help with speaking (1 Viewer)

[Larissa8]

for whoever can help me out... im having trouble with my speaking, i am given questions and im having trouble with giving spontaneous answers.. plus im finding it hard to sit down and practice speaking, all i seem to be able to do is write an answer when i should be trying to do it spontaneously. any tips for speaking?

 

[zangetsu.xo]

find a native speaker and practice conversations with them.
works a charm.
just on the side - are you doing beginners/continuers/extension??

 

[Larissa8]

continuers

 

[Online]

Best advice I could give is to read as much as u can. Also sit and pretend ur being asked a question, and try to answer it and expand ur answer.
I even used to tape myself and listen to it again. You learn heaps by listening to what u wer saying.
Findin a native and fluent speaker as the previous member said would ofcourse be the best help, but u can always work on your speakin by urself too.
Good luck

 

[pLuvia]

continuers

Just keep talking to yourself, practice with your teacher/japanese friends/anyone japanese, and try to answer a variety of questions. And try to anticipate when questions could be asked to the previous question etc

 

[toadstooltown]

I think I did well in my speaking exam as I think I ruined my written exam and still came out on top. What I found really helpful was going to any and every japanese workshop day you can find. I went to the Kirrawee centre twice which focused on speaking and listening which I found very helpful - the entire two-day program was run (almost) entirely in Japanese with native speaker trainee japanese teachers which was great. I also went to a practive speaking day at SHORE grammar which was great. 8 practive HSC speaking exams in a row done with teachers, which we taped, and all their feedback.

Although it's obvious, practice speaking as much as you can. It doesn't even have to be with anyone else though! Practice saying sentences in Japanese all the time, waiting for the bus, walking home etc. It's important to get correct intenation and timing with sentences, not having to take a big breath near the end, getting tongue tied etc. Speaking with tone and emphasis is also important. Markers are specifically told to cut-off / interrupt candidates who launch into a learnt by rote speel about anything - they can often tell because the candidate has practiced saying it so many times it comes out like a robot. Keep it fresh, practice including something recent like a family birthday or trip out with friends if it's appropriate. This will show the marker that you can actually communicate information about recent (and most likely) relevant events.

When ever you think something or say something, think to yourself "could I say that in Japanese?" If so, practice it a few times. Talk to your teacher a lot because I found that in my class speaking was neglected for a lot of the year before we focued on it at the end. Try to organise a practice speaking exam - it's only max 10 minutes and get some detailed feedback.

Think about which grammar points you could use for certain types of questions. -tari -tari really doesn't go with more than one or two types of questions, everyone. Saying the words out aloud will also help your vocab. I've heard rumour that dictionaries might be scrapped in coming years. I found it best to learn *all* HSC vocab off by heart with flash-cards, saying them aloud. Using one very appropriate and exact word in a speaking exam is a lot clearer and more fluent than having to explain them.
ie. "I have to do both english and religion at school" could easily be "English and Religion are comulsary subjects" especially if you've already used nakerebanaranai.

Wooh, bit of a long rant. One of the biggest assests in the speaking exam though is *confidence*

 

[Shortbreads]

Check out the speaking in the standards packages, your school should have them on its computers, to see what you're aiming for.

Also, our teacher gave us a list of some commonly asked questions. I found that really helpful preparing for my yearly.

And about the lying... you definitely don't want to trap yourself with lies, but the truth can do that too. You mightn't have the vocab or structures to say exactly the truth, or perhaps (lord forbid) the truth is just too... boring. Just remember that the best lies are half truths.

English and Jap have been such a bad influence on me. You'll never catch maths teaching you to lie through your teeth.

 

[kkewi90]

ring a friend who's also learn japanese and take turns asking each other questions in japanese, it works!!

 

[CieL]

Well if you are able to write an answer, it seems like you dont have great grammatical/vocab problems..

Write a list of responses and repeat them [out loud] over n over again until it stays in your head.. so when you hear the same Q again, you will be able to give an answer..

For continuers it doesnt really require you to think out of the square, so even set responses are fine.. Once you get bored of it, try expand it with new things you learn..

Good luck =]

 

[michelleee123]

whooooaaa.. did someone say you're meant to come up with answers on the spot? mine are ALLLL set responses
​

 

[pLuvia]

Well that's what they expect you to do, but some people just memorise points. But if you can respond by using those memorised points and integrating it into the question asked then you can still get a good mark.

Just lie if you have to, but don't lie to the extent that you forgot what you said and if the marker asks another question relating to that and you say something contradictory then it will look bad

 

[Platinum]

The questions (according to my teacher, who does speaking exams sometimes) in Continuers aren't going to be anything like "oosutoraria wa byoudou no shakai desu. dou omoimasu". That stuff is saved for extension.

Basically, they will start you off with pretty generic questions like "Kazoku wa nan nin desu ka", and work their way up from there. If you're of a good level, prepare for questions like "oosutoraria to nihon to dochi ni ichiban sumitai to omoimasu ka?". They can't ask anything too random, but then again in 2005, some people at the end got asked the question "ichiban kowai koto wa nani desu ka?"....

We have speaking workshops at school and minimum 10 minutes one-on-one speaking a week. I'm guessing practice helps...but I guess I'd find out come HSC.

What puts me off though....is the tape recorder!!!! argh!!! I guess it's something I'll have to get use to

 

[CieL]

whooooaaa.. did someone say you're meant to come up with answers on the spot? mine are ALLLL set responses
​

Only because I have a shit memory and can't remember set response besides my name, age, and level of education.

The rest I make up on the spot.

 

[honeyandlemon]

i think definitely being around a native speaker to hear their intonation is invaluable... but for heaps of us who arent that lucky, just listening to podcasts of sbs japanese radio (available free online at their website) and stuff like that is fairly useful

but the thing ive found most useful with improving my speaking MASSIVELY is making up as many questions as you can for speaking, divided into what unit its on- eg sport and leisure etc
after composing answers to these questions and handing them in to your teacher for marking, record yourself either on a mp3 player, phone, tape recorder etc saying your answer. do it as much as it takes to perfect it

i found this not only helped my speaking alot, by improving my confidence got better, so that made me better etc

confidence is also everything!

also if you practise what they do in the extension monologues by giving yourself a question, giving yourself maybe a minute (time it) to jot down basic points about it, then record yourself answering it. repeat it until near perfect.

this not only helps your speaking proficiency, but improves your ability to think on your feet quickly in japanese

and of course talk to your friends in japanese where possible and get a japanese online penpal!

does anyone know where to get online penpals from?

 

[T-mac01]

The way people in this thread seems to be going with their speaking is only good for a temporary improvement with little time in hand to achieve their goals. But if you're looking for long term improvement with the language, there is no easy way other than just regularly learning and revising vocabs, reading Japanese texts, studying grammars. Coz when you're equiement with those three things, you are freely to express yourself which is second nature. Yet, you just can't do that if you're limited by the knowledge of the language itself. It's like saying I'm going to spit the grape seeds when I haven't eaten any grapes.

 

[summerain]

The best way to prepare for hsc speaking is just to make set responses for as many questions as you can think of. after you answer with a couple of sentences, think of other questions that may link to your answer.

eg. if the answer to what you do on the weekend is that you go shopping with your family, chances are the next question the examiner asks may be something related to family like how many people in your family, what kind of person is your mother etc.

also get used to speaking out loud all the time. it doesn't have to be anything complicated, even just a couple of japanese words like tabetai! this just helps you familarise yourself with the sound of your voice using japanese or your 'accent' and also improves it. you'll find that when it comes to answering questions, the japanese just flows out of your mouth a lot soomther and your brain doesn't take as much time to analyse it.