I will be living in Tokyo for the next 5 weeks and I want to improve my japanese here.
I am looking for interesting “challanges" or “quests" to complete while being here, to excercise my speech and listening capabilities. Im looking for quests like: “Order something in a coffeshop in japanese.”, where I can prepare beforehand and apply it in a real situation and do one quest every day.
Does any one of you have any good ideas?
In the end I will compile all the quests into a long list for anyone who wants to attempt the same. Maybe I will even create a website or something like that.
ありがとう in advance :3
(P.S. if anyone is also in Tokyo and want to attempt some quests together, I am open for meeting up).
You could ask for the way to some sightseeing spot where you want to go.
You could ask which train to take to go somewhere.
You could ask where you can buy something (maybe make the item a bit special but not too difficult?)
You could ask for the price of something (I guess it’s better to go somewhere where the price is not immediately visible, like a food stall or something)
Next level challenge: Maybe you can find out about a language partnering meetup and go there? (You can check meetup.com - there were plenty on there when I checked but I don’t know about right now)
Once you have them memorized and really want to crank up the fun find a group (often going to be uni students) to join at an izakaya to play 山手線ゲーム, the Yamanote line drinking game, with Always a fun time.
Buy something on Amazon.co.jp (this involves setting up an account, searching for the thing you want, and placing an order). It is sufficiently analogous to Amazon.com, that you know all the signposts. For extra credit, make it a large enough item that you have to interact with the delivery person (a multi day quest)
Find out where to dispose of burnable garbage (when you find out let me know)
in a store, ask if they have this item in a different size, or color…
go to the post office and buy stamps so that you can send yourself a letter/postcard/package. Be sure that you verify that it will be sent by air/surface mail, as you prefer. Extra credit, ask how long it will take for the item to reach its destination.
take a taxi. Tell the driver where you need to go. You have succeeded if you arrive at the intended destination.
go to a place where you can make a customized order (i.e. almond milk frappe with 1 pump vanilla 1 pump cinnamon and a little whip cream) - don’t opt for the easiest item on the menu!
When you are grocery shopping ask about the allergens in an item. “excuse me, I’m allergic to X does this item contain X?”
When at a flea market/ other place you can buy merchandise and you see a character you don’t know, ask what franchise this character is from. “I really like this character, …”
As a resident you should have received a waste disposal calendar which will detail the specifics of what categories things need to be sorted into, any specifics of types of bags to be used or how things are to wrapped, and on which days they are to put out. You can also visit your local city hall/ward office and request one. If you are living in a multi-tenant unit with a building specific garbage room it should also be posted in the garbage room, along with any building specific rules. We keep our calendar on the side of the fridge for reference.
You can find all the info online as well. Just visit https://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/ and search use the search to look for garbage or ゴミ
Always a fun time.