Hey Everyone, I’m living and working in Tokyo ENTIRELY remotely since the beginning of 2022 – so I don’t need to know ANY Japanese at all and will rarely get the chance to use it other than buying groceries and other incredibly simple things.
I have a spouse visa as well, but because my wife is very fluent in english I can’t really practice Japanese and she isn’t great at teaching it at all.
I can read katakana and hiragana fine and know a dozen or so kanji but I’d like to improve a lot more specifically for conversation (so I’m not useless without my wife lol)
-Are there any specific schools or tutors that you would recommend? (Not the school programs from Gogonihon or Gaijinpot as theyre incredibly overpriced and I don’t need a student visa)
Appreciate any help!
5 comments
The only way to improve conversation is practicing. You could go to pubs and try to interact with some japanese, or you could look online for communities that gather from time to time to do some hobby in common.
In my area there are several once or twice a week volunteer taught Japanese lessons that are free or very cheap – you might check your local international center or community center/kouminkan (mine has Japanese lessons listed in the monthly newsletter). They were a great resource for me when I was new here.
Use these websites/apps (all free, paid options available for some):jisho.org, renshuu.org and Duolingo
you need to expose to the native speakers so you can practice your conversation. possible to you to work on some facility or at the resto.
I am in the exact same situation – I actually went through those expensive programs and just passed N5. My Japanese is not much better than yours but I’d be willing to practice with you I.e. go drink beers and talk to Japanese folk if that sort of thing interests you 🤙
Genki 1 is also a pretty solid resource to self study on your own with. I’d highly recommend it