Find someone you feel safe
What is the number one barrier to learning to speak Japanese?
To memorize lots of vocabulary?
To learn lots of grammar?
To talk with many Japanese?
Yes, they are also very important.
But will I be able to speak if I can do these things?
In fact, the most difficult part of learning to speak Japanese is in your “mind.”
When you speak Japanese with Japanese people, you might think of this:
“What if I made a mistake?”
“What if they don’t understand?”
“What if I used some weird Japanese and they laughed or got angry at me?”
Everyone has experienced this at least once.
This “mind” will make you worried about speaking Japanese, and it is the biggest enemy that holds you back from becoming a fluent speaker of Japanese.
You only need one person
“It’s okay as long as they get the message.”
“Making mistakes is not a bad thing.”
“I don’t care even if someone laughed at me.”
If people who have overcome this “mind” are able to think like this, they will quickly be able to speak Japanese.
You might not know how to change your “mind” by yourself.
Many Japanese language learners think they can speak fluently if they can talk to many people in Japanese.
However, you might not want to make mistakes when talking to a Japanese you met for the first time.
Then what can you do?
You only need one person.
One person.
No matter how badly you speak,
Or, no matter how many incorrect grammatical and vocabulary mistakes you make,
find one native Japanese speaker or a Japanese speaker of a higher level than yourself who will try hard to understand what you are saying.
When you talk to that person, I feel safe.
You can make mistakes and try out the vocabulary and grammar you’ve studied.
No matter how slowly you speak, it’s okay.
Your Japanese will continue to grow just by having the opportunity to speak in such an environment.
The biggest reason why I was able to speak English (my second language) was because I had English-speaking friends try to understand my poor English.
At first, try to find a person with whom you feel comfortable speaking Japanese.
You can't find someone you feel safe?
“But no one near me would listen to my poor Japanese.”
You might be worried like that.
But what if you had time each week with a person with whom you could safely speak Japanese?
I think you would enjoy speaking Japanese and want to learn more.
For people like that, we are currently offering free Japanese language consultation and free lessons for a limited number of 10 people each month.
You don’t know how to find opportunities to talk with Japanese people.
If you are interested in taking Japanese lessons and free counseling to solve these problems, please feel free to join us.
If you are interested, please book your available time via the calender below.