As an example, I'm asking for tips on remembering to say stuff like テストに失敗してしまいました as opposed to just テストに失敗しました. I can roll the second sentence off my tongue like it's nothing, but I want to say the more nuanced stuff like the first one more naturally. I'm getting through n3 level material pretty decently, and I feel like I'm able to say most things I wanna say in a roundabout way (as long as I actually know the vocab lol), but stuff like this is giving me trouble. My tutors always do that thing where they rephrase what I just said but in the more "japanesey" way as a way of politely correcting me, and it's always stuff that I know how to say, but in the moment of speaking I just didn't think to actually say it. I can all day read/input this stuff and know the exact nuance it gives off, but when trying to actually produce it it's like I'm speaking the most bare bones japanese possible. I've been learning with a tutor since I first started learning japanese and have had quite a few, and now I have a dedicated specific conversation tutor where I use a community tutor on italki. So it's not like I have no experience speaking/outputting, I just really cannot for the life of me think as I'm in the middle of a conversation to say things in more natural ways, even though I DO know how to say them. And of course I hear this kind of stuff all the time in anime (which is my main exposure to the japanese language outside of textbook study).
I guess it's not all bad because overall I am getting my point across when I speak, but I want to try to say things in a more natural/nuanced manner.
by GreattFriend