General Discussion

皆さん、こんばんは！

始めまして、ヒョウリです。よろしくね！今、大学生です。マンチェスター大学で日本語を勉強していて、今日本に住んでいますよ！留学生です。三年間日本語を勉強しているんが、まだ難しいですね！いつも練習したいので、一緒に話しましょう！頑張りましょうね！

I really need to check back here more often, oh my goodness so many people I haven't responded to lately...
申し分けない！ ><

Also sorry for this mega post but I didn't want to leave anyone out. XD

@Mouzeh
すごいですね～うらやましいよ！
That's great! I never got the chance to stay with a host family, I hope it's going well for you. ^^ And a small school in the country sounds like the best way to learn the language and immerse yourself.

@Shell
Wow that's pretty amazing for you to jump from erratic studying to challenging the N3 so soon. I definitely applaud your hard work and welcome back from studying abroad! Where did you study at? ^^ And if you ever want to practice I'm game~ Speech is definitely the area I'm pretty comfortable with so long as it's casual, haha.

@chaosmagic
I highly recommend visual novel type games if you're comfortable enough to say you're at a high intermediate level. However even at a low intermediate level you should be able to get around the more casual games in like say high school settings. Personally I do the same as well-- immerse myself at least once a day whether it be through music, games, or shows. Reading I still haven't convinced myself to practice as much as I just haven't had the time but in the future I plan to. I've picked up novels from friends to read sometime but of course reading manga is an easy and fun way too as well.

@KingShadow
Thanks for the understanding, haha~ I'll be teaching in the Yokaichi area of Higashioumi city within the Shiga prefecture. It's pretty close to Kyoto and Osaka as it's in the Kansai region.

Pssst go with Kyoto~ Tokyo area gets pretty old pretty fast. But that's most Japanese cities. Then again I'm a bit biased as I was born and raised most of my life in Las Vegas so pretty over that kind of city living. XD

@Opalwhisker
始めまして、私はケイトです～もうすぐ日本に引越しします。
１０年間ぐらい日本語を勉強しましたから、何か質問があったら是非聞いて下さいね！

@Quaviver
Welcome~! And that's great, do you know where you'll be studying abroad? If you ever want to practice let me know. ^^ I'll be moving to Japan at the end of next month so I definitely understand your feelings of wanting to be prepared for sure. XD

@mickeyymouse
長崎はいいですね～行ってみたい！私は８月から東近江市、滋賀県に住んでいます。
That's awesome! Definitely a great way to practice your Japanese for sure, haha. Just have to keep at that kind of thinking in your every day life too. ^^

@Mawgrim
I definitely recommend first figuring out what level you're still at. Possibly use a testing phone app or online website to try to figure out around where you stand right now. If you're below intermediate then it's all about building up vocab and practicing what grammar points you know and solidifying them. If you're high intermediate or more then the sky's the limit~ As you can immerse yourself in more difficult materials like challenging yourself to playing games, listening to music (and comprehending it), drama cds, anime, manga, tv shows, etc.

@Azumarill
私もびっくりしたよ！こんなに日本語を勉強している人が一緒にいるとはね、ちょっと感動した。「ああ、私一人じゃない！」って感じ。（笑）でも９歳からとはね、やっぱりすごいだよ。うらやましい～きっとN3め合格ゲットと思う。私でよければ、練習相手になるよ～

@Afniel
それはすごいだよ！長い間日本語を勉強したね。私はもうすぐ滋賀県でALTで働いているので、もっと練習した方がいいと思う。

私も時々喋りすぎると思うけど、練習相手がほしいのなら私でよければ～

@hyouri
どこで留学していますか。私もうすぐ日本に引越しします。

Does anyone mind if I just hang out here sometimes and try my best to read? I took 2 1/2 years of Japanese but it's been a while since I've practiced my reading skills.

@faythflame 僕もALTだった！よく権ばってください～時々ちょっと難しかったけど素晴らしい思いになった。

Ahhhh...going through all these responses make me realize how out of practice I am with Japanese. D: Dang. I took Japanese for 4 years in high school, but for the past year, I haven't been practicing much...I feel like my kanji is especially bad. I did have a bit of a pen pal over summer, but she got a little too advanced for me and we kinda stopped talking...Anyone up to practicing/conversing with me over like PMs or skype or something. ;^; I'm too nervous to post my shoddy Japanese publicly~~

@vaalta
Of course not~ Reading conversations is definitely a good way to practice but you should jump into some too. ^^

@Incubusted
Don't mind me for butting in~ But I'll be moving to the Kansai region soon-- specifically Shiga-ken, so if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear! Definitely want to start adding to my must check out list.

@Afniel
うそ～！偶然だね～
じゃあ、先輩どこで働いたの？

@StarTatami
I'd definitely be up to practicing with you over PMs or Skype if that's where you're comfortable. I could use all the reading and reading practice I can get as well.

@Quaviver
やった～！Another person coming to the Kansai area~ I'll be living in the Shiga prefecture come August. ^^

@faythflame
群馬県の館林市の中学校で働いた！でもあの間に結婚していたし、ハズバンドが太田市の高学校のALTだったし、太田に住んでいた。（ひしぶりだ…今ギャルフレンドと住んでいる（笑）それは長い物語だなぁ）

@Afniel
そうか～私も中学校で働く！そうして一週間一日小学校にも働くんだ～すごく楽しみにしている。＾＾
あら、それはすごい話だね。でも今は幸せに生きているのなら、素晴らしいと思う～