How to gain confidence with speaking?!

[Miyu_Aizawa]

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

IdiotbyDefault

You will understand (by listening) more words than you can speak, even in your own native language (I worried about my small, simple vocabulary problem as well, but functioned pretty well over there)....and you can convey the same meaning in Japanese with fewer words than in English....namely because if the context is understood, you can leave so much out of explanation.

The best (and certainly not the easiest way) of gaining confidence with Japanese is by just going out with a few Japanese friends and striking up a conversation with what you know (no matter how simple or complex it is). You will likely make mistakes, but they can correct you on it. I do the same for non-native speakers in English when I lose the meaning of what they're trying to say. I ask them to repeat or say it slower. That's something you can also do in situations when you are not quite sure what was said in Japanese.

Most people avoid speaking Japanese to natives because they will be embarrassed that their Japanese will not be good enough. The funny thing is, a Japanese person would feel the same when placed in a situation where they would need to speak English. Many Japanese people I have come across will always compliment my Japanese, even if I know I didn't do a good job. It's a humbling thing and they know you have put so much effort into learning Japanese (and some older Japanese can be surprised when there's so much interest in Japanese from foreigners).

It takes a lot of effort to learn....and much more to be able to speak a foreign language. It is NOT a contest with anyone else (unless you're actually in a Japanese speech contest, then that is different) on your speaking ability. Everyone has to start somewhere at some level and the only way you can get better at speaking...is by speaking to others without care of making mistakes. Those that you do make, the native speakers will correct hopefully. More than likely, you will realize a mistake you've made, but don't let that get you down....if a sentence comes to mind to say that you made a mistake on but later realized again, just focus on correcting it. With that, you'll make less mistakes and hopefully become better at speaking with more gusto.

Yeah. all the japanese people i know are worried about their english. My friends often say that their english "is so suck" ... so cute.xD
but yeah. i understand what you mean but my friends have said they have to speak english becauce they are in america. ... I made a deal with my friend Yuta that when I go to japan someday and visit with him anytime i try to speak english i have to pay him 100 yen. When i go to japan i plan to have the same idea, in japan I must speak japanese. Even with people who speak english.

Have you thought about where you want your Japanese to take you?

yeah. I would like to live and work in Japan, in the fashion industry. i don't know if Japan will be a permanent place where I want to live though. Like maybe for just a few years. But my career path is fashion design so I want to intern in japan if at all possible and I would like to continue my fashion education in japan, hopefully at Bunka where my Idol graduated from.
That's the basis of my plans. Regardless of how i do in the fashion industry I want to be able to work and live in Japan. Maybe if not as a designer try to join staff at a fashion magazine or something. or work under a designer and hopefully climb the ranks ^_^

You may have already heard of her, but one person who has followed and attained success on a similar path is Misha Janette(http://www.mishajanette.com/about.html). I imagine you and her will have many things in common, in terms of life goals

Ooooh... I've never heard of her but she seems awesome.
I will check her out more! I'm excited about this. Thank you!  

[Koiyuki]

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

IdiotbyDefault

You will understand (by listening) more words than you can speak, even in your own native language (I worried about my small, simple vocabulary problem as well, but functioned pretty well over there)....and you can convey the same meaning in Japanese with fewer words than in English....namely because if the context is understood, you can leave so much out of explanation.

The best (and certainly not the easiest way) of gaining confidence with Japanese is by just going out with a few Japanese friends and striking up a conversation with what you know (no matter how simple or complex it is). You will likely make mistakes, but they can correct you on it. I do the same for non-native speakers in English when I lose the meaning of what they're trying to say. I ask them to repeat or say it slower. That's something you can also do in situations when you are not quite sure what was said in Japanese.

Most people avoid speaking Japanese to natives because they will be embarrassed that their Japanese will not be good enough. The funny thing is, a Japanese person would feel the same when placed in a situation where they would need to speak English. Many Japanese people I have come across will always compliment my Japanese, even if I know I didn't do a good job. It's a humbling thing and they know you have put so much effort into learning Japanese (and some older Japanese can be surprised when there's so much interest in Japanese from foreigners).

It takes a lot of effort to learn....and much more to be able to speak a foreign language. It is NOT a contest with anyone else (unless you're actually in a Japanese speech contest, then that is different) on your speaking ability. Everyone has to start somewhere at some level and the only way you can get better at speaking...is by speaking to others without care of making mistakes. Those that you do make, the native speakers will correct hopefully. More than likely, you will realize a mistake you've made, but don't let that get you down....if a sentence comes to mind to say that you made a mistake on but later realized again, just focus on correcting it. With that, you'll make less mistakes and hopefully become better at speaking with more gusto.

Yeah. all the japanese people i know are worried about their english. My friends often say that their english "is so suck" ... so cute.xD
but yeah. i understand what you mean but my friends have said they have to speak english becauce they are in america. ... I made a deal with my friend Yuta that when I go to japan someday and visit with him anytime i try to speak english i have to pay him 100 yen. When i go to japan i plan to have the same idea, in japan I must speak japanese. Even with people who speak english.

Have you thought about where you want your Japanese to take you?

yeah. I would like to live and work in Japan, in the fashion industry. i don't know if Japan will be a permanent place where I want to live though. Like maybe for just a few years. But my career path is fashion design so I want to intern in japan if at all possible and I would like to continue my fashion education in japan, hopefully at Bunka where my Idol graduated from.
That's the basis of my plans. Regardless of how i do in the fashion industry I want to be able to work and live in Japan. Maybe if not as a designer try to join staff at a fashion magazine or something. or work under a designer and hopefully climb the ranks ^_^

You may have already heard of her, but one person who has followed and attained success on a similar path is Misha Janette(http://www.mishajanette.com/about.html). I imagine you and her will have many things in common, in terms of life goals

Ooooh... I've never heard of her but she seems awesome.
I will check her out more! I'm excited about this. Thank you!

Think nothing of it. In addition, I'd also recommend Tokyo Fashion Express, on NHK World (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/tokyofashion/index.html). Very illuminating show on the subject of fashion  

[Miyu_Aizawa]

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Have you thought about where you want your Japanese to take you?

yeah. I would like to live and work in Japan, in the fashion industry. i don't know if Japan will be a permanent place where I want to live though. Like maybe for just a few years. But my career path is fashion design so I want to intern in japan if at all possible and I would like to continue my fashion education in japan, hopefully at Bunka where my Idol graduated from.
That's the basis of my plans. Regardless of how i do in the fashion industry I want to be able to work and live in Japan. Maybe if not as a designer try to join staff at a fashion magazine or something. or work under a designer and hopefully climb the ranks ^_^

You may have already heard of her, but one person who has followed and attained success on a similar path is Misha Janette(http://www.mishajanette.com/about.html). I imagine you and her will have many things in common, in terms of life goals

Ooooh... I've never heard of her but she seems awesome.
I will check her out more! I'm excited about this. Thank you!

Think nothing of it. In addition, I'd also recommend Tokyo Fashion Express, on NHK World (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/tokyofashion/index.html). Very illuminating show on the subject of fashion

I have heard of NHK but I haven't really looked into it much. Thank you! You are so helpful ^_^

Why do you Study Japanese? what do you want to do with it?  

[Koiyuki]

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Have you thought about where you want your Japanese to take you?

yeah. I would like to live and work in Japan, in the fashion industry. i don't know if Japan will be a permanent place where I want to live though. Like maybe for just a few years. But my career path is fashion design so I want to intern in japan if at all possible and I would like to continue my fashion education in japan, hopefully at Bunka where my Idol graduated from.
That's the basis of my plans. Regardless of how i do in the fashion industry I want to be able to work and live in Japan. Maybe if not as a designer try to join staff at a fashion magazine or something. or work under a designer and hopefully climb the ranks ^_^

You may have already heard of her, but one person who has followed and attained success on a similar path is Misha Janette(http://www.mishajanette.com/about.html). I imagine you and her will have many things in common, in terms of life goals

Ooooh... I've never heard of her but she seems awesome.
I will check her out more! I'm excited about this. Thank you!

Think nothing of it. In addition, I'd also recommend Tokyo Fashion Express, on NHK World (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/tokyofashion/index.html). Very illuminating show on the subject of fashion

I have heard of NHK but I haven't really looked into it much. Thank you! You are so helpful ^_^

Why do you Study Japanese? what do you want to do with it?

An Excerpt from my personal manifesto:

"I teach Japanese not only to counter the conceptions they offer the world, but also to help people connect to the deeper aspects of Japan and approach the country with the kind of consideration they'd show their friends and family everyday. If I can get one person who approach an office jockey at a bar in Japan, chat it up with them and share some brews like they would back home, I'll know my lessons have done their job well and that it was worth the time and effort I put into each one."

As for learning Japanese, I seek to more deeply understand these things and see them more as people living, breathing and growing up in Japan, not just "The Japanese". To me, it's vital to for both myself and those I teach to understand that these are people, not concepts, the same as any of us in this world; to reduce our fellow man, women or child to a concept is to do the same to ourselves and diminish the quality of how we communicate and connect to one another  

[Miyu_Aizawa]

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

You may have already heard of her, but one person who has followed and attained success on a similar path is Misha Janette(http://www.mishajanette.com/about.html). I imagine you and her will have many things in common, in terms of life goals

Ooooh... I've never heard of her but she seems awesome.
I will check her out more! I'm excited about this. Thank you!

Think nothing of it. In addition, I'd also recommend Tokyo Fashion Express, on NHK World (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/tokyofashion/index.html). Very illuminating show on the subject of fashion

I have heard of NHK but I haven't really looked into it much. Thank you! You are so helpful ^_^

Why do you Study Japanese? what do you want to do with it?

An Excerpt from my personal manifesto:

"I teach Japanese not only to counter the conceptions they offer the world, but also to help people connect to the deeper aspects of Japan and approach the country with the kind of consideration they'd show their friends and family everyday. If I can get one person who approach an office jockey at a bar in Japan, chat it up with them and share some brews like they would back home, I'll know my lessons have done their job well and that it was worth the time and effort I put into each one."

As for learning Japanese, I seek to more deeply understand these things and see them more as people living, breathing and growing up in Japan, not just "The Japanese". To me, it's vital to for both myself and those I teach to understand that these are people, not concepts, the same as any of us in this world; to reduce our fellow man, women or child to a concept is to do the same to ourselves and diminish the quality of how we communicate and connect to one another

Ahhh, wow. Cool ^_^  

[Koiyuki]

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

You may have already heard of her, but one person who has followed and attained success on a similar path is Misha Janette(http://www.mishajanette.com/about.html). I imagine you and her will have many things in common, in terms of life goals

Ooooh... I've never heard of her but she seems awesome.
I will check her out more! I'm excited about this. Thank you!

Think nothing of it. In addition, I'd also recommend Tokyo Fashion Express, on NHK World (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/tokyofashion/index.html). Very illuminating show on the subject of fashion

I have heard of NHK but I haven't really looked into it much. Thank you! You are so helpful ^_^

Why do you Study Japanese? what do you want to do with it?

An Excerpt from my personal manifesto:

"I teach Japanese not only to counter the conceptions they offer the world, but also to help people connect to the deeper aspects of Japan and approach the country with the kind of consideration they'd show their friends and family everyday. If I can get one person who approach an office jockey at a bar in Japan, chat it up with them and share some brews like they would back home, I'll know my lessons have done their job well and that it was worth the time and effort I put into each one."

As for learning Japanese, I seek to more deeply understand these things and see them more as people living, breathing and growing up in Japan, not just "The Japanese". To me, it's vital to for both myself and those I teach to understand that these are people, not concepts, the same as any of us in this world; to reduce our fellow man, women or child to a concept is to do the same to ourselves and diminish the quality of how we communicate and connect to one another

Ahhh, wow. Cool ^_^

Mm. It's means a lot to how I want to teach this stuff, and whenever I see someone reduce folks to an unchanging object, I get mighty heated. As a matter of fact, unless future bosses say I gotta work with such folks to get things done, I would never, ever even consider let them their views taint my view, and thus influencing my readers into the same (pardon the language) bullshit logic that pollutes the minds of many beginners of a language  

[Miyu_Aizawa]

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Think nothing of it. In addition, I'd also recommend Tokyo Fashion Express, on NHK World (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/tokyofashion/index.html). Very illuminating show on the subject of fashion

I have heard of NHK but I haven't really looked into it much. Thank you! You are so helpful ^_^

Why do you Study Japanese? what do you want to do with it?

An Excerpt from my personal manifesto:

"I teach Japanese not only to counter the conceptions they offer the world, but also to help people connect to the deeper aspects of Japan and approach the country with the kind of consideration they'd show their friends and family everyday. If I can get one person who approach an office jockey at a bar in Japan, chat it up with them and share some brews like they would back home, I'll know my lessons have done their job well and that it was worth the time and effort I put into each one."

As for learning Japanese, I seek to more deeply understand these things and see them more as people living, breathing and growing up in Japan, not just "The Japanese". To me, it's vital to for both myself and those I teach to understand that these are people, not concepts, the same as any of us in this world; to reduce our fellow man, women or child to a concept is to do the same to ourselves and diminish the quality of how we communicate and connect to one another

Ahhh, wow. Cool ^_^

Mm. It's means a lot to how I want to teach this stuff, and whenever I see someone reduce folks to an unchanging object, I get mighty heated. As a matter of fact, unless future bosses say I gotta work with such folks to get things done, I would never, ever even consider let them their views taint my view, and thus influencing my readers into the same (pardon the language) bullshit logic that pollutes the minds of many beginners of a language

You have such a good mind set. I wish I could be as possitive.  

[Koiyuki]

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Think nothing of it. In addition, I'd also recommend Tokyo Fashion Express, on NHK World (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/tokyofashion/index.html). Very illuminating show on the subject of fashion

I have heard of NHK but I haven't really looked into it much. Thank you! You are so helpful ^_^

Why do you Study Japanese? what do you want to do with it?

An Excerpt from my personal manifesto:

"I teach Japanese not only to counter the conceptions they offer the world, but also to help people connect to the deeper aspects of Japan and approach the country with the kind of consideration they'd show their friends and family everyday. If I can get one person who approach an office jockey at a bar in Japan, chat it up with them and share some brews like they would back home, I'll know my lessons have done their job well and that it was worth the time and effort I put into each one."

As for learning Japanese, I seek to more deeply understand these things and see them more as people living, breathing and growing up in Japan, not just "The Japanese". To me, it's vital to for both myself and those I teach to understand that these are people, not concepts, the same as any of us in this world; to reduce our fellow man, women or child to a concept is to do the same to ourselves and diminish the quality of how we communicate and connect to one another

Ahhh, wow. Cool ^_^

Mm. It's means a lot to how I want to teach this stuff, and whenever I see someone reduce folks to an unchanging object, I get mighty heated. As a matter of fact, unless future bosses say I gotta work with such folks to get things done, I would never, ever even consider let them their views taint my view, and thus influencing my readers into the same (pardon the language) bullshit logic that pollutes the minds of many beginners of a language

You have such a good mind set. I wish I could be as possitive.

Me? Positive? Well that's certainly one way of seeing it. For me, it boils down to one basic truth: everyone both sucks and are awesome in their own unique way, you just gotta be willing to open yourself up to both. It's never an easy thing and often takes a lot of pain and mess ups to truly understand, but if you let yourself learn from all that continue to work on the you that you know you want to be. You never know who's waiting to help you build yourself, but in order to find them, you gotta gut up and let yourself be open, so they can see how best to aid you. Nodoby's ever perfect and everyone screws up at some point...and the more you understand about the world, the more this'll become an awesome thing. Change what you expect, and the world will do all it can to surprise you, for worse and for better, something I'm still learning, myself. Besides, would you rather live in full or in contentment? More importantly, would you want to have both?  

[Miyu_Aizawa]

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

An Excerpt from my personal manifesto:

"I teach Japanese not only to counter the conceptions they offer the world, but also to help people connect to the deeper aspects of Japan and approach the country with the kind of consideration they'd show their friends and family everyday. If I can get one person who approach an office jockey at a bar in Japan, chat it up with them and share some brews like they would back home, I'll know my lessons have done their job well and that it was worth the time and effort I put into each one."

As for learning Japanese, I seek to more deeply understand these things and see them more as people living, breathing and growing up in Japan, not just "The Japanese". To me, it's vital to for both myself and those I teach to understand that these are people, not concepts, the same as any of us in this world; to reduce our fellow man, women or child to a concept is to do the same to ourselves and diminish the quality of how we communicate and connect to one another

Ahhh, wow. Cool ^_^

Mm. It's means a lot to how I want to teach this stuff, and whenever I see someone reduce folks to an unchanging object, I get mighty heated. As a matter of fact, unless future bosses say I gotta work with such folks to get things done, I would never, ever even consider let them their views taint my view, and thus influencing my readers into the same (pardon the language) bullshit logic that pollutes the minds of many beginners of a language

You have such a good mind set. I wish I could be as possitive.

Me? Positive? Well that's certainly one way of seeing it. For me, it boils down to one basic truth: everyone both sucks and are awesome in their own unique way, you just gotta be willing to open yourself up to both. It's never an easy thing and often takes a lot of pain and mess ups to truly understand, but if you let yourself learn from all that continue to work on the you that you know you want to be. You never know who's waiting to help you build yourself, but in order to find them, you gotta gut up and let yourself be open, so they can see how best to aid you. Nodoby's ever perfect and everyone screws up at some point...and the more you understand about the world, the more this'll become an awesome thing. Change what you expect, and the world will do all it can to surprise you, for worse and for better, something I'm still learning, myself. Besides, would you rather live in full or in contentment? More importantly, would you want to have both?

I get what you mean. I think that as a person I am still developing, personality wise and all that. And i'm actually really impressionable. I get this thing called "Fiction lag" when I really like a character. So like wise i kind of feed off of my friends personalities. One of my friends though has a huge ego and thinks that she made me and i'm just a copy of her. I admit I have adapted some of her traits but she is really outgoing and real which is something I've always wanted to be more like so that and I've been working on becoming more outgoing and less shy for YEARS now. I've made the most progress since knowing her because the is the first friend I've had in a long time that isn't the least bit shy. razz
At least I haven't caught her study habits. >.>  

[Koiyuki]

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

An Excerpt from my personal manifesto:

"I teach Japanese not only to counter the conceptions they offer the world, but also to help people connect to the deeper aspects of Japan and approach the country with the kind of consideration they'd show their friends and family everyday. If I can get one person who approach an office jockey at a bar in Japan, chat it up with them and share some brews like they would back home, I'll know my lessons have done their job well and that it was worth the time and effort I put into each one."

As for learning Japanese, I seek to more deeply understand these things and see them more as people living, breathing and growing up in Japan, not just "The Japanese". To me, it's vital to for both myself and those I teach to understand that these are people, not concepts, the same as any of us in this world; to reduce our fellow man, women or child to a concept is to do the same to ourselves and diminish the quality of how we communicate and connect to one another

Ahhh, wow. Cool ^_^

Mm. It's means a lot to how I want to teach this stuff, and whenever I see someone reduce folks to an unchanging object, I get mighty heated. As a matter of fact, unless future bosses say I gotta work with such folks to get things done, I would never, ever even consider let them their views taint my view, and thus influencing my readers into the same (pardon the language) bullshit logic that pollutes the minds of many beginners of a language

You have such a good mind set. I wish I could be as possitive.

Me? Positive? Well that's certainly one way of seeing it. For me, it boils down to one basic truth: everyone both sucks and are awesome in their own unique way, you just gotta be willing to open yourself up to both. It's never an easy thing and often takes a lot of pain and mess ups to truly understand, but if you let yourself learn from all that, you can. continue to work on the you that you know you want to be. You never know who's waiting to help you build yourself, but in order to find them, you gotta gut up and let yourself be open, so they can see how best to aid you. Nodoby's ever perfect and everyone screws up at some point...and the more you understand about the world, the more this'll become an awesome thing. Change what you expect, and the world will do all it can to surprise you, for worse and for better, something I'm still learning, myself. Besides, would you rather live in full or in contentment? More importantly, would you want to have both?

I get what you mean. I think that as a person I am still developing, personality wise and all that. And i'm actually really impressionable. I get this thing called "Fiction lag" when I really like a character. So like wise i kind of feed off of my friends personalities. One of my friends though has a huge ego and thinks that she made me and i'm just a copy of her. I admit I have adapted some of her traits but she is really outgoing and real which is something I've always wanted to be more like so that and I've been working on becoming more outgoing and less shy for YEARS now. I've made the most progress since knowing her because the is the first friend I've had in a long time that isn't the least bit shy. razz
At least I haven't caught her study habits. >.>

The way I see, every year 'til you hit about 25 are gonna be your roughest emotional years, as until then, your brain is still developing and most are still trying to piece together who they are and where they want to go (shoot, I hear some folks go into their 30s before they get everything figured out). Think of it this way: you know that one big rock you might come across when you travel? That rock is everything you know right now and everything you're going currently through. Take that same rock, chuck into the ocean, and see how it drops to the bottom, out of sight and now apart of that ocean. That ocean? Everything you'll pick up about yourself and the world around you in about 10-20 years+. Whether it's a pristine one or a murky one is entirely up to you, and you can change it at any time you want, based on where you choose to go. All that mind, don't sweat the small stuff(which is most everything you discover in life), just look ahead, plan proper and act on instinct if things do go pear-shaped. No matter how long it feels before it does, things do work themselves out, in part because we put in the work and push them along and in part because the tides might throw you a bone now and again, perhaps one you might've never expected to find.  

[Miyu_Aizawa]

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Mm. It's means a lot to how I want to teach this stuff, and whenever I see someone reduce folks to an unchanging object, I get mighty heated. As a matter of fact, unless future bosses say I gotta work with such folks to get things done, I would never, ever even consider let them their views taint my view, and thus influencing my readers into the same (pardon the language) bullshit logic that pollutes the minds of many beginners of a language

You have such a good mind set. I wish I could be as possitive.

Me? Positive? Well that's certainly one way of seeing it. For me, it boils down to one basic truth: everyone both sucks and are awesome in their own unique way, you just gotta be willing to open yourself up to both. It's never an easy thing and often takes a lot of pain and mess ups to truly understand, but if you let yourself learn from all that, you can. continue to work on the you that you know you want to be. You never know who's waiting to help you build yourself, but in order to find them, you gotta gut up and let yourself be open, so they can see how best to aid you. Nodoby's ever perfect and everyone screws up at some point...and the more you understand about the world, the more this'll become an awesome thing. Change what you expect, and the world will do all it can to surprise you, for worse and for better, something I'm still learning, myself. Besides, would you rather live in full or in contentment? More importantly, would you want to have both?

I get what you mean. I think that as a person I am still developing, personality wise and all that. And i'm actually really impressionable. I get this thing called "Fiction lag" when I really like a character. So like wise i kind of feed off of my friends personalities. One of my friends though has a huge ego and thinks that she made me and i'm just a copy of her. I admit I have adapted some of her traits but she is really outgoing and real which is something I've always wanted to be more like so that and I've been working on becoming more outgoing and less shy for YEARS now. I've made the most progress since knowing her because the is the first friend I've had in a long time that isn't the least bit shy. razz
At least I haven't caught her study habits. >.>

The way I see, every year 'til you hit about 25 are gonna be your roughest emotional years, as until then, your brain is still developing and most are still trying to piece together who they are and where they want to go (shoot, I hear some folks go into their 30s before they get everything figured out). Think of it this way: you know that one big rock you might come across when you travel? That rock is everything you know right now and everything you're going currently through. Take that same rock, chuck into the ocean, and see how it drops to the bottom, out of sight and now apart of that ocean. That ocean? Everything you'll pick up about yourself and the world around you in about 10-20 years+. Whether it's a pristine one or a murky one is entirely up to you, and you can change it at any time you want, based on where you choose to go. All that mind, don't sweat the small stuff(which is most everything you discover in life), just look ahead, plan proper and act on instinct if things do go pear-shaped. No matter how long it feels before it does, things do work themselves out, in part because we put in the work and push them along and in part because the tides might throw you a bone now and again, perhaps one you might've never expected to find.

Good advice. You should have like an advice column xD ...
I learn mostly from watching and doing, so i'm a bit of a mimic(unintentionally), i guess that just gets under some peoples skin. I'm so socially awkward but I know despite that I can learn to be a little more outgoing.  

[IdiotbyDefault]

Miyu_Aizawa

IdiotbyDefault

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Much of that lies in the fear that our skills will fail in when we want to carry on a conversation. Only when we can let go of that fear that our skills truly be allowed to flourish. We will mistakes, and in the grand scheme of things, they will be like throwing a rock into the ocean: though it may be large when we first see it, even it sinks right to bottom, becoming part of the ebb and flow of how the world moves and evolves.

Just remember, no matter how hard things get, it's all just a test, and even if we fail, we can still try again and learn how to have fun with the language, which is the ultimate point of why many pick up a foreign language, isn't it?

Yeah. I understand all that. Of course it's a little hard to get over the initial insecurities.

Mm, I was the same way when I first started using the language in a public forum. When I met a Japanese-speaking woman while on the job a while ago, my skills at recognizing the language were nowhere near as sharp as today, so, in typical tourist fashion I said "I. HELP. YOU." while assisting her with her bags. Quite mortifying, in retrospect, but it's little stumbles like that which build up your confidence and let you take bigger leaps in how you use the language, perhaps using those little stumbles as anecdotes while speaking to your friends

I can recognize japanese pretty easily. my vocabulary is still considerably small in my opinion but I understand a lot. and Even if something I don't understand is being said I can at least tell it's japanese. It would be silly if i couldn't though. haha. And I can usually think in japanese rather quickly. Just nervous about speaking aloud. also my speaking is slower than my thinking, for obvious reasons since I have limited practice.

You will understand (by listening) more words than you can speak, even in your own native language (I worried about my small, simple vocabulary problem as well, but functioned pretty well over there)....and you can convey the same meaning in Japanese with fewer words than in English....namely because if the context is understood, you can leave so much out of explanation.

The best (and certainly not the easiest way) of gaining confidence with Japanese is by just going out with a few Japanese friends and striking up a conversation with what you know (no matter how simple or complex it is). You will likely make mistakes, but they can correct you on it. I do the same for non-native speakers in English when I lose the meaning of what they're trying to say. I ask them to repeat or say it slower. That's something you can also do in situations when you are not quite sure what was said in Japanese.

Most people avoid speaking Japanese to natives because they will be embarrassed that their Japanese will not be good enough. The funny thing is, a Japanese person would feel the same when placed in a situation where they would need to speak English. Many Japanese people I have come across will always compliment my Japanese, even if I know I didn't do a good job. It's a humbling thing and they know you have put so much effort into learning Japanese (and some older Japanese can be surprised when there's so much interest in Japanese from foreigners).

It takes a lot of effort to learn....and much more to be able to speak a foreign language. It is NOT a contest with anyone else (unless you're actually in a Japanese speech contest, then that is different) on your speaking ability. Everyone has to start somewhere at some level and the only way you can get better at speaking...is by speaking to others without care of making mistakes. Those that you do make, the native speakers will correct hopefully. More than likely, you will realize a mistake you've made, but don't let that get you down....if a sentence comes to mind to say that you made a mistake on but later realized again, just focus on correcting it. With that, you'll make less mistakes and hopefully become better at speaking with more gusto.

Yeah. all the japanese people i know are worried about their english. My friends often say that their english "is so suck" ... so cute.xD
but yeah. i understand what you mean but my friends have said they have to speak english becauce they are in america. ... I made a deal with my friend Yuta that when I go to japan someday and visit with him anytime i try to speak english i have to pay him 100 yen. When i go to japan i plan to have the same idea, in japan I must speak japanese. Even with people who speak english.

I did something similar for a while around my friend Tomohiro (Tomo for short...like tomodachi). I didn't pay him yen, but since his English was really good (almost at native level...thanks to two homestays in California and watching and 'shadowing' several American Sitcoms), we decided that for my benefit while in Japan, we'd primarily speak Japanese together (which didn't work in Korea, as we had to switch to the common language among our group, English, quite often), but when he homestayed in the US here, we'd speak primarily in English.

It's tough when you're in a foreign country as you have some slight need (depending on the person it's larger or smaller) to occasionally converse in your own language. To really understand and speak in a language, you must limit the amount of times that you speak in your native language. It's true, however, that you will start to lose some of your speaking in your native as you acquire another language..which is one of the few downsides of this method.  

[IdiotbyDefault]

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

An Excerpt from my personal manifesto:

"I teach Japanese not only to counter the conceptions they offer the world, but also to help people connect to the deeper aspects of Japan and approach the country with the kind of consideration they'd show their friends and family everyday. If I can get one person who approach an office jockey at a bar in Japan, chat it up with them and share some brews like they would back home, I'll know my lessons have done their job well and that it was worth the time and effort I put into each one."

As for learning Japanese, I seek to more deeply understand these things and see them more as people living, breathing and growing up in Japan, not just "The Japanese". To me, it's vital to for both myself and those I teach to understand that these are people, not concepts, the same as any of us in this world; to reduce our fellow man, women or child to a concept is to do the same to ourselves and diminish the quality of how we communicate and connect to one another

Ahhh, wow. Cool ^_^

Mm. It's means a lot to how I want to teach this stuff, and whenever I see someone reduce folks to an unchanging object, I get mighty heated. As a matter of fact, unless future bosses say I gotta work with such folks to get things done, I would never, ever even consider let them their views taint my view, and thus influencing my readers into the same (pardon the language) bullshit logic that pollutes the minds of many beginners of a language

You have such a good mind set. I wish I could be as possitive.

Me? Positive? Well that's certainly one way of seeing it. For me, it boils down to one basic truth: everyone both sucks and are awesome in their own unique way, you just gotta be willing to open yourself up to both. It's never an easy thing and often takes a lot of pain and mess ups to truly understand, but if you let yourself learn from all that continue to work on the you that you know you want to be. You never know who's waiting to help you build yourself, but in order to find them, you gotta gut up and let yourself be open, so they can see how best to aid you. Nodoby's ever perfect and everyone screws up at some point...and the more you understand about the world, the more this'll become an awesome thing. Change what you expect, and the world will do all it can to surprise you, for worse and for better, something I'm still learning, myself. Besides, would you rather live in full or in contentment? More importantly, would you want to have both?

I get what you mean. I think that as a person I am still developing, personality wise and all that. And i'm actually really impressionable. I get this thing called "Fiction lag" when I really like a character. So like wise i kind of feed off of my friends personalities. One of my friends though has a huge ego and thinks that she made me and i'm just a copy of her. I admit I have adapted some of her traits but she is really outgoing and real which is something I've always wanted to be more like so that and I've been working on becoming more outgoing and less shy for YEARS now. I've made the most progress since knowing her because the is the first friend I've had in a long time that isn't the least bit shy. razz
At least I haven't caught her study habits. >.>

When I was in my teens, that's kind of how I was. I wasn't exactly sure of myself and found myself 'influenced' by other personalities. However, over time I realized that my personality was already there and mostly formed, I just had to give myself time to accept that fact and not worry about being x to this person and y to another person. I found that with my own drive, I was able to make friends that no longer did that for me since I saw nothing I really needed to take from their personalities.

You never really lose shyness....you just develop a shell that is capable for extroverted contact.

It's harder to find people that are 'true' friends, and for some reason, I haven't really experienced the kind of friends that suck which everyone warns others about. I don't know if that's because I never fully trust anyone enough with things that can screw me over or that I just have a mindset that allows me to take many things as a grain of salt and not worry about things that cannot be changed/fixed.  

[Miyu_Aizawa]

IdiotbyDefault

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Mm. It's means a lot to how I want to teach this stuff, and whenever I see someone reduce folks to an unchanging object, I get mighty heated. As a matter of fact, unless future bosses say I gotta work with such folks to get things done, I would never, ever even consider let them their views taint my view, and thus influencing my readers into the same (pardon the language) bullshit logic that pollutes the minds of many beginners of a language

You have such a good mind set. I wish I could be as possitive.

Me? Positive? Well that's certainly one way of seeing it. For me, it boils down to one basic truth: everyone both sucks and are awesome in their own unique way, you just gotta be willing to open yourself up to both. It's never an easy thing and often takes a lot of pain and mess ups to truly understand, but if you let yourself learn from all that continue to work on the you that you know you want to be. You never know who's waiting to help you build yourself, but in order to find them, you gotta gut up and let yourself be open, so they can see how best to aid you. Nodoby's ever perfect and everyone screws up at some point...and the more you understand about the world, the more this'll become an awesome thing. Change what you expect, and the world will do all it can to surprise you, for worse and for better, something I'm still learning, myself. Besides, would you rather live in full or in contentment? More importantly, would you want to have both?

I get what you mean. I think that as a person I am still developing, personality wise and all that. And i'm actually really impressionable. I get this thing called "Fiction lag" when I really like a character. So like wise i kind of feed off of my friends personalities. One of my friends though has a huge ego and thinks that she made me and i'm just a copy of her. I admit I have adapted some of her traits but she is really outgoing and real which is something I've always wanted to be more like so that and I've been working on becoming more outgoing and less shy for YEARS now. I've made the most progress since knowing her because the is the first friend I've had in a long time that isn't the least bit shy. razz
At least I haven't caught her study habits. >.>

When I was in my teens, that's kind of how I was. I wasn't exactly sure of myself and found myself 'influenced' by other personalities. However, over time I realized that my personality was already there and mostly formed, I just had to give myself time to accept that fact and not worry about being x to this person and y to another person. I found that with my own drive, I was able to make friends that no longer did that for me since I saw nothing I really needed to take from their personalities.

You never really lose shyness....you just develop a shell that is capable for extroverted contact.

It's harder to find people that are 'true' friends, and for some reason, I haven't really experienced the kind of friends that suck which everyone warns others about. I don't know if that's because I never fully trust anyone enough with things that can screw me over or that I just have a mindset that allows me to take many things as a grain of salt and not worry about things that cannot be changed/fixed.

Thats good advice. Unfortunately I'm already 20 and still having this problem. I must have some sort of mental development problem or something. I'm so slow! just kidding, mostly.  

[IdiotbyDefault]

Miyu_Aizawa

IdiotbyDefault

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Miyu_Aizawa

Koiyuki

Mm. It's means a lot to how I want to teach this stuff, and whenever I see someone reduce folks to an unchanging object, I get mighty heated. As a matter of fact, unless future bosses say I gotta work with such folks to get things done, I would never, ever even consider let them their views taint my view, and thus influencing my readers into the same (pardon the language) bullshit logic that pollutes the minds of many beginners of a language

You have such a good mind set. I wish I could be as possitive.

Me? Positive? Well that's certainly one way of seeing it. For me, it boils down to one basic truth: everyone both sucks and are awesome in their own unique way, you just gotta be willing to open yourself up to both. It's never an easy thing and often takes a lot of pain and mess ups to truly understand, but if you let yourself learn from all that continue to work on the you that you know you want to be. You never know who's waiting to help you build yourself, but in order to find them, you gotta gut up and let yourself be open, so they can see how best to aid you. Nodoby's ever perfect and everyone screws up at some point...and the more you understand about the world, the more this'll become an awesome thing. Change what you expect, and the world will do all it can to surprise you, for worse and for better, something I'm still learning, myself. Besides, would you rather live in full or in contentment? More importantly, would you want to have both?

I get what you mean. I think that as a person I am still developing, personality wise and all that. And i'm actually really impressionable. I get this thing called "Fiction lag" when I really like a character. So like wise i kind of feed off of my friends personalities. One of my friends though has a huge ego and thinks that she made me and i'm just a copy of her. I admit I have adapted some of her traits but she is really outgoing and real which is something I've always wanted to be more like so that and I've been working on becoming more outgoing and less shy for YEARS now. I've made the most progress since knowing her because the is the first friend I've had in a long time that isn't the least bit shy. razz
At least I haven't caught her study habits. >.>

When I was in my teens, that's kind of how I was. I wasn't exactly sure of myself and found myself 'influenced' by other personalities. However, over time I realized that my personality was already there and mostly formed, I just had to give myself time to accept that fact and not worry about being x to this person and y to another person. I found that with my own drive, I was able to make friends that no longer did that for me since I saw nothing I really needed to take from their personalities.

You never really lose shyness....you just develop a shell that is capable for extroverted contact.

It's harder to find people that are 'true' friends, and for some reason, I haven't really experienced the kind of friends that suck which everyone warns others about. I don't know if that's because I never fully trust anyone enough with things that can screw me over or that I just have a mindset that allows me to take many things as a grain of salt and not worry about things that cannot be changed/fixed.

Thats good advice. Unfortunately I'm already 20 and still having this problem. I must have some sort of mental development problem or something. I'm so slow! just kidding, mostly.

Well, as long as it's not really holding you back. What I was doing during my 'emo' phase was, so I knew I eventually had to stop doing what I was doing and accept what I had established as my personality as fact. Anyway, this is getting off topic, but there's always room to discuss things like this in our Anything goes forums.