To all my Japanese learners- this Netflix show is SO good. One episode had me hooked. I think significantly more effective to watch live action in your target language over watching animated content, because you can see the way people actually talk. So I’m very thankful that I found this show :)

Update: I finished it, and I definitely still recommend it!!! If you start watching it and aren’t hooked in the beginning, wait a couple episodes and I promise it’ll blow your mind. I’ll refrain from further thoughts because I don’t want to spoil it.

Advice on Language Exchange as a Beginner?

Hi! I need some advice. This is an inquiry for everyone on langblr regardless of target language.

To set the stage, I am a beginner in Japanese. I’m currently completing Lesson 7 of the Genki curriculum. I’m pretty sure that’s like halfway to being able to pass JLPT N5. If those reference points don’t mean anything to you, I think I’m at an equivalent to A2 level if we’re going by Common European Framework standards.

I was notified of the opportunity to attend a weekly in-person group Japanese language exchange. This group is made for native Japanese speakers and people learning Japanese to converse in Japanese. As someone who has few opportunities to converse in Japanese, let alone with anyone at a higher level than me, this seems like an obvious thing to try.

I’m quite nervous. I already can hear the comments of “just go! what’s the worst that could happen?” but as a socially anxious person, I want to feel prepared before I go. I’ll list out some of my concerns, and hopefully someone with experience in this realm can give me advice or consolation?

1. What if most of the people there are fluent/native Japanese speakers and I’m the odd one out who is trying to keep up? To my knowledge, the person who formed this group is a native speaker, so I’m worried of this possibility. How can I make the most of this potential situation without feeling like I’m dragging the group down?

2. What specific phrases should I prepare myself with that may be relevant in this exchange situation? What do I do if someone says something to me that I have trouble understanding?

3. How can I make the most out of a situation like this without it being awkward? Perhaps there’s no getting around the awkwardness and I just need to accept it… let me know.

Bottom line, I know that I need to at least try going to this club. One of the main points of learning a language is being able to communicate with others, so it feels silly to skip out on this just because I’m not confident yet. If I want to get better at speaking, I need to speak, duh! I should be accepting as many opportunities to be exposed to Japanese as possible.

I would like to arm myself with the knowledge I need to make the most of this experience. Please, please, feel free to enlighten me with any wisdom you have. Thank you in advance!

I've gone to multiple language exchanges hosted by my school with Japanese university students learning English, where we'd spend the first half speaking exclusively Japanese and the second speaking exclusively English, so the situation is slightly different from what it sounds like you're doing, but:

In my experience there are usually more native speakers than there are learners. This definitely varies a lot from program to program (and language to language, our conversation hours for languages like German and Spanish always had a ton of learners), but everything I've participated in has been hosted by native speakers and in connection with a Japanese university, so it's mostly Japanese people learning English with a few English speakers learning Japanese who built up the courage to go.

Don't see it as bogging the group down if you aren't at their level! If they're hosting an event like this, they're expecting people to be lower level and will be happy to correct you. I've gotten lots of vocabulary from events like that because people will want to help you the same way people doing an English conversation table would want to help those learners. Once I was trying to say I was nervous but using a super clunky word and one of the people in my group helped me work through the sentence with better vocab and grammar! Also, usually if you're a beginner participating in a language exchange, you can get away with mostly just listening. The first time I joined one was around halfway through Genki 1 and I was definitely not advanced enough to understand a lot of what they were saying, but just immersing yourself in it and listening to other people speaking, even if you don't understand it, is still incredibly useful for learning. My professors even told me to focus on listening rather than speaking because that's what's more helpful for your learning at the beginner level- getting input and listening to the way the language sounds.

For your second concern: In my experience, language exchanges will have certain topics planned for everyone that they present either before or during the exchange. This one also varies a lot from setting to setting and language to language, especially comparing super high end formally done exchanges to smaller group-led ones, but generally I've always seen topics for discussion, or at least suggestions of things to talk about.

I don't think there's a perfect collection of phrases that will prepare you, but I think when you're there you can see if they have topics prepared and then think about what you could say regarding those topics- and if you can't think of anything you can confidently say, again, there's no shame in just listening! (There definitely are helpful phrases out there for general conversation though, I just don't have any off the top of my head)

And in terms of hearing something you don't understand, asking for them to repeat it (With something like もいちど) or telling them you don't understand (With something like わかりません) would probably be your best bet. There's no shame in not understanding, and people are usually very happy to simplify what they're saying or even translate words as they repeat it for you.

As for the awkwardness, I honestly think that's kind of inevitable. I've never met someone who has gone to one of these for the first time and not been nervous or felt awkward. But remember that people are often happy to help you and even if the emotions and anxiety make it feel nerve-wracking, the people there aren't looking for ways to mock you or look down on you. I worried that people would make fun of me a lot when I was a beginner and could barely speak, but people want to help you sound good! It's rare for someone to participate in a language exchange with intentions of teasing the people trying to learn.

This might be a little long-winded and I might repeat myself a bit, so I apologize if that makes it hard to read at all! I hope you go to the exchange and have fun, even if it is a little terrifying!

Oh my goodness, these words are exactly what I needed. Thank you for your honesty and encouragement.

Although our situations aren't perfectly aligned, you seemed to have gone into your experience with a similar skill level as I currently have, so that brings me comfort. I was worried that it would be a waste of time to go to a language exchange at my level, so it helps to know that you felt it was useful for you. It will be so important to be around real people speaking real Japanese, even if I can't give too much input. I hope they understand that I am getting value out of just hearing them all talk :)

It's also a good reminder to hear that the people that go to language exchanges are prepared to help people learn. I'm trying to imagine if the tables were turned and I was assisting English learners at an English language exchange, I would be happy to help and non-judgemental of mistakes. It would bring me joy to help people learn my language.

When you said, "It's rare for someone to participate in a language exchange with intentions of teasing the people trying to learn." that really resonated with me. Being anxious about judgment seems silly when I think of it in those terms. That would be pretty pathetic if people had any intention of making fun of me for being a beginner.

Please don't worry about your response being "long-winded", it was perfect. I myself tend to get concerned about being wordy in anything I write, as you can probably tell. But you were perfectly thorough, which was what I needed.

Perhaps I'll put an update on my blog after my first session! :)

this exchange will never not be funny to me

Thank you everyone who got me to 1000 reblogs lmaoooo

this exchange will never not be funny to me

Are- are these real pronunciations of these characters?

They’re are Katakana characters:

シ = shi

ツ = tsu

ソ = so

ン = n (or m or ŋ depending on context)

ノ = no

ワ = wa

フ = fu

… and there are 39 more :)

last pic is an actual photograph of my brain after learning what 39 means

Welcome to learning Japanese with a neurodivergent brain! Today we will be compulsively writing the same kanji character over-and-over until it looks exactly like the example in the textbook. Tomorrow we will be spending three straight hours studying until we are burnt out for the rest of the week.

Have you considered getting into shodō?

just realized i never responded to this, but i’ve looked into it and thought a bit about it since seeing this reply. honestly… i might try. i’ve actually started to really enjoy the artistry of kanji. :)

Does anyone have tips on finding a penpal that’s fluent in your target language? I would love to find a Japanese penpal, especially one who’s learning English so we can both get practice. :)

ive seen some japanese people on instagram posting about how they'd like to have an english study buddy (they randomly pop up on my feed)

ooo sounds cool! this might be a stretch, would you have an idea of the @‘s for these people? or do you happen to know what hashtags I should search for? if not, i can try to figure it out :) thank you!