Will It Be Difficult to Adjust to Life in Japan?

Question

I was wondering this because I plan to do an exchange program next year, going to Japan. The program only requires you know 6months of Japanese, so I'll be taking the 6months before I go. (the program isn't until Summer 2009) I'm only 14 now, and I'll be 15 when I leave, so I'm afraid that when I get there, someone will say something to me and I'll be like WHAAAAAA? Would I be able to learn enough Japanese in the 6months? They teach us more Japanese once we get to Japan, but I'd still be a little nervous. I think I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so would it be possible to take classes that cram a lot of information into a short amount of time? I'm really nervous and I just want to make a good impression! They put us in a host family, so the last thing I want to do is not be able to communicate with the family I'm put with. =\

So here are my questions if you couldn't pick them out of all that jumble lol :

*Will I be able to learn enough Japanese in 6months to survive off of?

*Are there classes that cram a lot of information into a short amount of time?

*Has Anybody had experience with this? I really need help lol thanks

Also, I live in Cleveland, Ohio, so if anyone could refer me to some good places (or even online lessons lol!) that'd be a great help.

I'm going to try to take actual lessons (that involve another person) while I study online so that way I can learn/practice as much as possible. I'm really nervous and just want to be prepared before I go on the trip. I'll die if I mess up while I'm over there. .___.

**ANY SITES THAT GIVE FREE JAPANESE ARE APPRECIATED**

Thanks In Advance!

~iLoveGaara♥

Answer 1

It's impossible to learn a language that fast. Luckily, you don't have to know any Japanese to survive in Japan. Restaurants and stores often have people that know English and there are signs in English everywhere. If they only require 6 months of Japanese for the program than it is most likely going to include professors that speak English. Ask your school to make sure that your host family knows some English. Hopefully your school isn't going to send you to a family that doesn’t speak English with teachers that don‘t speak English, that would be ridiculous and stupid of them, but you never know so ask.

As far as learning Japanese, study extra hard and get good grades in your classes at school. Meanwhile, practice at home on your own time. Buy some books, CD's, and check out some sites for learning beginning Japanese. There is plenty.

Most important is practicing how to say very common sentences and phrases. Like, hello how are you, where is the washroom, good night, thank you, etc. Don't worry so much about the reading and writing cause you won't be able to do that in 6 months anyway, that will take years. katakana and hiragana is barely scratching the surface of their language.

Good luck and don't worry so much.

Answer 2

To learn Japanese. Take your time if you rush it, you're gonna forget some of it and become frustrated. Burn the basics into your memory and move on from there. Learn basic phrases, gain some vocabulary, start learning Kanji. Just take your time. 6mo is ample time to build a foundation to communicate on some level in Japanese. Don't expect to be able to hold a full blown conversation. I was in Japan studying Japanese for 3 months and just became comfortable holding some form of a conversation in Japanese at the 3mo. mark. (thus the reason why i decided to go back for another year). You will see grave improvement by studying in Japan. So don't stress yourself too much by what you can learn at home. And you will impress the Japanese by attempting to use your Japanese and not just running around in Japan never trying to learn. I had a guy say 'Ohayogozaimasu' to me in the morning and he nearly had a heart attack when I responded back 'Ohayogozaimasu'. So you don't have to try to become as "fluent-as-possible" in a short amount of time.

Things to get better that you can constantly do is practice, maybe listen to Japanese music sometime on a day to day basis. Try to watch Japanese television shows, movies, or dramas WITHOUT the subtitle. This is good to do because it will improve your listening skills. Also with the music if you start catching on to words you can somewhat sing along and get a feel for enunciating words and recognizing sentence patterns.

If you will quickly adapt to Japanese life varies from person to person. Many factors can come into play on how much or how fast you will adapt to Japan life. Just be open minded, take it all in, and enjoy yourself!

Answer 3

it depends.sometimes you can sometimes you can't.but it's gonna be hard to adjust anywhere.if you've lived a life with similar beliefs then it'll be easier.I've been raised with animistic beliefs,similar to shintoism,so I live the same way of life basically here.

Answer 4

I am a Japanese and know many foreigner living in Japan.  I think there would be difficulties to adjust living in Japan, but many Japanese speak English and we are kind to you.  In this sense you will be comfortable here.

Answer 5

Lucky! I love Japan!  I wouldn't worry so much about it, you're learning and your host family will know this.  I'm sure they speak English too.  The best way to learn how to speak a language is to live there for awhile or stay there for an extended period of time.  You're going to learn so much, just don't stress about it.  Have fun!

Answer 6

I lived in Japan for 3 years and know Japanese. You won't be able to learn enough Japanese to be fluent; you might be able to know enough about the grammar that you can carry on simple conversations. Your skills will improve really really quickly once you get there, AS LONG AS YOU SPEAK LOTS OF JAPANESE. A lot of foreigners get into the bad habit of hanging out with other foreigners and speaking English. That will slow your Japanese learning. You'll be able to get by in Japan OK, though, as people are in general really really nice and  helpful, and they like to encourage people a lot and are quite understanding. They'll be happy with the least amount of Japanese language skills. To make things go quickly, learn katakana and hiragana as quickly as you can, now. These are the two Japanese alphabets. You'll start learning kanji, but that takes a very long time. Katakana and hiragana can be learned in 2 weeks if you apply yourself. If you end up in a big city, there will be a lot of foreigners to hang out with. If you are in a small town, there will be few or no foreigners, but that means you'll meet more Japanese and learn more Japanese. Bring lots of small gifts, like keychains, to hand out to people. It's common to give people gifts, and I'm sure you'll get a lot of them. You can expect to get homesick--everybody does--but you'll feel better after awhile.

Answer 7

My general advice is don't worry about it. I've been to Japan before and I'm moving there in a couple of months. You're question about learning enough Japanese in 6 months is difficult to answer. It all depends on your level of learning; how quickly you absorb new information.

I'll tell you one thing though, you can survive with minimal knowledge. Granted, if you want to thrive, you need to speak the language. But last time I was there, I barely used any Japanese because everyone wanted to practice English with me.

Also, major roads and signs in stations are also in roman letters, so if you're unfamiliar with kanji and kana, you can still read the signs.

Grab some grammar books, learn kana and memorize basic phrases. That's enough to get by until you get into your classes.

Good luck

Answer 8

It'll be difficult if you can't speak japanese, try this website http://learnjapanese.elanguageschool.net...