Hello, I am Yoshi from NILS Japanese language school. We would like to introduce useful phrases in Japanese to people who are learning Japanaese. Today’s phrase is “Yatta! やった!” We hope you will use this phrase in Japanese in your everyday life.

Yatta! やった is a frequently used exclamation of joy uttered when something wonderful happens unexpectedly. For example, children might say this when their parents tell them that they are taking them on a vacation to Hawaii.
It seems that the usage of Yatta! has changed over the years. It used to be used only when someone really did something great. For example, when we were at a baseball game and a batter hit a homerun for the team we were cheering for, we probably uttered the exclamation. Nowadays, however, any happy turn of events seems to cause youngsters to yell out Yatta!

Mar. 6th News, from NILS Japanese language school.