How To Introduce Yourself in Social Media.

In the previous two posts, I wrote how to find a Japanese group in Facebook, and how to read posts in those Japanese groups. Now, it's time to start posting. You don't know what to post? Then introduce yourself!

The Two Powerful Keywords

It is not difficult to introduce yourself in Japanese. Even if you are a total beginner, only two powerful keywords make it easier.

The first keyword is "よろしく" or "Yoroshiku".
Literally, it means "nicely". But it can carry various meanings, depending on the context, such as "Nice to meet you." or "Thank you in advance.". If it is your first post in a group, of course it means the former.

This is a perfect expression for young people like high school students to introduce themselves. But if you are an adult, you can make it a little more formal by adding "おねがいします" or  "onegaishimasu", which means "Please".

"します" (shimasu) in this expression is a polite form, but if you are trying to participate in a professional group, you can make it more humble expression, by using "いたします" (itashimasu) instead. Then, you can make yourself sound like a business person or more professional person.

The second keyword is "はじめまして"(Hajimemashite).
When you are in a Japanese speaking group, you may find other Japanese people using it. It means "The first time" literally, and it is often used in a self-introduction.  I don't recommend this expression in a casual situation, since it sounds a little formal, but you can combine this with "よろしくおねがいします" (Yoroshiku onegai shimasu) or "よろしく おねがい いたします" (Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu) in a more professional situation.

So, if you are teenager, try this version.
"よろしく！"
"Yoroshiku!"

If you are an adult and going to participate a group which relates to your personal interest, I recommend this version.
"よろしく おねがい します。"
"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

If you would like to introduce yourself as a professional person, this is the best.
"はじめまして。よろしく お願い いたします。"
"Hajimemashite. Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu."

It is necessary to mention your name if you introduce yourself in person, but here, you are in a Facebook group, and your name is displayed to everybody. If your name is written in Japanese or English alphabet, maybe you can omit it.

Your nationality

If you can invest a little more time to build stronger relation among other members in a group, I recommend to include your nationality.

As I wrote in "Write your profile in Japanese.",  "人"(jin) is useful to mention your nationality. But it is not your profile here, so you have to make a sentence. Don't worry, it's very easy. Just put "です"(desu) after "人".

e.g.
"日本語勉強中のカナダ人。"
"A Canadian who is  learning Japanese."

"日本語勉強中のカナダ人です。"

"I am a Canadian who is  learning Japanese."

Sometimes, I see Japanese learners introducing themselves using "から来ました。". But it means "I came from (somewhere).", so it is wrong if you are still in the place mentioned in your introduction. If you don't have nationality of the country you live, then, you can say "〜に います。"('somewhere' ni imasu.) which means "I am in 'somewhere'.". 

e.g.

"ハンガリーに います。"

"I am in Hungary."

"ベトナムに います。"

"I am in Vietnam."

"コソボに います。"

"I am in Kosovo."

"エジプトに います。"

"I am in Egypt."

Appreciating for the acceptance

This is not necessary for groups where you don't need to send a request to join, but if you do, I recommend you to include your gratitude for the acceptance.

The casual way is like this.

"承認 ありがとう。" (Shounin arigatou.)

"Thanks for the acceptance."

If you would like to use polite form, it will be like this.

"ご承認 ありがとう ございます。"

And for the more professional situation, I recommend this version.

"ご承認いただき ありがとうございます。"

"承認" means  (You guess it.) "acceptance".  When you put "ご" before the noun, you can make it more formal.

Finally, suppose you are Hungarian who are accepted to any professional group where their common language is Japanese. Then your self introduction will be following.

はじめまして。
ご承認ありがとうございます。
日本語（を）勉強中のハンガリー人です。
よろしくお願いいたします。

OK, this is all for today. 

Thank you for reading to the end of the article.

But please note, that only reading my post will not improve your Japanese. Do not forget to post your self-introduction to any Japanese groups. I wrote how to find them in my previous post, but if you can't find a group yet, try "The Japanese learning community."

And please share your experience in the comment. I hope you can start your new life in a Japanese speaking group. Good luck!