In response to user feedback, this is a recurring thread for general discussion about learning Japanese, and for asking your questions about grammar, learning resources, and so on. Let’s come together and share our successes, what we’ve been reading or watching and chat about the ups and downs of Japanese learning.
The /r/Japanese rules (see [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanese/about/rules/)) still apply! Translation requests still belong in /r/translator and we ask that you be helpful and considerate of both your own level and the level of the person you’re responding to. If you have a question, please check the subreddit’s [frequently asked questions](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanese/?f=flair_name%3A%22FAQ%E3%83%BB%E3%82%88%E3%81%8F%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B%E8%B3%AA%E5%95%8F%22), but we won’t be as strict as usual on the rules here as we are for standalone threads.
3 comments
My apologies if this has been asked before. About how long would it take to be able to speak conversational Japanese if I studied about four hours a day, that is, enough for day to day activities like shopping, paying bills, traveling, small talk with the neighbors? I know about 200 words, and some basic grammar like これはなんですか。このはいくらですか。このノ花きれいです, basically below what it’d take to pass JLPT 5 and was able to get around Tokyo ok two years ago with my limited knowledge. While I’d like to become fluent, I’m in my mid fifties, and don’t know if I’d live long enough to gain fluency.
[removed]
just a quick question about english names-
When introducing myself should I pronounce my name how it’s pronounced in english, or should i say it with japanese pronunciation? I dont want to be weird and have a different set of sounds in the middle of my sentence, but i dont know if it would be seen as silly or rude to pronounce it the way native japanese speakers would.