I’m a university student who is going to Japan to study in August. I’ve heard some people use Hostess bars to practice their Japanese, and I’m wondering if this is a good study method. If it matters, I’m a woman, so I’m not sure if girls really go to hostess bars.
Is this a good way to practice converstion?
20 comments
You could go to a host bar….
I don’t know what else to say. This seems stupid. Hostess bars are expensive. Why not just make friends?
That sounds like an excuse they tell their girlfriends for why they were at a Hostess Bar.
Even if it was so.ehow more effective than just talking to people, it would be hundreds of dollars on the regular.
No that will be expensive!
Bruh. Just pay a tutor to talk to you.
Pros:
– Far less expensive
– “My Japanese sucks but please bear with me” is already part of the deal
– No sketchy gatekeeping or legal grey zones
Cons:
– You really shouldn’t expect a tutor to pretend to be your girlfriend. Really
No. Foreigners are easy targets.
I know two foreigners who were drugged and robbed at these types of bars. They said the police were not especially helpful. One person was traumatized, dropped out of language school and went home. The other came into 8am class a total mess; the teachers and administration helped him out but he said the experience was terrible.
Apparently there were more students that had problems at these bars but the school obviously tried to keep things quiet.
These bars also can be incredibly expensive.
If it’s for language learning then no, I don’t recommend it(there are cheaper more effective ways) However if it’s for another reason then that’s up to you, and I guess you could also practice some Japanese during your “session”.
There are people who will talk to you in a language that you are trying to learn for money. They will correct your mistakes and even teach you new things too.
They’re called teachers.
I am begging everyone to just hire a teacher.
I guess the logic is that you have a very engaged audience who is very happy to converse with you? However, the expense for a one off experience will be wild. If you’re going to Japan to study, make Japanese friends and go out for dinner or karaoke or something. It’ll be so much cheaper.
No, if you want to practice outside of study time with a teacher, go to a bar where there are no English speakers. No need to do this.
In Tokyo?
Go to Yoyogi on the weekend and put a sign out asking for people to talk with you in Japanese.
Sounds like you’re an adult.
I’ve had a lot of good experiences in bar only Izakayas. Find a small one near your apartment or dorms and frequent it enough for the owner/regulars to feel comfortable around you.
Cafes or tea cafes have a pretty unique clientele that can be chatty.
Have a hobby?
There’s a lot of communities.
Mine were fishing and motorcycles. Local music venues were a good place to meet new people too.
I got a lot of language practice with tenkara meetups.
There’s even more for hiking.
Also, people into handheld gaming have a lot of meetups. My friends would go to akihabara for releases like dragon quest and monster hunter and make lots of online buddies.
Basically put yourself out there. You don’t have to pay people or go to bars.
I was once talking to a Japanese woman at a gōkon (kind of a group date) that she and my friend had organized. She was speaking admiringly about my friend, especially about how quickly he’d picked up conversational Japanese (he’d only been living there for about 10 months). However, then she delivered the killer blow: “But, he talks like a woman.”
He had learned a lot by going to hostess bars, but not enough about the difference between how men and women speak Japanese. He did eventually marry a Japanese woman, but we never let him forget that telling evaluation of how he learned the language.
Do whatever you want, find out what the necessary safety precautions might be though. If you want to experience that side of japan, go for it, make sure to find out about what the risks/rewards are and maybe make a list?
You are going to be in Japan, you can find someone to talk to in Japanese without doing this. Make a friend, or just go to a normal bar and chat to people.
No, this is a horrible idea. Who suggested this to you? Just talk to people on the street.
I don’t think it’s a good idea or method.
1. It’s expensive.
2. Many of them aren’t well educated and not good as a language partner
3. Women don’t go to a bar like that. It’s shady and you’re not welcomed there either. Idk where you are from but it’s not common that women go to a place that’s run for men(like some sexual things) in many countries.
4. It’s not quiet and it must be hard to catch words in a bar.
Don’t go to hostess/host bar but do try local neighborhood Snack bar. Generally, hostess bars prefer male clientele but they might recruit woman, like you, to work as a “novelty” hostess. But most visa categories don’t allow you to work at such establishments.
Local snack bar tend to be different, you go there to chat, drink and may be try open mic.
You might want to consider language exchange groups, and hobby groups as better alternatives.
No.
As far as practice methods go, that is one of the worst.
Literally nothing but cons.
You could try; private tutor, going to a normal izakaya when it’s busy, joining a club or activity in Japanese, going to events in your local community/area, seeing what events are offered by your city hall and/or community gyms near you
Why on earth would you want to pay someone ¥30,000 to talk to you…?
Literally anything else would be a better idea than going to a hostess bar if you want to talk to people to practice a language.
For example, there are websites where Japanese people are looking for a pen pal or language exchange partner etc. Get into contact, make friends, meetup in August.
There are groups and communities that organize meetups exactly for this type of thing.
If you don’t mind spending money anyway hire a tutor or something.