Finally Finished My Exchange Letter

Japanese
#1

Welp… I finally actually wrote it. I’m aware I sound like I was held at gunpoint to write this but I’m really bad at writing formal things (My only experience with proper speaking is casually with two Japanese friends).

However I do need some advice. I need to handwrite this on like pen and paper and I have literally never written kanji or even hiragana before. This is due in 10 days so does anyone have any ways to kinda cheat the system I guess and… I dunno draw over an ipad screen to trace it? Not to sure what I could do here.

僕を受け入れてくださってありがとうございます。初めまして。僕の名前は(Name)です。(age)です。イギリスから来ましたけど、今オーストラリアに住んでいます。僕の趣味はバスケットボールとアニメを見ることです。今バスケットボールは僕の一番好きなことです。毎日練習します。レブロン・ジェームズが大好きです。僕の一番好きなアニメは呪術廻戦 です。学校で僕の一番好きな教科は英語とスポーツです。綺麗な国だから、日本に行きたいです。日本の都市の便利さやスピード感のある生活にもとても興味があります。日本の文化はとても面白くて美しいです。みんなは親切だと思います。そして、それはとても大切なことです。それに日本語は綺麗な言語です。日本語の流れと発音はとても心地よいと思います。元々それは日本語を勉強し始めた理由でしたけど、今僕の理由は日本の文化です。どうぞよろしくお願いします。これからも頑張ります。

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#2

Kanji and kana have stroke orders and sometimes are shaped a little differently when handwritten as opposed to typed. Even if you trace your message, it’ll probably be obvious that you don’t have experience writing in Japanese, and that’s totally okay. The exchange program is for learning! They’re not expecting (and probably aren’t looking for) people who can effortlessly handwrite eloquent letters with full kanji and everything. You can just make your best effort at writing readable kana and kanji and I’m sure your potential host family and the exchange coordinators will be more than pleased.

Somewhat related, I’m not sure if people brought this up in the other thread but it’s evident you’re experiencing a lot of stress related to this, which is understandable. Your exchange opportunity is important to you and I have no doubt it’s presented as a very official and prestigious. But your potential host family are just normal people, and the program is designed for students like yourself who are excited and motivated to learn. I doubt anyone’s looking for a reason to deny you this opportunity, so while it’s great to want to do your best, I don’t think you need to stress yourself out over putting up a perfectionist façade.

I’ve been in your place with these kinds of formal school-based applications and every time the people on the other side were way less intimidating and strict than I had imagined. Obviously knowing that wont make the stress magically disappear, but I do hope you can take a breath and relax a bit.

Edit: also your letter is great! It’s authentic and adorable! If I got that letter from a potential exchange student I would be excited to meet them.

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#3

I have some recommendationd.
Put in more line breaks. Less kanji, if you don’t know a kanji, write it in hiragana - that’s what Japanese highschoolers do.
I recommend handwriting on graph paper to balance the size. I have a graph paper notebook for math homework, or you can print some.
ぼくを受け入れてくださってありがとうございます。
はじめまして。
ぼくの名前は(Name)です。(age)です。出身はイギリスですけど、今オーストラリアに住んでいます。
ぼくのしゅみはバスケットボールとアニメです。バスケットボールの方が好きです。毎日れんしゅうします。レブロン・ジェームズが好きです。アニメの中で呪術廻戦 [じゅじゅつかいせん]が好きです。教科の中で英語とスポーツです。
I didn’t change the kanji in the rest if the post, you get the idea
Good luck and 頑張って

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