Coronavirus turned what was meant to be picking up a quick smattering of Japanese, into something much deeper, almost an obsession. (Wanikani is part of that) .
Now the much delayed trip to Japan (which started my original planned single term of weekly classes), is finally happening. Any recommendations of resources to obtain while we are there to help my language journey on my return?
Hints on how to get the best from using my (low intermediate) skills while I am there.
We are travelling mainly in Kyushu and Shikoku by public transport- with no time in Tokyo.
Go shopping and read tons of signs and products. Ask a store employee where cough drops are. Accidentally run into somebody and apologize profusely. You know, the usual stuff.
Definitely go into a bookstore and see if there are any beginnerâs books or magazines you want to buy.
I think your best bet is (obviously) to use the language a bunch and talk to people. Visiting a place like Shikoku, youâll definitely have to use it over English. If youâre into bars, theyâre a fantastic place to practice speaking.
Is it your first time in Japan? Thatâs an odd choice
not that I have anything against those places, thereâs a ton I want to see over there
We have been to Japan once before- twenty years ago and spent time in Kyoto, Nara, Tokyo, and Hokkaido mostly. So this time we thought weâd go south and west.
I think we will find more English spoken than last time! We struggled driving without even a map with city names in romaji- but we found people helpful and could often communicate without much language.
Station. Try the magazine rack at a combini, you might find something there. Otherwise a bookshop will do.
I picked up a book of crosswords back in 2017 that Iâve been (very gradually) working on ever since, though Iâm not too sure itâs aimed specifically at kids. (The main issue Iâve been having is not understanding the clues, but rather knowing whatâs expected for the answerâŠ)
Kanazawa City in Ishikawa prefecture is connected by bullet train to kyoto, osaka, tokyo. Itâs a wonderful city to visit and has Kenrokuen, the best garden in japan (one of the top 3 but imo the best out of them). It has a samurai district where you can enter and learn about them. Good place to visit!
further north, connected by local train is Wakura onsen town, which has on of the best ryoukan in all of japan, Kagaya. Another wonderful experience.
I recommend, when talking in Japanese, be confident and outgoing. Youâre going to make mistakes, but others will be more receptive and youâll just have a better time in general. Try not to be too excessive with your keigo either, you have a gaijin card after all.
Well Iâm not saying to be rude, but you get the point, I hope.
Well. Itâs arguably connected by shinkansen to Kyoto and Osaka in that you could get there only via shinkansen, if you didnât mind going via Tokyo. Youâd be better off taking the Thunderbird express, though. Theyâre planning to extend the Hokuriku Shinkansen down to Shin-Osaka, but thatâs not expected to open until 2045 at the earliest.
I donât believe this thread was asking for recommendations of places to visit, though.
Hi there, I have been living in Shikoku for the last four years and can say that it is a wonderful place to visit. As I live in Ehime I can say that getting around the prefecture is pretty easy and inter prefecture travel is also not much of a worry. You may find though that trains donât run anywhere near the frequency of more populous areas. As for emergencies, no more frequent than my home country of New Zealand. I hope you have a really nice trip! If you do visit Ehime I would reccomend Matsuyama city. You can see Matsuyama castle and Dogo onsen. Oh, and just use what you know, based on my experience (my Japanese is pretty rough) people will generally be appreciative of the effort. So donât worry about it, é ćŒ”ăŁăŠă!
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. We received one as an ăćçŁ once.