Uki Uki NihonGO + Culture! – Lesson 7 – aizuchi part 1

 In today’s lesson we will go over examples of aizuchi and learn how to use them in a conversation. Memorizing these tips and understanding when to use aizuchi can help to make you a master conversationalist!

Showing the other person that you are actively listening to them is very important in any conversation to make the dialogue go smoothly. In English, we do this regularly with responses like "uh huh" or "I see", or by nodding our head "yes".

Aizuchi is the Japanese term for the common interjections that are used to let your listener know that you are paying attention and/or understanding what is being said.

In Japanese, it is always important to distinguish between polite and casual levels. When using aizuchi, you must also think about how to respond in the appropriate manner. For example, naruhodo ("I see") can be used for either casual or polite levels of conversation. However, if you are talking to your teacher hontou desuka　"Is that true?" "Really?" should be used. With friends or family, this can be shortened to a more casual hontou？

Common aizuchi include:
Naruhodo – I see
Hontou desuka? – Is that true? Really? (polite)
Hontou? -Really? (casual)

Stay tuned for more aizuchi in upcoming lessons!

We would like to hear from you! Please feel free to ask questions and comment on what you’d like to learn. We’ll be creating Q+A lessons in the future!

Thanks for watching! See you next time! Dewa, mata kondo!