Hi everyone!
So as the title indicates, I feel absolutely stuck with my Japanese skills. I have been learning this language since my first year of high school, then graduated and moved to Japan to study Japanese in a language school. I stayed in that school for 1 year and a half and I passed the jlpt N2. The problem is I still feel like a complete beginner, can only say basics sentences and so on.
I am now studying in vocational school and all my classes are in Japanese and my classmates are mostly Japanese people.
I understand most of the things they say but the problem is that when I want to say something I always overthink about what I want to say and everything become confusing in my head and I end up just not saying anything at all, so the conversation just end there and I canât really connect with the people. I feel like I studied so much for nothing and everything I learn I forget it so fast.
One of the method I use to learn new vocabulary is just by writing in my notebook the words I hear and read (I try to read books and watch most of ytb videos in japanese) and then I study everything repetitively. But then I end up with thousands of words and expressions that I have to repeat everyday but I feel like it doesnât stay in my head. I even have private Japanese teachers online but most of the time itâs just free talk with them and I keep just saying basics stuff so no improvement.
So please give me some advices
(For reference my native language is French and Japanese is the first Asian language I really learn so the difference in grammar and sentence structures are what my brain canât really process I guess)
I donât have any immediate advice, but I do want to say that if you have passed N2 and are in a vocational school studying alongside native speakers this is well above beginner level. Thatâs a significant achievement many people studying Japanese wonât reach. Being able to express yourself in a foreign language, especially in real time, is not easy and will always lag behind your ability to comprehend. So donât be too hard on yourself.
(If you want a more efficient way to learn vocab than âwrite it out on paper and then study it all over and overâ, this is what SRS systems are for. Same basic idea but instead of restudying everything the system shows you words less and less often as you remember them better, so you can spend less time on them. The lag between recognising a word and being able to use it in output remains, though.)
Hi
I am new around here and my language skills are far behind yours so Iâd like to begin by offering you some encouragement. My wife is Japanese and we visit once or twice a year. I can read kana but I never learned to read kanji which is how I found Wanikani. I have been working diligently and I am making progress but I understand that it is going to be a lifelong project. I one spoke with an American woman who was married to a Japanese man. She had lived in Japan for many many years and spoke Japanese very well. But she told me that Almost every day she still learned something new. Considering the length of time you have been studying, the fact that you live in Japan and can understand most of the conversations you hear, and you have passed the JLPT N2 I think you have a lot to be proud of. Obviously we always want to get better though. Maybe try to find some friends who want to improve their English or French and offer to help them if they will help you with your Japanese? Maybe try two way conversations. Start with you speaking Japanese and them speaking English. Then swap. And also agree that each of you will correct the other oneâs mistakes. And maybe agree on a topic before you meet so you can maybe organize some vocabulary or think up some things to say in advance. Might be worth a try! Good Luck!
It sounds like the thing youâre struggling with is speaking. Iâd start with identifying exactly what it is thatâs holding you back. A few likely examples:
pronunciation speed
your thoughts are in French and itâs hard to put them into Japanese
by the time you think of how to say something the conversation has moved on
donât know how to connect your thoughts
donât know how to fluently react to small talk/everyday conversation
Iâd suggest creating situations where you can practice exactly what youâre lacking. For example, for reaction speed/formulaic phrases you can look for a language exchange partner or a teacher and work on exactly that.
If itâs pronunciation and word flow that youâre struggling with, try shadowing natural speech, for example interviews (of people who arenât trained in being interviewed) or reality shows.
TL;DR: identify what exactly it is youâre struggling with and create situations where you can practice just that.
You need to think in Japanese. If you want to express something you are not sure about, try saying it in different ways, maybe explain the sentence to yourself, look up words you need to say it, etc. This practice helps you with less common topics, or topics you may want to talk about. It helped me with the last push to expertise in english.
Basically, when learning a language, you need to learn 6 different skills:
you see written text and need to understand the meaning
you see written text and need to read it
you hear someone speaking and you need to understand it
you hear someone speaking and need to write it down
you want to say something and need to vocalize it
you want to write something and need to compose it
These are very different skills, and you may be very proficient in several, but be a noob in others. Each needs different aproach to practice it. It seems to me you are lacking in the skill 5, and for that you need to not just talk, but to look up things you want to say. If you just describe it instead, you are limiting your vocabulary. But you cannot look up things when talking to someone. So you need to say things to yourself and put some effort into looking up things you want to say.
