A small room and a paper. Name what is gone. Then how much Japanese you have.
In this lesson you will
- Say 財布をなくしました and answer どこでですか
- Give a name and hotel, and say 日本語があまり話せません
- Answer 病院が必要ですか with いいえ or はい
あまり話せません is honest. It is not an apology for existing. It tells them to slow down and to fetch a phone if they can.
Today’s scene
How it works
The scene is a koban — a neighborhood police box — not a hospital waiting room and not a movie. どうしましたか is the same “what happened” as the IC gate, now heavier. 財布をなくしました. なくしました is the polite past of “lose.” を marks the thing.
どこでですか asks the place of the losing. で marks the site of the event. 駅の近くです. Then you give them a speed limit: 日本語があまり話せません. あまり plus a negative is “not very.” 話せません is the potential-negative: cannot speak.
名前とホテルを教えてください is てください on “tell.” ミナです。ホテルは浅草です. Same です sentences as check-in. パスポートはありますか. ホテルにあります — it exists at the hotel. に marks location of a thing with あります.
交番で紙を書きます names the room: we will write a paper at the koban. 病院が必要ですか is a yes/no. In this scene the answer is いいえ、財布だけです. If the answer is はい, you go. travel-08 already sent you here when a box was not enough.
A police box is a small room that would rather write a paper than hear a speech. This lesson is that room. We will not paste a crisis poster of 110 and 119 and twenty body parts. Those numbers exist: 110 for police, 119 for fire and ambulance. You can show them on a phone. The Japanese you need in the koban is slower: what is gone, where, who you are, how much language you have, whether the body needs a hospital.
どうしましたか. You heard it at the gate when a card was empty. Here the voice is quieter. すみません。財布をなくしました. なくしました is polite past “lost.” を marks the wallet. If it is a bag, バッグをなくしました. If it is a phone, 携帯をなくしました or スマホをなくしました. One noun. Do not list your whole life in the first sentence.
どこでですか. で marks the site of the event, the same で that marked Shibuya as the place of transfer. 駅の近くです, 店の中です, わかりません. わかりません is allowed. Guessing a theft story you did not see is not helpful. If you saw a hand, you may say 取られました — it was taken. First line can still be なくしました. They are trained to ask the rest.
日本語があまり話せません is the speed limit. あまり plus a negative verb is “not very / not much.” 話せません is cannot speak (potential). You are speaking Japanese when you say this. That is fine. It means: I have a few sentences, please do not accelerate. 大丈夫です from them is not a medical claim. It is “we can work.” ゆっくりお願いします — slowly, please — is a cousin you may add.
名前とホテルを教えてください. と links the two facts they want. ミナです。ホテルは浅草です. If you have the hotel name in English only, show the booking. Pointing is a sentence. パスポートはありますか. If it is on your body, はい、どうぞ. If it is in the room, ホテルにあります. に plus あります is the place of a thing. Go get it if they ask. They may write the paper first.
交番で紙を書きます. 交番 is this room. They are naming the next action so you do not wander. 病院が必要ですか. 必要ですか is “is it necessary.” Lost wallet: いいえ、財布だけです. だけ is “only.” Chest pain, a fall, the pharmacy’s 病院に行ってください: はい、病院をお願いします. At the hospital, 痛いです。ここです plus a point is a strong pair. You do not need a full medical Japanese to start triage.
交番はどこですか is the line you ask a shop before you walk in circles. 電話を貸していただけますか if your phone is the missing object. Same favor form as the photo.
Do not shout. Do not perform a crime drama. Do not use お前, 助けてよ as your only personality — 助けてください is the polite “please help” if you need it. Keep です/ます even when your hands shake. Especially then.
Korean speakers: 지갑을 잃어버렸어요 is a close cousin of 財布をなくしました. Japanese past is なくしました, not a hangul past ending. Chinese speakers: 警察亭 / 派出所 maps roughly to 交番. The word you ask for is 交番. English speakers: “I don’t speak Japanese” is often too absolute. あまり話せません is truer and calmer. Spanish speakers: 必要ですか is “is it needed,” not “I need” until you answer はい.
Practice the three facts sitting down, then standing, then with a wallet actually out of your pocket so the panic is a little real. Next we leave the emergency room and sit with tea: name, country, first time — the small talk after the lessons, which is also a scene, not a list.
If you are hurt, skip the koban and go to a hospital or call 119. This scene chose a wallet so the language could stay slow. Pain changes the room. 痛いです。ここです. 助けてください. Those three are enough to start a different building. Do not force the wallet dialogue onto a broken ankle.
Embassies exist. 大使館はどこですか after the paper is written. The koban may call. Let them. Your job is name, hotel, passport location, and the honest あまり話せません. If they bring a phone with a translator, speak in short です sentences anyway. Machines like short sentences. So do tired officers.
Women’s safety and night streets are real. A koban is a light. 交番はどこですか asked of a shop at 10 p.m. is a good use of this lesson. You do not need a lost wallet to walk toward a light.
Portuguese, French, and German speakers: なくしました is past. It is not “I am losing.” The event is done. Arabic and Hindi readers: あまり話せません is not shame. It is information. Say it early so they do not accelerate. Malay speakers: だけ in 財布だけです is “only.” It closes the hospital door kindly.
If they find the wallet later, they will call the hotel. That is why ホテルは浅草です matters. Leave a paper trail in です sentences. Then go back to the hotel and drink water. The emergency lesson is over when the paper is written, not when you have performed enough worry. Japanese in this room is practical on purpose.
If an officer writes slowly, let them. Fill the silence with breath, not with extra English. When they point at a line on the paper, read it or ask ここは何ですか. 何ですか is allowed. You are not failing the emergency by asking what a box means. You are finishing the paper. Then take the copy they give you. これを持っていってください they may say. Hold it. That paper is the rest of the scene, walking with you.
If they offer to call the hotel, お願いします. Let the hotel’s Japanese meet the koban’s Japanese. You do not have to be the bridge for every sentence. You already built the bridge: name, place, あまり話せません. That was the work. The rest is their job.
What and where
どうしましたか。→ 財布をなくしました。
どこでですか。→ 駅の近くです。
日本語があまり話せません。
Who you are, what you need
名前とホテルを教えてください。
パスポートはホテルにあります。
病院が必要ですか。→ いいえ、財布だけです。 / はい、お願いします。
Sentences you can use
Close, but not this
OK 日本語があまり話せません。
NG 日本語、ゼロ。話せない。
You are speaking Japanese when you say this. あまり話せません is accurate and polite. Drama numbers help no one.
OK 財布をなくしました。
NG 盗まれた、たぶん、知らない。
Do not jump to theft unless you saw it. なくしました is the honest first verb. They will ask the rest.
Say it out loud
Tell them you lost your wallet.
Show answer
財布をなくしました。 — I lost my wallet.
Say you do not speak much Japanese.
Show answer
日本語があまり話せません。 — I don’t speak much Japanese.
They ask if you need a hospital. You only lost the wallet.
Show answer
いいえ、財布だけです。 — No. Just the wallet.
We hope this room stays theoretical. The last travel lesson is lighter: name, country, “this is my first time” — small talk you can actually finish after a week of counters.
Write one sentence today
A quiet reading for what is on your mind
Set Japanese aside for a moment. This is our in-site counseling page: a gentle five-element (saju) reading of what is on your mind. A nickname is enough to start.
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