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If "senpai" means someone's senior, then if I am the senior what do I call my freshman i.e. the one who is younger than me in the same school or something. How do I address them?

silvermaple
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Ahmed Abdel Moneim Elket
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  • related: http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/13386/can-sempai-be-used-to-address-a-student-of-the-same-year-age/13387#13387 – ssb Jan 07 '14 at 04:59

1 Answers1

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To address younger kids in your school, you use their names and nicknames. You DO NOT address them as [後輩]{こうはい} unless it is jokingly done (and it is rarely done).

However, younger kids can address YOU as [先輩]{せんぱい} either all by itself or by combining it with your family name like [山本先輩]｛やまもとせんぱい｝.

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    ok thats the answer i was looking for. Now assume this situation which happened to me in real life. I know someone am her senpai in university ,then i started taking a japanese course recently i found out that she is at the last level of that course, so she is my senpai at that course . Now i always call her with her name + san . Should i call her at that course senpai and in college her name + san or just keep calling her "name + san" and thats ok? – Ahmed Abdel Moneim Elket Jan 06 '14 at 10:22
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    Among us Japanese, what matters most is the school year one belongs to. If a person is taking a particular subject at a more advanced level is of little importance with regards to how he should be addressed. So, you could call her "name + さん" all the time. However, this is no simple question because you guys are not Japanese or you live in Japan. –  Jan 06 '14 at 11:03
  • yes i live in egypt it is different. The thing is we are trying to talk japanese as much as we can to practise so thats why i asked . thanks :D – Ahmed Abdel Moneim Elket Jan 06 '14 at 11:46