This is a mobile optimized page that loads fast, if you want to load the real page, click this text.

皆さん、はじめましてー :3

Bubble Nebula

後輩
Joined
15 Sep 2012
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Hello everyone,

my name is Steffi, I'm 25 years old and I live in Germany (currently residing in Scotland).
I've been studying Japanese and English Studies at university for about two years, but unfortunately, I think my Japanese is still pretty bad. Thus I've registered here in order to discuss grammatical matters, learn from/together with other learners and simply meet other people with similar interests from all over the world. : )

Furthermore, I'm always looking for tandem/language exchange partners, so if there were any native speakers who'd like to learn German or were simply interested in helping me to improve my Japanese, that would be great.

I've been interested in Japan since my early childhood, though my fields of interest have changed over the years. I enjoyed Anime and Manga a lot as a child, but then I became more and more attracted to Japan itself. Nowadays I'm mostly interested in the general culture, Japanese RPGs, Japanese music, the Sengoku and Edo Periods and simply life in Japan itself. Also, I really love the Japanese language, it's such a fascinating language to learn! : )

よろしくお願いします(^o^)/
 
Hey there! ^-^
I'm also originally from Germany, but I've been in Japan for many years now and sometimes I have the feeling I'm losing my German!
Don't give up! I'm sure your Japanese will improve! It's just not something that will happen overnight! :/
 
Nice to meet you! : ) I think I was browsing your blog a bit yesterday.
Haha, I guess it's quite easy to forget about your mothertongue when you live in a foreign country where it isn't spoken.
Yeah, unfortunately it's a long process, especially when you don't have any opportunities to use your Japanese. It's so difficult to find a language partner as a German speaker, because most Japanese people want to improve their English and of course they prefer to talk to a native speaker. But I try my best! : )
 
It is! And you keep mixing up the languages, but it's ok - most people still understand what I want to say!

It is definitely easier when you are physically in Japan, but there are so many people who don't make use of it and after over 10 years of living here still can't speak Japanese at all.
It was hard work for me. Despite living in Japan I had to sit down every night after work and study, study, study. ^-^;
 
I feel the same after a day full of speaking/writing English, Japanese and Dutch - afterwards I can't even think in German correctly anymore. ^^ﾂ≫?ｹ But maybe that just means that you're doing it right, using other languages as often as possible so that you don't automatically think in German anymore. I don't know.

Woah, I never get how people manage to servive in Japan for so many years without speaking the language. Besides, I think it's rude. I mean, there are so many people who complain about immigrants who don't speak a country's official language, but they don't make any effort to learn a foreign language themselves when they emmigrate. : /
So, do you maybe have any tipps for learning efficiently when you don't have a tandem partner? : ) For example, I'd love to improve my listening skills, but I find it so hard to find Japanese online radios or interesting online streams offered by Japanese TV stations.
 
I feel the same!
Those people are often male and are married to Japanese or have a Japanese girfriend who take care of everything for them.
They usually get aggressive when you try to ask them why they don't try to learn some Japanese, so I have given up ....
I think it's rude, too!
If you plan to live somewhere - even just for a few years, I think it should be a given that you study the language of that country! :/

Hm. Well, everybody has different study methods that work well for them, so it's hard to give any good advice.
My listening skills became really good by watching a lot of Japanese movies and dramas and listening to Japanese music.
It's also great if you can get Japanese subtitles, so that you can read along!
 
Bubble Nebula said:
Woah, I never get how people manage to survive in Japan for so many years without speaking the language
Click to expand...

They work in jobs that don't require Japanese and have Japanese coworkers, staff, or family who take care of everything for them. This is actually a pretty easy country to live in with little to no skill in the local language.

So I can understand how they manage to do it. I just can't understand how they can be content to do it. (Some even display a sort of perverse pride in maintaining very poor verbal skills and nearly complete illiteracy for years or even decades).
 
Mike Cash said:
(Some even display a sort of perverse pride in maintaining very poor verbal skills and nearly complete illiteracy for years or even decades).
Click to expand...

This is just sad.
And who wants to be dependent on co-workers and friends all the time? I really don't get it. If I was to live in Japan, I'd want to be able to take care of myself. Besides, I would want to be able to understand other people, otherwise I'd always feel like a stranger in Japan, having no idea what people around me are saying.
 
They also tend to self-ghettoize, socializing only with people like themselves, and consciously or subconsciously sort of look down on their Japanese hosts and really don't give a damn what they're saying. So not being able to understand isn't really an issue for them.
 
Welcome to the forum.

I hope you will have a great time here and that you will be able to improve your Japanese as well. We have lots of members that can help you with it, so I am sure it will be alright.

Why don't you put an add in the classified section that you are looking for a pen-pal!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

皆さん今日は
Replies
2
Views
1K
Sazi
はじめまして！
Replies
15
Views
906
Mike Cash
N
はじめましょう
Replies
9
Views
1K
thomas
はじめまして！
Replies
5
Views
822
紫家教
始めまして
Replies
13
Views
986
deborah gormley
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…