Sounds like you're stressing yourself about really small things. So the one with なにじん is asking directly for the nationality of the person, and the other with どこから is just saying "where are you from?". There's nothing wrong about either of these expressions.
On the other hand... you don't normally go around and ask people explicitly about their nationality. Maybe if you're border police. So no I don't see why one is "more fluent" or "more precise". They're just two sentences with slightly different meanings.
Your answer was acceptable in the sense that it would be fine to use in real life, but it was not the "best answer" for the specific question that was asked of you.
Hello,
Em...Am I stressing myself for small things ? I guess, yes. The point was less if one expression was best or not but the fact that she didn't clarify or have seen the need for it. It had been said in Lesson 1, end of the sentence.
And thanks to you two for answering me :-)
I've always been obsessed and conflicted about small details, my Phd professor tells me all the time that i shouldn't get concerned with easily answered questions... Good thing is there is room for improvement ;-)
何人ですか vs どこから きましたか
Hello everyone,
My japanse teacher was making a small revision of everything studdied so far and when she asked me to tell how I would ask about someone nationality, I answered : "どこから きましたか" because I've studied that last year with another teacher and I had forgotten that the actual teacher had taught us : "何人ですか " (pronounced : "nanijin desu ka"). She told me : "remeber lesson 1 with that expression" but never told me that "どこから きましたか" was wrong or not.
So my question is : what is the most fluent expression in Japan ? I see why "何人ですか " would be prefered as it's more precise but is what my preious teacher told us wrong or less accurate ?
Thanks in advance