Practise of writing long pieces..

[pika la]

Well, I've been studying Japanese for about 2 years now (4 if you count the years where I learned very simple stuff and goofed off and really learned nothing) on my own.

And I think I'm at a pretty good level, considering. I can generally say/write what I want to express, or at least have the other person understand what I'm "trying" to say ^^

But I want to move up a step and learn how to write/speak in longer more fluent and natural sounding sentences, instead of a whole bunch of shortened ones (Which I thin is easiest):

Eg: 今日、森に行った。とても楽しかった。一緒にいったか ら。

To: 今日 一緒に森に行ったから とても楽しかった！

..or something along those lines, as you can see I'm not very skilled still, but that's why I want practice! What do you suggest I do? I was thinking, have someone (will need to find someone first) give me a subject and I write about it and then they correct it for me ^^;; Any other suggestions?

Any sites teaching continuing sentences? Or on how to write long compositions in Japanese?

Thanks.

 

[Glenn]

It sounds like a teacher is the best thing for you right now (unless you can find someone who doesn't mind editing and explaining your mistakes to you for free).

 

[nhk9]

The first thing you can try to do is to make long sentences while speaking in Japanese. Use -te form as often as you can, and try not to make it too hard yourself with the more advanced conjunctions.

Also, reading books written in Japanese, especially novels, really help. Try to get as much exposure to those books as you can. Your local library should have at least a couple of Japanese books if you live in any one of the major Canadian cities