How to say "From A to B"

The corrections can be sooo difficult to understand. The language itself is pretty difficult enough to begin with, so when they begin talking about grammar and linguistics in said language, it just gets more difficult.

I don't have any advice for anything related to speaking, unfortunately. My native language is very monotone and has basically made it super easy for me to pronounce Japanese compared to English speakers. It's not something I have practiced. Furthermore, I don't really enjoy speaking. It doesn't matter which language it is - I always prefer reading, listening or perhaps writing. I'm usually too shy to speak with other people, so I just practice when I'm alone. It usually works for me. I have a native accent in 5 different languages that I basically only speak when I'm alone. I don't really understand how it works, but I guess it has something to do with my native language and the amount of time I spend talking to myself and "shadowing". Are you familiar with that word? It refers to the act of basically copying native speakers so you get that perfect accent when saying certain phrases. If you do this enough, the entire accent will just stick to you and it will improve your "speaking flow" a lot.

The problem I'm personally facing right now is my lack of vocabulary. I usually understand most grammar I encounter, but the words man... All those words. It's impossible to speak a language when you don't know most of the words. It doesn't matter how much grammar you know if you have a really limited and small vocabulary. It's like knowing how to drive a car without actually having access to a car. It won't get you far. Da da da, I'm rhyming ha ha.

With that being said, you can only speak a language you know. In other words, no matter how much speaking practice you do, you will only ever be as good as when you sit down and try to do your best writing a sentence. If you spend five minutes looking up grammar and words in a dictionary just to write one sentence, it will take you about 5 minutes to say that exact sentence as well. That's why I prefer to just study, read, listen and write while perfecting my accent. Then, when I'm good at the language, I can speak pretty fluently. I personally don't like speaking, so I am not really practicing it.

And good luck on your bike tour, by the way! It sounds awesome :D When will you be in Japan?

/r/LearnJapanese Thread