彼氏募集中ｗ　いや嘘です。 I'm looking for a casual language exchange partner~ :)

lovelysunflower · (#1 (**permalink**))

Hello!
I hope that caught your attention! (lol)
I'm an American hoping to take the JLPT N2 level in December.
I don't think I'm going to pass. Ahahaha;;
(I'm too shy to practice grammar properly and all that. I even have difficulty turning in essays in English, ahahaha.)

Anyways, that's not what I'm here to ask about.

To be completely honest, my Japanese speaking skills are... well, they're absent.
ぶっちゃけて言うと日本語を全然話・せ・ま・せ・ん。（苦笑）
日本人といっぱい喋って、もっともっと話せるようになりたいです。

I'm currently searching for a casual partner to talk to via Skype or MSN to improve my Japanese speaking skills (coughwhich are nonexistentcough).
Of course, I'll speak to you in English as well! And if you have any questions, I'll be sure to try and answer them.

I just really want a learning environment that encourages speaking and picking up things casually rather than a forced, uncomfortable atmosphere.

Well, if anyone's up to it! (Anyone who was able to get through this unbearably long-winded post. Ahaha.)
私、くどいよね（笑

masaegu · (#2 (**permalink**))

めちゃめちゃ自然な日本語書いてんじゃん。日本人と変わらないよ、マジで。米国の日本語学習者の日本語は普通こういうふうにはならないんだよね。よくここまで覚えたねえ。感心するよ。

実はヘッドセット持ってないんだけど、買っちゃおうかなあ～。

lovelysunflower · (#3 (**permalink**))

そ・そんな・・・　私にはもったいない褒め言葉ですぅ（笑）
先日、「あなたは漫画を読んで日本語を覚えたよな」って言われたんだもの。
一時、本当に落ち込んでいたんだ。　（私、そんなに子供っぽいなの？っていう感じで・・・）
だからmasaegu先生の言葉に感動してます。
うぅぅっ　（ノ△≦）♥　（←「ハートマーク」って読んでください。）

とにかくヘッドセットを買わせたくないものですが、いつかヘッドセットを買ったら喋ろうねー
生意気で大変すみません；；　
（ただ正しい敬語が話せなくて、「間違えたらヤバイ」ということだから・・・っ）

（・・・やっぱり子供っぽいですね。　申し訳ありません；；　）

I doubt you'd be able to learn anything from me even if we did get to talk (I mean, you're already fluent in English!), but I'd still love to chat with you!
If at some point in time you purchase a headset or mike, please talk with me~. Ahaha.

Thank you for always being so kind;;; (>///<)♥

cranks · (#4 (**permalink**))

Wow, really natural Japanese. There are some grammar errors here and there but I'd have thought you were a Japanese kid. How did you learn Japanese?

masaegu · (#5 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by cranks

Wow, really natural Japanese. There are some grammar errors here and there but I'd have thought you were a Japanese kid. How did you learn Japanese?

Exactly! What strikes me the most about OP's Japanese is that it doesn't sound like it has been translated from English. There is little unnatural bookish-ness detectable. She sounds like she's actually thinking in Japanese.

To OP:
You can take cranks and my words literally. We wouldn't say this to everyone.

lovelysunflower · (#6 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by cranks

Wow, really natural Japanese. There are some grammar errors here and there but I'd have thought you were a Japanese kid. How did you learn Japanese?

Mostly independently, ahaha. Through the internet (google), song lyrics, manga, and some kanji books. I recently purchased the Nihongo Sou Matome series for the JLPT N2 level, and was trying to study through those... ahaha. But I really have no one who speaks Japanese to practice with, so my Japanese is really... bad. Keke.

...Damn, are there that many errors?
("orz This is why I have no confidence "orz
I was actually trying to mess with new grammar structures, ahaha. But I failed;; )

C-Can you point them out and fix them for me, please? ;A; (Otherwise I'll never learn.)
(And thank you!)

~~~

To masaegu:
T-Thank you! ;w;
Both you and cranks are very kind! ( >w>);; bwaah though knowing that I made noticeable errors is kind of depressing. Oh well. They say practice makes perfect, and you'll never learn if you don't make mistakes!

Also, I was wondering, how did you learn English?

cranks · (#7 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovelysunflower

Mostly independently, ahaha. Through the internet (google), song lyrics, manga, and some kanji books. I recently purchased the Nihongo Sou Matome series for the JLPT N2 level, and was trying to study through those... ahaha. But I really have no one who speaks Japanese to practice with, so my Japanese is really... bad. Keke.

...Damn, are there that many errors?
("orz This is why I have no confidence "orz
I was actually trying to mess with new grammar structures, ahaha. But I failed;; )

C-Can you point them out and fix them for me, please? ;A; (Otherwise I'll never learn.)
(And thank you!)

~~~

To masaegu:
T-Thank you! ;w;
Both you and cranks are very kind! ( >w>);; bwaah though knowing that I made noticeable errors is kind of depressing. Oh well. They say practice makes perfect, and you'll never learn if you don't make mistakes!

Also, I was wondering, how did you learn English?

Thanks! I really started to think Manga is a great way to learn a language, and you are yet another good example.

Your Japanese is really natural. That said;
"先日、「あなたは漫画を読んで日本語を覚えたよな」� � て言われたんだもの"
I'd say 「言われたし」 in this context. And this is REALLY nitpicking but
「先日」is a formal word, so 「この前」would fit your tone better.

"とにかくヘッドセットを買わせたくないものですが"
This one is the hard one. I'd say something like 「わざわざヘッドセットを
買ってもらいたくないんですが」or if I wanted to be more casual, 「わざわざヘッドセット買う事無いけど」.

"敬語が話せなくて、「間違えたらヤバイ」ということだから・・・っ"
It's a bit vague. Do you mean something like 「敬語話せないし、間違えたらヤバいって感じだけど」 ?
But, native kids often can't express themselves clearly either. Not a big deal.

lovelysunflower · (#8 (**permalink**))

cranks:

Oh thank you, thank you, thank you thank you thank you so very much!!!
You're so kind and patient, ahaha. ( ; w; )/ I'm actually really shy when it comes to learning Japanese (I was fine with Spanish because I didn't really care for the language after sophomore year. On the other hand, I DO care about Japanese, haha.) (Now I've forgotten everything I used to know, but still.

), so I was almost tempted to erase what I had written, but now I'm really glad that I didn't. I'm so touched by your gentleness in correcting me that I'm almost crying, ahaha. (Seriously, though.)

I've seen so much hate on the internet (none of which is ever really directed at me, but still) that I've almost a phobia of digital communication, particularly language exchange. (Yet still I try, ahaha. I must be a masochist. Well, at least I'm a determined one. XP ) So you see, your kindness means a lot to me. ♥ Please sleep tonight knowing you touched someone! (lol)

Thank you so much! I've taken notes on what you said, and will try better in the future! ;A;

masaegu · (#9 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovelysunflower

To masaegu:
T-Thank you! ;w;
Both you and cranks are very kind! ( >w>);; bwaah though knowing that I made noticeable errors is kind of depressing. Oh well. They say practice makes perfect, and you'll never learn if you don't make mistakes!

Also, I was wondering, how did you learn English?

Don't be afraid of making mistakes. It's the only way you can learn anythng. If mistakes were bricks, you could build another Tokyo Tower with the mistakes I have made in my English over the years.

How did I learn English? I don't really know what I did differently from my peers except the following:

1. I used monolingual dictionaries when almost everyone else was using bilingual ones. A huge free tip here, I hope. It helped me quickly get rid of the bad habit of translating everything. If you "translate", your foreign language will never sound natural, especially between two linguistically unrelated languages like Japanese and English.

2. Never used flashcards, not even once. Don't know why those are so common.

3. No PC. But then there was no such thing as a PC back then.

4. Always learned vocab and grammar in context using paper and pen. (Thus the absence of flashcards. My peers used flashcards and you wouldn't understand their English too well if you met them now.)

5. Always tried to use two kinds of materials, one for fun (joke books and novels) and the other for serious studies (college textbooks).

6. Spoke to myself out loud all the time. Mind you, this is very difficult but incredibly rewarding if you can keep at it for several months. I never even saw an English-speaker up close until I was 19.

So, like yourself, I'm pretty much self-taught.

lovelysunflower · (#10 (**permalink**))

masaegu先生:

Oh my goodness!!!

You're really, truly incredible.
In fact, your English is probably better than my own at this point in time. (ahaha;;; oh goodness

)
(Also, you met your first English-speaker at 19?! Good Lord, I don't know what to say to you.
...Are you God? //laughs)
(What other languages can you speak? o_o)

W-well, if I do say so myself, it seems like I'm somewhat on the right track! I try not to "translate" my thoughts from English into Japanese, and I talk to myself quite often... (Almost to the point where it's creepy, ahaha. I really wish I had a learning companion. "orz )

I have started making flashcards for kanji, however. After reading your post, I'm not sure whether or not it's a wise decision, but as I'm short on time for the JLPT (which takes place on December 5th), I really have no other choice. I wish, oh how I wish I had such a brain as yours!

Thank you, too, for your kindness and everything. I'm extremely appreciative of the fact that you address me as you would someone younger than you rather than... well, a foreigner. (Not that everyone treats foreigners differently - it's just that often I see native Japanese speak distantly/formally to foreigners. I suppose it's beneficial for learning, but to me it just seems cold.)

;w; bwaah. I really wanna hug the both of you right now.