Pimsleur is expensive to buy but it is available on Audible and maybe your local library.
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One method I like to use is to set a timer for ten minutes and then explain something to myself in Japanese. I have talked to myself about what happened during my day, about the characters in Yotsuba, and about what kind of video games I like.
I find that this method increases my fluency and also is very stress-free. Because I am talking about things in my life, I am using grammar and looking up vocabulary that is relevant to me.
If you can stand to record and listen to yourself talk, you can check for pronounciation or missed words. But I personally haven’t got the guts to do this, yet.
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You can do vocal exercises whenever you have free time, I usually try to say hard words like 暖かかった or go down the list of syllables in order あいうえおかきくけこらりるれろ。。。etc as fast as you can.
Listen to lots of music or podcasts and try to sing along or mimic their speech.
Read aloud everything all the time, or at least whisper it.
Narrate your life in your head or aloud in japanese, this is particularly helpful later on when you hit critical mass and start to think in your target language. Don’t be afraid to say things the wrong way or unnaturally, children learn this way by experimenting with their mouths. When you make mistakes and realize it you will imprint your memory more easily than if you are afraid to make mistakes at all.
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This is very interesting advice. I will try it for sure. Thank you!
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As mentioned previously, living in Japan is by no means a guarantee that your speaking Japanese ability will improve. I’ve met ex-pats living in Japan for decades that have little to no Japanese ability. You have to put in consistent, meaningful effort to improve.
For me, I’ve lived in Japan for 9 months now and my reading and listening have improved substantially which is awesome. But my speaking has improved a bit, but marginally at best.
I still do an hour of iTalki a week with a tutor and I’ve found that immensely helpful. Especially because my tutor actually uses words that Japanese people say.
Rote-memorization of passages and reciting it back does not work for me. It does for some, but definitely not me. Like others have mentioned, narrating your day in your head is a way you can practice for free. Even try to have conversations in your head!
Learning Japanese is a marathon, not a sprint. It won’t take you days or months to learn, it will take numerous years. The only thing you can do is put in the consistent effort and things will gradually start to come to you.
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Btw, how much do you pay for the tutor? Is it affordable price?
I pay $14 an hour for mine. Once a week not bad at all…
On this theme: I also live in Japan and the vast majority of my speaking is with friends, strangers in bars, and my students. The thing is that there is a limit on how much someone is willing to listen to you struggle speaking and the domains which can come up naturally in conversation. So in my case the only things I can really talk about in Japanese without serious stopping and starting are daily topics and English/Japanese grammar (and even then…).
For example, the other day I saw the new Studio Ghibli film in the cinema with a friend but despite understanding almost all of it (except for one part near the end; you’ll know what part I mean if you have seen it) I still could not fully discuss my thoughts and feelings about the film afterwards. At least, I couldn’t say what I wanted to say in anything other than broad strokes. It was annoying and I wanted a chance to practice the same conversation again.
So a few months ago I started using an italki tutor specifically for occasions like this where I decide I want to have a conversation beyond my level so I can stretch myself. Now every few weeks I will book a lesson and after 20 minutes of easy daily convo warmup I will have a very stilted conversation with lots of pausing and checking vocab and trying out phrases and constructions I am not certain about etc. Basically everything I don’t get a chance to use very often. Some topics I have recently tried to discuss include the new Ghibli film, Norwegian Wood (which I recently read), Hong Kong’s 90s political situation, and the current debate about that Oppenheimer film in Japan. Keep in mind I am trying to talk about these topics for 30+ minutes and I normally hit a solid brick wall after about 5 minutes (which is normally when I would change subject in real life).
I personally find it useful as it forces me to stretch myself. Many people use it for actual lessons as well although I have never done that. Whether it is expensive or not depends on your personal situation. You get 3 free trial lessons, I believe, so it is worth signing up and just trying it out - no need to be nervous as it is the tutor’s job to sell themselves to you, not the other way round.
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What’s that game where you have to describe something without using the word? That’s pretty much where most of my conversation time goes. Can’t think of a specific word, so I start the game of trying to get the other person to guess and tell me, ‘it has a slope, it’s smaller than a mountain… it’s got お in it…’ ‘丘？’ ‘正解！パチパチ’
When I think how annoying it must be to talk with me in Japanese, that’s what reinforces the need to pay people to do it at the moment.
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