In between sessions on italki, I’ve found it hard to actually make vocabulary I ‘know’ come out naturally when speaking by myself. That transition from passive to active vocabulary feels awkward without an organic reason to use the word.
I’ve thought about trying to read English children’s stories and translate to Japanese, but I don’t know if that would be that meaningful or effective. It may help get you more recall practice with vocabulary, but I can’t imagine it being as effective as speaking to another person.
Do you folks try anything similar, or face similar frustrations trying to actually use the vocabulary you’re cramming?
2 comments
Talk to yourself about what you want to talk about in japanese. I have a japanese friend who I play a spaceship game with. The first time we played It was really hard and I couldn’t communicate too much, thankfully he’s very patient. After that I started talking to myself and narrating while I played, like I was a streamer. The next time I played with him it was much easier
do not translate english content to japanese for this.
instead use real japanese made for natives. whether its from japanese childrens books or slice of life manga, or sentences you hear japanese youtubers say. repeat sentences from those real native sources until they roll off your tongue. that should be your main practice to help your speaking. that’s what will prepare you the best for when you talk to natives.