Want to start using italki and am scared (of course): encouraging stories are welcome!

Japanese Language Speaking
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I’m so glad. Are you still alive after your iTalki class? Give yourself a big pat on your back. You just did something most English speakers couldn’t dream of doing.

It is way harder to communicate at the beginning then after you’ve accumulated a couple thousand words and have gotten used to speaking. (Yeah, I know we learn 6000+ words by the time we reach level 60, but recalling them when formulating a sentence in real time? Active vocabulary is a very different beast!)

You may have seen a variation on this youtube clip. The way the English learner manages to communicate his problem is pure genius.

Likewise, this book that uses only 1000 words to explain a variety of complicated things. Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words

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This is beautiful advice. I found that once I got to know my tutors a little and stopped feeling as embarrassed about not being able to find a word and instead focused on finding ways to explain the word I didn’t know my speech got better so much faster.

Most recent example - While talking about the dentist I didn’t know the word for gums so I asked “What is the word for the meat under my teeth?” :rofl:

I hope your lesson went well @Brand_S

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Ok, not Japanese, but this reminds me of a fun story from high school Spanish
we had some Spanish University students (as in Spanish people learning English at university) visiting my high school and at one point, they did a lesson in my class about different Spanish holidays

During this lesson, a girl in my class asked if they had gravy on their Christmas Dinners

The uni student looked nervously at my teacher, he was pretty fluent in English but didn’t know that word
(and apparently gravy is not as common in Spain as it is in the UK)
My Spanish teacher explained it as “Zumo de carne” (meat juice)

There’s also similar stories on tumblr of people getting stuck with a second language and resorting to phrases like “the apple’s friend” (a pear) to get by

I have a real soft spot for these language compromises

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That actually reminds me of a language exchange that I did a while ago. And, this one was in Japanese. Though, since I can’t remember exactly what I said, I’m just gonna describe the experience.

I was answering the question of what I had for breakfast. Now, living in New Mexico, breakfast burritos are common here. I looked the word for burrito up, when I needed it, but I apparently didn’t say it correctly. So, I ended up describing it with some phrase along the lines of “meat and eggs and vegetables in round bread”.

Still got a confused look, but based on the continuation of the conversation, I could tell he at least had some idea of what I was describing.

For a more general piece of advice: My dad used to say, “The only one who can embarrass you is yourself.” Whenever practicing output, I’ve decided that this is completely true, and if I have to sound like a kid, or crazy, than that’s what I’ll do. (That is, once I get back to it, again.)

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Thanks a ton! As it happens, this book could be useful to me in my day job, so I’m glad you told me about it! The longer I teach, the more I’ve realized that EILI5 is the foundation of good teaching. I try to structure my lessons so that I’m leading with the simplest explanation possible and introducing the more complicated stuff as we go. XCKD’s author is also a mathematician, so I think that’ll help!

It did! In retrospect, I think I was actually nervous about the initial awkwardness of a first meeting, but now that we have that out of the way, I think it’ll be smooth sailing from here! My teacher’s really nice and so solicitous that she welcomes questions even outside of tutoring times, so I’m already excited about this chance to improve!

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My first iTalki experience was really nerve racking for me too. I knew I needed to start talking, but had no confidence. My teacher was really great about getting me to open up using the Japanese I knew at the time. If you don’t have a local class or club you can go to, I recommend it and using it about once a week if you can afford it.

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A few years ago I would meet three random speakers on a site similar to iTalki, to practice my beginners Japanese. For my level, I realized then that all I was doing was avoiding finishing Genki 1 and 2, which is all they were trying to drill into me. It was fun but I wouldn’t do it again until I was intermediate. I got to meet a bunch of nice Japanese people that are living abroad who were either students or retired. It was a good experience.

I then went to J’s Language school in Ebisu in Tokyo for three months for an hour every Tuesday or so, a group class, and it was much better but the same feeling – we were just going through the pages in the Minna De Nihongo book and social pressure to actually do the workbook homework. I love that school and would go back but again if I could (I moved far away), it was a repeat example showcasing my poor self study habits.

My point being is, I’m a terrible student. But seriously, engaging native Japanese speakers will show you weaknesses that you didn’t even know you had in the language, and in my opinion the work * starts * after you get off the call and class. But you’re on Wani so maybe you already know this.

What I wanted to post here the most is recommending to download OBS Studio (Free) or similar, and record yourself and the lessons so you can play them back. You should tell your teacher that you’re doing it, but it’s also possible to do it silently. Definitely don’t upload them to the public anywhere without consent of course. But the best reason to do this is to hear how you sound. This is key.

How you think you sound and how you actually sound are SOOOO crazy different. Your body will naturally recoil in disgust by the sound of your own voice outside of your head, as that is not something that our millions of years of evolution has yet to account for. You will hate how you sound unless you’re super awesome. And that’s good. That will help you catch mistakes and pitch accent tune yourself, especially in contrast with a native speaker. I find this incredibly valuable.

Good luck!

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I’ve been doing this with my my phone’s voice recording app. I hate it but I know that I hate it in the same way that I hate running or using Listerine: it hurts in that way that I know is making me better! I talk in Japanese for five minutes, then look up whatever words I needed, then rinse and repeat twice. I’ve skipped the last three days because I’ve been extremely busy at work, so I intend to start again tonight.

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I finally booked my first italki lesson which is in about 20 minutes!

I appear to have been meaning to do this since April at least. My trip to Japan is in about a week…

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A while ago, but the teachers told me I am not ready to be taught in Japanese. I am ready to try to communicate as much as possible in Japanese in any case. Maybe I should drop that thought?

I booked around 3 teachers of 1 session each.

Otherwise, language basics course (spanning multiple sessions) should come from mutual understandings, but that is difficult to reach?

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You can teach Japanese purely in Japanese starting from absolute zero (it’s how I was taught and how I think many in-Japan language schools do it because of the international intake) so I think this sounds like a personal preference on the part of the specific teachers you were talking to.

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That reminds me: I was thinking of booking with a second or third teacher as well. My current teacher is excellent but I heterogeneous practice would do me good. Has anyone tried several concurrent italki teachers? I’d be interested to hear about your experience.

My teacher teaches mostly in Japanese but uses English when we miscommunicate (she spent a lot of time in England and she has a charming accent!). She also uses the chat window to clarify homophones. It’s been great for where I’m at right now.

As @pm215 said, I think it is indeed just what works best for the teacher. From my experience as a (neurodivergent) teacher, teaching is a deceptively complicated balance between what works best for both sides!

More than whether you speak Japanese or English during the lesson, you’ll know from talking whether you find it easy or difficult to reach a common understanding. You got this far by learning and growing, and that will continue to happen!

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Do you have a link to the school?

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Yes, I’ve tried more than a dozen teachers on italki, and eventually settled on three teachers that I continue to use for different purposes.

My first teacher is fantastic at explaining grammar and JLPT questions. She teaches entirely in Japanese, and draws pictures on a white board to clarify the meaning whenever I don’t understand something. We also use the Chat window so that I have notes to review after the lesson.

My second teacher is a stickler for correct pronunciation and pitch accent. I did try to get pronunciation corrections from my other teachers, but they couldn’t do it.

My third teacher is very young and a great source for current colloquial usage and casual conversation.

It’s convenient to use teachers that are available at different times of the day or week, to suit your schedule. It also gives you more flexibility, because you have a backup when a teacher is unavailable.

Teachers come and go on italki. There are always new teachers appearing, with different strengths. It definitely pays to keep checking and trying out new teachers from time to time until you find one (or more) that clicks with your own style of learning.

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I use Asao too, I’ve found their trainee teachers are great for conversation practise, and some of the certified teachers are great for both conversation practise and more formal teaching.
All lessons are booked via a private Discord group, and it can be a little confusing/intimidating when you first join to work out how to book lessons - but its an amazing resource for the price you pay and I definitely recommend giving it a try. :slight_smile:

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I haven’t used iTalki yet, but did start taking online one on one lessons with a language school. I went with Meiji Acadamy based in Fukuoka. I generally do 3 to 4 days a week. I’m in the U.S. CST zone so, my evening is their mornings. Lessons are 50 minutes long. At 4000 yen a class, that’s about $30 USD, so I think it’s a good deal. I usually schedule 3 to 6 weeks at a time and then take a 2 or 3 week break. Yes, I was a bit nervous trying at first, but the instructors are excellent. I felt really comfortable.

I usually have 2-3 instructors at one time on different days which I find fantastic. Each one has their own style, so you get different perspectives and practice. We’re just working our way through the Genki books. I’m currently on chapter 12 of book 1, so I should be on book 2 soon. Some of the instructors also have their own supplemental slides and learning documents. I’m an older person, so I think I prefer the older teachers, but all of them are super patient and kind (even though I know I’m murdering their language and pronunciations at times!). My hobby is graphic design, and I show them some of my artwork at times.

I look forward to my classes and really enjoy them. I plan to finish the Genki II and then move on to some intermediate books. I know I probably won’t master the language, but I hope to get comfortable enough for a basic conversation.

Just an example, we usually start the class with a few minutes of small talk, what I ate, what I did over the weekend, what time I woke up, dates, day of week, weather, etc. It really helps to get used to conversing. Note: I’m a man, but all of my teachers have been women so far. You could probably request certain genders I’m assuming, but I don’t bother. They all speak English and are really able to help me understand the nuances of the Japanese language.

I went to Japan in November with my wife for our 25th Anniversary and those language lessons came in a handy! I had to call a restaurant to make a reservation since there was no online option. They didn’t speak English, but I was able to fumble my way through it and book it in Japanese! I felt really good about that. My wife kept pulling out Google translate.

No matter what service or learning you go with, my main recommendation is don’t have just one teacher. Have at least 2 or more so you can get different perspectives and teaching styles. It really helps.

がんばって！

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Thank you, I’ll definitely check them out.

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