this was the first time I genuinely felt like I could have a decent conversation in Japanese
I had issues with tenses, forgotten vocabulary, mispronunciations etc but found that I could nonetheless get my point across and have a productive discussion
my listening / immersion practice has really paid off as I felt like my listening comprehension has greatly improved
It was a lot of fun. I went to three areas:
Tokyo: people are busy but I was able to practice a lot of functional Japanese: ordering food, asking questions, etc.
Kochi: I love Kochi. Very few foreigners and people are nice and outgoing (for Japanese people that is). Most locals speak very little if any English. I really enjoyed spending time here and had lots of decent conversations including a long chat with an older gentleman in the onsen at my hotel. (He started the conversation or I wouldn’t have spoken in the onsen). Tosa-ben took a little getting used to
Kyoto: in my opinion not a good place for Japanese immersion. There’s English everywhere and most people speak very good English. Most shopkeepers would immediately switch to English the moment they saw me even if I greeted them in Japanese. It honestly was a little depressing at times. Also tourists everywhere, many of whom clearly haven’t spent much time learning about cultural norms in Japan. It was fun for sightseeing but I doubt I’ll go back now that I’ve visited the palaces & Nintendo museum
All in all it was a great trip and I feel like it helped my language learning move forward.
Oh! And I bought some Japanese language manga. I finally know enough to be able to read it while only looking up one or two words per page. I’m about halfway through Sakamoto Days 1 and I’m genuinely enjoying the story without the language barrier getting in the way. Progress!
Just got back from three weeks in Japan.
It was a lot of fun. I went to three areas:
Tokyo: people are busy but I was able to practice a lot of functional Japanese: ordering food, asking questions, etc.
Kochi: I love Kochi. Very few foreigners and people are nice and outgoing (for Japanese people that is). Most locals speak very little if any English. I really enjoyed spending time here and had lots of decent conversations including a long chat with an older gentleman in the onsen at my hotel. (He started the conversation or I wouldn’t have spoken in the onsen). Tosa-ben took a little getting used to
Kyoto: in my opinion not a good place for Japanese immersion. There’s English everywhere and most people speak very good English. Most shopkeepers would immediately switch to English the moment they saw me even if I greeted them in Japanese. It honestly was a little depressing at times. Also tourists everywhere, many of whom clearly haven’t spent much time learning about cultural norms in Japan. It was fun for sightseeing but I doubt I’ll go back now that I’ve visited the palaces & Nintendo museum
All in all it was a great trip and I feel like it helped my language learning move forward.
Oh! And I bought some Japanese language manga. I finally know enough to be able to read it while only looking up one or two words per page. I’m about halfway through Sakamoto Days 1 and I’m genuinely enjoying the story without the language barrier getting in the way. Progress!
That’s really great! Mistakes happen, but sounds like you’ve hit the important milestone of being able to communicate well enough. Great job!
Also sounds like the calmer parts were the most fun. Do you foresee being able to go back? :)
Yes I’ll be going again in the fall probably :) I’m really looking forward to it!