some questions about japan

[laura-aap]

next year my brother and I are planning to go to japan.
we already have most of the money so we can really go.
so now Im trying so hard to learn to speak/understand japanese.
but Im a little bit scared it would not be enough.

is it true that japanese people cant speak/understand english?
I dont have any japanese friends so I cant fall back on them. It will be just me and my brother.

is it needed to have a japanese friend? if so.. where can I find japanese penpals?

and where can you learn japanese the best?

thank you so much!

Bye Bye~
xx laura

[Yuri]

Well i guess it depends on which area youre staying in. if youre around those tourist areas then you'll definitely find people who speak english. its true that not many japanese people there can speak english, but if youre lucky, you'll run into a few who can. and theres no need to have a friend, people are generally very nice here and will help you out if needed. but i think its a good idea to have a local with you because they can show you what life is like in that area and bring you places not generally seen by tourists. (which can save you money as many places can over-charge you) as for learning japanese? im not sure, maybe you can check if there are classes in your area? a year is plenty of time to learn basics. in japan i dont think it will be easy to find classes that will teach you unless you are planning to stay for a longer period of time. even then it can get expensive.

hope that helped! if you have anymore questions just ask!

[laura-aap]

thank you so much! I think I'll have to make a friend online so I can visit him/her next year.
so there are Japanese people who can speak english? thats amazing. a ex-friend of mine was always like: nobody will speak english and so on. I think if people even know the basics will do for me.

currently I bought a book full with lines who will def. come in handy. even the words are spelled so you can say it correctly. and there are number and so on written in it. there are no japanese classes around my hometown. so I'll just have to do homestudy. iek!

but thank you so much! now I really know that visiting Japan is a great thing and I should not worry to much.

[Yuri]

glad i can help! you shouldnt have to worry when your on VACATION. i have a few books like the one youve explained and they are really useful. which area will you be staying in anyways?

[laura-aap]

we dont know yet.
any good suggestions??

maybe we are going to stay for 10 till 30 days.
because than the plain ticket will be cheaper. but staying at a hotel will cost to much. are there any options?

[yiin]

staying longer means that you'll be spending more money on food, transportation (maybe), and shopping. I'd spend more money on the plane because it'll probably be more cheap in the long run. it also helps if you have family there.

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by laura-aap

we dont know yet.
any good suggestions??

maybe we are going to stay for 10 till 30 days.
because than the plain ticket will be cheaper. but staying at a hotel will cost to much. are there any options?

hotels can get pricey.. maybe you should check out hostels? its WAY cheaper plus you get a chance to meet other visitors like yourself.

heres a link: http://www.hostels.com/en/jp.html

[pinkhaireddreamboy]

mmm I'll try to answer based on my ten day visit to Tokyo at the beginning of summer.

is it true that japanese people cant speak/understand english?
I dont have any japanese friends so I cant fall back on them. It will be just me and my brother.

I went with my sister and my dad. My sister had taken two years of college-level Japanese and she was at least familar with the language.. But she was with her Japanese boyfriend a lot of the time and when it was just me and my dad we found that we could communicate well. We never encountered a Japanese person who spoke english anywhere knew fluent, but through hand signals, pointing, body language, etc. we could always manage to ask questions and get answers if we needed to.

is it needed to have a japanese friend? if so.. where can I find japanese penpals?

I dont think it is needed, but it would be fun to have one. they could show you around better and you wouldnt just go to all the tourist places, haha. Like I said earlier, my sister had a Japanese boyfriend there at the time who she met at her college (in California). It was really nice to have him around cause he could translate for us and take us to neat places. I'm not sure where to find penpals though! Check livejournal, maybe.. It might be best to find a western person living in Japan who speaks Japanese fluently, but has English as their first language rather than a native Japanese person.

and where can you learn japanese the best?

Try taking a community college course or finding a personal tutor if you can. I wouldnt really on any self-teaching methods like computer programs or tapes, etc. I dont have any personal experience with this though >_>

[laura-aap]

thank you so much!
Im going to try out the hostel site as soon as we know a date.

I also found a friend who lives in tokyo.
theres only one problem. he playes in a rock band so the chance that he's home is very tiny.
learning japanese is so hard! but I just found a great online site thats for free. so it really helps.

after all the great help of you guys.. I think I should not worry about my trip. as long as we have a great time^^

thank you!!!

[SecretLover]

From my knowledge I believe highschools teach english. So I am sure most Japanese people know a few things. I have a lot of Japanese friends (online) like soooo many, all of them know english. Not all as well as others, but they still all know English.
The only problem is, understanding their english in person. I am sure that will be difficult.

Good places to find Japanese penpals is Japanguide.com and Myspace. Thats where I found most of my friends <3

[sara01]

is it needed to have a japanese friend? if so.. where can I find japanese penpals?

like i have japanese friends on myspace but dont know how i did it but it just happened ... so yeah browse around i guess

[laura-aap]

I dont have a myspace yet.. but now I'll make on.
Ive used japanguide.com and already have 3 Japanese penpals. I have such great contact with on of them so that really helps.

we even made a deal. not sure if he will stick to it but ahh well.
if we (brother and I) go to japan he is going to take us to a dir en grey concert! we'll see.

but thank you guys!
it really helps me to feel better about going.

[sara01]

Originally Posted by laura-aap

I dont have a myspace yet.. but now I'll make on.
Ive used japanguide.com and already have 3 Japanese penpals. I have such great contact with on of them so that really helps.

we even made a deal. not sure if he will stick to it but ahh well.
if we (brother and I) go to japan he is going to take us to a dir en grey concert! we'll see.

but thank you guys!
it really helps me to feel better about going.

aww thats cool dir en grey concert .. yeah the girl i met said we would go shopping and visit alot of places so yeah cant wait hope u have fun in japan

[BisukeLite]

This website may help you learn some Japanese. It has audio files to read along with so that you can learn Japanese with better pronunciation. Click on the button on the sidebar that says "lessons." It's free ^^

http://www.japanese-online.com/

This place has free lessons too, and they really start from the beginning and teach you the "alphabet."

http://www.freejapaneselessons.com/

Lastly, here is a long list of websites that offer Japanese lesson:

http://www.word2word.com/coursead.html#japanese

Good luck! ^_______^

[JunkoTengoku]

Yeah English is taught in school, so most young people should have some knowledge of English. Also, if you go to Tokyo there are a fair amount of foreigners in some areas. Mostly you just need to be creative to convey whatever you need to. For me, I would just want to have everything planned out, like where I was staying and how to get there, before I went on the trip. If you can find a friend, that of course would be great! Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about the language problem, my parents went to China without knowing any Chinese and somehow made it with no problems. They had a driver who spoke no English, but they got everywhere they wanted to and even had dinner with him.

Things are also more expensive in Japan, so definitely make sure you are set with money.

Anyway, I hope everything works out!

[laura-aap]

an other question just popped inside my head..
how should I do it with the money?? should I take cash with me or use a atm there? if so.. can you put an atm in english??

thanks for all the help till so far!!

[Yuri]

cash is best. you can use atms but its going to be more of a hassle because not all locations will accept credit/debit issued outside of japan. also they might charge you extra fees or something. but if i remember correctly some conveinience stores like 7Eleven have atms that are in english and will accept things like visa.

[laura-aap]

that is such a relieve.
I also was thinking about cash. its the best way I guess.
just need to watch out that Im not going to spend it all in once.

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by laura-aap

that is such a relieve.
I also was thinking about cash. its the best way I guess.
just need to watch out that Im not going to spend it all in once.

aha try all you want, but you wont.