When you meet someone for the first time, how do you introduce yourself?
With beginner students, I usually practice how to say
-greetings
-your name
-the location you live
-your occupation
鈴木明子です。 (suzuki akiko desu)
東京に住んでいます。 (tokyo ni sundeimasu)
大学生です。 (daigakusei desu)
よろしくお願いします。 (yoroshiku onegaishimasu)
I'm Akiko Suzuki.
I live in Tokyo.
I'm a university student.
Nice to meet you.
*If you are a teacher, you would use 先生(sensei) or 教師(kyoushi) as your occupation.
先生 is usually used when you describe someone else and 教師 is for yourself or used for official documents like resume, business card etc.
I usually say 日本語教師 (nihongo kyoushi) Japanese teacher about myself.
But if the situation is casual, describing yourself as 先生 (sensei) would be fine, too I think.
Self introduction is one of the most important conversation, not just a speech. As the next step, we practice questions and answers following the above expressions.
What kind of questions do you want to ask after some simple self introduction?
東京のどこですか。(tokyo no doko desuka)
Where in Tokyo (do you live)?
専攻は何ですか。(senkou wa nandesuka)
What is your major?
趣味は何ですか。(shumi wa nandesuka)
What are your hobbies?
兄弟がいますか。(kyoudai ga imasuka)
Do you have brothers or sisters?
外国に行ったことがありますか。(gaikoku ni ittakotoga arimasuka)
Have you been abroad?
You might need some difficult vocabulary for this conversation (the answer about your major for example), but those must be important words for you at the same time.
For studying a language, the feeling "I want to talk with this person in this language" is the best textbook ever.
And self introduction is the beginning of your conversation.
Let's enjoy introducing yourself!
By the way, I found many people wrote their profile in Japanese for Twitter. Their interests, Japanese level, message etc. Very interesting!
I'll put some example expressions here.
Use them for your profile if you like.
日本語勉強中 (nihongo benkyouchuu)
I'm studying Japanese.
フランスで日本語を勉強しています (Furansu de nihongo o benkyou shiteimasu)
I study Japanese in France.
日本人の友達募集中 (nihonjin no tomodachi boshuuchuu)
I'm seeking Japanese friends.
いつか日本に住みたいです (itsuka nihon ni sumitai desu)
I want to live in Japan sometime.
ときどき日本語でつぶやきます (tokidoki nihongo de tsubuyakimasu)
I sometimes tweet in Japanese.
日本のアニメ/音楽/映画が大好きです (nihon no anime/ongaku/eiga ga daisuki desu)
I love Japanese anime/music/movies.
英語の先生 (eigo no sensei) or 英語教師 (eigo kyoushi)
English teacher
(英語教師 is more formal. If you say 英語の先生, you need to put の between 英語 and 先生.)
I'm looking forward to seeing your profile in Japanese!
