Letter to Japanese Host Family

Hello, I am a university student and I will be staying with a host family just outside of Kyoto for my upcoming semester abroad. I know very little Japanese as I've only been studying it for a couple months. I know nothing about my host family members except for their names and I would like to learn more about them. I would also like to introduce myself, so I plan on emailing them a letter. I really have no idea where to even begin with this as I assume they don't speak English. I'm also worried about coming off as rude.

If anyone has any advice or recommendations that would be super helpful!

There is a chance that they can read and speak a bit of English since they are hosting international students. The host family I stayed with, a long time ago, did not speak English but could understand it.

You could start presenting yourself in Japanese in your email (I assume that your lessons covered that part), then say that you are not very good at japanese yet (something like すみません、日本語はまだあまり話せないので、英語で続けます。). After that, ask them your questions in English. At worse, they can use a translate app, and reply to you in Japanese.

I know it is not super accurate, but you can use google translate. Include a copy of your letter in English along with the Japanese translation. I am sure even something as simple as “Hi my name is ______” will be appreciated by your host family.

Why not write a very short email introducing yourself, along with a question or two. And why not write it in both Japanese and English. But be sure you write both languages in short basic textbook sentences.

All people today who were schooled in Japan have at least learned basic English during compulsory education. I'm sure they'd love reading your basic Japanese, and I'm sure they can confirm the meaning by double-checking your English version.

I hope you have fun in Japan!

Deeplはかなり正確に翻訳してくれるので、私は込み入った内容をJapanguideに書き込む時にはしばしば利用しています。

Deepl translates fairly accurately, and I often use it when writing intricate content into Japanguide.

以下はあなたの投稿を日本語に、そしてさらに英語に訳してもらったものです。かなり正確に訳されているのがわかると思います。

Here is a translation of your post into Japanese and then further into English. You will see that it is a fairly accurate translation.

Hello, I am a university student and I will be staying with a host family just outside of Kyoto for my upcoming semester abroad. I know very little Japanese as I've only been studying it for a couple months. I know nothing about my host family members except for their names and I would like to learn more about them. I would also like to introduce myself, so I plan on emailing them a letter. I really have no idea where to even begin with this as I assume they don't speak English. I'm also worried about coming off as rude.

If anyone has any advice or recommendations that would be super helpful!

English to Japanese by deepl.

こんにちは、私は大学生で、今度の学期は京都の郊外にあるホームステイ先に滞在します。日本語を勉強し始めてまだ数ヶ月なので、日本語はほとんど知りません。ホストファミリーの名前以外は何も知らないので、彼らについてもっと知りたいです。自己紹介もしたいので、メールで手紙を送ろうと思っています。ホストファミリーは英語が話せないと思うので、何から始めたらいいのか見当もつきません。また、失礼にならないか心配です。

どなたかアドバイスやお勧めの方法があれば、とても助かります！

Japasese to English by deepl.

Hello, I am a university student and will be staying with a homestay family in the suburbs of Kyoto for the upcoming semester. I have only been studying Japanese for a few months so I know very little about it. I know nothing about my host family except their names and I would like to know more about them. I would like to introduce myself, so I am planning to send them a letter by e-mail. I don't think my host family speaks English, so I have no idea where to start. I am also worried that it would be rude.

Any advice or recommendations anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated!

Of course you can write your Japanese without Deepl which might be better to tell your Japanese skill (not translated with Deepl.)