Welcome to Episode 66 of Real Japanese Talk with Haruka & Saki! 🗼🐙

🎓 "Isn't senpai just 'senior' in English?" Saki's foreign friend assumed so - but it isn't. In Japan, joining even ONE year earlier makes someone your senpai, regardless of age. You use polite language with a senpai who's younger than you. Today Haruka unpacks a relationship English simply has no word for. 🎯

You'll learn three words:

• 先輩 (senpai) - someone who joined before you; age is irrelevant, order is everything

• 後輩 (kohai) - someone who joined after you (and notably, never used as a form of address)

• 面倒を見る (mendo o miru) - to look after / take care of someone; the senpai's actual duty

💡 Inside: why "senior" doesn't capture it (senpai carries respect and hierarchy), why you say "Tanaka-senpai" but never "Tanaka-kohai," how a senpai is expected to teach, advise, and pick up the tab - and the twist: senpai has now entered English itself, thanks to anime, precisely because it can't be translated.

Perfect for N3-N2 learners heading into Japanese schools or workplaces. Tokyo & Kansai dialogue, fully shadowable. Full transcript & study notes on Patreon. 🎧

【Today's Vocabulary / 今日の言葉】

・先輩 (せんぱい) - Someone who joined your school, club, or company before you - regardless of their age. Crucially, this is NOT the English "senior," which merely means older or higher-ranking: 先輩 carries respect (敬い) and hierarchy (上下関係). Even someone younger than you is your 先輩 if they joined one year earlier, and you use polite language (敬語) with them. Used as a title after a name: 「田中先輩」 (Tanaka-senpai), or as direct address: 「先輩！」. The word has now been borrowed into English via anime, precisely because it can't be translated.

・後輩 (こうはい) - Someone who joined your school, club, or company after you - the counterpart to 先輩. Note an important difference: while 先輩 works as a title and a form of address (「田中先輩」, 「先輩！」), 後輩 does NOT. You never say 「田中後輩」 or call out 「後輩！」 - you simply use the person's name. 後輩 is used when talking *about* someone: 「会社の後輩」 (a kohai at work). A 先輩 is expected to look after their 後輩.

・面倒を見る (めんどうをみる) - To look after, take care of, or watch over someone. Equivalent to English "to look after" or "to take care of." Used like 「子どもの面倒を見る」 (look after a child) or, as in this episode, 「後輩の面倒を見る」 (look after one's kohai) - teaching them the ropes, giving advice, and often picking up the tab at drinks. This is the flip side of the senpai's authority: with status comes responsibility, which is why a good senpai is 慕われる (looked up to). Note 「面倒」 alone can mean "troublesome/a hassle."

📄 Get the Full Transcript with Furigana & Study Guide on our Patreon!シャドーイングに便利な「ふりがな付き台本」はこちら：👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/posts/155837588⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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