Thanks Teacher, anyway I understood what JR needed.   Indeed it´s cultural we Brazilian learners are a little too "easygoing/informal", so we get hard time when we are

posing questions.   I myself had that problem some time ago, and even now I forget that detail...with time we get the hang of it.

      In fact, in English speaking countries they take it very seriously, maybe more in the UK than in the US, but then is a feature of English speakers, even of some of us in Brazil, take my word for it.

       I don´t know if  "please"  is always mandatory, tough it is advisable, especially when you don´t know somebody, say in the first meeting.

   JR, some good strategies (sentences) to several situations when using the English languages, here informal in a way:

http://www3.nufs.ac.jp/~kindt/pages/SOCCstrategies.html   

3. ASKING FOR A TRANSLATION (Sometimes translating words from one language to another is helpful.)
_Do you know how to say “nani nani” in English?

_What’s “something” in Japanese?

_How do you say “nani nani” in English?

_What’s “something?” Do you know “nani nani?”

    I´ll let question in a formal way to the others participants, let´s wait and see.

    Your views are welcome.