. I’ll keep things simple for the moment, skip to the end of the call, and provide some useful phrases in a later article.

５．相手の理解を確認する

以上、＿＿＿＿＿で、よろしいでしょうか。

Equally you could say:

もう一度、要点だけ、繰り返させていただきます。

(and then summarise the details)

Two examples:

では、来週の金曜日にお見積もりを提出させていただきます

 

以上、予定していた打合せですが今回はキャンセル、後日ご連絡ということで、よろしいでしょうか？

６．終わりのあいさつをする

どうぞ、よろしくお願いいたします。

 Just before hanging up: 失礼いたしました. And it wouldn't be out of place to have ありがとうございました in there too.

-Pause a moment before gently replacing the receiver – don’t just clunk it back into place.

OK - you know what to say when placing a call - what about when the phone rings? We'll look at that next week in Part Three - Receiving Calls.

Office Japanese - the Telephone: Part One

Good phone manner is an essential part of working in a Japanese office, and handling phone calls is one of the testing grounds of your Japanese skills – you can no longer rely on the gestures and facial expressions you may use in face-to-face interactions, and your listening skills are paramount because you don’t have the luxury of visual context. On the flip side, work phone calls usually fall into patterns which you can practice (though you obviously can’t meet every contingency) and unlike in-person conversation, you can write out what you want to say in advance.

Today’s post is the first in a series of articles on practical office Japanese based around language samples taken from an actual office etiquette　manual (yes, I have one in my possession, and you too can learn the secret rituals of the Japanese office!).  Even Japanese people can have trouble adjusting to the change in politeness required for office phone calls, but remember, it is just a matter of practice, so find a Japanese speaking friend and practice! (But you’ll have to wait for Part Three of the series or the call will be very one-sided…..)

Part One    Calling and asking for someone

１．自分の名前を名乗る

XX社のYYと申します。

-Speak slowly and clearly
-Put a smile in your voice
-Be prepared to spell out your name slowly , e.g. 「ジャ・ス・プ・リ・ザ」
-Just as Japanese people “spell” their names by reference to other kanji, e.g. for the name 加地　（かじ）：　「加えるの加に地方のち」, there may be occasions when you need to do the same, for example when the connection is bad. When required, I say the following: 「忍者のジャ、寿司のス、プリンのプ、理解のリ、正座のザ」. Be careful which kanji you choose – when spelling out the name Banner for example, 「馬鹿のバ」would not be a wise choice.

２．あいさつをする

いつもお世話になっております。

-Use a sincere tone - don't jut throw it out
-If it is before 10am you can throw in おはようございます before いつもお世話になっております。

３．名指人の取次ぎを依頼する

恐れ入れますが、ZZ課のBB様をお願いいたします

When you don’t know the name of the person you are after, state your business and ask for the person in charge:

恐れ入れますが、XXについてお聞きしたいのですが、係の方お願いいたします。

Just a short lesson today – Part Two will cover calling a person directly, Part Three will be receiving and forwarding a call and Part Four will deal with explaining that the person asked for is not available.

あげる、もらう and くれる

I received a query from a friend in Ehime today, concerning the use of くれる、あげる and もらう．After I had typed up a brief reply I realised it may be useful to others and in the spirit of environmental friendliness I have recycled it here (For the consumate explanation I refer readers to Jay Rubin's Making Sense of Japanese).

I am taking the two week intensive course at EPIC in Matsuyama and yesterday we covered あげる、もらう　and くれる. I understand the uses of these with nouns, for example AさんはBさんにプレゼントをあげました、BさんはAさんにプレゼントをもらいました。But, when you use these verbs with other verbs, what is the difference from just using the other verb on its own? For example, AさんはBさんにおかねをかしてあげました. Why would you say this as opposed to simply AさんはBさんにおかねをかしました？How is the nuance different? Is it more polite or something? And is it weird that I keep wanting to use the particle から as opposed to に when talking about the person FROM whom the noun/verb was given?!

あげる、もらう　and くれる
When used with just nouns: they refer to the actual physical giving/receiving of objects. When used with verbs: they refer to doing something for someone, or someone doing something for you.

Look at these examples:
本をくれた：　(somebody) gave me a book
電話してくれた (somebody) called me on the phone

Your examples seem to be from a textbook - fine for explaining stuff but not really going into the why/usage area. Normally you wouldn't be saying Aさん and Bさん - they would be obvious from the circumstances. But then if you only said かしました　you haven't said who is lending to whom. If I am talking to you about someone else and just say かしました　it isn't immediately clear who lent to whom, but if I say かしてあげました you know instantly that I did the lending, because only I could あげる - if I said かしてくれました　you know the other person lent me money.

AさんはBさんにおかねをかしてあげました
AさんはBさんにおかねをかしました

And for に and から just remember that either can be used when there is a physical object being received:
友達から／にプレゼントをもらった。

But when you receive the benefit of an action you can only mark the giver with に：
友達に／から買ってもらった

While we're on the topic - try not to use あげる too much: with friends it is OK, but with someone older etc it comes across as something like "Shall I do this wonderful thing for you?" Instead, use ~ましょう, e.g. an old lady has a heavy suitcase and wants to get up the stairs - 手伝いましょうか？　is better because it just says "Can I give you a hand?" while 手伝ってあげましょうか　is like saying "Shall I do you the favour of carrying your bag up the heavy steps, thus causing you to be in my debt and feel beholden to me for the rest of your life or at least until I have moved out of sight."

Also, くれる　is used when you are speaking in the first person right? Like, you can only use this when talking about receiving something towards yourself?! BUT, you could also use もらう in this instance and it would be ok? You just can't use くれる　in the same way as もらう when you are talking about other people? I just wanted to check I've understood this correctly.

I like to think of it like this:
してくれる＝do something for me
してもらう=have someone do something for me

電話してくれた：　someone called me
電話してもらった： I had someone call (somewhere) for me

くれる refers more to the giving aspect (the other person is giving you something).  もらう　refers to the receiving aspect (you receive something). もらう also carries the implication that you made some kind of request. Both constructions could refer to exactly the same situation - it just depends on what you are emphasising. Look at these examples in English:
He called me yesterday.
I got a call from him yesterday.

And yes, もらう　has a wider application that くれる。If I use くれる　then someone is doing something for ME and me only. Think of くれる as a boomerang - it always comes back to you.*

もらう　is more like a frisbee - anyone can catch it, because もらう can refer to an action being done for ME OR SOMEONE ELSE (usually someone in my in group but at the very least someone I empathise with).

Aさんからもらった：I got (something) from A
BくんはAさんからもらった：B got (something) from A where B is a friend, family etc

And bonus lesson - くださる　is the polite version of くれる、and いただく　is the polite version of もらう、so the same principles apply

Hope this helps

cheers

Will

*Think of the razor sharp boomerang in Mad Max 2 which slices off the fingers of anyone who tries to intercept it, always returning to its rightful owner, the Feral Kid.

Aiaigasa

A helpful reader has sent me a couple of photos demonstrating that far from being obsolete, the expression aiaigasa (相合傘　- sharing an umbrella) which popped up in yesterday's post, is thriving in its incarnation as a youthful declaration of love:

Believe it or not, this one is still alive and kicking.  Young kids carve little umbrellas into wood and put their initials underneath it, in much the same way that we do with initials and hearts back home.  I saw fresh aiaigasas as recently as this New Years (drawn onto dirty glass).  I took some pictures which I'll share with you.  It's mostly elementary kids and jr. high schoolers who do this.  Some joker put "ika" and "tako" under one.  Enjoy!

Thanks Thomas!

Advanced Idiomatic Expressions

Courtesy of the Honyaku list, a link to a wonderful collection of idiomatic expressions described as having been "selected specifically for advanced learners of the Japanese language".  It wasn't the "advanced" bit which piqued my interest, it was this caveat:

Expressions with * are considered not Politically Correct. They are listed here mainly for passive recognition.

Those with ** are obsolete expressions also for passive recognition. The judgment is, however, entirely my own.

Naturally I went straight for the politically correct expressions, which on their face didn't seem terribly offensive:

• 若いつばめ (わかいつばめ) (lit. young swallow) is an old expression for a young male lover (I assume swallow refers to the avian kind).

• 藪医者 (やぶいしゃ) (li. bush doctor) is a quack

• もく拾い (もくひろい) cigarette-butt gatherer (a slight against the poor I presume)

Perhaps when I have taken the time to do some research I will discover how these expressions fell from grace.

And one of the obsolete expressions:

• 相合傘 **   あいあいがさ sharing　one umbrella (between lovers)

I actually heard one day when a Japanese woman of advancing years giggled it to me as we shared an umbrella during a typhoon. For the purposes of clarification we weren't, nor did we become, lovers.

Iyashi kyara

The word iyashi (癒し) roughly translates as healing or soothing.  いやしの音楽 is soothing music and 自然がもついやしの結果 refers to the restorative powers of nature. Kyara is the contraction of kyarakutaa - character - those icons most famously represented by the ubiquitous Hello Kitty.

So what are iyashi kyara?

This buzzword refers to characters which are not only cute - they reduce stress and help you relax.

The stress-reducing properties arise from two features:
1. The characters look soft to the point of having no skeletal structure
2. Their names connote relaxation

Way back in 1997 TarePanda was the relaxing character of choice. Whereas Hello Kitty is tiring because she's always on the move, TarePanda (from たれる to hang, droop) could only move at a leisurely 2.75 metres per hour, according to manufacturer San-X.

In 2007 stress free animals are big, even when they are small.

Take Rilakkuma. At first glance it looks like the name of a Finnish race car driver, but it is actually a compound of "relax" and "kuma" (bear). Relax Bear. The katakana is リラックマ, which goes a long way to explaining why relax is spelt with an "i".

まめゴマ　(bean sesame) is not intrinsically relaxing but the miniature seal character is floppy and stackable and there is definitely something soothing about seeing a pyramid of six or seven small plush seals.

ゴリンゴ　= Gorilla + ringo (apple), and you guessed it - the characters are apple shaped gorillas. You have to admit, a gorilla shaped like an apple is far less stressful than a normal gorilla.

モノクロブー　monochrome + boo. If you are thinking ghosts, sorry - ブーブー is the sound pigs make and these characters are a pair of porkers, one black  and one white.

スポケン = sports+ken (犬：dog). Surprisingly round for a supposedly athletic hound, but there again is the relaxing factor - even slightly overweight animals can play sport.

ワンルーム = one room but it also means wan-room, and wan is the sound of a dog barking. This set of characters is a bunch of dogs shaped like chairs, phones, mirrors etc. No need to worry about the dog getting hair on the furniture - the dog is the furniture.

アフロ犬 = afro+ken. Yep, a dog with an afro.

There are more characters, but I feared becoming too relaxed to finish writing this post.

San-X isn't the only company pushing plush toy relaxants. Tryworks has its カピバラさん(Capybara-san). The animal? A capybara. No points for wordplay, but it does have an endearingly large head.

Uribo

 

In my Happy New Year post I talked about the boar appearing on this year's nengajo. I also noted that the boar shared space with what looked like a watermelon. I discussed this with  friends - what significance does the watermelon have at New Year? One of my friends just got back to me about it - apparently it isn't a watermelon, but a Japanese melon, or uri  瓜。When wild boars are still only boarlets they are striped, and hence look like melons with legs. As a result Japanese people have nicknamed them uribo 瓜坊 which roughly translates as melon-boy ( boya 坊や is a term used to address small boys). Melon. Boar. Either way, delicious. Photo courtesy of くらげねこ

Happy New Year/明けましておめでとうございます

For those of us who live in Japan the beginning of January means lounging around enjoying the  New Years holiday and the arrival of nengajo 年賀状 - New Years cards.

As I mentioned in the New Years Apple ad post, nengajo feature an animal based on the Chinese zodiac. When you buy your pre-printed nengajo (just add addressee!) you will find the requisite beastie somewhere on the card. For 2007 the otherwise fearsome wild boar has been rendered as a cute boar piglet, evidenced by its stripey back, perhaps in an attempt to stop people thinking of the animal as food. Note too that Japan is referred to not as Nihon, but the rather more formal Nippon (same kanji: 日本)

The characters 年賀　(nenga) indicate that the card is indeed a New Years card and should not be delivered immediately (very socially awkward) but on January 1. If you receive a nengajo from someone but have not yet sent them one you can join the mass of people sending catch-up nengajo in the week following January 1.

The date is given in Japanese era format  平成十九年 - the 19th Year of the Heisei era - and Western format (西暦 , seireki) so don't think you can recycle any unused nengajo for use next year...

At the bottom is another wild boar, accompanied by a watermelon and the word お年玉 otoshidama. Otoshidama usually refers to the pocket money children receive from doting grandparents in the New Year but it also refers to the nengajo lottery drawn on January 14. Post Office issued nengajo have a lottery number, so holding onto them is not only a good way to boast about how popular you are, you may also win a fridge.

The question of why China uses Year of the Pig but Japan has Year of the Boar piqued my curiosity, so language geek that I am I had a look at the kanji used for each animal. Japan uses 豚 (buta）for the domesticated porcine and 猪 (inoshishi) for the wild relative which tastes great in nabe. According to Wikipedia, in China the character  豬 is used for the zodiac animal referred to as Pig , but the kanji looks a lot more like the Japanese character for Wild Boar....The two kanji, though similar, are not identical -　they share a common component (者) but the left-hand side  radical in inoshishi 猪　is kemonohen 獣編　and in the Chinese character it is inokohen 豕編.

So why the differentiation? I'm guessing that the Chinese and Japanese have always been talking about the same animal - scientific name Sus scrofa - and that somewhere along the line an English speaker got the two mixed up. Etymologists feel free to wade in.

By the way, do you know why the Pig/Wild Boar is the twelfth and final animal in the zodiac? According to the tame and most commonly known version the Pig/Boar slept in and so was late for the ceremony in which the Jade Emperor awarded the animals with zodiac rankings. In reality there was a very good reason the Pig/Boar was so tired - apparently, and this is no joke - he had spent the whole night porking.

明けましておめでとうございます！