Welcome to Episode 26 of Real Japanese Talk with Haruka & Saki! 🗼🐙

Haruka's senior at work tossed her a folder and said "Naru-haya de yatto-ite" — "Do this ASAP." When is "as soon as possible"? In 30 minutes? Tomorrow? End of the week? Japanese business is full of these vague time-pressure phrases, and new hires (Japanese AND foreign) get tortured by them every day. Today, Saki plays the senior and Haruka plays the bewildered new hire in a live demonstration of the most stressful phrase in Japanese offices — and then they break down the three magic questions that turn vague orders into clear deadlines.

Three target words: なる早 (naru-haya, "ASAP" — the abbreviation that means "I'm in a hurry but I won't tell you how much"), 優先順位 (yuusen-jun'i, "priority" — what you MUST ask about when given multiple vague tasks), and 確認する (kakunin suru, "to confirm" — the survival skill every new hire needs in Japan).

You'll learn the three killer questions that decode any vague Japanese order — "By when do you need it?" / "How does this priority against my other work?" / "Specifically what time?" — and discover that "naru-haya" is just one of a whole family of vague phrases (tekigi, kiri no ii tokoro de, otte renraku shimasu) all hiding the same trap.

【Today's Vocabulary / 今日の言葉】

・なる早 (なるはや) - Abbreviation of 「なるべく早く」 ("as quickly as possible"), equivalent to English "ASAP." Frequently used in Japanese business, but notoriously vague — it gives no concrete deadline, leaving new hires and foreign learners to guess. "30 minutes? Tomorrow? Sometime this week?" depends entirely on the speaker's intuition, and the cultural expectation is that the listener will infer correctly. Even more ambiguous than English "ASAP," so when you hear 「なる早」 the essential new-hire skill is to always confirm with 「いつまでに？」 (By when?).

・優先順位 (ゆうせんじゅんい) - The order in which multiple things should be done — what comes first and what can wait. Equivalent to English "priority." An essential concept in business, used in expressions like 「優先順位をつける」 (to assign priorities), 「優先順位を確認する」 (to confirm priorities), 「優先順位が高い／低い」 (high/low priority). In Japanese business, multiple tasks often arrive simultaneously, and without confirming priorities, everything becomes 「なる早」 and the situation spirals. The skill of confirming priorities is considered essential for new hires.

・確認する (かくにんする) - To clarify the content or status of something by asking or investigating. Equivalent to English "to confirm." In Japanese business, when receiving vague instructions or information, a 「賢い新人」 (smart new hire) never just accepts them — they always confirm. Common collocations: 「期限を確認する」 (confirm the deadline), 「優先順位を確認する」 (confirm priorities), 「内容を確認する」 (confirm content). Confirming is not considered rude at all — on the contrary, it's seen as a demonstration of responsibility and care toward your work.

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