Survival Phrases in a Japanese Classroom — JLPT N5 Japanese Conversation

The situation

Yattan (ヤッタン) is in Japanese class and asks the teacher (先生) to help when the lesson gets too fast.

Key expressions

• もう一度お願いします — "One more time, please." もう一度 = "once more," and お願いします turns it into a polite request. This is the fastest way to ask for a repeat without building a full verb sentence.
• ゆっくり話してください — "Please speak slowly." ゆっくり ("slowly") + the て-form + ください request. See 〜てください and requests for the polite-request pattern this is built on.
• 〜はどういう意味ですか — "What does ~ mean?" どういう = "what kind of," and 意味 (いみ) = "meaning." Drop any word you don't know into the front.
• 〜は日本語で何と言いますか — "How do you say ~ in Japanese?" で marks the language you want it in, and 何と言いますか literally asks "what do (you) say (it) as?" Answer with 「〜と言います」.

About Japanese classrooms

In a real 日本語の授業, these four phrases carry more weight than almost any vocabulary list — teachers expect them and switch into slower, clearer Japanese the moment you ask. Address the teacher as 先生 (never by name + さん), which itself signals the polite register you should stay in. Note that わかりました ("I understood / got it") is what you say to confirm — the past tense marks the understanding as done. If you remember one survival phrase, make it 「もう一度お願いします」; it works in class, at the station, and anywhere the Japanese comes too fast.