Introducing yourself in Japanese

Introducing yourself in Japanese

Many places teach “Watashi wa ______ desu.” (私は＿＿です。)but this has a problem:
“watashi wa ______ desu.” means both “I am ______.” and “I am a ______.” Unless the Japanese person you are introducing yourself to is familiar with your name (which isn’t always too likely) they won’t know that you are telling them your name. This is particularly a problem with names that have the same sound as actual words in the Japanese language. For instance, “jimu” (Jim) means “business” and “gym/gymnasium” in Japanese (depending on the context) so “watashi wa jimu desu.” could also mean “I am a business.” or “I am a gymnasium.”

So what is the better way to introduce yourself?
“watashi no namae wa ______ desu.” (私の名前は＿＿です。) means “My name is ______ ” or “watashi wa ______ to iimasu.” (私は＿＿といいます。) means “I am called ______.” and makes it very clear that the “______” is your name. It can be either your first name, last name, or nickname – whatever you want them to call you by.

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