Find someone that speaks the language fluently. If you can't find someone in person, try looking online. There are many communities online where people from all over the world gather to learn Japanese.
Practice using Japanese with the people you have met. Try to engage in actually speaking the language if possible. If you are doing this online, there are several voice chat programs out there that will help you communicate freely over the internet. You should ask other people online which programs will work best for them.
If you can listen to and speak with native speakers of Japanese, listen carefully to how they pronounce words and phrases and try to mimic what you hear. You should pay close attention to the differences between the language when spoken by different genders. Some words and phrases may be different.
Practice using different phrases and words by role playing scenarios such as shopping, ordering food at a restaurant, talking on the phone, etc,.
Don't be discouraged if you make mistakes, even if people laugh when you mispronounce words or use the wrong phrases. One of the keys to learning a language is learning what mistakes can be made so that you don't make them in the future.
Be interesting to talk to and have topics up your sleeve to fill in silences. Learn about Japanese popular culture- singers, books, anything. Studio Ghibli movies such as Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away are good. This is where a little knowledge of Japanese culture goes a long way. Of course, cultural differences are fine, but they may end up a monologue if the conversation partner isn't really interested.
If you know certain topics are likely to come up in conversation, do some studying beforehand to put phrases and vocabulary related to that topic into short-term memory. There are a lot of stock and predictable questions- be ready not only to answer, but to elaborate. This will not improve speaking skills, but it will facilitate ease of conversation.
Be familiar with the correct use of conversation fillers, such as soo desu, ne, majiide and so on.
Practice shadowing native speakers. Shadowing is a technique where you listen to someone speaking the target language and then repeat what they said aloud as clearly as you can. Don't worry about repeating things perfectly, just try to repeat as much as you can as quickly and clearly as you can.
Comments
0 comment