I’m Vietnamese. To be honest, I’m not good at either English or Japanese, but since I don’t have much chances to talk with native English speakers, how I pronounce English doesn’t really bother me.However, I’m currently studying abroad in Japan, and I feel very frustrated and hopeless whenever I try to talk about something I’m familiar with in Japanese, but Japanese people can’t understand a thing I’m saying due to my broken pronunciation.For example, when I buy tobacco for my friend, no matter how hard I try, they can’t understand what number I want. My じゅう (juu) is apparently terrible based on their reactions. Another example: I have two coworkers whose names start with ゆ (yu). When I say their names, they understand, but if I try to say any other word that starts with ゆ, they can’t understand what I’m trying to say. I’ve tried mimicking the vowels, consonants, long vowels, and contracted sounds using various resources, but no matter how hard I try, I still feel like just a foreigner with a broken mouth and ears. I have no idea which sounds I’m making correctly and which ones I’m not. And based on my experience learning from Vietnamese teachers, I doubt that any Vietnamese staff at my language school can help me with this trouble. Atm I have no motivation to study anything. I feel so desperate and depressed. What’s the point of studying vocabulary, grammar, or listening if no one can understand what I’m trying to say? I really need help, and I appreciate any advice you guys can give me. Thank you so much for reading, have a nice day.
by Pure_Nevi