Improving at Conversational Japanese

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Hey, so I just wanted to give my two cents in doing well in the Japanese SL oral exam and overall just getting better at speaking.

A while back (in year 10) I made a post on this subforum entitled "How do you improve at conversational Japanese?" which was basically just me complaining about my inevitable shite score in the oral component of the exam and how people who have no relation to the language are majorly disadvantaged. Now, I'm not going to go to the extent of saying native speakers don't have an advantage, because they do and you can't deny that, however, it is very possible to do well regardless as Japanese is a subject where examiners reward students who have visibly put in the work and preparation. In this post, I'll try to go through the steps which I took to improve my speaking ability (which imo is the most important out of listening, reading and writing).

Preparation: The Basics
So I think the most important thing to do is to get a language partner who you can converse with regularly. I personally had a tutor who I would only speak in Japanese with (don't worry, I only understood like 20% at first but gradually got better) on a weekly basis. I guess the main starting point would be to try and get your meaning across while maintaining a consistent tone/pace and having decent pronunciation. If you can do this, you're pretty much half the way there (at least what a VCE examiner would expect of you). On top of this, I also talked to my teacher often about random stuff like the last Japanese shows on Netflix, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure etc. and since I was talking about stuff that interested me, it became much easier to get the meaning across. I think this applies to the GC as you're essentially being interviewed in a sense so you can show your examiner how weird/unfunny/interesting you are (and you'll get rewarded for it).

I used an app called HelloTalk throughout year 11 (stopped in year 12) which was probably the most daunting experience since you're essentially talking to a stranger. The good thing about it, however, is if you're under 18 you'll only be able to see people who are also under 18 in your feed (generally 16-17 year olds) so you'll be able to connect and learn from them. I did only use plain form though since most of the people I talked to were around my age, so I would be careful with your preparation using an app like that. In general, apps like HelloTalk are excellent for formulating sentences under pressure, improving your listening ability and vocabulary so I'd recommend it if you want a challenge.

TLDR: Get out of your comfort zone and don't be afraid to make mistakes. It's really the only way to improve.

Preparation: Cleaning Things Up
This section will mainly be targetted at meeting all the criterion in the oral exam.

Intonation/Pronunciation
I personally recorded all mock oral exams, especially in the last two weeks or so with my tutor and listened to them, later on, to fix dodgy pronunciation mistakes myself. My tutor and teacher would also help comment on how I could sound more fluent. This comprised of mainly stressing certain syllables and working on my flow. In general, I don't think intonation is overly important, and you shouldn't focus all your time on this component unless you've mastered everything else or your intonation noticeably needs a lot of work.

Pace
In my opinion, this is a very important aspect of speech which should be worked on. I personally struggled with this, especially for my DS, where I would recite my script and tend to speak quite fast. Faster does not mean better. Slow down and work on your pronunciation. My teacher would often pick out how I would go too fast and not put enough emphasis on っ (the small tsu) so I tried to stress it very distinctly every time I spoke. In general, you're probably gonna speed up in the real oral so I would focus on pace and speed. I know you've probably heard Japanese people talk extremely fast but I would highly recommend slowing down to an understandable pace so the examiners can absorb and soak in what you're saying.

Content
I would say having a script for the GC does help a lot but I wouldn't rely on it. I personally made one less than a week before the oral and just memorised the key points I'd say for common/curveball questions. You don't need to soak every response with rich and complex grammar and 5 lines of memorised responses. It's a conversation. Engage with your examiners and stand out over the dozens of kids who've sat in your same chair with a monotone voice reciting lines. It's perfectly fine asking for them to repeat questions too so if you really didn't get what they asked it's alright. Also, it's great if you can make them laugh.

I personally messed up a couple of words since I completely blanked, but I would say in this case if you can't find the right word then just say something close to it to continue the flow of the conversation. It's still better than continuing the awkward pause.

I'd also say using conversational words like 実は、逆に etc. helps make your responses sound more natural in addressing their questions.

I'll also include the types of questions I was asked. For the GC I was solely asked about my trip to Japan in Year 11 with my class. The questions were:

• How have your studies been this year?
• Why do you hate English (the subject)?
• What did you do in Kyoto?
• What's your favourite flavour of Yatsuhashi?

As you can see, you can kind of lead your examiner down a rabbit hole.

I didn't really follow a structure in responding to questions as I made sure each of my responses addressed the question and had a linking aspect. Generally speaking, my responses were only 1-3 sentences long but I made sure to use linking phrases such as し and だけでなく to connect key points together.


I'm not going to dive into the details of the DS since I believe it's changing into some artifact thing but I did renewable energy and the future of energy usage in Japan.

Final Remarks
The oral exam is possibly the most daunting in comparison to the written but it is by far much easier to prepare for in my opinion. The examiners will try and test your limits if they see you're a 40+ student so take it as a compliment. Try and smile and the whole environment of the room will change.

I'm also offering my GC responses for free and will eventually upload it to the notes board. In the meantime, PM me and I'll send it over. I received 98% on the 2019 oral for reference.

Finally, actually try in the written because that's where it counts lmao.

Edit: Attached GC to this post for convenience.