Hi everyone! I recently moved to Japan and am living technically just outside Tokyo but I'm only a few stops away from Shibuya etc. I've been studying Japanese for the last year and a half but because I didn't have much opportunity to speak the language in my home country my speaking skills suck compared to reading/writing etc. I started attending 'classes' in my local ward office which turned out to be sitting at a table with other equally struggling beginner speakers with a local volunteer where we would fumble our way through conversation for 90 minutes with the volunteer occasionally correcting us while 50+ other people conversed at other tables around us. It's been somewhat helpful for forcing me to try and speak but I'd love to try speaking with other native speakers in a more relaxed environment while I search for more formal/structured lessons to improve my vocab and grammar. Does anyone know of some good board game groups which would have a mix of English and Japanese speakers and would provide opportunities for practicing my Japanese in a relaxed setting? Or any similar chilled-out meetup activities? It doesn't have to be board games but just something that would allow for casual conversation with others. I'm not a big partyer or drinker so any get-togethers which are dependent on those would be out for me. Are there any other suggestions you guys might have for practicing Japanese in Tokyo? I see lots of people online suggesting going into a bar/izakaya and striking up a conversation with others but as I don't drink I'm not sure that's as easy of an option for me.
Thank you!
by emeraldviolinist