I've often read that having a native pen pal is a great way to learn everyday Japanese and have fun. I totally agree with this and I'd like to try it. I've subscribed to a few sites (like http://www.japan-guide.com/local/ and http://mylanguageexchange.com/ ), offering help in the Italian language (my native one) and the little I can manage in English in change for help in Japanese. But I have a few doubts about how the actual exchange should work out...
Given that I'm not yet able to communicate exclusively in Japanese, what kind of person should I look for?
I'd say someone who can speak a fairly good English, because we could use that as a basis to explain the two languages in detail to each other (how am I supposed to tell them how the Italian pluperfect subjunctives work to someone who doesn't know English when I have no idea of how to say even "subjunctive" in Japanese?).
In fact, I think I can say this from experience: through one of those sites I was contacted by a Japanese girl who wanted to be friends. Great! I thought. But it took me only a couple of mails to see that she couldn't get a word of what I was saying! I barely managed to get her name in kanji, but not where she lives in Japan. The same would probably apply if she tried to explain something to me in Japanese.
I have absolutely nothing against someone who doesn't speak English (it'd be plain stupid if I did), but I really wouldn't know how to "exchange languages" with her that way!
I'd rather avoid trying to write in Japanese unless I have someone who can correct my every mistake, for the reasons given by AJATT and by me here
What I'd like to know is whether someone has overcome these problems, and how they did it. Should I try to speak Japanese anyway, or maybe wait till I'm capable of understanding a bit more, or look for someone really proficient in English?
I'm open to suggestions
[kana]arigatou[/kana]!
Given that I'm not yet able to communicate exclusively in Japanese, what kind of person should I look for?
I'd say someone who can speak a fairly good English, because we could use that as a basis to explain the two languages in detail to each other (how am I supposed to tell them how the Italian pluperfect subjunctives work to someone who doesn't know English when I have no idea of how to say even "subjunctive" in Japanese?).
In fact, I think I can say this from experience: through one of those sites I was contacted by a Japanese girl who wanted to be friends. Great! I thought. But it took me only a couple of mails to see that she couldn't get a word of what I was saying! I barely managed to get her name in kanji, but not where she lives in Japan. The same would probably apply if she tried to explain something to me in Japanese.
I have absolutely nothing against someone who doesn't speak English (it'd be plain stupid if I did), but I really wouldn't know how to "exchange languages" with her that way!
I'd rather avoid trying to write in Japanese unless I have someone who can correct my every mistake, for the reasons given by AJATT and by me here
What I'd like to know is whether someone has overcome these problems, and how they did it. Should I try to speak Japanese anyway, or maybe wait till I'm capable of understanding a bit more, or look for someone really proficient in English?
I'm open to suggestions
[kana]arigatou[/kana]!