As much as I have a passion for Japanese, I can find there are times when you’re learning heaps of words and new phrases, and then all of a sudden… you just … drop off… and plateau.
This is one of the major difficulties with learning a language outside of the country it is spoken. It’s great if you have Japanese friends who you talk to regularly, or if you are in some structured learning environment such as classes, however, what do you do if you’re going it alone? How do you keep learning and consolidating what you have learned?
One technique I often use is to try to express whatever I’m thinking in Japanese - ONLY in isolated places! It’s weird enough to look like you’re talking to yourself, let alone in another language.. I think this is important, as when you are studying by yourself, you don’t often have oppportunities to practice speaking. Although your reading and writing skills are often good, making the switch to speaking off the cuff can induce hesitation and stumbling. Therefore, it’s important to keep the dialogue running – even in your head.
Counting things, asking for things, decribing what you’re doing are all important – but the best one is getting angry when someone does something rude or stupid, and letting out a stream of Japanese invective – less worry about them being offended or picking a fight.
For example:
“Yuube osoi, Boku no tonari wa dai ongako shita. Taihen mukatsukatta! Baka yaroo! Nan dai ya nen!?!” *
I find putting sentences together like this enjoyable as both a vent for frustrations and an good exercise.
Another one of my favourites is to order food in Japanese, however in Sydney with such a large proportion of Korean run Japanese restaurants this can throw you off if they don’t speak Japanese, and just look at your mangled phrases blankly. My first ever attempt at this after a decade of no Japanese speaking since high school went down terribly.
I said: ”gyuuniku o tabetai” as opposed to the more natural: ”gyuudon onegai shimasu” - literally: “I like to eat cow meat” , as opposed to: “please bring me the beef and rice”
What other ways do other subscribers have for keeping their Japanese wheels well oiled?
Also, does anyone have examples of Japanese similes and metaphors, like “Japanese wheels well oiled” or how to create them without looking like you’re talking gibberish??
*(Disclaimer: These phrases have been cobbled together from some past podcasts, and some from basic Japanese lessons. Please let me know if there is a more natural way to say them, or I have made grammatical errors – I don’t claim ANY mastery skills, only opinion.)
