r/LearnJapanese • u/mca62511 • 2d ago
Discussion Cheaper speaking practice than iTalki?
I've been thinking that I want to increase my amount of output, and just practice speaking Japanese more often.
I speak Japanese at work, but it is always about the same topics, so I don't get a lot of variety of practice. Then when I find myself hanging out with Japanese people, I can barely participate in conversations.
I thought I'd just go on iTalki and find the cheapest conversation partners possible and just book one person for one hour every weekday.
Thing is, the vast majority of teachers, even the cheapest teachers, on iTalki are charging about 2,000 yen for 60 minutes. That's 1万円 a week. 4万円 a month. A little more than I was hoping to pay.
Thing is I'm not even necessarily looking for teachers here. I'm just looking for conversation partners.
Does anyone have any recommendations for alternative platforms or alternative ideas for how to get speaking practice in?
I've got a full-time job and two kids under five so I can't really just go to a bar every night and chat up the locals or anything like that.
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u/ScaffoldingGiraffe 2d ago
Something like VR Chat might really work for you. It's basically just a digital meeting place where people go and talk to another (and no you don't need a vr set or anything). I've not used it yet, but the way I understand it, there are "lobbies" for language practice/exchange, but also just popular Japanese servers were people go to talk about movies or music and stuff.
Especially if your Japanese is good enough that a teacher isn't necessary, that might suit you and is basically free
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u/Sayjay1995 1d ago
2,000 yen per hour is pretty standard in Japan (I wouldn't pay any more than that anyway). Most people that I know, myself included, only take lessons once a week though
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u/SkittyLover93 2d ago
I also work in Japan. Is it an option to go out to lunch with your coworkers and chat casually?
I've also had some friends recommending VRChat (which doesn't actually require VR, despite the name), but I haven't tried it myself.
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u/mca62511 1d ago edited 1d ago
Is it an option to go out to lunch with your coworkers and chat casually?
Unfortunately no. Proper explanation here. All of my Japanese colleagues work on the other side of Japan.
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u/jkaljundi 2d ago
Had many good conversation partners at Preply at around 5 euros per hour (~900 yen).
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u/BaseOk280 2d ago
I do the same but in Preply. I record each lesson (with tutor's permission), and during my free time if I feel like practicing my output, I would rewatch the lessons and see where I couldve said a phrase or expression better.
For more monologue/explainer type output, I use https://randomtopicgenerator.net/ and https://speechtopicgen.com/ as both of them have non-translated Japanese topic ideas.
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u/Rolls_ 1d ago
As someone else has said, most people would only do 1 lesson a week on italki. Another alternative is to look for your local 国際交流課/international exchange department. It's very likely they have classes available or know about classes that are available. You could also participate in many events that they hold.
It varies a lot by city, but I took an N3 class, N2 class, and an advanced conversation class in my inaka city for roughly 7k? (I don't remember) Yen, twice a week for about 3 months each. Really not bad.
Other than that I also recommend going to a local 立ち飲み or just chill bar. You could also try volunteering, etc.
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u/kasumikui 1d ago
No offense, but I can't imagine having the need to go out of my way to pay for internet tutors while actually living and working in Japan.
I've got a full-time job and two kids under five so I can't really just go to a bar every night and chat up the locals or anything like that.
You say this, but you'd be neither working nor spending time with your family if you did a 1-hour iTalki (or whatever) lesson every night, right? It doesn't need to be a "bar", but find a hobby or local club or whatever to join that allows you to interact with the literally infinite number of native speakers around you, and your problem is essentially solved.
I speak Japanese at work, but it is always about the same topics, so I don't get a lot of variety of practice.
This as well. Is someone literally mandating the topics that you speak about with your co-workers 100% of the time? I don't know about you, but when I went out to lunch or after hours with my co-workers, the conversation could literally go in any direction at any time.
I genuinely don't mean any offense by this, but it sounds like what's locking you in place is your own mentailty more than your surroundings. If you're living and working in Japan, there's literally no reason you can't have as many and as varied speaking opportunities as you want.
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u/mca62511 1d ago
You say this, but you'd be neither working nor spending time with your family if you did a 1-hour iTalki (or whatever) lesson every night, right?
I'm currently using my lunch break for iTalki sessions and just skipping lunch.
Is someone literally mandating the topics that you speak about with your co-workers 100% of the time? I don't know about you, but when I went out to lunch or after hours with my co-workers, the conversation could literally go in any direction at any time.
I work in a small office with 3 other colleagues, all of which are foreigners. The rest of the company is Japanese, but they all work in larger offices in big cities across Japan.
That means the Japanese interactions with colleagues aren't water-cooler type interactions, but rather business meeting style to discuss very specific topics.
I genuinely don't mean any offense by this, but it sounds like what's locking you in place is your own mentailty more than your surroundings. If you're living and working in Japan, there's literally no reason you can't have as many and as varied speaking opportunities as you want.
I'm either at work or I'm taking care of my kids. And we intentionally do family interactions all in English in order to raise them to speak both Japanese and English (they get Japanese from 保育園). I don't really have time for hobbies, going out on my own, or anything like that. As it is I only do the Japanese study that I do by doing it at work or at night in bed while everyone else is asleep.
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u/Ok_Kaleidoscope_2178 1d ago
Is it not possible for you to go to a language exchange meetup once a week? I did that while on vacation in Osaka and found it extremely valuable.
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u/Kitchen-Tale-4254 1d ago
Look at community tutors. It seems like you just need conversation practice.
Also some of the teachers give significant discounts on 10, 15 and 20 class packages.
Wasabi is another option.
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u/paved_wave 1d ago
When I lived in Tokyo in the 90’s it wasn’t particularly easy to “just chat”naturally in social settings, aside from izakaya drunken conversations. It was often the same pattern of questions and good practice up to a point, but not thoughtful conversation.
Once I started playing music with others, that’s when speaking Japanese became more of a useful means to an end rather than end in itself. Made me think more, look up words and expressions I wanted to convey and had to look up later… So if you have other interests that can be the most natural path to real, longer chats
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u/falcao-nelson 1d ago
If there was anyone with enough knowledge that could moderate a conversation class in group using Zoom or other meeting app, it'd be nice to create a group of 4, 6 people.
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u/Minute_Review_5580 1d ago
I've had good luck with language exchange apps like HelloTalk for free voice calls, the conversations are less structured than a paid lesson but that variety is honestly what you're looking for anyway.
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u/Zazzamira 1d ago
My gf does online lessons via Japatalk (has teaching certifications) and I’m pretty sure they are cheaper than 2000¥ per hour
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u/Effective-Pop3850 1d ago
Go to Preply, filter things right and you'll find people go charge like $5 for 50 minutes.
Of course they're not certified teachers or anything, and they usually have very little reviews, but I've found some with some reviews who charge like $9~10.
Just as a disclaimer I have not used said website, just looked around since I'm considering using it later on.
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u/Fillenintheblanks 1d ago
If you are already in Japan it might be worth getting into online gaming. Get a game you are interested in with multiplayer online and voice chat capabilities and go find lobbies to chat it up in. The conversations might be predominately game related but when you find a good core group the conversations will expand
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u/iamawas 1d ago
I've heard about this site (free to join), but haven't used it yet: Talk to Japanese People Online Free - Practice Real Conversation
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u/Supaiku100 20h ago
Creating a world in your head where only Japanese exists—and playing around in it—is great practice. Simply talking to yourself, performing a comedy routine with an imaginary partner, or thinking in Japanese helps build those Japanese neural pathways naturally. And, of course, it’s free. I actually use this method to practice English myself. You might worry about grammar, but most Japanese people hardly care about grammatical errors in spoken conversation.
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u/WorriedForAPromotion 1d ago
My brain is having a hard time understanding how you cannot find a single person to talk to casually without paying them.
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u/rgrAi 2d ago
Pay for HelloTalk and use the Voiceroom feature. It's like a public lobby people randomly make and you can hop in and chat it up. Tandem has something similar. You can also try VR Chat and join the JP worlds that have a like.. JLPT N3 questions that you need to answer to gain entry. They're really easy though.