Practicing Japanese with Other Learners

You could be forgiven for thinking that conversing in Japanese with non-native speakers is counterproductive, beset with issues such as picking up unnatural grammar and pronunciation, but is it really the demon it is made out to be?  In the final article of the language exchange series, we will be taking a closer look at the ways in which our peers can assist us in our quest to master Japanese. 

Advantages of Practicing with Other Learners

If you have ever spoken with a native speaker, you will probably have experienced one of those moments where you feel in over your head. Even advanced learners will sometimes find themselves lost for words when the conversation turns towards unfamiliar territory, and for the rest of us it can feel like we spend more time asking for clarity than we do actually exchanging thoughts in Japanese.  It is especially frustrating that you can understand everything so well while you are studying.  Even when listening to a dialogue for the first time, if it has been carefully crafted to your current ability, you can usually follow the gist without too much difficulty. Yet there you are, faced with your Japanese friends and feeling completely out of the loop. 

Wouldn't it be nice then, if there was a way of having a Japanese conversation with someone who speaks at the same level as those recordings you so easily follow at home?  This is where our fellow learners can be a great asset to us.

Limited Vocabulary

This is possibly the greatest gift your fellow learners can offer you; the chance to practice conversation without too much unfamiliar vocabulary. Even if your native speaking friends try to use easier Japanese, it can be very difficult to know what counts as being 'easy' to a non-native speaker of your language. A fellow learner however, is limited in their choice of words, and even those who are a little ahead of you, will usually reach for easier words that they've known longer, which you have more chance of knowing. 

Maximise the benefits: It is a good idea to exchange with someone close to your level. It's okay if you have a little distance between you, such as pre-intermediate/intermediate, or upper-intermediate/advanced, but if one of you is just starting out while the other is able to confidently hold a conversation with native speakers, you will find it very difficult to study together and the beginner may even lose their confidence. 

Speaking Speed 

As you've surely noticed, Japanese, especially casual Japanese, is very quick when spoken at natural speed. However, even quite advanced learners will tend to speak a little more slowly and clearly than a native speaker, and certainly at the lower levels, we are limited in how quickly we can form Japanese sentences. Of course, our native friends will happily slow down their speech for us, but there will always be moments when they slip into natural speed, or blend words together. Your non-native friends however, will naturally speak more slowly and clearly without the need for you to constantly ask them to repeat what they said but slowly. This allows you to develop your ear for Japanese gradually, hearing the individual sounds over and over until they become familiar enough to pick them out even when they're thrown at you full speed by your Japanese friends.

Maximise the Benefits: While your partner will speak more clearly, the difficulty will be in mispronounced words leading to misunderstandings. A good way of handling this is to repeat back to your friend what you think you heard. They may then notice their mistake, and correct themselves, or you may discover a new word. It is important not to be shy to admit when you don't understand something, as failing to do so prevents you from ironing out errors or learning new vocabulary from your partner.

Sharing Mistakes

Of course, when speaking with non native speakers, it isn't the case that communication won't break down at all. A learner's lack of proficiency with the language means there will often be times when they're perplexed by something their partner has said, even if they DID recognise every word. This will either be because the speaker didn't know or use correct wording, in which case you can discuss or even investigate the correct way together, or because the speaker was using language the listener hasn't studied yet. In either case, there is an opportunity to discuss the usage of the language, which rarely presents itself when practicing with native speakers. Often you will find yourself, weeks or even months down the line, messaging your study partner with, 'remember when we couldn't decide how to describe doing several loads of laundry? You were right.. you DO use '回 (kai)’.. I just heard someone say it in the drama I'm watching'. Exploring the language in this way not only helps it to stick in your memory, but it also teaches you that other learners make mistakes too, and that it really isn't the end of the world if you don't know everything yet. Especially as you continue to iron out these unknowns together, you will become more relaxed and see each mistake or knowledge gap as an opportunity, rather than an obstacle.

Noticing mistakes is one of the vital components in improving language, and it works whether they are our own mistakes or not. Native speakers won't always point out your mistakes because they can guess from context what you were trying to say, and don't want to break the flow. By practicing with non-native speakers, you get a unique chance to share in their mistakes too. Even if you don't want to correct them every time, simply noticing the error will help to reinforce your knowledge of the language and help you to become more aware of your own wording.

Maximise the Benefits: It is important to establish ground rules for correction. For example, if your partner is new to conversation or timid, then correcting every single mistake is likely to harm their confidence and make it harder for them to open up and speak. Bolder speakers may wish for you to correct every little mistake they make, but this could break the flow of conversation.  A good way to deliver correction is to repeat back what you think the person said to you, only with a questioning tone. For clarity, I'll give an example using English;

'Do you fancy going for something to eat?'
'Yeah, I'm quite thirsty'.
(you think from their tone of voice, they meant 'hungry'). 'You're thirsty too?'

The person then realises their mistake and can now either tell you they meant hungry, or maybe as they are thirsty too, they can just reply with 'yeah, I'm hungry and thirsty'.  This is a little gentler than constantly stopping the speaker and saying, 'you meant 'hungry' right?' 

Clear Explanations of Grammar   

One of the most surprising discoveries I made when I began speaking with fellow learners, was that it was much easier to clear up confusions about the language. Just because someone is a native speaker of a language, that doesn't make them a grammar expert. There are plenty native English speakers who couldn't explain the difference between an adjective and a verb, never mind know what the present perfect tense is, and your Japanese friends are no more infallible. So asking them, 'what's the difference between '聞こえる' and '聞ける'?' for example, may well be met with silence. Sure, they instinctively know when to use one or the other, and after some thought, they'd probably work it out, but they may not be able to answer immediately, or know the necessary vocabulary,  to explain it in a way you'd understand.  However, your non-native friends, may well have pondered the same things as you, and if so, can probably explain it better using reference to your mother-tongue. 

Disadvantages of Studying with other Learners

Having looked at the advantages of practicing with other learners it is time to take a closer look at some of the concerns that put people off.  Some of the more obvious disadvantages were touched upon in the introduction, but we will explore them in more detail here. 

Picking up Bad Habits

This is possibly the most common reason why people avoid practicing with non-native speakers, and it is true that you will possibly pick up poor pronunciation or mistakes from your partner. Scholars of language learning processes speak of 'incomplete success' (the fact that few people learn a second language to the degree they learn their first language) and 'fossilisation' (mistakes that become so ingrained in the way you use and process your second language, that they become a permanent characteristic of your speech) as two characteristics rarely absent from second language speakers.  While every second language learner aims for native-like output, that is sounding like a native speaker and using grammar flawlessly, the reality is that the majority of learners will reach a point after which they can't iron out those last traces of foreignness from their accent, or no matter how much they practice, there will always be those little slips of grammar. Few learners will accept that this is their fate and will assume that they personally, will be in the 10-20% of second language learners who sound like a native speaker when they reach fluency (the so-called 'Optimism Bias' of human behaviour). Even those who can accept the likelihood that they won't be 100% perfect, would surely do everything they can to minimise this inevitable failure.  It seems perfectly reasonable then, that people would seek to avoid practicing with anyone who's accent is below perfect, or who could pass on their bad grammar habits.

Remedy: You can't make your partner speak perfect Japanese any more than you can make yourself, but it is really down to you to weight the pros and cons and decide if practicing with non-natives is for you. For most learners, they develop their accent early on and while it continues to improve gradually, they don't develop a more native-like accent until the later stages of study, at which point they will be more comfortable and able to speak with native speakers.  Anyone with a strong accent in their first language who has lived away from their home town, will have noticed how quickly their accent softens and standardises, losing much of the harshness of their local dialect. This does not take years to change, but a matter of months. The same will be true when your Japanese reaches fluency and you begin to surround yourself more and more with native speakers. Few people lose their foreign accent altogether, but the fact that you spent time studying with a non-native speaker, is unlikely to have much of an influence on that. So as long as you continue to listen to native Japanese as often as possible during the earlier stages of language development, there should be little lasting harm from studying with others, and the keen ears and willing critique of your fellow learner, may just be enough to help you to avoid many mistakes long before they get a chance to fossilise.

Jealousy and Competitiveness

If you are the kind of person who needs to measure their success against others, then you may need to think hard before deciding if this method of conversation practice is for you. Language only works when both the speaker and the listener know the 'code'. Even between native speakers, if one person starts to use jargon the other party isn't familiar with, communication breaks down and the speaker has failed to use their language effectively.  It is important to keep vigilant when selecting a study partner and weed out anyone who you feel deliberately tries to use vocabulary or idioms they expect you won't know, to effectively 'show off', as these people are not out to help you to improve and will not be of much benefit to you. 

Remedy: So long as your friend isn't deliberately trying to make you feel inferior, a little jealousy needn't be an issue if you are able to recognise it for what it is. Jealousy only becomes a negative force when it is allowed to fester and turn to resentment. Instead, it is important to turn your jealousy into admiration for the other person, and let it be a driving force that inspires you and encourages you to study harder, so that you can catch up to your friend. 

Conducting Sessions

How you practice with your friends will be much the same as it is for practicing with native speakers.  If you live locally, you can take a textbook to a cafe or quiet bar, or you could do an activity together.  The Internet too, offers great ways to exchange, from chat rooms to online games, there is so much to explore together. The first two articles in this series offer a good starting point if you are stuck for ideas. 

Conclusion

In an ideal world we would all learn Japanese by osmosis in Japan, surrounded by native speakers and emerge a year or two later with pitch perfect fluency. The reality though, is that few people really learn this way, with even those who live and work in their second language, being forever haunted by persistent mistakes.  Especially earlier in our development, communicating with native speakers can be quite overwhelming and the trauma of failed attempts can hold us back for years to come if we don't take action to repair our confidence. Practicing with other learners acts as a bridge, easing our way into Japanese conversation as it offers us the opportunity to practice Japanese conversation in a controlled way.  We are less inhibited by constant errors if we know our partner too is imperfect and knows all to well what a struggle it can be.  So long as you ensure that you get plenty exposure to natural Japanese, there is no reason why practicing with non native speakers can't become a valuable part of your Japanese practice.