Hi guys!
I'm currently working a lot to improve my active vocabulary and speaking skills.
I find self-talk very efficient when it comes to activating passive vocabulary, but sometimes I just can't come up with things to talk about. Or I might talk about the same things over and over again.
Do you guys know of any good resources for speaking exercises? It doesn't have to be specifically made for Japanese, just something to get me started...
For example:
"Practice greeting your teacher and classmates in Japanese."
As simple as that. But I need a lot of those, covering a lot of different situations and difficulty levels.

Thank you
Z

Here are 2 websites I found (ESL) regarding speaking activities and convo topics.

http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/phrases.html

http://iteslj.org/questions/

How about 2ch.net?
Just get in there and start talking to japanese people.

Lang-8 works too, but visiting Japanese chatrooms and websites, playing MMOs could work also.

When speaking orally, I guess you could narrate what you do in your day, such as talking about what you're currently doing to yourself like you would in English.

Thank you guys!
The http://iteslj.org/questions/ page is perfect!!

you could try talking to TV programs, agreeing and this agreeing with the characters/narrator etc.

other than that, speak to people on chat/skype etc.

Zorlee Wrote:Thank you guys!
The http://iteslj.org/questions/ page is perfect!!

Glad you like it. With this database of topics I doubt you'll ever run out of things to talk about xD Now go find some native Japanese speakers and have some convos

The "Getting to know each other" and "hobbies" section seem like a good start for new people. Then depending on their interest, branch off from there

Everyone has great suggestions. I'm going to implement them too ^^

Zorlee Wrote:Thank you guys!
The http://iteslj.org/questions/ page is perfect!!

I second that. Going to use some of these ideas when corresponding with my Japanese pen pals!

This helped me out with my Lang-8/Skype friend get some convos going. Even though we've had only 2 convos, the 2nd convo was much better because I found that list and had much more to talk about (learned new vocab too) . 1st convo was about the weather and what we were currently doing. I'm surprised it lasted 5 minutes xD

RawrPk Wrote:This helped me out with my Lang-8/Skype friend get some convos going. Even though we've had only 2 convos, the 2nd convo was much better because I found that list and had much more to talk about (learned new vocab too) . 1st convo was about the weather and what we were currently doing. I'm surprised it lasted 5 minutes xD

Heh, I had much the same experience with my first Skype convo a few weeks ago. Since then I've been working on my small talk through pen pal e-mails, since it gives me more of a chancwe to think and process. With this list, I may take another crack at live convo in the next week or two.