質問
Hello. I’m interested in learning conversational Japanese. I’m a beginner but have taught myself hiragana and katakana and some vocabulary. Starting kanji now but am hoping to speak with people that know Japanese and some English. Let me know if this is something I could do here. Domo arigatou gozaimasu!!!!
返事
Thank you for writing. You're not the first person at your level who's requested this. This may be difficult to hear, but, unfortunately, what you've learned so far is not enough to speak Japanese. Most people who are proficient in speaking Japanese even at an elementary level are usually around the N4 or N3 level. (See https://www.jlpt.jp/e/about/levelsummary.html for more information.) This means working through or having completed Genki II, Marugoto A2/B1 or B1-2 or Minna II.
If you're looking for others to study with, we have a Discord server where you can ask questions or find other people with whom to study. The current N5 group is more than halfway finished with Genki I so it may be challenging for you but you're welcome to join it.
If you're interested in joining our Discord server, please let me know.
宜しくお願いします。
マリキタ
お返事
Thank you for getting back to me! I’m not surprised by your response. I started genki I a few weeks ago. It couldn’t be less interesting or dry! Doing it alone is useless anyway. I may reach out on discord if you send me the information. I appreciate your prompt response.
私の返事
どういたしまして。You're very welcome. I'm actually a little surprised you wrote back so thank you!
Here's the invite link:
[xxx]
If you haven't used Discord before, many tutorials can be found on youtube.
I used to use Genki I as a sleep aid until I got to a certain point in the Marugoto series. Then I couldn't put Genki down. (See https://twincitiesjapaneseconversation.com/content/textbook-review-genki-2nd-edition for more.)
また後で。宜しくお願いします。
マリキタ