Learning Japanese

[Chuck U Farley]

I didn’t know where to post this.
Just looking for helpful tools, tricks, apps… for someone not living in Japan to actual learn to speak confidently. I am ok at understanding and have said the few basic phrases I know enough times that I may look like I can speak when first meeting me. But when I try to speak, I freeze up because I know my speech is not that good at all, and I get embarrassed, just looking for tricks that people have used to get more confident with their speaking abilities.

 

[SealedTears]

Maybe you’re just trying to move too fast? You sound like you want to speak with a stream of consciousness, but you admit that you only know a few phrases

 

[LastExile13]

Consumption and production are the ways to learn a language. It's embarassing but you've got to practice speaking it, and mistakes are how you learn. And if you only know phrases you need to increase your consumption of vocabulary and grammar so you can construct your own thoughts. Ironically fūzoku has been a great avenue for forcing me into conversation practice.

If you're just starting, I've learned quite a bit from Tokini Andy's Genki series on YouTube- much better explanation and examples of grammar rules than the Genki textbooks use IMO.

 

[Chuck U Farley]

Maybe you’re just trying to move too fast? You sound like you want to speak with a stream of consciousness, but you admit that you only know a few phrases

Been “studying for years, and use duolingo so I am learning words.. I can read stuff but don’t know what it means sometimes. Like I can read kids books but don’t know the actual words meanings.
When I watch Japanese shows I use the subtitles but I find myself just reading and not really learning anything.
I know some people just get shit easier, and I’m probably half retarded so that doesn’t help.

 

[Chuck U Farley]

Consumption and production are the ways to learn a language. It's embarassing but you've got to practice speaking it, and mistakes are how you learn. And if you only know phrases you need to increase your consumption of vocabulary and grammar so you can construct your own thoughts. Ironically fūzoku has been a great avenue for forcing me into conversation practice.

If you're just starting, I've learned quite a bit from Tokini Andy's Genki series on YouTube- much better explanation and examples of grammar rules than the Genki textbooks use IMO.

Yeah I may have ADD (like 90% of white Americans lol) so my reading comprehension is shit.
I listen to podcasts at work and have learned from them, I know I need to start repeating it out loud so my brain and tongue get used to it more but that’s tough at work also because I will be a distraction to my coworkers.
Thanks I’ll check out the YouTube channel

 

[qcryp]

Sounds like you just need more practice with speaking, literally just speak out loud even if its to yourself. Have a conversation with yourself like a schitzo.

 

[SealedTears]

Consumption and production are the ways to learn a language. It's embarassing but you've got to practice speaking it, and mistakes are how you learn. And if you only know phrases you need to increase your consumption of vocabulary and grammar so you can construct your own thoughts. Ironically fūzoku has been a great avenue for forcing me into conversation practice.

If she doesn’t have the best service, at least she can be a study partner. The worst is when the connection is off and you can’t even get that

 

[LastExile13]

Been “studying for years, and use duolingo so I am learning words.. I can read stuff but don’t know what it means sometimes. Like I can read kids books but don’t know the actual words meanings.
When I watch Japanese shows I use the subtitles but I find myself just reading and not really learning anything.
I know some people just get shit easier, and I’m probably half retarded so that doesn’t hehelp.

Anki and Wanikani might be helpful to check out too. I'm not a huge fan of duolingo as a resource.

 

[Acid Burn]

Yeah I may have ADD (like 90% of white Americans lol) so my reading comprehension is shit.

I’m sure reading helps the studious bookworm types learn the language better but learning from a teacher works too. Might take longer than hardcore study freaks out there but maybe give that a try using one of those online tutoring sites like Preply or if some Japanese YouTuber/podcaster you like offers tutoring lessons try that out. If you want to get better at outputting, you need to output.
You could also try signing up for distance learning college courses somewhere, or locally if you have that option, and take a class. Some Japanese language schools also have distance learning options too.

 

[SealedTears]

I’m sure reading helps the studious bookworm types learn the language better

I’m glad I’m the studious bookworm type. Barely got the fundamentals down before moving onto manga I’m interested in and banging my head several times when I didn’t get a line before asking for help from my friends who were better at Japanese to help me understand it

 

[YokoMonger]

I didn’t know where to post this.
Just looking for helpful tools, tricks, apps… for someone not living in Japan to actual learn to speak confidently. I am ok at understanding and have said the few basic phrases I know enough times that I may look like I can speak when first meeting me. But when I try to speak, I freeze up because I know my speech is not that good at all, and I get embarrassed, just looking for tricks that people have used to get more confident with their speaking abilities.

The guys that live at the Japanese bars/izakaya seem to be comfortable chatting even if their level is low so maybe try that for confidence to get over freezing. To get better its probably good to get a streaming service or rent DVDs and watch Japanese shows that have Japanese subtitles. Probably easier to stream since I saw they have tools to let you hover over words to find out what they mean which is a whole lot easier than paper or electronic dictionary back in the day.

 

[Doggyfong]

My go to “starter pack” will always be kids programming and transittioning to dramas, having to watch the same shit 3 times, no sub, jp sub, eng sub to pickup the words you missed out

But all this takes way too much time for a normal person.

As what everyone else says, conversations are the best way to learn.

 

[SugoiBoy]

Pop music is another option for learning a new language. Apparently, many people learn English that way.

You could perhaps learn some Japanese from studying the lyrics of certain J-pop songs. Yet, enka is often a bit easier to understand than J-pop. So, consider enka if you don’t mind listening to stuff that can sound old fashioned.

 

[YokoMonger]

My go to “starter pack” will always be kids programming and transittioning to dramas, having to watch the same shit 3 times, no sub, jp sub, eng sub to pickup the words you missed out

Couldn't stand starting with children stuff or cartoons so just went with slice of life dramas. On the rewatch order, usually went in the reverse order you mentioned (eng sub, jp sub, no or jp sub after that). Either way works but do it episode by episode. Made a big mistake in the 90s watching a whole series with no subs first and boring myself with the effort.

 

[kirayamato]

same like other languages, get comfortable with making mistakes.

you speak more fluently when you dont beat yourself over every mistake or scrutinize every word that come of your mouth.

it is not school and worst case is tencho wont let you in the store.

get a tutor, or a friend who speak the language. tell them you want practice and discuss the mistakes only at the end of 5 minutes conversation for example.

remembering lines for certain situation works, you need to repeat it enough until you dont really need to think about it.

 

[Sudsy]

I didn’t know where to post this.
Just looking for helpful tools, tricks, apps… for someone not living in Japan to actual learn to speak confidently. I am ok at understanding and have said the few basic phrases I know enough times that I may look like I can speak when first meeting me. But when I try to speak, I freeze up because I know my speech is not that good at all, and I get embarrassed, just looking for tricks that people have used to get more confident with their speaking abilities.

Surprisingly, that Duolingo app actually does well in the spoken production area, using IOS/Android's voice recognition to check what you're saying. It won'T get you fluent, but it CAN get you conversational.

 

[qcryp]

Surprisingly, that Duolingo app actually does well in the spoken production area, using IOS/Android's voice recognition to check what you're saying. It won'T get you fluent, but it CAN get you conversational.

That reminds me I normally try speaking to google translate or other translate apps to see if it recognizes what I am saying if I want to check my pronunciation. Of course its not perfect, it can make some guesses based on context, but it gives you an idea.