Take my advice
What to do and how
10.05.2008
Here are some tip's I have found through trial and error:
Find a reliable time to study Japanese outside of your home.
I don't study Japanese at the moment because I'm in Korea and find learning Korean enough to keep me busy but I do always use what I know when I can.
I visited Japan 5 months ago to get my Korean Visa and had a great time remembering all the vocab, phrases and culture that used to be so familiar.
At my school here there was a teacher who spoke better Japanese that his English so we used to converse in a mixture of Japanese, English and Korean. Sadly he's left now but a few students learn it and I enjoy bursting out with some Japanese to shock them.
Use your MP3 player for more than idle fidgeting 
A good free Podcast is Japanese 101. You can download all the dialogues for free from:
http://www.japanesepod101.com/
I recommend signing up for the free trial so you can look at some of the PDF's that are useful.
Newbie lessons are great, funny and dead simple
Beginner classes are more in depth on grammar and longer dialogues
The feeling you get when you start to understand the dialogues and then real-life is fantastic
Don't knock Language Games
There are some dead simple vocab games and good advice on:
http://www.genkienglish.net/genkijapan/menu.htm
Kids
Kids speak quickly and they may not understand your lack of Japanese as they fire a billion Q's your way but with the study tips mentioned above they are the best way to practice.
Don't be afraid to use a bit of Japanese in class or ask the kids the Japanese for what you are teaching. The kids enjoy it even if you get it wrong.
So maybe your an English teacher but that doesn't mean you can't practice with your students. The best time for this is during lunch. Sit with the kids (mingle) and ask simple questions you've learned.
It doesn't take much to become a novice and that's all that most expect of you but if you go that one step more you will enjoy and learn much more about the culture through the language
Good luck and enjoy learning.
Posted by Follow Me 9:41 PM Archived in Tips and Tricks | Japan
