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Originally Posted by kvcnext
Ah, very similar to mine  I hope this thread isn't dead... |
No, not dead. I just usually don`t reply all that much to people who ask the same exact questions that have been asked 20 times in here and 100s of times around the board.
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- Since you've been there a while, how long did it take you to pick up the language. First fluent, and then how did your accent become so good?
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I would say that picking up the language to a level that was truly able to converse about anything and everything took somewhere between 3 and 6 months. At the 3 month point, I was okay in person with the backup of hand gestures, pointing, expressions, etc... But sort of floundered on anything difficult if on the phone. Especially with friends who talked quickly.
At 6 months, I wasn`t having much of any trouble at all - on the phone, chatting online, etc etc. I would say that reading novels wasn`t within my reach at that point though. It`s been a long time, so I only really have memorable references at the 3 and 6 month points to contrast. (3 month point was my first visit ended, and the 6 month point was when I met my now husband).
As for accent - that just came from learning the language in Japan in a native environment... And maybe luck or some inherent language ability. I really don`t know. There was no point where my accent was bad and I fixed it, etc. With fluency came accent.
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- How to Japanese people deal with knowing your past with your family life? Were they supportive, feel bad for you, or feel weary of you?
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Is there a need to tell anyone?
I think that is the more important question.
In real life, I`d say my husband and his mother are really the only people who know the full extent of the truth. (Because they actually visited my family.) Otherwise, I might just say that I didn`t have a great family life, or that my mother and I aren`t close at all for certain reasons. You can leave it vague - no one asks any deeper and I`m sure they`re not imagining anything worse than reality... Just something "bad".
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- How did you expand your social network at first? Did you go drinking, get to know your neighbours, ect?
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At first? I was 17. :P Not a whole lot of drinking going on there.
Basically, in the beginning, I didn`t have the language ability to make a social network - let alone expand one. I ended up taking classes at a local high school (sort of in limbo, as I`d already graduated so wasn`t a student... But didn`t have the qualifications so wasn`t a teacher. I was like a super-student with benefits. I could participate in student clubs and activities but didn`t have to go to class other than one a day helping in the English class as a "native pronunciation model".) I joined a club and made a number of friends there.
Later, when I was on my own and not in a host family situation or living in a dorm... I just made a couple friends online, and expanded from there. I`m not an incredibly friendly person, and a huge net of friends tires me, so I can`t really give all that much advice.
I will say to try and keep away from making tons of English speaking friends as that is pretty much a guarantee that you will not progress much in Japanese.