I've been studying Japanese independently for about 3 months now. I'm wondering about when everyone started doing speaking practice, and whether anyone uses iTalki or another platform.
Is there a certain chapter in Genki (or other textbook) that I should reach before trying to speak? At this point I can only really construct the most basic of statements, but I do feel like I can understand a fair amount.
What is everyone's experience with beginning speaking practice? Any advice?
My japanese instructor who teaches a class of many students, started with conversations on the first lesson, through self-introduction, after giving each of us basic translations of our faculty and course names, country of birth, age, etc. On-the-fly she'll throw simple questions, and guide us both on translating questions and answers into japanese.
The course is designed to accomplish conversational japanese, and there is an oral examination component at the finals.
That said, it depends on your aim and which part of language outcomes you need. For me, last time, my only purpose is to be able to read for untranslated japanese games. That need expanded to typing japanese to communicate with japanese players of japanese MMORPGs. Nowadays, i need to make phone calls to japanese companies for business inquiry.
Needless to say, my japanese oral component during my exams were not flattering. With the inclusion of making phone calls in japanese (and skype being sucky that the volume was too soft to hear the other guy), I sorely regretted on skiving off from my japanese-speaking.
FYI, renshuu has discord community events. Check the community tab, and if the time fits for you, it is advisable to join in with fellow learners in a friendly environment to start practicing.
If you know はい and いいえ you're ready. Try to communicate what you can, with what you know. If you don't know how, that's okay.
Don't worry about trying to sound perfect, and don't worry about making mistakes. The reality is, you'll probably make tons of mistakes, and that's okay. Everybody makes lots of mistakes. Over time, as you get better, you'll start to make less of them.
Unfortunately I never really focused much on speaking and now after 2 years I can't get much out of me even though I understand a lot. So, you should start speaking now. Even if you can't say much yet, it's never too early to start with it. You shouldn't wait, and also not to reach any chapter of a textbook before you start. Not only speaking to someone in Japanese counts as speaking practice. Simply just reading out loud the sentences is also a good way to get used to the sounds. I can also recommend you to do shadowing (Watching videos in japanese and repeating what they say without stopping the video). But of course this isn't enough to get fluent. Sooner or later you need to practice speaking with a native maybe. I think italki is a good idea. I'm also planning on getting a teacher to practice speaking and other things soon and maybe I will use italki. So if you want a teacher to help you, I think now is the best time. The sooner you start to speak, the faster and better you'll get. But of course you can get a teacher whenever you want or feel the need for one.
I have had two different experiences (speaking Japanese and Korean).
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At our language school, we also had to speak from day one. We have a question-and-answer session in the first 10 to 15 minutes of each lesson. The teacher asks several questions or sometimes we ask our classmates.
If we get a question, lets say "What did you do at the weekend?". We do not think about what does it mean anymore (like we did in the beginning), we only think about...."What did I actually do at the weekend?"
We did not do this kind of question-and-answer session in my Korean A1 lessons and now we do it at A2-B1 lessons (different teacher). I really struggle when forming sentences, because we did not focus on basic speaking practice that much. It is annoying, that I can't speak well even though I have a higher language level and can understand my teachers questions perfectly.
At some point it will get better. It is just a matter of time and practice.
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Use the amout of words you know and try to use them as often as you can.
You don't have to do it with people first. One thing about speaking, you get better by practicing sentences, but they don't have to be with people.
For example, "life narration" is a good way to speak Japanese to yourself to get practice. For example, right now I can say "now, I will make breakfast", "today is Sunday 26th May", "its 11 o'clock", "i am eating chocolate" etc.
I think just being verbal can help you be better, even if no one is listening. If I say the date or time everyday to myself, when it comes up in conversation, I'll be more than ready. You just have to make sure to check you are right if you have any doubts.
