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How to get better at conversational Japanese?

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undefined:
Hi, I'm currently commencing my 4th year in Japanese and I still can barely understand what people are saying during conversations. It is very rare that I know what vocab is used in a sentence and why they've used it. This is partially because sentences in Japanese very often use plain form for things and we've been learning formal 'です' and 'ます' form. Not to mention the grammar that makes it very difficult to form sentences for a conversation to flow. I've tried looking at song lyrics/anime translations but their way of talking is so much different to the way we've been learning Japanese here.

Does anyone have any method in studying where I can actually become fluent in Japanese because right now I've just been learning templates for phrases and not actually how to quickly form sentences which is what I want to learn how to do.

And yes, I'm planning on finishing Japanese up to 3/4 and hopefully in uni so I can exchange so this is pretty vital for me.

By the way, sorry if the way i've written this is confusing, it's late at night here and i've just written all my issues in no chronological order.

Thank you.

literally lauren:

--- Quote from: undefined on April 18, 2017, 01:24:34 am ---Hi, I'm currently commencing my 4th year in Japanese and I still can barely understand what people are saying during conversations. It is very rare that I know what vocab is used in a sentence and why they've used it. This is partially because sentences in Japanese very often use plain form for things and we've been learning formal 'です' and 'ます' form. Not to mention the grammar that makes it very difficult to form sentences for a conversation to flow. I've tried looking at song lyrics/anime translations but their way of talking is so much different to the way we've been learning Japanese here.

Does anyone have any method in studying where I can actually become fluent in Japanese because right now I've just been learning templates for phrases and not actually how to quickly form sentences which is what I want to learn how to do.

And yes, I'm planning on finishing Japanese up to 3/4 and hopefully in uni so I can exchange so this is pretty vital for me.

By the way, sorry if the way i've written this is confusing, it's late at night here and i've just written all my issues in no chronological order.

Thank you.

--- End quote ---
Hi there!

I didn't do Japanese in Year 12, but I did do Indonesian and had a similar problem understanding non-formal speech since Indo is split between formal register and the actual register that 90% of the country uses... and guess which one we learnt... :P

Couple of different options here: for the sake of doing well in VCE Jap, just focus on knowing the forms that are expected of you (i.e. if none of the written or spoken texts from past exams use much plain form, then don't stress about it too much.

But since you mention wanting to continue with your language studies and potentially go on exchange, try to immerse yourself in the language occasionally. Songs and anime are a good start, and I guarantee it'll be confusing as hell at first, but even if you're only getting one out of every six words, you'll be internalising a lot with regards to their rhythm of speech and pronunciation (which are subtle things that can't really be learned overnight or from a textbook). I'd also highly recommend listening to or watching(/recording, since it's usually on at 3 in the morning :P ) SBS news in Japanese. If it's anything like the Indo one, it'll be super fast, and a mixture of more formal stuff (when a newsreader is just going through their bulletin) and informal/plain stuff (when they're interviewing someone or conversing with a guest). Watching Japanese TV shows and movies is also a great place to start, and you could even try and find your way around Japanese websites or a Japanese novel if you can find one.

As for becoming fluent and not just repeating formulaic sentence templates, the best advice I have is to think in your language for, say, an hour a day. Force yourself to make your inner monologue Japanese, and either look up any words you don't know, or write a bunch down and look them all up later. Then, revise that vocabulary and try the exercise again. You'll gradually build up your lexicon and maybe even get creative with your phrasing if you know enough basic grammar rules, but more importantly, you'll get way quicker at thinking and responding in Japanese, rather than thinking in English and then having to twist the thought to fit a template, and then translate things as you go.

I used to do this odd thing where I'd try and translate some English songs I liked, but then try and still make the rhythm and syllables fit the song. Often this wouldn't work at all, but it can help you get more creative in your language use since you'll start having to think of synonyms or alternate phraseology for what you already know!

Ultimately though, just keep doing whatever bolsters your confidence and makes you feel like you're improving :)

undefined:

--- Quote from: literally lauren on April 18, 2017, 08:50:03 am ---Hi there!

I didn't do Japanese in Year 12, but I did do Indonesian and had a similar problem understanding non-formal speech since Indo is split between formal register and the actual register that 90% of the country uses... and guess which one we learnt... :P

Couple of different options here: for the sake of doing well in VCE Jap, just focus on knowing the forms that are expected of you (i.e. if none of the written or spoken texts from past exams use much plain form, then don't stress about it too much.

But since you mention wanting to continue with your language studies and potentially go on exchange, try to immerse yourself in the language occasionally. Songs and anime are a good start, and I guarantee it'll be confusing as hell at first, but even if you're only getting one out of every six words, you'll be internalising a lot with regards to their rhythm of speech and pronunciation (which are subtle things that can't really be learned overnight or from a textbook). I'd also highly recommend listening to or watching(/recording, since it's usually on at 3 in the morning :P ) SBS news in Japanese. If it's anything like the Indo one, it'll be super fast, and a mixture of more formal stuff (when a newsreader is just going through their bulletin) and informal/plain stuff (when they're interviewing someone or conversing with a guest). Watching Japanese TV shows and movies is also a great place to start, and you could even try and find your way around Japanese websites or a Japanese novel if you can find one.

As for becoming fluent and not just repeating formulaic sentence templates, the best advice I have is to think in your language for, say, an hour a day. Force yourself to make your inner monologue Japanese, and either look up any words you don't know, or write a bunch down and look them all up later. Then, revise that vocabulary and try the exercise again. You'll gradually build up your lexicon and maybe even get creative with your phrasing if you know enough basic grammar rules, but more importantly, you'll get way quicker at thinking and responding in Japanese, rather than thinking in English and then having to twist the thought to fit a template, and then translate things as you go.

I used to do this odd thing where I'd try and translate some English songs I liked, but then try and still make the rhythm and syllables fit the song. Often this wouldn't work at all, but it can help you get more creative in your language use since you'll start having to think of synonyms or alternate phraseology for what you already know!

Ultimately though, just keep doing whatever bolsters your confidence and makes you feel like you're improving :)

--- End quote ---
Thank you for all the advice!
I'll definitely look into what you've suggested but I think the most important thing to which everyone has said to me is to immerse myself into the language. I'll try to prioritise the Japanese subject in school but also work on informal and conversational Japanese so I can actually get around when I go.

jibba:

--- Quote from: undefined on April 18, 2017, 01:24:34 am ---Hi, I'm currently commencing my 4th year in Japanese and I still can barely understand what people are saying during conversations. It is very rare that I know what vocab is used in a sentence and why they've used it. This is partially because sentences in Japanese very often use plain form for things and we've been learning formal 'です' and 'ます' form. Not to mention the grammar that makes it very difficult to form sentences for a conversation to flow. I've tried looking at song lyrics/anime translations but their way of talking is so much different to the way we've been learning Japanese here.

Does anyone have any method in studying where I can actually become fluent in Japanese because right now I've just been learning templates for phrases and not actually how to quickly form sentences which is what I want to learn how to do.

And yes, I'm planning on finishing Japanese up to 3/4 and hopefully in uni so I can exchange so this is pretty vital for me.

By the way, sorry if the way i've written this is confusing, it's late at night here and i've just written all my issues in no chronological order.

Thank you.

--- End quote ---
To get better at being able to understand casual Japanese, the best way really is to watch Japanese High School dramas (I have a list in my Q/A thread).

Other than that, language exchanges are a very good way to learn too. You could go to ones in the city like Language Connection or Japaneasy, or try a language exchange app (Hellotalk? Skype?), or other online exchange platforms.

I don't think I got better at Japanese until I started doing language exchanges. The earlier you start, the better!

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