If you’re visiting or living in Japan, and are looking to improve your Japanese skills beyond the classroom, here are three methods you can use to challenge yourself as you learn the language! All methods have been tried and tested by me, with interesting results.
Trains
Most cities and many towns have station names listed in English as well as in Japanese. If you live in the Greater Tokyo Area, you might encounter them in Korean and Chinese as well! (Possibly Simplified Chinese, although a lot of places include Traditional Chinese too) Additionally, train lines such as JR and the Tokyo Metro make arrival announcements in English and Japanese.
This was one of the first ways I broadened my vocabulary; by listening to the station announcements and looking at the platform screens as they changed from Japanese to English, I learned the words for “arrival,” “departure,” “transfer,” “via,” and many, many others.
For those looking to broaden their Kanji knowledge, train car screens will display a list of stations on the train line in Japanese followed by English, with many stations even including the Hiragana readings. Through observing patterns in station names and looking at the hiragana on the screens and at the station, you can learn to read even the rarest of Kanji!
This method, however, comes with one huge drawback: you might find yourself being aware of the most obscure readings of a rarely-used Kanji, but struggling with characters that you encounter in daily life or the Japanese textbook.
English Classes
Now, this is an unusual one, but if you work with young kids, it might help a lot in mastering the basic vocabulary. As many English teachers in Japan know, English classes are often conducted in an immersive environment – meaning no Japanese used at all. However, it’s not always easy to explain this concept to a bunch of preschoolers, and when they engage with your module or syllabus, there might be a stream of chatter in Japanese coming your way.
Even as you remind them to speak in English, listen to what they say. Small children use common and easy words in speech, and getting a hang of those words comes easy once you hear them about fifty times from a dozen overexcited five year olds. Additionally, if you have a Japanese co-teacher who speaks to the kids or their parents, you can listen to them, particularly for formal or business Japanese!
Food Shopping
On most Japanese food products, companies list the allergens included in the food item or allergens that were nearby during preparation. Japan has a list of specific allergens that companies are required to mention if included in the production process, such as nuts, milk, and wheat. Other allergens lower down the list include meats like chicken, beef, and pork.
For those of us with dietary restrictions and allergies, knowing the ingredients that go into our food is essential, and looking up the meanings of the various kanji on the packet can go a long way in helping you eat well during your stay.
Supplementing your lessons with Japanese from daily life can enrich your understanding of the language and enable you to understand it in context. Moreover, if you’re in a position where you can’t formally study Japanese, using your surroundings to learn can help fill some of the gaps!
Good luck!
