Header image – “A short trip to Hiroshima and back via the Shimanami Kaido.”
It’s been almost seven months since I arrived in Japan. And I’ve been studying (or at least trying to study) Japanese every day. I finally took the plunge and got a session on italki yesterday. It definitely highlighted certain weaknesses that I should focus on. It also gave me a better understanding of how difficult learning a language is for the students, too. For example, when asking for volunteers to answer a question, few if any raise their hands. This is not unique to Japan, and I experienced it myself during my time as a student. People don’t know the answer, are afraid of being wrong, or are just plain shy. Speaking, in my opinion, is one of the hardest parts of learning a language. If you gave me a (appropriately leveled) manga to read, I could finish it in a few hours/days with the help of a dictionary for the occasional unknown words or grammar. Seeing words on a page for me is much easier than listening, comprehending, and producing at the same time.
Speaking requires not only real-time comprehension, but also requires real-time production/output. Not to mention correct pronunciation as well. It explains why few students can maintain an actual conversation with me rather than just a few easy questions and answers. Even after years of learning in a formal environment. They really don’t get many chances to practice speaking conversation-style. Even in their “communication” class where they write stiff and formal speeches rather than conversations. These few things were also pointed out to me in my session. For example, my teacher noted that the い in ている is often dropped in speech. Which trips up textbook learners who are used to using polite form everywhere. I think this applies similarly to the students. They are used to listening to textbook conversations that as soon as you slightly deviate from the textbook, you get met with blank stares instead because the students are used to things being said one way, similar to the differences described above.
Of course, none of this really matters if you were just focusing on passing the JLPT. Which seem to focus on reading and listening (input) more than producing (writing, speaking). It really depends on what your goal is. Do you need N1 for a job? Or are you trying to communicate with people? There are people who can easily pass the N1, but struggle with conversations. And there are people who only took the N5 but can hold conversations easily because they spent all their time practicing talking with people instead of studying specific grammar for the exam. For me, I think I’ll be using italki for both conversation practice as well as formal lessons to gain a better understanding of how speech differs from the textbook. The journey is hard and long, but so is life.