Bridging the gap between understanding and contributing...
 

Howdy hoo!

I've been studying Japanese for quite a while now though I stopped after highschool and have only seriously started again over the past year and a half. I passed level 3 of the jlpt and am currently in Japan for 2 months staying in hostels and with host families.

It's now week four and my listening skills have definitely improved. I'm much better at following conversations and respond to questions much faster. However, although my listening is much better I'm in the frustrating position of understanding what's going on but not being able to contribute.

It only takes a few seconds for me to get the gist of what is going on but by the time I've processed the information, thought about what I want to say and started translating it, well, the conversation has already moved on! I spend a lot of time just thinking and understanding and people must think I'm really shy but I'm so busy listening that speaking is really difficult.

I'm not going to be in a 100% Japanese environment for much longer and was wondering if anyone has any tips for getting better at conversation or if it just takes time.

(That said, I'm really really surprised at how much more I'm able to understand just after a few weeks and I think I'll be signing up to Japanesepod101 when I get home so I can keep improving.)

Once you get the jist, just GO! Throw in what you want to say, and don't worry about making mistakes. I think people worry so much about making mistakes that they can't communicate at all. If you don't speak up a lot, then people will surely want to hear what you have to say. Any proficiency in Japanese is impressive to Japanese people, who are very forgiving of grammar errors by foreigners.

Yeah I do tend to hold back a bit through fear of making mistakes. ^^;; I went to the doctor the other day though and he was really patient with me and waited for me to try and put my sentences together!

Thank you for the advice. :)