Questions for Japanese speakers?

Question

I'm confused. I know that when you say a Japanese name, it is said with the family name first. I've heard that when you take a westerner's name (someone from the US for example) and say it in Japanese context, it is said in the regular English order. So, for example, if you said the name Jane Smith you would keep it as "Jane Smith" in Japanese, rather than saying "Smith Jane". My first question is: Is this true? I don't know if the source I heard it from is reliable or not. And would a Japanese person call our Jane Smith as "Smith-san" or "Jane-san" upon first meeting? And if she was a teacher, would she be called "Smith-sensei" or "Jane-sensei"?

My second question is about the Japanese spelling of an English last name. I know how to write my first name in Japanese, but I'm not sure how to go about writing my last name. (It's Stenz) I know that you would use katakana for this, but I'm not sure of the exact spelling. My computer can't read Japanese characters, so it would be nice if you could just tell me the romanized sounds of the characters. I'm guessing that it might be spelled with the katakana for "su" "te" "n" "zu". That's just my guess. Am I wrong?

Sorry for asking so many questions! But if you know Japanese (fluent speakers please!!) could you please help me? Thank you so much!

Answer 1

calling names for foreigners would sometime differs. if on the first meeting, not all Japanese will ask on the same way, but each of them differ their question to a foreigner also. so, if a Japanese person will ask you "what is your name?" and your answer is "I am Jane Smith", this Japanese man might use "Jane san desu ne" or "Smith san desu ne". if the people that asked you are older ones, they would probably call you "Smith san". but if these people are younger ones, they would probably call you "Jane san". if you are a teacher, you will be called "Smith sensei" of course and not "Jane sensei". for filling up something in papers, documents, it will be "Jame Smith". but if the foreigner is married to a Japanese, say, "Jane Smith Tanaka", she would be using now this one; "Tanaka, Jane S." or "Tanaka, Jane Smith".

with regards to your name "Stenz", since i don't know how it is pronounced, then you are right to write it as "sutenzu"=ステンズ.

Answer 2

when you register your name in japan, you need to write in japanese order, like smith jane.

about 'san'

we say both 'jane-san' and 'smith-san'.

depends on you. just say 'call me jane' or 'call me smith' when you introduce yourself.

about 'teacher'

we dont call teacher with their first name at school.

we say 'smith sensei'.

but you can say 'call me jane sensei' if you want coz you're not japanese.

my friend is teacher of dancing school. she called 'tomoko sensei'. (first name) but she also teacher of elementary school. she called 'tanaka sensei' at elementary. (last name)

about your name

'z' is gonna be 'zu' but 'tsu'?

if so your guess is correct.

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edit

about 'sensei'

you need to write in kanji. but you can write in hiragana if you dont know much yet.

http://www.saiga-jp.com/kanji_dictionary...

use this diction

you can get character if you want.

Answer 3

Well I'm not fluent or anything, but I'm pretty confident that the Japanese would call her Jane Smith or Smith Jane. I don't believe it matters.

However, they would call her Smith-san/-sensei. Unless they're familiar with her.

And your last name would be how you wrote it.

Hope it helps, good luck.

Answer 4

Despite my answer on the other question where you referenced this, I would agree with o0o-san that if you meet young people in an informal context they might be more likely to call the person Jane-san than Smith-san if it is presumed that the people are of equal status and will become close friends soon. But, if there is any kind of social distance it will almost always be Smith-san.