seriously i may be insufficent in kanji but i know speaking and grammar so i want to have native speakers to talk with but i can’t access the japanese speaking side of forum
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There are many apps where you can talk with native Japanese people learning English. I hardly use them, but I know hellotalk is one. Someone else will probably say exactly this and more, but yeah.
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Just do what I did and run into a bunch of Japanese people by chance and somehow have the courage to go talk to them! It’s that easy!
(For real, hellotalk is one of the best for this stuff)
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What kind of creature are you???!!!
Also, OP-san, definitely look at some online apps hellotalk, italki, etc. Look around for what works best for you.
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i do that in the city i study but its awkward to stop someone and ask them wheter they are japanese or not i often end up with korean and chinese people well though i showed the way to a group of 3 lost japanese i added them on facebook offered to guide them but they didn’t reply
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I was in my university’s library and I could hear them speaking Japanese, so they weren’t just some random tourists. Admittedly I lucked out pretty hard there. I couldn’t imagine trying to speak to just some random Japanese people on the street.
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Ask if they need help first. Provide something to them and only then they’ll provide you with something else. You don’t need to know where they are from to be able to help them.
I helped 2 Korean tourists the other day and the person I talked with ended up asking me for my number.
What did you mean by this?
I assume they mean they aren’t at the knowledge or comprehension level to do so, as they’re level 1.
If I was lost in a foreign country and some random guy off the street that gave me directions tried to add me on facebook, I probably wouldn’t reply either… That’s hella sketchy
If you live in a city with a university, there’s bound to be some foreign students who want to practice their english. Ask if there are any international student associations or conversation clubs that you can volunteer for.
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If you’re a university student become an English tutor. Even if it’s just for speaking practice, paid or unpaid. When i was in university I got a job tutoring the exchange students who came to study English.
Because it was through the school and not private I got minimum wage. But it was an easy gig, most students just wanted me for speaking practice. My university’s language program had a system that you could select your students or you were paired with someone based off of similar interests/backgrounds. My major was Japanese, and I also took Korean classes so the majority of my students were Japanese and Korean, with the occasional Chinese student. And my students also introduced me to more people. That’s how I became good friends with people from Japan and Korea before coming there.
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I find Japanese on working holiday visas are often keen to make friends, and you can probably speak a mix of both languages.
Personally I made the majority of my Japanese speaking friends (whether native speakers or as a second language) through two ways. I made a good share of friends through College Japanese classes and clubs and I made my BEST Japanese language friends working a few summers at the Japanese immersion camp with Concordia Language Villages in Minnesota (Mori No Ike). I give it my highest recommendation!
ayye! I’m going to Mori in a couple weeks (as a camper though)! I’ve made some great friends there, plus there’s always some weird puns that come out of the experience (for better or worse, haha). I’m hoping to work there once I’m in college and have some actual credentials (like class credit in the language, my high school only offers Spanish and French, so I gotta wait 'till college to take some actual classes ) :
I’ve actually had a couple of experiences speaking to some tourists when I was in South Dakota, once at Wall Drug (where I encountered a bus trip in line) and another time at Mount Rushmore, when I helped a tourist take a picture. If you hear something that sounds familiar, just go for it (carefully, make sure they’re actually speaking Japanese first, haha)! I’ve made some friends for the day, which kept me motivated to learn more.
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