I’m not entirely sure if a post like this is allowed but…
At the end of the period, my Japanese teacher said “mina sayonara”. From my quick Google searches, “sayonara” is usually used when you aren’t going to see the other person for quite a while. This happened on Wednesday and the next lesson that we are meant to be on Friday. I guess that I’m mainly doubting her because she isn’t even Japanese. Also, I’m kinda confused.
So, at the end of a lesson, would “sayonara”, “ja ne” or something else be used?
Apologies if I’m just being dumb.
16 comments
From my experience, at beginner level “sayounara” is quite a common way of expressing “goodbye”, but obviously it’s not the most correct way. “Ja ne” is probably something too informal, so maybe “otsukare sama deshita” is one I was used to. It’s more of an indirect way to say that the class is over I guess
It’s worth noting that teachers and students will often say “Sayonara” at the end of the day, particularly on Fridays ahead of the weekend.
Young students at least don’t say “Ja ne” to their teachers from what I’ve seen. Maybe “Mata raishuu,” which is like “see you (again) next week)”
if your instructor is native, then she’s correct, period
sayonara generally means goodbye for more than a little while, but the definition of little while can differ, and it’s also more formal than just ja ne
i’ve heard both from native instructors, so it seems to be relatively equivalent when the “little while” is until next week’s class, as well as mata raishuu, otsukaresama deshita, oyasumi nasai, ki to tsukete kudasai, and ja mata
Meaning aside, じゃね is inappropriate in this context because it is too informal.
さようなら is often stated to have this kind of “good bye for a while” meaning to it. In reality, this is not really the case. This farewell is commonly heard in the classroom from teacher to student and vice versa. Friends may also say this at the end of the day too. But in the informal, friend context, じゃあね or またね is much more common.
But I wouldn’t worry about it too much! Your teacher is fine in this case. When you actually get to Japan, you will naturally learn which expressions to use with your peers and with your superiors. Good luck!
As the teacher it’s probably fine for her to say this to you, but I wouldn’t reply with さようなら. As a student the most natural response when leaving a class is ありがとうございました。失礼します。(Arigatou gozaimashita. Shitsurei shimasu. Thank you. Excuse me.)
Hi, language instructor here.
From my experience in Japan, both are perfectly fine with little difference (most people won’t care which you use). さようなら(Goodbye) is more standard and more formal than じゃね (See ya) which you would use with friends, family, and closer coworkers or subordinates. Your instructor/lecturer and you are in a 先生／学生 relational context and they’re using the most suitable form. Remember that social hierarchy and context are often perpetuated through language use (which is why keigo and son-keigo exist as an example).
Most students will learn さようなら and other standard phrases/structures (re: -ます conjugations) which are neutral in the formality scale because it’s just the norm. Everything stems from everything else in its full form: じゃ、また金曜日に会いますね。-> じゃね。or またね。
It’s not too big of a deal in any case.
Sayonara is common to use in school settings between teachers and students. I feel weird to hear “Mina” though.
My professor always says (and I cant put japanese cause mobile) otsukaresama deshita… sayounara
I read a lot of the comments and your posts, the more polite version of “ja ne” is “ではまた” (dewa mata), but usually, the teacher would say “otsukare sama desu” at the end of a lesson.
“Mata raishuu” is until next week, “Mata tsugi” until next time.
Now all I can think of, is come Firday your teacher will just disappear 😀
Sayonara is the best way to close a class if you want to be a serious teacher.
She’s not everyone’s friend, so there’s no point in saying ja ne.
That being said, I’m not sure how I’d feel about learning Japanese from someone who wasn’t Japanese. I guess in some parts of the world, there’s not much choice.
(I say this, but recall that on a regular basis, in the local Japanese lessons, I generally help people who have zero Japanese skill to get started. I’m not Japanese… 😉
Personally in an academic setting I would use sayonara over ja ne. But it depends on the personality too. If I was more open with my students sure ja ne! But if I wanted to maintain professional distance sayonara is better
Native Japanese speaker here.
In terms of how much duration it takes to see the other person, there’s no difference between Sayonara and Ja ne.
Ja ne is a very casual way of saying good bye much like “see ya”or “catch you later”.
Sayonara on the other hand, while being rarely used, more formal way of saying good bye a bit like “I bid you farewell”.
On a daily basis, especially in a business context, if you wanna say goodbye in formal way, you’d typically say “Osaki ni Shitsurei shimasu” which can be translated to “please pardon me for leaving earlier than you”.
What do we think of “mata kondo”. It’s formal, but not too formal.
When I was in high school and did Japanese we said さよなら at the end of every class during our first year of learning. By second year we did じゃね even if we didn’t have class the next day but the day after next. Personally I think if you’re learning it and you’re still new, さよなら is fine to use at the end of class but should be changed to じゃね once the class is familiar with the routine and culture and meaning. Not everyone will understand right away that さよなら isn’t used all the time when saying good bye so it’s a great starting point to get yourself familiar with the language.
Sayonara is the more polite and formal way to say goodbye, especially to a teacher. So remember the TPO when deciding which words to use
Ja ne is a bit like saying “later” or “see you” and is much more informal. Something you’d say to a friend or co-worker you get along with.