Self-Introduction on Your First Day at a Tokyo Language School — JLPT N5 Japanese Conversation

The situation

It's the first morning of class. The teacher (先生) invites Yattan (ヤッタン), a new student, to introduce themselves to the class, and a classmate named Mochi (モチ) welcomes them afterward.

Key expressions

• 〜です／〜ます — the polite backbone of any 自己紹介. 「ヤッタンです」 states who you are, and 「見ます」 states what you do. See 〜ます: polite verb endings for how ます turns a verb into its polite form.
• 〜から来ました — "I came from ~ / I'm from ~." から marks the starting point and 来ました is the polite past of 来る (to come). Swap in any country: 中国から来ました、フランスから来ました.
• 〜がすきです — "I like ~." The thing you like is marked with が, not を, because すき is an adjective, not a verb. This is the one line where you show a little personality. See 〜が好き: saying what you like.
• どうぞよろしくお願いします — the fixed closing of every introduction. There is no literal English translation; treat it as a whole unit meaning "I look forward to getting along with you," and say it with a small bow.

About the Japanese self-introduction (自己紹介)

The 自己紹介 has an expected order, and following it makes you sound natural: (1) your name, (2) where you're from, (3) one short line about yourself — a hobby, your job, or why you're studying Japanese — and (4) よろしくお願いします to finish. Keep it to a few sentences; a long monologue feels self-centered rather than friendly. Pair the final よろしく with a bow (a slight lean from the waist, eyes down), not a handshake. If your mind goes blank mid-introduction, the survival phrase is 「えーと、すみません、もう一度いいですか」 ("Um, sorry, may I start again?") — teachers hear it constantly and will smile you through it.