Special Episode!! Why you can not speak Japanese / Japanese Podcast for Beginners

Japanese with Shun

The episode addresses why many beginners struggle to speak Japanese despite studying grammar and vocabulary. Host Shun identifies two primar

Key takeaways

Shun emphasizes that speaking is often the hardest part of learning Japanese compared to reading or understanding grammar rules.
Beginners who cannot speak usually fall into two categories: those lacking basic N5/N4 vocabulary and grammar, and those who know them but fail to practice output correctly.

Main topics

Japanese speaking difficulties
Foundational grammar and vocabulary acquisition

Notable quotes

"Speaking Japanese is the most difficult part. I think I will study grammar. I understand. And then, I read the sentence. I understand. But, it's a conversation. Let's talk. I can't talk"

Conclusion

Learners can overcome speaking barriers by solidifying N5/N4 fundament

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Hello everyone, I'm a Japanese teacher, SHUN Hi, everyone. Japanese Speaker 1 (0:08) How is it? Is studying Japanese difficult? Speaker 1 (0:14) Tanoshii desuka? Is it difficult? Speaker 1 (0:19) Is it easy? Speaker 1 (0:22) How much do you understand Japanese? Speaker 1 (0:28) How much Japanese can you speak? Speaker 1 (0:35) It's difficult, isn't it? I think Japanese is difficult. But... I know. I know. Everyone is studying Japanese. Of course. I really understand that. But I am a Japanese teacher now. And my students are all studying Japanese. But everyone I say it's the most difficult to speak. Speaker 1 (1:19) You want to speak Japanese, right? Speaker 1 (1:24) But speaking Japanese is the most difficult part. I think I will study grammar. I understand. Speaker 1 (1:38) And then, I read the sentence. I understand. But, it's a conversation. Let's talk. I can't talk Speaker 1 (1:52) I'm sure you've had that experience. For example, if you study all of N5, Speaker 1 (2:06) You can talk a lot. Speaker 1 (2:11) You can talk a lot. Not all of them. It's difficult. All of them are difficult. But if you study all of N5, you can have a simple conversation. Speaker 1 (2:25) But it's difficult. Speaker 1 (2:30) So today, why are you guys... Can't you talk? Speaker 1 (2:39) How can I speak more? Speaker 1 (2:46) I want to talk about this. There are two main reasons. There are two groups. The first one is... Speaker 1 (3:05) It's simple. Speaker 1 (3:07) Because I still don't know the basics. Speaker 1 (3:16) Japanese is very different from other languages Speaker 1 (3:23) That's why grammar is so important. Speaker 1 (3:30) So, people who don't know the basics of Japanese, the grammar of the basics, the basic words, Speaker 1 (3:43) There are a lot of them. It's simple. But there are more than I thought. Speaker 1 (3:52) For those who don't know the basic vocabulary, for those who don't know the basic grammar, Speaker 1 (4:02) I've heard of it before For those who still don't understand Yes, there are many. Yes, and one more thing. The other one is to study the grammar of the basics such as N5 and N4. Speaker 1 (4:26) I know, but... I can't talk He is a person. Yes, this person is Speaker 1 (4:36) How to practice Speaker 1 (4:40)