To set the scene: it’s 3 am, and I was bored out of my mind. I, for some reason, decided to hop on omegle for shits n giggles. After a few failed attempts at finding someone interesting to talk to who wasn’t trying to do anything explicit, I set my interest as “Japan” with the hope of maybe getting to practice my Japanese (I’ve been learning for about 1 year in college).
Low and behold, I found someone! The conversation lasted a very long time and I was genuinely surprised by how well I was able to keep up. Sure, I made some mistakes here and there (I’m human :/ ) but I had a surprisingly in-depth conversation for my level (N3/N4 more so N4).
It made me super happy and I’m very proud of myself for actually trying to speak to a native! I have terrible performance anxiety so I always mess up when I get put on the spot in class but it wasn’t an issue during this conversation.
Moral of the story: I guess try omegle if you’re willing to take the risk lmao. But definitely put yourself out there and practice! I’ve seen so many posts on this sub of people who have amazingly high comprehension levels, they can read literally almost anything, recognize any kanji, etc.. but struggle with actually speaking. And to them, I have to say, baby steps! You got this! I know it’s scary but if I can do it, so can you!
Have a great day y’all <3
4 comments
Feels good doesn’t it! 🙂
Congratulations
Wholesome and encouraging. Congratulations, and keep at it!
Cheers for you, mate!
Had a similar experience when I took the challenge of meeting japanese exchange students in a cafe. It was VERY hard but I managed to talk a little. I was at N4 level at that time. But most importantly, I had fun.
Nice job!
As another idea, you can go watch some Twitch and filter by Japanese. I’ve been able to converse with some Japanese on there at night. I also find that a fair bit of them speak English too and are eager to practice on you!