Skip to content
Work Ready Japanese
All modules
Workplace Conversations

Practise Japanese workplace conversations

Rehearse giving updates, reporting mistakes, asking for clarification, and disagreeing politely—then get focused feedback and try again.

Get early access

What you’ll practise

Give a progress update

Say where you are, what’s blocking you, and when it will land—without over-apologising for being mid-task.

I’m about 80% done. I expect to have it submitted by Friday.

Report a mistake

Raise it early, state the impact plainly, and move straight to the fix. The apology is one line, not a paragraph.

I’m sorry—I missed it in my check and some figures were wrong. I’ll correct them right away.

Ask for clarification

Check what you were actually asked to do without sounding like you weren’t listening the first time.

Just to be sure—am I right that Plan A is the priority?

Disagree politely

Acknowledge first, then say the thing. The objection still lands; the room stays comfortable.

I completely take your point. That said, I’m a little concerned about the schedule.

Renegotiate a deadline

Ask for more time as a proposal with a reason attached, not as a plea for mercy.

Would it be possible to have two more days so we can keep the quality up?

Make and turn down requests

Ask a busy colleague for help, and say no to work you genuinely can’t absorb this week.

Sorry to ask when you’re busy—could you review this by tomorrow?

How the voice practice works

  1. 01

    Pick a situation

    Choose the scenario and who you’re speaking to—your manager, a teammate, or someone from another department. The context shapes the Japanese you need.

  2. 02

    Say it out loud

    Hold the mic and answer in your own words. No multiple choice and no typing—you practise the part that’s actually hard.

  3. 03

    Get feedback, then run it again

    Notes on politeness level, word choice, and how natural it sounded, plus a model answer. Most people run a scenario three or four times before it feels easy.

A scenario, start to finish

Monday stand-up: your manager asks where you are

Sample

You’re two days from a deadline and the document isn’t quite finished.

They say

“Tanaka-san, how’s the progress on that document?”

You say

“Yes, I’m working on it now. I think it’s probably fine.”

Recorded · 0:07
Feedback

  • Good: Opening with はい before the update is exactly right—it signals you’re answering, not stalling.

  • Try: Lift the register for reporting upwards: 「現在、最終確認をしております」 instead of 「今やっています」.

  • Watch: 「たぶん大丈夫」 reads as evasive here. Commit to a time: 「本日中には共有できます」.

Get early access to Workplace Conversations

We’ll email you when the first workplace scenarios open up, plus a free set of phrases for updates, apologies, and polite pushback.

One email when it launches. No spam, unsubscribe any time — see how we handle your address.