Hi all!
I’ve been studying Japanese at university for about two years now (some on and off self-study prior), it’s not a super intensive course and we basically just finished Genki 1 & 2 and went through the Kanji Look & Learn Kanji. I did have a several months long break now and have definitely lost a bit of knowledge, though I’m studying now to bring it back to my mind again.
I will be able to study abroad for ONE semester, ending up at around 4-5 months. I chose a smaller university in a city of less than half a million people. I really want to return with some tangible progress in my Japanese and hopefully more easily immerse myself with media afterwards. I’m aware of the general tips when you’re able to live in Japan, but I’m in such a weird limbo of, I’m there kind of long but kind of not at all. It’s forever but also over almost immediately. I want to utilize it best I can.
One point, I will not be getting a job there. I was lucky to receive a scholarship, and I’m a freelancer, so it would be a waste of time. Also, I’ve gone to Japan several times before so I’m confident in my ability to navigate being there.
**Please, let me know if you have any thoughts about the following plans/thoughts, or additions you could suggest:**
\- I will take Japanese classes, I’m about to take a placement test and I’m aiming to enter Intermediate classes, I will gladly also take on more if it’s offered and I will of course study diligently. To my knowledge there too classes are generally split into categories (Kanji, speaking, etc), **is there any specific type of class I should favor?** I suppose speaking might be the best? I find myself to be quite successful at studying grammar, but god actual language production is very difficult
\- I will try my absolute best to make Japanese friends specifically, to be forced to speak Japanese. I am a tiny bit intimidated about this – I’m generally very good at making friends, but I’m a very colorful, queer looking European, and I worry interest might be slim past looking at me from afar haha! **Do you have any tips on how to make Japanese friends locally?**
\- If clubs are available for exchange students, I definitely want to try to join one. I’m not the most sporty type, although I like working out, so I’m hoping to find something active.
\- I use Kanji Study and TRY to use Anki but suck at it. I will take notes of words I encounter in daily life to add to my vocabulary. A long time ago when I went to Japan I learned 峠 simply because I saw it and was fascinated by the particles! Any tips and advice regarding doing stuff like this?
\- I’m thinking of finding a Book Off to buy some easy Japanese manga for cheap to maybe have some notes in, and try to practice reading. All these online reading resources have been a bit of a struggle for me.
\- I am hoping to travel plenty and therefore of course interact with people as I go. While I’m hoping to (also) making English speaking friends, I’d also enjoy going on my own and figuring it all out by myself.
\- Perhaps buying a notebook and trying to keep a diary in solely Japanese would be good? I do journal somewhat passively and wanted to do it more actively during my exchange, so it would be easy to implement. Just thought of this right now!
​
Thank you for reading, and I would honestly appreciate any and all tips and thoughts you have for this case! 🙂
2 comments
If you’re in Japan don’t waste your time studying.
Speak using the language you know and talk to people. Join clubs, get a part time job, hunt down people who’ve gone to or want to go to your university.
Download the meetup app and go to events 3 times a week (on the weekends). People will try to speak to you in english but if you really want to practise you can ask them to speak in japanese or just say your from a non english speaking country or something lol. Also some events have a rotation system where they rotate tables and languages. Speaking from personal experiences I made really good Japanese friends by speaking to them in english and then inviting them out to eat ramen or something a few days later.