I have been building up my written and reading vocab thru daily WhatsApp messages with a Japanese friend. I still use translate tools when I inevitably trip on grammar and sentence structure.
I recently had lunch with this friend. She was super gracious and knew I wanted to improve, so 90% of the time she spoke to me in Japanese. She probably used simple terms and spoke slower than she normally does, and I’m super happy to be able to understand most of what she said. But I simply cannot form my sentences quickly enough in conversation. My brain spits out a few words quickly, but I spend the next 3 seconds rearranging the words into what seems like the right structure, and I’m probably missing half the particles.
The end result is I replied 90% in English (this was a catch up on life lunch, not a nihongo lesson lunch).
My question is, what should I do next time when I have a conversation like that in person? Should I just spit out my half formed sentences? If you were my friend, would you then form the sentence properly and say it back for me to repeat?
8 comments
As an English learner, I’m in the same boat.
I think you’re better off continuing to spit out your Japanese even if it’s the half formed sentences.
When I call my friend from America, we chat both in Japanese and English.
We correct each other and still need to google some words or phrases to tell each other about what we want to say.
Because the topics we want to talk are wide-ranging lol
Even though I don’t feel I’m improving, but the friend think I’m improving all the time, and I feel his Japanese is improving as well.
Speaking practice is like building muscles, so we need to continue to do that.
Having said that, because I can’t call him frequently, I don’t have the opportunity to speak English that often.
Well, I’m not sure if I was able to answer your question with this, but let’s keep up our good work lol
I bet you/we can do it!
Your Japanese friend is very patient, which is great. Most people won’t correct your grammar because it feels rude. Just imagine doing it to someone in English. That’s how they feel.
Say what you want to say and if you think it’s wrong, resay the corrected sentence and ask them which one is better. The main point is being understood. When you get that confused look on their face, you got something really wrong.
First, Stop using translation tools. If you know like 90% of what you’re trying to say and just need to look up a word or a grammar point that’s fine but otherwise you’re just stunting your own growth. If you really don’t know how to say it, try going about it a different way or even ask your friend how she would say something like it. Second, just say what you’re trying to say. If you get it wrong, so what. If your friend gets the idea, she’s not going to (nor should she, really) correct you. You were understood, which is half the reason you’re even learning Japanese: to be understood. If she really has no idea what you’re talking about, she’ll ask you.
Imagine someone who doesn’t speak English well tries to talk to you. If you know what they’re trying to say but they said it wrong are you going to stop the conversation to explain English grammar to them? Probably not, right?
I also have a Japanese friend I’ve been learning with and she has never once corrected me. (She says it’s because my Japanese is already good but still.) It really does help your confidence when you don’t have to worry about being *wrong*, even if you are wrong. You stop spending so much time agonizing over what you’re trying to say, and you spend more time actually having a conversation with someone. If you’re really curious about how to say something you can just ask, or attempt to say it first and then ask.
A tip I have used to practice conversation at a beginner level is to choose a topic in advance before you meet up and I spend time studying up on vocabulary and come up with a few phrases in advance for the conversation.
You didn’t specify your level so this may or may not be helpful but having a plan ahead of time and practicing speaking to yourself (speaking into a mirror or something similar) will help you feel more confident going in.
Also making an effort to only use Japanese. If you don’t know how to say something you want learn different ways to ask “how do you say X” or “what is the word for (describe are best you can in Japanese)”. Use simple sentences whenever you can and only make it more complicated when you are ready.
I’ve taken immersion classes before (not for Japanese) and this was how they suggested we speak as we build confidence.
Finally, just take your time. No one expects you to be perfect right off the bat.
I have a similar relationship with a friend. When we met I spoke no Japanese, but she can speak ok English so we just talked in English. As I was studying, I decided that the parts that I knew how to say in Japanese, I’d say in Japanese, and the parts I didn’t know how to say in Japanese I’d say in English.
At the beginning it’d be me mostly just doing aizuchi in Japanese and everything else in English lol. But then I progressed to being able to ask simple questions in Japanese and now our conversations are completely in Japanese
You might try a book on Japanese Sentence Patterns, for example this series has then organized by JLPT level: [https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Sentence-Patterns-JLPT-N5-ebook/dp/B075B38Y5P](https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Sentence-Patterns-JLPT-N5-ebook/dp/B075B38Y5P). Doing the drills of repeating the common grammar patterns should help your sentences come together more easily when you’re trying to converse.
Talk to yourself. That’s how I go about it
Practice with other leaners and often. They know the struggle and will not likely be as annoyed. I took classes of other languages and there were plenty of “With a partner” exercises and we were all at the same level, getting used to it with repetition of similar easy examples with whatever new grammar or vocabulary we were working with, until we were somewhat comfortable with it. Do this over and over with new topics and it builds toward understanding at higher levels.