What is Shadowing and Can it Improve Your Spoken Japanese? I Tried Shadowing Every Day for a Month

“I can read it and understand it, but I can’t speak like that!”

 …Does this sound familiar?

Almost all language learners feel that their production (speaking and writing) is not as strong as their comprehension (listening and reading). This is normal, but it can be very frustrating.

One method that is supposed to improve your listening and speaking is shadowing.

I’m a Japanese teacher, but as a non-native speaker, I’m a Japanese learner too. I’m confident with my spoken Japanese, but like everybody I stumble over my words sometimes. And I’m aware that my spoken Japanese will never feel quite the same as my native language does.

Earlier in the year, while trying to speak Japanese every day for a month (without being in Japan), I went on a deep dive into Japanese pitch accent.

(Pitch accent In brief: Japanese has high-low tones, and pronouncing a word with the wrong pitch accent pattern makes you sound unnatural.)

I started watching the fantastic “Japanese Phonetics by Dogen” series on YouTube. Dogen recommends two key ideas to improve your spoken Japanese:

1) Record yourself and listen back to the recording, checking for speech errors

2) Practise shadowing every day

I’d heard of shadowing before, and I’d seen Japanese language learning resources devoted to it – but I’ve never tried it. I decided to try this every day in March, and see what impact it had.

I was hoping to improve my phonetic awareness (like most non-native speakers, I had never explicitly learned Japanese pitch accent before this). I also hoped that shadowing practice would work a bit like warm-up exercises to speaking, allowing me to speak more quickly without losing accuracy.

I didn’t have to look far to find a great shadowing resource – there is a popular book and CD combo called Shadowing: Let's Speak Japanese. It comes in two levels - beginner/intermediate, and intermediate/advanced. I ordered the latter from Amazon Japan, and followed the directions in the book. Every day for a month!

What is shadowing?

Most people are familiar with “listen and repeat” in language learning contexts. You listen to a conversation line-by-line and repeat each sentence after the recording.

Shadowing is different from simple “listen and repeat” in that you start speaking while the person on the audio is still talking. You echo the speaker 1 or 2 seconds after they speak, and talk over them.

If you tried to do this with long-form listening materials, even in your native language, it would be impossible – you’d get lost. And you wouldn't gain much phonetics or speaking practice by doing this. 

So in shadowing, you use very short passages. The goal is to be able to produce the dialogue with perfect pronunciation, as close to the recorded audio as possible. 

To do that, we need to break the process down into steps.

The book I bought was quite prescriptive, which at first seemed intimidating but in practice I found very helpful.

It suggests practising shadowing for 10 minutes a day, and doing one section o of the book (about 10 short conversations of about 4-5 lines each) continuously for 2-3 weeks.

So that’s what I did, following this process from the book to the letter.

How to do shadowing - step by step:

1)   Find material at the right level for shadowing. Specifically, choose a short dialogue that is easy to read and understand, but difficult to say with fluency. 

[Note from me (Fran): If you already have a Japanese textbook you’re using, you don’t need to buy a separate shadowing book. Use the short dialogues in your textbook.]

2)   Listen to the audio and/or read the script, checking that you understand the conversation and looking up any words or expressions you don't know. You’re going to be repeating this conversation over and over, so it’s important that you understand what you’re saying, or the exercise is pointless.

3)   Listen to the script and follow along with your finger.

4)   Listen to the script and repeat the dialog in your head, without vocalising. That’s right – without speaking or moving your lips, silently repeat the dialogue a few seconds after the speaker. 

5)   Listen while visually following the script, and say the dialogue aloud a few seconds after the speaker.  You’ll be talking over them.“The objective…is to keep up with natural speed, so think of it as a work out for your mouth when you practise.”

6)   Without looking at the script, play the audio and say the dialogue aloud a few seconds after the speaker. 

7)   Without using the script, shadow the audio while thinking about the meaning of the conversation. Think about the emotions of the people in the conversation and the context.

Shadowing moves words and phrases from your passive to your active vocabulary

I followed a few steps from this process every day for at least 10 minutes. In a month, I did two sections of the shadowing book. 

That’s not very much, really – 25 or 30 short conversations. But I felt like the words and phrases wormed their way into my spoken Japanese.

Here are a few examples:

1) I was talking to a friend about British weather, and the word 土砂降り(doshaburi, downpour) came out of my mouth. I’ve seen, heard and read that word before. But I don't think it’s ever been a part of my active spoken vocabulary. 

2) I went for coffee with a Japanese friend and we were talking about something I feel quite sceptical about, when the phrase そうかな… (sou ka na? “I don’t think so?”) popped out of my mouth.  Again, I’ve heard Japanese people say that phrase. But I don't think I’ve ever actually said it before.

Shadowing moved these words from my passive vocabulary into my active vocabulary. I kind of own them now – they’re part of my speech.

This shows how important it is to choose shadowing material that fits the way you want to speak. And it’s a good example of why you probably shouldn't shadow anime, unless you want to sound like a pirate or a robot cat.

(Image source)

Record yourself!

I also watched about half of Dogen’s Japanese Phonetics series on YouTube and made notes. I started to get into the habit of looking up the pitch accent of words I wasn't sure about.

And I recorded myself speaking, and listened back to it, comparing it line by line to the recording. 

Like most people, I don't even like listening to recordings of myself in my native language. So listening to myself speak Japanese was quite painful. But I definitely noticed speaking habits I have that I didn't know I had, and little mistakes I didn't know I was making.  

The downside of recoding yourself (as opposed to just shadowing) is that recording yourself and listening back to it takes about three times as long as just shadowing would.

(Image source)

Give it a go!

I found it easier to speak over the dialogue wearing headphones. But because shadowing involves talking to yourself, you can’t really do it on public transport. That being said, I found it relatively easy to squeeze 10 minutes of practice into my day. I did it before work, or afterwards when I got home.

Shadowing has its critics (if you want to read more about that, google “does shadowing work?”). But if you want to improve your spoken Japanese, I really recommend that you give it a try. I feel like it worked for me. Maybe it’ll work for you too?

Like me, you might find your vocabulary for British weather expanding! Or you might learn a new way to be sceptical. Same thing really.

Links:
Amazon links with an asterisk* are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you, when you click through and buy the book. Thanks for your support!

• Japanese Phonetics by Dogen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jakXVEUTT48 (some of these fantastic videos are free; the complete series is available to Dogen’s Patreon supporters)

• Shadowing: Let's Speak Japanese! Beginner to Intermediate (Book & Audio CD)  https://amzn.to/2XSzW0H *

• Shadowing: Let's Speak Japanese! Intermediate to Advanced Level (Book & Audio CD) https://amzn.to/2XQCwEk *

Please note that both books are likely to be slightly cheaper on Amazon Japan:

• シャドーイング-日本語を話そう-初〜中級編　https://www.amazon.co.jp/シャドーイング-日本語を話そう-初〜中級編-斎藤-仁志/dp/4874243541/

•  シャドーイング-日本語を話そう-中～上級編　 https://www.amazon.co.jp/シャドーイング日本語を話そう-中～上級編-斎藤仁志；深澤道子；酒井理恵子；中村雅子；吉本惠子/dp/4874244955/

Is it Shinbun or Shimbun?

It’s both. And it’s neither.

Beginner students often ask whether “shinbun” or “shimbun” is the correct spelling of the word for “newspaper” in Japanese.

You’ll see both spellings… and books about the Japanese language don’t seem to be able to agree either.

If you look at the two most popular Japanese beginner textbooks, Genki has “shinbun”, whereas Japanese for Busy People has “shimbun” and also “kombanwa”.

But why?

Well, there are different ways of writing Japanese in romaji (roman letters i.e. the alphabet). All romaji is an approximation, and there are two different major systems, both used widely.

In elementary school, Japanese kids learn Kunrei, the government’s official romanization system. Kunrei is more consistent, but not particularly intuitive for non-Japanese speakers.

In the Kunrei system:

しょ is written as “syo”

こうこう is written as “kookoo”

But textbooks for people learning Japanese tend to use the Hepburn system, which is easier for non-native speakers. Modernised Hepburn writes しょ as “sho” and こうこう as “kōkō”.

"N or M?"

Under the older Hepburn system of romaji, a ん (n) before a "b" or "p" sound used to be written as m. This gave us romaji spellings like shimbun and sempai. (The Kunrei system, on the other hand, never used this rogue "m" at all).

When Modernised Hepburn was introduced in 1954, the "m" rule was dropped. Since 1954, both major systems have said that these words should be written as shinbun and senpai.

So shimbun-with-an-m hasn't been officially used since 1954...but it is still the preferred romanization of several major Japanese newspapers: Asahi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun.

So it seems like shimbun-with-an-m is still with us.

"So which is better?"

Arguably, “shimbun” is closer to the pronunciation of the word. There IS a sound change going on here – before a “p” or “b” sound in Japanese, the ん sounds more like “m” than “n”.

But "shinbun" is more consistent, and personally I prefer it - especially if you’re still learning kana. 

There is no ‘m’ hiragana, and I don’t want you wasting your time looking for it on your kana chart.

"Which is more common?"

I don’t know. But it kind of doesn’t matter which one is more common: the Japanese way to write the word for newspaper isn't “shinbun” or “shimbun”. It’s not really even しんぶん. The Japanese word for newspaper is 新聞.

Which brings me neatly onto my next question...

“Why are you writing it in romaji anyway?"

Some people say that the shimbun/shinbun thing is a slightly pointless question. Everyone should just learn the kana, and then we wouldn't have this problem, right?

But romaji isn’t just read by people learning Japanese. Romanised stations and place names and even people's names are read by millions of people visiting Japan who don’t know Japanese.

And for people who don’t speak Japanese (especially English speakers), it's easier to guess the pronunciation of “shokuji” than “syokuzi”.

So, while the current system is a bit of a muddle, it's the best thing we've got. I think we can all agree on that.

(First published February 12, 2016. Updated June 21, 2019)

What is the Japanese Calendar, and what year is it?

Did you know that Japan has its own numbering system for the years? As well as the Gregorian calendar (the same calendar used in the west, the one that says it's 2019 now), Japan uses another system which names years after the reign of the emperor.

(The western calendar is commonly used too - and the two systems can be used interchangeably.)

So, what's the date?

After Emperor Naruhito ascended to the Japanese throne on 1st May 2019, the new Japanese era Reiwa (令和) began.

This means that 2019 has two different names in Japanese: the first part is named after the previous era. And the second part is named after the new era.

So the period between 1st January and 30th April 2019 was 平成３１年 (heisei sanjuuichi nen; Heisei 31).

And the period from 1st May to 31st December 2019 is 令和１年 (reiwa ichi-nen; Reiwa 1) or 令和元年 (reiwa gan-nen; gan-nen being a special word referring to the first year of an imperial reign).

1st June 2019, therefore, can be written in Japanese as:

令和１年６月１日

Reiwa ichi-nen roku-gatsu tsuitachi

(Japanese dates go from big to small: year → month → day)

Or even just as:

1/6/1

Cool, huh?

A year in seven days

Emperor Hirohito died in the 64th year of his reign, on 7th January 1989. So the "year" Showa 64 was only seven days long. The rest of 1989 (from January 8th onwards) got the name Heisei 1.

Date-spotting in Japan

The Japanese date system is commonly used in New Year’s greetings. You might see the year written in kanji on a New Year’s card too.

Can you read the year on this card?

Image source: yubin-nenga.jp

You can also see the Japanese year on coins and banknotes in Japan.

What year is this from?

Image: Wikipedia

You don't need to memorise the dates of all the emperors, though (unless you want to). There are apps and online converters that will tell you any year in the Japanese equivalent.

Should we start calling 2019 “Elizabeth 67”?

If this all seems strange, remember that we do this in other languages, too.

When we talk about "the Victorian era" (the years of Queen Victoria’s rule) or “the Victorians” (people who lived during that time), that's basically the same thing.

We just don’t name the individual years after the current ruler. We could if we wanted, though, I guess...?

Top image source: Wikipedia

I Tried to Speak Japanese Every Day for a Month (Without Being in Japan)

Many people believe you need to live abroad to get speaking practice in a foreign language, but this isn’t true.

Similarly, people often assume that if you live in Japan, like I did, you’ll pick up the language easily. But that’s not necessarily true either.

If you speak English, it’s possible - indeed easy - to live in another country for years and not become fluent in the language.

I didn't make any year-long New Years’ Resolutions this year. Instead, I decided to set myself some monthly language-related challenges. I’ll decide them as the year goes on, and I’ll probably do one every other month.

In January, I decided to speak Japanese every day for a month.

For context: I live in the UK, I don’t speak Japanese at home, and although I work as a Japanese teacher, I don’t currently teach Japanese every day. So this was going to take some effort.

When I lived in Japan, I was using Japanese every day. My Japanese reading and writing is significantly better now than it was then (I have five years’ more practice under my belt). But I don’t speak Japanese every day like I used to. So I decided to try!

I set myself the following, slightly arbitrary, rules:

1) Speak in Japanese for a minimum of 15 minutes a day (ideally more)

2) Texting doesn't count

3) Talking to yourself doesn't count either*

*Incidentally, I am a big fan of talking to yourself as a method of practicing a language. But I decided it wouldn’t count for this challenge.

Day 1

Every year on January 1st the Brighton Japan Club has a New Year’s swim in the sea. A great opportunity to practice different words for “ohmygodit’sfreezing” .

I don't swim this year, just go along afterwards for a post-swim lunch and some Japanese- and English-language chat in a café.

Tip number 1: Find people to speak with. You can’t practice speaking by yourself. Could you join a group class or a social club?

Photo from last year’s New Year’s Day Swim (2018). Photo by Tom Orsman

Day 2

I get up an hour early and have a 30 minute italki lesson on Skype before work. Italki is a website and app where you can find online language teachers.

I plan to start teaching on Skype in 2019, possibly using italki, so I take the opportunity to ask the teacher all about italki and how she finds it. The teacher is friendly and I have fun talking with her. I’ve never met her before – I just found her on italki.

Day 3

I go to the weekly Japanese-English Language Exchange with Brighton Japan Club. It’s a good way to meet Japanese people, and people interested in Japan. There’s usually a good mix of old and new faces, which keeps things fresh.

Day 4

I have dinner with a Japanese friend I met last month at the end-of-year party of the Brighton & Hove Japanese Club (a similarly named but different group to the Brighton Japan Club). We go to Goemon, arguably Brighton’s best ramen bar. We talk in Japanese all night.

Day 5

I go to 書き初め kakizome (first calligraphy of the year) at Brighton Japan Club. I don't speak much Japanese at this event and on the way home I wonder if it ‘counts’… I have a lot of fun though.

Day 6

I Skype with a friend in Japan, who I met when I lived in Nagoya. This was probably the most fun thing I did all week. I saw her last spring, so catching up over video chat, there is a lot to talk about.

I reflect that being able to talk with friends in Japanese is really important to me.

Tip number 2: make friends who speak the language you’re learning

Day 7

I have a 30 min italki “instant lesson” with teacher S. She used to live in Canada where she ran language exchange events. She’s thinking about studying abroad in the UK, so we chat about that. She talks quickly, and so do I, happily and unthinkingly.

Day 8

I go to Café an-an in Portslade for lunch. I chat briefly with the owner, Noriko, while eating katsu curry. I take home some 花びら餅 hanabira mochi (“flower-petal mochi”) sweets.

After lunch I have a video meeting scheduled with Jess from Nihongo Connection. We chat in Japanese for the first half of the call - Jess is British, so I wasn't expecting to talk with her in Japanese, but its fun. We make plans to meet up the following month in Edinburgh.

Day 9

Skype lesson with Sugita-sensei. I met Sugita-sensei at Yamasa in Okazaki, where I studied on the Advanced Japanese Studies Program in 2014. Now, I consider myself lucky to call him a friend as well as 先輩 (senpai; senior colleague) and teacher. When I have time, I usually have a Skype lesson with him once a week. We read fiction and news articles, and sometimes I write stories or essays and we work together to correct them.

Day 10

I’m going to London for the day, to the video-games exhibition at the V&A and to see Macbeth. I have an italki lesson with teacher H in the morning. I ask her how I can improve my speaking. She says the goal “improve my speaking” is too broad, and I agree. She suggests I should think about what kind of speaking I want to get better at; and what I want to be able to talk about. Then, focus in on those topics, by reading about them. This seems like very good advice.

Tip number 3: find a good teacher

Day 11

I go out for dinner with a Japanese friend and a Spanish friend. We switch between speaking English and Japanese all night.

Day 12

I spend the day out with my boyfriend and some friends. My boyfriend can speak Japanese, but we don’t speak Japanese together, because - well, just because we don’t.

We get home at 11:45pm and I realise I haven’t spoken any Japanese yet today. Reluctantly, my boyfriend agrees to speak Japanese with me until midnight. We set a timer for 15 minutes and I pour him a beer.

Day 13

I go to Brighton Japan Club’s annual new-year mochi-making event. My favourite events are the ones involving food! I eat squishy rice cakes and chat with some new people.

Day 14

I have an italki lesson at 7am with a new teacher, T. This is the only italki lesson I had that wasn’t really for me. He suggests some resources that are way too low a level for me and a Japanese grammar website with picture explanations that I think are kind of unclear.

I take this as a useful lesson in how not to teach on Skype.

Day 15

Term starts today, which means I teach STEP 1 (beginner) and STEP 2 (upper beginner) Japanese classes on Tuesday nights. STEP 1 students are doing a quiz about which country well-known brands are from. STEP 2 students practice asking each other to do things, which is always fun.

On the way home I wonder if teaching beginner level classes counts as speaking practice for me. Probably not, but I decide to let it count for this experiment anyway. It’s still three hours of Japanese time.

Day 16

7am Skype class with Sugita-san. We read a section on “Friendship” from Tsurezuregusa (徒然草, Essays in Idleness), a collection of essays written by the Japanese monk Yoshida Kenkō in the 14th century, and talk about it.

Day 17

I teach two more Japanese classes, STEP 3 and STEP 4, at pre-intermediate and intermediate level.

My higher-level classes usually need a bit less structure than beginner classes. I still speak more slowly than natural speech, but I don't plan the wording of my instructions in the same way as I do with beginner classes. Especially in STEP 4, students like to chat and always have good questions, which they can ask in Japanese.

Tip number 4: ask questions!

Day 18

I’m going to my office job 9-5 today (no chance to speak Japanese there), and to a birthday party afterwards (no Japanese speakers). So I get up at 7am and have another italki lesson with M-sensei. We talk about Brexit…

Day 19

I go to a Heart Sutra writing workshop with the Brighton Japan Club. The workshop is in Japanese with English interpretation. I have fun listening along to both.

Day 20

I Skype with another Japanese friend in Japan. She had a baby recently, so a lot has changed for her. She fills me on her new life. After our conversation, I walk around all day with a huge smile on my face.

Day 21

Another italki lesson with M-sensei. She is an ex TV announcer, so I ask a bunch of questions about pitch accent. (Briefly: Japanese has high-low tones, and pronouncing a word with the wrong pitch accent pattern makes you sound unnatural).

She says that my pitch is mostly good but I make occasional pitch and stress mistakes which identify me as a non-native speaker.

Like many non-native speakers, I have never explicitly learned Japanese pitch accent, and I think this is probably something I should rectify. She has me read an article from NHK news, and corrects my pitch accent. It’s hard.

I also go to see a Japanese film with another of my students – 君の名は (kimi no na wa; ‘Your Name’). We see another former student of mine in the foyer and speak briefly in Japanese.

Day 22

I teach two beginner classes. STEP 1 students are practicing verbs like 行きます、来ます、帰ります　(ikimasu, kimasu, kaerimasu; go / come / come back), so I have them read a short story about my trip to Disneyland last year.

I am reminded that reading helps with speaking. We need to be exposed to lots of language in order to eventually produce it.

STEP 2 students are learning about giving directions. Confession: I find teaching directions really hard. I used to practice this by playing video games (students shout out directions while one person is playing), but the flash game wont work on the classroom computer any more. I consider switching this up next year.

I think more about input/output. How useful is it for my students to learn to give directions in Japanese? Not very. How useful is it for them to understand verbal directions in Japanese? If they go to Japan, probably very useful.

Tip number 5: Read! There can be no meaningful output without input.

Day 23

I ask Sugita-san more about pitch accent. He is currently teaching on a course for people studying to become Japanese teachers in Okazaki, Japan. He says many Japanese people don’t explicitly understand pitch accent either.

My boyfriend shows me a video series on Japanese phonetics by Dogen, the Japanese teacher and YouTuber. I go on an internet deep dive into pitch accent. Maybe that will be my next challenge…?

Day 24

I teach two Japanese lessons. In STEP 3 (lower-intermediate) we cover short forms in casual speech. I love teaching this because it’s so ridiculously useful and common in everyday speech. It’s not in the textbook we use at all, so I made my own materials.

Day 25

I go to the pub again with my Spanish friend and Japanese friend. Japanese friend is going back to Japan the following day. He has also, excitingly, just become a father. Lots to talk about. As before, we probably talk about half in English and half in Japanese.

Day 26

I go to an 生け花 ikebana (flower arranging) workshop with the Brighton Japan Club. The workshop is in English, but I chat with the organisers in Japanese a bit.

I have to rush off as I am going to see the film 万引き家族 (Manbiki Kazoku; Shoplifters) with my student in Eastbourne. I love hanging out wth my adult students outside of class, and I’m always super pleased when they invite me to spend time with them, especially when it’s Japan-related!

Tip number 6: find fun things to do related to the language you’re learning

Day 27

I go to Kantenya, the Japanese supermarket, and buy sashimi-grade tuna to make まぐろたたき丼 (maguro tataki don; chopped tuna rice bowl). I ask the staff how long it will take to defrost the tuna. She explains you can just take it out the freezer, or there is a proper technique that’s should make it taste better. She produces a handout that shows how to do it! They have the handout in Japanese and in English. I take the Japanese one. We talk about the Manbiki Kazoku film too.

Day 28

I have a 30 minute italki lesson with N-sensei. We talk about her plans to study abroad in the UK and my time in Japan. It’s fun, but I don’t really learn anything.

I reflect that just talking is not very good practice for me personally. I think I need to talk about difficult topics and be corrected quite closely.

Italki makes a distinction between “community tutors” (unqualified) and “professional teachers”. N-sensei is a community tutor, and mostly does “free talk”. On reflection, this is not really what I need from a paid class.

Day 29

Before my group classes, I teach a private lesson in a cafe. We go over some grammar points my student has questions about, but mostly I just try and get her to speak Japanese, without using English.

Most students need more speaking practice. The experience of being totally lost in language, and not understanding most of what’s going on is something we may not have felt since childhood. As such, it can be really scary.

I believe it’s a feeling you need to get used to if you’re going to make progress. I tell my student I want her to be a little bit outside her comfort zone - not so far that it’s terrifying, but just enough that she’s pushing herself and learning new things.

Day 30

Skype lesson with Sugita-san. We read ネギを刻む (negi o kizamu; literally “Chopping Leeks”) a short story by 江國香織 (Kaori Ekuni). One of my favourite things about my lessons with Sugita-sensei is that he introduces me to stories and essays I wouldn’t necessarily find by myself.

Day 31

A Japanese volunteer, Aria, comes to class with me. My students ask her questions and talk with her in Japanese. We also make 四コマ漫画 (yon-koma manga), manga comic strips with four panels. Aria helps out a lot and my students enjoy speaking with her.

I get requests from local Japanese people to come and volunteer at class fairly frequently. I’m grateful for their help, and it’s good for my students to practice speaking in this way.

Speaking in Japanese every day for a month - my conclusions

1) Find a good teacher

You need a teacher who fits your needs. If you just want speaking practice, find someone who will “just talk” with you. If you want to be corrected, ask your teacher to correct you more. Chatting with friends is good, but your friends aren’t language teachers (probably)

2) Make friends

The absolute best things I did this month – not just in this challenge, but the most fun things I did this month overall – was talk with my friends in Japan.

I was reminded too that being able to talk with friends in Japanese is really important to me.

3) Connect offline as well as online

If you live in a country where Japanese isn’t widely spoken, you might need to go online to find people to talk with. But I did get a bit bored of having so many Skype lessons, especially as I started to feel I wasn’t getting much out of it.

Plus, italki is kind of expensive to take lessons so often. I plan to start teaching online late this year, so I told myself that taking Skype lessons was research…

Speaking to people offline was way more fun for me.

4) Be open to surprises!

Japanese popped up in some unexpected places this month. I knew that Jess runs a Japanese speaking club, but she’s English so I wasn't expecting us to talk in Japanese so much. That was a lot of fun.

5) Find work using your languages

I get to use Japanese in my work, because I teach Japanese. Arguably it’s not really speaking practice for me, but my students always ask me good questions and help me see things about the Japanese language from a new perspective.

If you want to get serious about having more chance to use your Japanese, consider looking for a job or a voluntary position where you can use it. Could you work in a Japanese restaurant, or for a Japanese travel agency?

And finally…

At an advanced level, speaking a lot is actually not a great way to get better at speaking.

One of the italki teachers told me: “You don't need speaking practice, because you can already speak. If you read more, you’l be become able to talk more fluently about complex topics.”

This fits with what I know about input-based methods of learning languages – essentially, that these two things happen in this order:

1. You get input — you read and listen to sentences in some language. If you understand these sentences, they are stored in your brain. More specifically, they are stored in the part of your brain responsible for language.

2. When you want to say or write something in that language (when you want to produce output), your brain can look for a sentence that you have heard or read before — a sentence that matches the meaning you want to express. Then, it imitates the sentence (produces the same sentence or a similar one) and you say your “own” sentence in the language. This process is unconscious: the brain does it automatically.

(quote from Antimoon)

There can be no good quality output (speaking the language; writing it well) without massive amounts of input (listening to and reading the language).

But if you’re a beginner or intermediate learner, you’re probably not getting enough speaking practice.

Speaking Japanese every day was really fun. As you can see, it didn’t quite have the result I was hoping for, but I definitely learned a lot. Why not give it a go?

Sakura - Beginner Japanese (Starter Level)

from £195.00

Tuesdays, 12:00pm (UK time) | Online Group Course
Starts 15th Sept 2026 | 36 weeks

Who this course is for

This course is for true beginners or early beginners who already know a little Japanese (e.g. ~10-20 hiragana characters) and want to build a solid foundation.

If you are starting completely from zero, I recommend a few 1:1 lessons before joining.

You will already be able to:

• Recognise a small number of hiragana characters (or are beginning to learn them)

• Feel comfortable learning slowly and step-by-step

In this course you will learn to:

• Introduce yourself and ask simple questions

• Talk about family, friends, likes and dislikes

• Order food and drinks in a restaurant

• Ask and answer simple questions about places you are staying

• Talk about where people and things are located

• Build confidence reading hiragana and begin katakana

• Start recognising a small number of common kanji

The focus is on practical, everyday Japanese for absolute communication basics.

Course details

• Duration: 36 weeks (3 x 12-week terms)

• Day/time: Tuesdays, 12pm (UK time), 55-minute lessons

• Textbook: Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan - Starter (starting from Lesson 3, free online)

Not sure if this is right for you?

Book a free 30-minute Zoom consultation or email me for advice.

Course Length:

Select Course Length Autumn Term (12 weeks) £195 Full Course (36 weeks) £495

BOOK NOW

日本語教室で多読のコースを開いてみたイギリス人日本語教師の感想

（英語版はこちら Click here to read in English）

私はどっちかといえばもの静かなほうだと思いますが、日本語を教える時はうるさい時もあります。授業では歌を歌ったり、盆踊りを踊ったり、にぎやかなゲームをしたりしています。隣の部屋で会議を行おうとしていた人たちに「少し静かにしてくれませんか」と注意されたこともあります。 

でも、２０１８年に私はとても静かな日本語の授業を開きました。この授業では、生徒は主に一人で黙って勉強していました。 

私はその授業の「先生」だったけれど、私も一人で手作りの絵本を読んでいて、時々生徒が大丈夫かを確かめるために目を上げただけ。

これは「多読」です。普通の日本語の授業と全然違う読解の学習法です。

多読とは、文字通りたくさん読むことです。簡単な本をたくさん読んで、外国語を身につける方法です。多読では、今の勉強のレベルより少し簡単なレベルの本を読みながら、新しい言葉や表現や文法を自然に習うことができます。 

私は、多読の「授業」を開くのにかなり緊張していました。生徒が読んでいる間、私は先生としてどうすればいいかな？そこに座るだけ？生徒は一人で読むなら家ですればいいんじゃない？いったい誰が「静かに一人で読む」クラスに参加したいのだろう？

ネットでいろいろ調べて、東京にある多読を支援する団体である「NPO多言語多読」から多読の本を取り寄せました。

事例紹介や実際的なアドバイスがたくさん入っている「 日本語教師のための多読授業入門」＊という本も買って読み始めました。

NPO多言語多読のメンバーからもメールで応援メッセージをもらって、自信が少しつきました。

その後私の新しい多読のコースはブライトンの新聞にも掲載されたんです！ それを見て、かなり緊張し始めました。

多読の本が日本から届いて、私の生徒には良さそうなレベルだと思いました。でも正直、少しつまらないんじゃないかと心配しました。大人の生徒は本当に「3匹の子ぶた」が読みたいのだろうか？でも、自分で読み始めて、驚きました。すごく楽しかったのです。

絵本だからわからないときは、絵を見て推測してみることもできます。絵を見てもわからないときは、コンテクストから推測するのもいいです。それでもわからなければ、続けて読むだけでいいです。

ただ、辞書を使うことだけは許されていません。（私はこのルールに加えて、知らない単語の意味を先生に聞くのもダメだ、ともうちょっと厳しくしてみました。）

辞書を引いたり言葉の意味を聞いたりするのは、読むことを遮って進むペースが遅くなるんです。そして読むのが楽しくなくなって、生徒はやる気がなくなってしまいます。そこで、多読では知らない単語や表現に出会う時は、飛ばし読みが勧められています。

もう少し先を読めば自然にわかるようになりますから。そして、（これが面白いよ！）時々わからなくて大丈夫です。読めば読むほど、外国語を理解するのが易しくなるんですよ！

私は２００７年に日本語を勉強し始めましたが、初めて日本語の本を丸々一冊読み終えたのは２０１２年でした。あの５年間に多読のことを知っていたらどんなにたくさんの易しい日本語の本が読めていただろう、と今思います。 

私の多読のグループに参加した生徒の中には、１年間しか日本語を勉強したことがない人もいましたが、２、３回目のクラスまでに（つまり、２〜３時間の間に）様々な日本語の本も読めたのは、大変な業績だと思います。

レベル別に分かれていて、簡単で、短い本だからこそ、Step Up Japaneseの生徒は早く楽しく読めました。

多読の読み方のルール
（NPO多読のウェブサイトから引用）

１．やさしいレベルから読む

絵がついていて、母語に訳さなくても読めるやさしいものから読みましょう。絵をじっくり見て本の世界に入ることが大切です。

２．辞書を引かないで読む

わからない言葉を辞書で調べていると、速く読めません。ゆっくり読むと、つまらなくなってしまいます。わからない言葉が出てきても、辞書を引かないで、絵を見たり、その後の文を読んでみましょう。

３．わからないところは飛ばして読む

絵を見たり、ちょっと考えてもわからない部分は、飛ばしてしまいましょう。楽しく読めていれば、全部わからなくていいのです。

４．進まなくなったら、他の本を読む

進まないのは、読んでいる本が難しいか、興味がないからです。その時は止めて他の本に替えましょう。

生徒がルールを守れるかどうかという心配もありました。辞書を開きたくなったり、興味がないのに無理やり本を読み続けたりすることも絶対あると思いました。みんなにとって和やかな雰囲気が作りたかったけれど、リラックスしすぎた感じだったら、生徒が本を読まずにおしゃべりしてしまう可能性もあるんじゃないか、という不安もありました。 

でも、心配することはありませんでした。みんなしっかりルールに従って勉強できました！だって、本をたくさん読むために多読のコースに参加したんですから。

「辞書なし」というのは一番大変だったらしいです。授業の終わりに「ルールに従って多読できた？」と聞いたら、ある生徒は今まで見たこともない漢字一つをこっそり辞書で調べたことを告白しました。その漢字は「臼」でした。 

「続けて読んでみたらコンテクストからわかったかもね」と私は言いました。（あと、「臼」はほとんど見かけない漢字なので、調べないで本を読み続けたほうが効率のいい学習法でしょう？とも思いました。）とは言っても、基本的に生徒は辞書を使わずに楽しく読めました。 

一回目の授業が終わったら、買った本の数は少なかったと気づきました。生徒がこんなに早く読めると思いませんでした。ネットで多読の本をもっと注文しました。

６週間多読をして、生徒にはいろいろなメリットがあったと私は思います。そして、私も先生としていろいろ学ぶことができました。

これまで授業のために読み物を選ぶとき、私はできるだけ面白そうなものを選ぼうとしてきました。時間があるときは自分で短いストーリーを書いたりもします。でも、多読で読んだ本と比べたら、どれも面白くないなと気づきました。

それはなぜかというと、基本的に教科書に載っている読み物はつまらないからなんです。

簡単な読み物でも面白いものがたくさんあるというのは、多読が私に教えてくれたことなんです。

「ラーメン麺太の冒険」（右）は人気の作品一つでした。

始める前に、生徒はどの本を読めばいいか、自分にとってどのレベルがいいかわからないこともあるんじゃないかと思ったけれど、そういうことは全くありませんでした。生徒は自分が興味のあるトピックで、自分のレベルに合わせた本を選ぶことで、自分の日本語のレベルにも自信がつきました。

授業中、私も簡単な楽しい本を読んで、質問されたときはこんな風にかわしました：

Bさん：　先生、これはどういう意味ですか。

自分：　Bさんはどう思いますか。

Bさん：　あ、そっか。ルール２ですね。

６週間のコースの真ん中で、私は夏休みの旅行でポルトガルに行ってきました。ビーチでビールを飲みながら「コンビニ人間」という日本語の本を読みました。辞書を開かずに、知らない単語を深く考えずに、早く楽しく読めました。 

つまり、「多読」という勉強法は生徒だけではなく、私にも革命的でした。

２００７年に知っていたらよかったな、と今思います。あの初めの５年間でどんなにたくさんの易しい日本語の本が読めていただろう！ 

来年の多読コースについて考えてみたら：

• 読んだ本について生徒に短い感想を書かせる？：

写真：国際交流基金

• 音楽を聴きながら読むのはどうかな？

• 一年で６週間以上した方がいいんじゃない…？

リンク：

• NPO多言語多読→ https://tadoku.org/

• 日本語多読たどくブックス注文申し込み（NPO多言語多読版）→ https://tadoku.org/japanese/to-order

• KCよむよむ（無料で多読ブックスをダウンロードできます！）→　https://jfkc.jp/clip/yomyom/

• ブライトンの新聞（The Argus）に掲載されたStep Up Japaneseについての記事（英語）！ Japanese Language School is Running a New Course in Brighton
  → https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/16361201.japanese-language-school-is-running-a-new-course-in-brighton

• 「日本語教師のための多読授業入門」→ https://amzn.to/2T5AAkY ＊

• 「コンビニ人間　→ https://amzn.to/2CFJjDA ＊

＊が付いているリンクはアフィリエイトリンクです。そこをクリックして本をご購入いただいた場合は、私はアマゾンからわずかな手数料を受け取ることができます。お客様には普通の価格でご購入いただき、手数料はかかりません。いつも応援してくださってありがとうございます！m(_ _)m

（英語版はこちら Click here to read in English）

'Tadoku': Here's What I Learned From Running a Japanese Silent Reading Course

（Click here to read this article in Japanese 日本語版はこちら）

I’m not a particularly loud person, but some parts of my Japanese classes are quite loud. We sing and dance, talk and play games. We’ve even been asked to keep the noise down before by a group in the next room who were having a meeting (sorry about that!)

But in summer 2018, I ran a very quiet course. Students worked alone, in a comfortable silence.

And I was the teacher, but I mostly sat reading a hand-stapled book, looking up only to check that students were happily entertaining themselves.

This was Tadoku - a reading class with a difference.

Tadoku (多読) is a Japanese method of learning foreign languages by reading easy books. Ta (多) means “a lot” and doku (読) is “reading”, so Tadoku literally means “read-a-lot”. It’s sometimes called “extensive reading”. 

In Tadoku you read easy material, slightly below your current study level, and in doing so you learn new words, phrases and structures.

I was quite nervous about starting a Tadoku “class”. What would I do in class while students are reading? Just sit there? My students could just read at home, couldn't they? Who’s going to enrol in a silent reading class?

I did some research, and ordered a set of Tadoku graded readers from NPO Tadoku Supporters, a Tokyo-based organisation that promotes the practice of Tadoku around the world.

I also got this book: 日本語教師のための多読授業入門 nihongo kyoushi no tame no tadoku jugyou nyuumon (“An Introduction to Tadoku Instruction for Teachers of Japanese”)*, which had useful case studies and practical advice.

Several members of NPO Tadoku Supporters got in touch from Japan to wish us luck and to offer their support. That was hugely encouraging.

We were in The Argus too (Brighton and Hove’s newspaper)! Now I was starting to get really nervous…

When the Tadoku graded readers arrived, they seemed a good level. But to be honest, I was still a bit concerned that they might be boring. Would my adult students really want to read The Three Little Pigs in Japanese? So I started reading them myself. And to my surprise, it was a lot of fun.

Tadoku readers have pictures, so if you don't understand something you can look at the picture and guess. If you still don’t understand, you can try to guess by context. Or you can just keep reading.

One thing you are not allowed to do in Tadoku is to use your dictionary. I pushed this rule a bit further in our class, to include: you cannot ask your teacher what a word means either!

Using a dictionary (or asking your teacher) slows you down and interrupts your flow. This makes the reading experience less fun, which discourages you. Instead of using the dictionary, in Tadoku you are encouraged to skip over words and phrases you don't know.

If you just keep reading, you may eventually work out what the word means. But – and this is the interesting bit – if you never work it out, that’s fine too. Just keep going, and reading Japanese will get easier.

I started learning Japanese in 2007, but it was 2012 before I read a whole book in Japanese. Imagine how many easy books I could have read in those five years, if only I’d known they existed!

Some of my Tadoku students had only been learning Japanese for a year, and within a few weeks on the course they’d already read several books. I think that’s an amazing achievement.

Of course, these are easy books, level-appropriate and short. That’s why they were able to read them quickly and easily.

The four golden rules of Tadoku (from NPO Tadoku Supporters) are:

Four Golden Rules

1. Start from scratch.
Read easy books you can enjoy without translating. That way, you will understand better and so you will read more.

2. Don’t use your dictionary
Don’t use your dictionary when you come across words you don’t know. Guess the meaning from the pictures and/or the story.

3. Skip over difficult words, phrases and passages.
If guessing doesn’t work, skip over that word, phrase or passage and go on reading. You can often enjoy the book without understanding every small detail.

4. When the going gets tough, quit the book and pick up another.
The going gets tough when the book is not suitable for your level or your interest. Simply throw the book away and start reading something else.  

I was a bit nervous that my students wouldn't follow the rules. I thought they would want to use their dictionaries, or would feel compelled to finish books they weren’t interested in. I wanted to create a comfortable, relaxed environment, but I worried that if it was too relaxed, students might sit and chat, rather than read the books.

But of course they followed the rules! They’d signed up for this, after all.

‘No dictionaries’ was probably the hardest part. One student confessed to “cheating “ by looking up an unfamiliar kanji she was encountering for the first time. “If you’d kept going, you might have guessed it from context,” I argued. (Also, 臼 [mortar!] isn’t a particularly common kanji, so arguably looking it up isn’t a great use of time when you could be reading the rest of the book instead).

My students read so fast, after the first session I realise I needed to order more books.

I think my students gained a lot from practicing Tadoku for six weeks. And as their teacher, I learned a lot too. 

I realised that a lot of the time, the materials I ask my students to read are not very interesting. I try to pick out the most interesting stories from Japanese textbooks, and when I have time, I sometimes write little stories, to make content relevant or funny (or preferably both!)

But generally speaking, textbook reading exercises are quite boring. Doing Tadoku showed me that easy reading materials can be funny and interesting too.

This story about the prince of ramen (right) was a popular book

I also saw, in a new light, the extent to which my adult students are really good self-guided learners. I thought I might have to help them choose which books to read, or guide them as to which level to pick. No one needed my help with this. 

Actually, I just had fun reading easy books and deflecting occasional questions:

Student: “What does this word mean?”
Me: “Hmm…what do you think?”
Student: “Oh yeah…rule 2, sorry” 

In the middle of the course, we had a week off and I went to Portugal. I lay on the beach and read a Japanese book (コンビニ人間 kombini ningen, Convenience Store Woman) without using my dictionary. I raced through it, enjoying the book for what it is.

So Tadoku was pretty revolutionary for me, too, as well as my students.

I wish I’d known about Tadoku in 2007…I could have read some fun books in those first five years!

Thoughts for next year:

• Students could write short book reviews in the back of each book? Like this:

Photo: Japan Foundation

• Could we listen to music while reading?

• Maybe we should do Tadoku for more than six weeks of the year…?
  

Links:
Links with an asterisk* are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you, when you click through and buy the book. Thanks for your support!

NPO Tadoku Supporters (English page) → https://tadoku.org/en/vision
Buy Tadoku Books online (English/Japanese page) → https://tadoku.org/japanese/to-order
KC Clip - download free Tadoku books (Japanese page) → http://jfkc.jp/clip/yomyom/index.html
Step Up Japanese in The Argus! Japanese Language School is Running a New Course in Brighton (English)→ https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/16361201.japanese-language-school-is-running-a-new-course-in-brighton
日本語教師のための多読授業入門 An Introduction to Tadoku Instruction for Teachers of Japanese (Japanese book) → https://amzn.to/2T5AAkY*
コンビニ人間 Convenience Store Woman (Japanese book)→ https://amzn.to/2CFJjDA*

（Click here to read this article in Japanese 日本語版はこちら）

Sakura - Beginner Japanese (Starter Level)

from £195.00

Tuesdays, 12:00pm (UK time) | Online Group Course
Starts 15th Sept 2026 | 36 weeks

Who this course is for

This course is for true beginners or early beginners who already know a little Japanese (e.g. ~10-20 hiragana characters) and want to build a solid foundation.

If you are starting completely from zero, I recommend a few 1:1 lessons before joining.

You will already be able to:

• Recognise a small number of hiragana characters (or are beginning to learn them)

• Feel comfortable learning slowly and step-by-step

In this course you will learn to:

• Introduce yourself and ask simple questions

• Talk about family, friends, likes and dislikes

• Order food and drinks in a restaurant

• Ask and answer simple questions about places you are staying

• Talk about where people and things are located

• Build confidence reading hiragana and begin katakana

• Start recognising a small number of common kanji

The focus is on practical, everyday Japanese for absolute communication basics.

Course details

• Duration: 36 weeks (3 x 12-week terms)

• Day/time: Tuesdays, 12pm (UK time), 55-minute lessons

• Textbook: Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan - Starter (starting from Lesson 3, free online)

Not sure if this is right for you?

Book a free 30-minute Zoom consultation or email me for advice.

Course Length:

Select Course Length Autumn Term (12 weeks) £195 Full Course (36 weeks) £495

BOOK NOW

What’s the difference between sensei and kyōshi?

Japanese has (at least) two words for "teacher".

The word "sensei" is pretty well-known even among people who don't speak Japanese, but did you know that you shouldn't use sensei about yourself?

Here's what the textbook has to say:

"Use 'kyōshi' for yourself and the respectful 'sensei' for another person."

That's a pretty good starting point. But there's a bit more to it than that.

1. Kyōshi = school teacher

Kyōshi means the academic kind of teacher, someone who teaches in a school:

（私は）高校の教師です。

(watashi wa) kōkō no kyōshi desu.

I'm a high school teacher.

Images: Irasutoya

2. Sensei is a title

Sensei, however, is a respectful title, and should be used when talking about other people:

彼は中学校の先生です。

kare wa chūgakkō no sensei desu.

He's a junior high school teacher.

Watashi wa sensei desu is best avoided.

3. Sensei = master

Sensei can also be used more generally for a person who teaches something.

People who teach flower arranging or martial arts, for example, are sensei:

お花の先生

ohana no sensei

flower-arranging teacher

空手の先生

karate no sensei

karate teacher

茶道の先生

sadō no sensei

teacher of tea ceremony

If you're talking about yourself, however, you still shouldn't go around calling yourself sensei.

You can use the verb 教える oshieru (to teach) instead:

（私は）お花を教えてます。

(watashi wa) ohana wo oshiete imasu.

I teach flower arranging.

Certain types of professionals such as doctors or lawyers are also sensei (but again, not kyōshi).

4. "Sensei!"

Sensei is attached after teachers' names instead of san:

山本先生

Yamamoto Sensei

= Mr/Ms Yamamoto; “Yamamoto teacher”

It's pretty common to drop the name, too, and just call your teacher sensei:

先生、おはようございます！

Sensei, ohayō gozaimasu!

“Good morning, teacher”

So to summarise:

• Use '“kyōshi” for yourself and the respectful “sensei” for another person.

• “Sensei“ is not just for teachers, but also for masters of other skills, and for doctors

• Affix “sensei” to your teacher’s name to show respect