A learning Japanese post

When I was in Japan, I became friends with my bosses daughter, and her friend is currently in London for the week, so I met her, and her friend last night. Both are Japanese whom cant speak English other than a few words. For me, it wasnt only a great night out, but also a fantastic opportunity to speak solely in Japanese. Since returning to England I've become lazy and even though I've met loads of Japanese people through University, because they can speak good English, I dont really speak Japanese with them. I want to, but for some reason I feel odd and dont. If I do, its usually a strange combination of Japanese and English words combined. Basically, if the Japanese person can understand English, my Japanese gets worse. Its odd, but very true. My Japanese self-confidence and self-esteem is really low these days.

I was worried if I could handle a night solely in Japanese. Sure, I've read and written Japanese lots, but not so much lately, and I've hardly spoken any Japanese this year. I've been so busy with work and Uni I havent studied at all. Seeing as speaking is the hardest part of Japanese for me, I was a bit worried. But then - if I am worried about general conversation for one night, how can I do a 3 month internship in a Japanese company?! How can I expect myself to be able to work there if I cant do this? As usual, I put alot of pressure on myself.

But, I returned a very happy girl. I could do it. Now I am sure that my Japanese has improved since 2005 as I probably wouldnt have been able to keep up the conversation then like I did last night. I'm not perfect, my Japanese is sometimes a bit random, but at least I know I am improving. I can do this. I really needed this Japanese 'pick-me-up'.

Switching between Japanese and English is hard though. My brain was all set-up in Japanese mode, so when we were ordering and I was asking them what they wanted to drink, they reply '紅茶'. So, I turned to the waitress and said '紅茶を二つ、オレンジジュースを一つ下さい'. Damn did I feel silly...

Also, I find it hard to naturally say things like 「そう」、「うん」、「なるほど」 etc when people are speaking. Even though my brain is in Japanese mode, my knee-jerk reaction is to say 'Oh, right', 'Ok', 'I see' etc. I'm not perfect yet.

Once this semester is out the way, it JLPT2 all the way!~