Do you think that you have to go to study abroad or go to a high English conversation school and study under a foreign instructor to be able to speak English? In fact, it is possible to improve your English skills even in Japan. In other words, there is a good chance that your English will not improve even if you go abroad. Here are some ways to improve your English skills while in Japan.
Not afraid of failure
Japanese people are said to be people who cannot speak English for many years studying English at a high level of education worldwide. One of the main reasons is that Japanese people are extremely afraid of mistakes.
Maybe thinking too much?
I can’t speak English because I don’t want to speak the wrong English or want to laugh at the wrong English. When my foreign friend talked to a Japanese in English, he thought about 5 minutes to say one sentence, and finally thought about 5 minutes if he finally opened his mouth. He told me that he was saying one sentence. In order not to make a mistake, take the time to compose a sentence in your head and put it out. However, if you can speak only one sentence in 5 minutes, conversation will not be possible.
You can make a mistake!!
This is a bit extreme, but there are many Japanese people like this. And as long as you’re afraid of mistakes, you can’t learn English anywhere. In order to study English, it is important to first make a decision such as “You can make a mistake” or “If you make a mistake, think about it.”
Judging by looking at the other person’s facial expression
However, you may be worried about whether your English is well understood. In such a case, it is important to look at the other person’s expression rather than stay silent. If you know what the other person is saying, you can see it by looking at the face. On the other hand, if you look like “N?”, You are not communicating with the other party.
Some people can communicate with others
When I was talking with a friend from the United States and a husband from Europe before, I knew what I wanted to say to my husband, but I didn’t. My husband is used to my English, so even if I make a few mistakes, I can get the meaning right away. However, it seemed that the friend didn’t understand, and her face was clearly “N?”. At that time my husband was explaining to her.
That is also the case. Some people make use of their imagination to understand, while others do not. Therefore, when talking, it is important to look at the other person’s facial expression.
Improve speaking level in Japan
Do you have a favorite movie or drama? You can use the DVD to improve your English.
Use English movies and dramas
DVDs often have English subtitles. You can acquire conversation skills by listening to Japanese audio and reading subtitles in English. There are many expressions that can be used on a daily basis in movies and dramas. Let’s memorize these expressions. By doing so, you can study extremely natural English conversation.
If you use English conversation texts, there will be many expressions that natives do not use, and there are times when example sentences are unnatural. In movies and dramas, expressions are extremely natural, so there is no sense of incongruity even when used on a daily basis.
Romance is recommended
However, there may be people who don’t know what to choose because there are so many genres in movies and dramas. For example, in the case of TOEIC, some technical terms such as words used in medicine and scientific words are also required. In such cases, you can learn words by watching dramas in those areas.
However, if you want to study English conversation for the time being, or want to master everyday conversation for the time being, the recommended genre is romance. In the case of romance movies and dramas, most of them include idiots. Since narration is an important way to insist on what you want to say on a daily basis, you should remember it.
Prepare topics you can talk with foreigners!!
Japanese people may receive a reputation for being an ethnic group that does not have a topic to speak for wanting to speak English. There is no topic that you can talk to when you meet a foreigner.
General questions are boring
For example, suppose you ask a foreigner who lives in Japan, “Do you like Japan?” Perhaps this foreigner has been asked this question so much. It is said that Japanese people cannot easily expand conversations with foreigners. It is too common to ask foreigners what they like about Japan and how often they return home.
Storing topics related to foreign countries
If so, what kind of topic should we talk about? To that end, it is important to acquire foreign knowledge on your own.
For example, Belgium is famous for beer, chocolate and waffles. If you have a lot of knowledge about Belgium when you meet a Belgian person, you may ask, for example, “What kind of beer is in Belgium?” “How much beer do you drink?” “How much is beer?” I can do it. This can expand the topic.
At first glance, it may seem simple, but this way of spreading the topic is not possible without knowledge of the country. And in order to be able to talk with people from any country and anytime, it is important to always be interested in foreign countries and accumulate topics.
English level + topics
What do you think. To acquire English conversation skills while staying in Japan, you need not only learn English. Acquiring English conversation skills means not only communication skills, but also topics for talking to people. To that end, it is important to make efforts on a regular basis.
In particular, Japan may be recognized as “a country that does not speak English” from overseas. It is unfortunate that it is a country that does not speak English, despite the fact that English education at a high level has been conducted worldwide for many years.
Now that globalization is progressing, I would like to acquire not only English conversation skills but also communication skills and knowledge so that I can speak with foreigners without fear.
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