Husband is stationed there and I will be moving soon. The language barrier scares me but I’m learning little by little. I’m fluent in Spanish but that won’t help. Any transplants out there have any tips?
There will be plenty of people on base to befriend.
Also, lots of people who speak English also tend to live in the cities by the bases.
I’ve found that Meetup.com and other similar interest-based gatherings are a good place to start. It sounds like you’re studying Japanese so maybe look for a language exchange partner who’s also similar to you in demographic?
It can be pretty tough to connect with people in Tokyo because such a revolving door kind of city but hang in there! Hope you’re able to make some positive connections!
Find and go to a class. Hopefully with a native speaker teaching it.
Go to city office and ask for free Japanese classes. Each city has free Japanese classes mostly conducted by volunteers.
Spanish can be useful. Lots of Brazilians here. And while they aren’t the same I used to use a lot of Spanish with them since it’s similar.
Also the easiest way is just to our and try. Most Japanese under the age of 60 have studied some Japanese and most are willing to try and speak it I’d you can’t speak Japanese. Granted, Tokyo is a bit different than other places, but the younger the crowd, the more likely they are to speaking English and to have travelled abroad pre-corona.
As you prepare to move, consider some online tutoring such as italki to help you learn some “survival Japanese.”
Once you’re here, I would connect with your local ward office, as they offer cheap or free language classes, and are a great way to connect with other people who have recently moved to Japan. They’ll also point your towards local community activities that may be foreigner-friendly/offer language support. For example, my local ward has trash pickup events (street beautification), farmers markets, etc.
Take a class! Your local ward will have a community center and have information about exercise classes, art classes, etc.
There’s also Facebook and meetup— lots of opportunities to meet other foreign residents and locals who may be more “internationally focused” that way.
Since you’re military it sounds like, there are probably systems in place to give you cultural opportunities, but I have no idea about that.
Hi. Milspouse here.
Lots of people on the base to befriend in English. That’s boring though.
For language learning: I use Pimsleur. It’s helpful. Lately I’ve been using HelloTalk and that’s really helped.
But just getting out and making mistakes is good. Get a hobby and go to meetup.com
You’ll make more friends on base. The base will offer Japanese classes to help out.
If youre in tokyo you really dont even japanese to come by, especially if youre living on base
While everyone saying you don’t need to know Japanese to make friends is *technically* right, I’d still recommend it. You’ll be limiting yourself mostly to highly educated Japanese and Japanese who want you to be their English teacher for free, neither of which are super appealing friends to me. You’ll be shocked at how much people open up when you can even barely string together a sentence, you’ll make so many more friends that way. So, learn Japanese as best you can, I’d recommend a proper class if you have time, like in an actual school or from a qualified tutor.
As for the Latin part, you might be interested to know there’s a fair amount of Latin people in major cities, especially in more industrial areas like Saitama, Shizuoka, and Aichi. Most are Brazilian or Peruvian, and many are also of Japanese descent. So, you might be able to find hispanohablantes 🙂 also, i *highly* recommend bringing specialty food/drinks with you, for example i bought several bottles of rum and arepa flour bc you can’t find Colombian/Venezuelan items in Japan, at least not in Okinawa (I’m not military, btw)
If you’re only here for a short time and will mostly be in expat communities, you should be able to survive on English.
How do you make friends in your home country?
There are so many international friendship groups in Japan I am sure you can meet people. The language of these groups is usually English and Japanese.
I suggest you look for them online and also on sites such as Craig’s List Japan or Weekender or other such sites.
13 comments
By stationed, I take it to mean you’re military.
There will be plenty of people on base to befriend.
Also, lots of people who speak English also tend to live in the cities by the bases.
I’ve found that Meetup.com and other similar interest-based gatherings are a good place to start. It sounds like you’re studying Japanese so maybe look for a language exchange partner who’s also similar to you in demographic?
It can be pretty tough to connect with people in Tokyo because such a revolving door kind of city but hang in there! Hope you’re able to make some positive connections!
Find and go to a class. Hopefully with a native speaker teaching it.
Go to city office and ask for free Japanese classes. Each city has free Japanese classes mostly conducted by volunteers.
Spanish can be useful. Lots of Brazilians here. And while they aren’t the same I used to use a lot of Spanish with them since it’s similar.
Also the easiest way is just to our and try. Most Japanese under the age of 60 have studied some Japanese and most are willing to try and speak it I’d you can’t speak Japanese. Granted, Tokyo is a bit different than other places, but the younger the crowd, the more likely they are to speaking English and to have travelled abroad pre-corona.
As you prepare to move, consider some online tutoring such as italki to help you learn some “survival Japanese.”
Once you’re here, I would connect with your local ward office, as they offer cheap or free language classes, and are a great way to connect with other people who have recently moved to Japan. They’ll also point your towards local community activities that may be foreigner-friendly/offer language support. For example, my local ward has trash pickup events (street beautification), farmers markets, etc.
Take a class! Your local ward will have a community center and have information about exercise classes, art classes, etc.
There’s also Facebook and meetup— lots of opportunities to meet other foreign residents and locals who may be more “internationally focused” that way.
Since you’re military it sounds like, there are probably systems in place to give you cultural opportunities, but I have no idea about that.
Hi. Milspouse here.
Lots of people on the base to befriend in English. That’s boring though.
For language learning: I use Pimsleur. It’s helpful. Lately I’ve been using HelloTalk and that’s really helped.
But just getting out and making mistakes is good. Get a hobby and go to meetup.com
You’ll make more friends on base. The base will offer Japanese classes to help out.
If youre in tokyo you really dont even japanese to come by, especially if youre living on base
While everyone saying you don’t need to know Japanese to make friends is *technically* right, I’d still recommend it. You’ll be limiting yourself mostly to highly educated Japanese and Japanese who want you to be their English teacher for free, neither of which are super appealing friends to me. You’ll be shocked at how much people open up when you can even barely string together a sentence, you’ll make so many more friends that way. So, learn Japanese as best you can, I’d recommend a proper class if you have time, like in an actual school or from a qualified tutor.
As for the Latin part, you might be interested to know there’s a fair amount of Latin people in major cities, especially in more industrial areas like Saitama, Shizuoka, and Aichi. Most are Brazilian or Peruvian, and many are also of Japanese descent. So, you might be able to find hispanohablantes 🙂 also, i *highly* recommend bringing specialty food/drinks with you, for example i bought several bottles of rum and arepa flour bc you can’t find Colombian/Venezuelan items in Japan, at least not in Okinawa (I’m not military, btw)
If you’re serious about learning Japanese, [here’s a beginner’s guide](https://docs.google.com/document/d/19FEIOJWbLhJQ-AmepxFBMC2ebhJJr9RBUMfMeatYuq8/edit).
If you’re only here for a short time and will mostly be in expat communities, you should be able to survive on English.
How do you make friends in your home country?
There are so many international friendship groups in Japan I am sure you can meet people. The language of these groups is usually English and Japanese.
I suggest you look for them online and also on sites such as Craig’s List Japan or Weekender or other such sites.
Here are just a few links that may help.
[https://www.meetup.com/ja-JP/internationl-friendship/?_cookie-check=7p8tteQpJAoCrqCO](https://www.meetup.com/ja-JP/internationl-friendship/?_cookie-check=7p8tteQpJAoCrqCO)
[https://www.sifa.or.jp/english/sifa/index.html](https://www.sifa.or.jp/english/sifa/index.html)
[https://tokyointernationalmeetup.com/](https://tokyointernationalmeetup.com/)