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+--- Thread: Back in Japan for a Study Abroad (/thread-13673.html)
Back in Japan for a Study Abroad - Raulsen - 2016-04-04
Hey all,
As the thread title suggests, I'm finally back in Japan for a semester-long study abroad. I'm studying at 岡山大学, and from the look of it, I'll be starting classes later this week. I'm planning to take the N1 this semester while I'm in Japan, and since I've already completed all the 必須科目 at my university, I'm taking classes on nothing but good 'ole 日本語 this time. That being said, while passing the N1's definitely one of the biggest goals for this semester, I want to everything I can to improve my Japanese in general, so I was hoping I could ask for a bit of advice here.
Currently, I can read fairly comfortably (with a 国語辞典 for a few words), and I usually don't have any trouble saying the gist of what I need to say. I've also practiced writing essays with my tutor, and while there's definitely room for polish, I had a bit of confidence when I was writing them. That being said, listening's still my weakest area, and I've found that, while N2 and N1 dialogues aren't too much of a problem, when it comes to actual conversation, there're a lot of differences that seem hard to account for. I've already met several people with a lisp, mumblers, and a few Korean students that pronounce つ as ち, and ぜ as ジェ (I'm assuming Korean lacks those sounds, but the first time I heard ちかう, it took me forever to realize it was 使う、not 誓う). How should I prepare for speech styles like that? They don't show up in textbooks for good reason, but I still want to be prepared so I don't have go into もう一度モード every single time.
Also, in general, what sort of advice would you have for a study abroad like this? I'd love to hear about your own experiences, so please post any stories here if you have them.
Thanks a ton!
RE: Back in Japan for a Study Abroad - zx573 - 2016-04-04
You're overthinking it, I think. The best way you can prepare for those kinds of things and improve your Japanese the most is to just spend as much time talking to other people in Japanese outside of your dedicated study time for N1 and essay practice. There's no way you can prepare for everything beforehand, you just need to be adaptable. Even as a native speaker of English, I still have trouble understanding some accents of other natives. Non-native speakers are even worse. It becomes easier to understand them the more I'm exposed to it, though.
My general advice: don't hang out with only study abroad/foreign students. I see this often among the study abroad students at my university and I've talked about it with a friend who did study abroad and she experienced the same thing. It kinda defeats the purpose if you're trying to improve your Japanese if you aren't hanging out with natives. My friend joined a club at the university she studied abroad at and at first it was rough since she couldn't speak well, but they tried to include her in things and tried talking to her a lot, so she can speak pretty decently now after a year. Maybe it might be worth finding a club if there is one that interests you.
RE: Back in Japan for a Study Abroad - Meriden - 2016-04-04
If I may ask a question, can you speak Japanese in most situations at the N2 level? You seem quite confident.