I live in Japan!

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by Bluemonkey101021

Nyororin, if i may ask, I know that you took courses in highschool, but once you're in japan, where do you start in regards to learning the language in a foreign land when you can't understand anything? I realize that immersion is the best way to learn a new language, but i find it hard to believe that just walking around pointing at things so people know what you want is an effective way to begin. Taking courses in my home country would be the best bet i understand, but even if you do that, how did you personally get out of difficult conversations with an answer to your question? especially those of importance like a dispute over a payment for example. I guess i don't understand how immersion begins to work with little to no language background.

Don`t expect much at first... Would be the best advice I can give. If you want to leap from nothingness to adult conversation, it simply isn`t going to happen. At the highschool, I didn`t take any Japanese classes (Because, well, there weren`t any. It was a Japanese high school - any "Japanese" class would have been the equivalent of an English-speaking high school English class. Literature, etc.)
Basically, I started with a handful of simple phrases and a tiny tiny bit of knowledge of sentence structure (from the simple phrases I knew). The phrases really didn`t come in handy much at all as no one actually spoke that way in reality - and most were travel phrases. But the tiny bit of grammar knowledge I was able to pull from them allowed me to substitute words in as I learned them. This also made it easy to pull a harder word from a dictionary and just substitute it in.

For immersion to be effective, you need some level of guidance. Just walking around and pointing or listening to people won`t do much. Someone has to be willing to correct you when you attempt to say something... This is why just living in Japan doesn`t do much. A homestay or immersion in addition to classes is best, although self study with good friends who only speak Japanese with you would work.
Imagine how you learned English as a child (If English is your first language) and work from there. It wasn`t in school and it wasn`t alone. You need to find someone in Japan to replace the role of typical parents in language acquisition.

As for more difficult conversations - could you argue over payment as a small child? Even if you had been of the mental maturity to do so, language acquisition starts with frequency. There really is no easy way to leap to the same level in Japanese as in your first language. You have to build in steps even if it`s not immersion. The big difference is that with immersion, you learn in more natural steps and aren`t tied to the examples (that, to be quite honest, are hardly ever played out in real life) listed in a textbook.

[ShowGirl4U]

Hello everyone,
I'm from Vietnam and I hope I can travel to Japan.

[SSJup81]

Been thinking about this lately, so decided to ask here instead of making a thread about it. Anyway, as most know here, Karaoke is really popular and mainstream in Japan. At the karaoke boxes located throughout the country, what types of foods or drinks are common for that type of thing? What do most karaoke places serve? Do they serve meals or just light snacks? What types of foods?

[Sashimister]

Originally Posted by SSJup81

Been thinking about this lately, so decided to ask here instead of making a thread about it. Anyway, as most know here, Karaoke is really popular and mainstream in Japan. At the karaoke boxes located throughout the country, what types of foods or drinks are common for that type of thing? What do most karaoke places serve? Do they serve meals or just light snacks? What types of foods?

It really depends on the place. Some serve just snacks and beverages and some serve all kinds of dishes like in a large restaurant.

The most popular dishes include curry, pizza, fried chicken, French fries, spaghetti, etc.

Here are some actual munues at the major karaoke chains.

http://www.karaokekan.jp/menu/food.html

メニュー紹介 | カラオケ＆パーティー　コート・ダジュール

http://www.utahiro.com/menu0904_sp.htm

http://karaoke-g.jp/menu/index.html

[SSJup81]

Wow, I knew that they served foods and stuff, but not meals like that. I never would've expected that.

At least I have an idea and how it varies depending on where you go.

[Hanakimi400]

Your life story is interesting! I live in Tokyo city and it's always so packed and busy. I spend my freetime around Harajuku mall.

[winters]

Regarding the menus at karaoke bars; do most of them serve alcohol, and what is the average price of a pint? And how usual is it to get drunk at these places?

[MMM]

Originally Posted by winters

Regarding the menus at karaoke bars; do most of them serve alcohol, and what is the average price of a pint? And how usual is it to get drunk at these places?

Are there karaoke bars in Japan? Are you mixing them up with snack bars?


The only places I know that have karaoke are 1) karaoke "boxes" and 2) snack / hostess bars.

1) karaoke boxes are rented by the hour and are private rooms a group (large or small) can go to sing karaoke, eat and drink. Alcohol is certainly available. The prices are nominal, and you don't have to worry about embarrassing yourself in front of strangers.

2) snack / hostess bars are a different story. They tend to be expensive, which a charge of anywhere from 1000 yen to XXXXX yen just to sit down. Karaoke is a common activity (especially as the alcohol flows).

[Hatredcopter]

Originally Posted by winters

Regarding the menus at karaoke bars; do most of them serve alcohol, and what is the average price of a pint? And how usual is it to get drunk at these places?

It's very usual. And drinks are cheap - in fact, I'd say karaoke is probably the cheapest place to drink in Japan, as most places have an all you can drink (nomihoudai) option. At our karaoke place, it costs 1700 Yen for nomihoudai for 12 hours, on top of the price of the room.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Hatredcopter

It's very usual. And drinks are cheap - in fact, I'd say karaoke is probably the cheapest place to drink in Japan, as most places have an all you can drink (nomihoudai) option. At our karaoke place, it costs 1700 Yen for nomihoudai for 12 hours, on top of the price of the room.

That is a great price...for alcohol?!? Wow.