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+--- Thread: Suggestions for Practicing Production in Time Left for Exchange Pr (/thread-12730.html)
Suggestions for Practicing Production in Time Left for Exchange Pr - klloud - 2015-05-10
I'll do an exchange program in a Japanese university starting from next October and I've been studying the language ever since July 21 of 2014. I used Minna no Nihongo as my basic textbook and I started studying with Tobira just recently. I've been creating my own Anki decks and also using some pre-mades, such as Minna no Nihongo Vocabulary, Core 2k and 6k Vocabulary and Sentences and now the ones available at the Tobira website.
I also have been trying to read 2 NHK News Web Easy articles a day and I'll start to incorporate some native material on my studies. I also have been listening to JapanesePod101 a lot. I recently finished Beginner Season 6 and I'm on lesson 11 of Upper Beginner Season 1.
I know the common readings of about 500 kanji and my vocabulary is of almost 3,000 words. I can read simple texts and I'm starting to get the hang of reading articles at NHK Easy.
English is my second language and I started learning it over 10 years ago. That experience taught me that production is extremely hard. I could only read and listen to English not long ago. I only learned how to use the language actively after I started to use Reddit everyday.
Not learning Japanese in a classroom has its downsides. I didn't practice producing my own sentences as well as I could. The classes in the university will be held in English, but I really want to improve my Japanese while I'm in Japan.
There will be Japanese classes in that time. There are 6 different levels and according to that test, I would be placed in Level 3. I really want to be able to get at least to Level 4 to really take the most out of this opportunity. According to the level description, I need at least a reasonable handle in production and that's where I need help.
What do you think I could do to improve my production in these almost 5 months I have left? I was thinking of writing diaries at Lang8. I also wanted to use Hellotalk, but my cellphone can't be upgraded to Android 4.0. There is also italki, but I'm really short on money to hire a tutor and I wouldn't know how to use Japanese actively anyway.
Suggestions for Practicing Production in Time Left for Exchange Pr - ariariari - 2015-05-10
I recommend 1-1 lessons with professional teachers on italki.com. Every time that I have 1-1 lessons with professional teachers, I am amazed at the improvement it does to my speaking and writing ability.
I think that the professional lessons on italki.com are cheap in comparison to the value you get. If you want to go even cheaper, you can try their community teachers as well.
Suggestions for Practicing Production in Time Left for Exchange Pr - klloud - 2015-05-13
Thank you for the suggestion. italki seems like a wonderful platform. I thought about using it, but I'm really short on money. Also, since I never practiced speaking before, I feel like not training a bit by myself beforehand would be detrimental.
I didn't know about community teachers, so thanks for letting me know.