Let’s practice introducing Japanese foods, festivals, games, and other things to people from other countries in English. These expressions are also useful in junior high school English.
Basic Rules
When introducing something, use forms such as "This is ..." (This is ~) and "We have ... in Japan." (There is ~ in Japan). When explaining a festival or event, it is easier to understand if you explain it together with a time, such as "We eat ... on ..." (We eat ~ on ~).
This is sushi. It's a Japanese food. (This is sushi. It is a Japanese food.)
We have a festival called Tanabata in July. (There is a festival called Tanabata in July.)
We eat osechi on New Year's Day. (We eat osechi on New Year's Day.)
Notes
Japanese words (sushi, sumo, origami, and so on) are sometimes used as they are in English. If you add one sentence explaining them, people from other countries can understand them more easily (It's a Japanese food. / It's a traditional game.). When telling someone the name of an event, it is useful to use "called ..." (called ~).
- Introducing something: This is ... / We have ... in Japan.
- Adding an explanation: It's a Japanese ...
- The name of an event: a festival called ...
- “Eat ~ on a certain day”: We eat ... on ...
Practice
- Choose one Japanese food and write a sentence introducing it in English.
- Choose one Japanese event and write a sentence introducing it in English.
- Write “This is origami. It is a traditional Japanese game.” in English (traditional = traditional).