Tip on practicing a foreign language?

See if you can find a club or a meet up with conversational Japanese speakers. Is there a Japanese Cultural Center/Buddhist center near you?

@zenvelo Unfortunately I live in the boondocks, so there is really nothing within a reasonable distance. There’s a club at the high school, but I’m home schooled. They don’t have Japanese for PSEO either…so I’m slightly frustrated, because I really do want to learn it.

There’s a club at the high school, but I’m home schooled.

Maybe you can get a transfer to a Japanese home. ;-)

Have you tried LiveMocha? I believe it is free. If not, try to get to it via your local public library

I’ve never gotten into it myself, but I’ve heard that the virtual game-world-thingy SecondLife is good for practicing foreign languages.

Attach a tag with the name of every household item in your house with the Japanese name. Say them out loud when you use them.

Watch Japanese language anime on YouTube. It’s great for learning pronunciation and listening comprehension.

I wish I could think of a way for you to practice conversation, but that requires another person to be with you.

Great Question.

I’ve taken a grand total of 7 years of Spanish since middle school, gotten an A in every single course, and I still can’t speak it. My best friend is in the same boat with French, as are most of the people I know with similar experiences.

Foreign language in school is a joke. Even if it wasn’t, it takes longer than a year to learn a language. Teaching yourself at home will take even longer. What helps the most is being around prople that speak the language. Ever consider studying abroad?

I hear good things about Rosetta Stone, if you can afford to throw a bunch of money at this endeavor. If not, just be patient and keep practicing.

@patricelamare Welcome to fluther. Great idea. When I was in college one of my fellow students who had been in the Peace Corps showed how they taught languages. They basically threw the student in and just spoke the language they were trying to teach.

I loved LiveMocha when I tried it for French a few years ago. Definitely try it. The good thing about it is that there are native speakers who can grade your reading, writing, and pronunciation. They can also give you tips for mastering the language.

They’re actually merging with Rosetta Stone now, though, so I don’t know how long it’s going to stay free. Check it out ASAP!

I always like to watch foreign films when I’m trying to get my Spanish or French correct.

@RandomGirl The merger with Rosetta Stone is unfortunate, as RS has never been free, and is v. expensive. For now, LiveMocha says they’ll stay free, but I have my doubts. More likely, the only way to access it for free in the future would be through your local public library.

@ScottyMcGeester : Good idea. I’ve found that watching foreign films subtitled in the original language is very helpful in making the leap from written to spoken, since we often approach learning a second language through its written form.

@bookish1 @ScottyMcGeester A similar idea is to watch TV programs and newscasts in a foreign language. You’ll likely pay extra, but on many cable TV systems you can subscribe to special foreign language packages. For example, in my area, I can get Hindi, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Portuguese and Greek packages, to name a few.

Get a penal and Skype buddy from Japan

Write to a school in Japan and ask for pen pals Skype buddies a bit like student exchange

Great suggestions, @Arewethereyet!

Thanks :)

Thanks for the help everyone! Love the skype and penpal idea! I’ll try Livemocha. I did purchase Rosetta Stone, but since then I’ve discovered it’s terrible for learning Japanese. I still do use it just to hear the pronunciation.

My daughter is living in Japan now, and has a double degree in teaching Japanese and in teaching high school English. I’ll suggest you do what she did. She simply loved all things Japanese, and learned everything about Japan (the culture, the food, and the language) that she could. This started when she was in middleschool.

I’ll ask her what she suggests, and let you know.

Keep in mind that the Japanese are passionate about learning English, and they adore all things American (US). So if you write asking for a Japanese pen pal, explain what you want to do. Ask them to write you letters in Japanese and then translated into English.
Many Japanese can write English very well, but have trouble recognizing spoken English, so they know how hard it is- from the other side.

Also, Good bookstores and most libraries have picture dictionaries in many languages. I have seen The First 1000 Words in Japanese. Perhaps one of these books offers a CD to help with pronunciation.

FYI LiveMocha is so amazing! Rosetta Stone absolutely pales in comparison! It’s a shame the companies have to have anything to do with each other.

@GenJGal: I’m glad you like it!