Fluent in Japanese before, but incompetent after years

[abcdcubed]

Hello guys, i have a concern regarding my native language, japanese.

So, i was born and raised in japan until 11 years old and i was able to speak nihongo fluently as well as reading and listening. i went to regular Youchien and Shougakkou until grade 4 so i have a background in terms of formal education in Japan. when we moved into the philippines, i don't use it anymore because no one seems to speak nihongo there. I learned Filipino Language and English from time to time until a time that i have a hard times in speaking Nihongo everytime i attempted to speak in japanese as requested by my friends after founding out that i have knowledge about japanese. I am still able to understand Nihongo but when it comes to speaking, i am not fluent anymore like before, i have to think for 1 to 3 minutes before i would be able to construct one sentence. In writing, i can still recall some of the kanji and basic kanji, and of course the hiragana and the katakana.

What recommendation you can give to me regarding my concern? i am already 18 years old (bachelor's degree) and its almost 7 years the last time i used nihongo as my medium of language. is there any way to become fluent again like before? Thank you.

 

[FinancialWar]

This is the first time I learned a person not able to speak their mother tongue after just seven years. You don't use Japanese at home with your parents?

 

[abcdcubed]

This is the first time I learned a person not able to speak their mother tongue after just seven years. You don't use Japanese at home with your parents?

my parents always reminding me that i should not forget how to speak japanese because according to them it is an advantage to have such ability especially in applying fo a job. sometimes, they randomly speak with me in japanese and all i do was just smiling them back (because it is very hazukashii for me to respond them back using japanese. i always feel this everytime i tried to respond or speak with japanese) and respond in a language that i currently using such as mixed english and filipino. (my parents can speak filipino, japanese and english fluently)

i don't use japanese anymore since i learned Filipino and English Language because i feel awkward when speaking using japanese.. and since the people around me is a mixed of native-English and Filipino speaker, i use both of them but not the japanese.

and another thing, i think i have a problem in expressing my ideas and thoughts (especially in english). because my vocabulary in english is limited and sometimes, i have a hard time talking with my friends because of my messy way of expressing thoughts and ideas (what usually happen is my friends didn't understand at all the point of what i want to say to them)

 

[Morphling]

Your English doesnt seem to be off in anyway. Well if your grammar is still okay get some children's books from amazon.co.jp and try to get a Japanese native buddy to practice with?

Common sense really.

 

[FinancialWar]

Japanese is not even a regional language let along a world language, and will have little to no influence in applying for a job outside Japan. Most people learn Japanese because of the culture, you'd better off studying Mandarin, Spanish or Arabic if your goal is employment related.

 

[Toritoribe]

Just curious, why are you learning Japanese? You don't seem to be interested in Japanese culture or language itself to me (sorry if I'm wrong), so you want to work in Japan or Japanese company?

 

[Glenn]

I would suggest lots of listening on topics you're interested in, along with reading topics you're interested in. I'm interested in space, so I'll spend some time watching videos on JAXA's YouTube channel, which has some really interesting stuff on it, by the way. There are also news sites where they'll have the text of the story that you can read along with as you listen. In the end, though, what it's going to come down to is exposure. You just have to be exposed to the language a whole lot. This reminds me of situations when people would see me looking at a Japanese website or something and make some comment about how I'm always looking at Japanese, usually along the lines of "why do you do that?" to which I'd reply, "I'm not going to learn Japanese by not doing Japanese."