Practice Japanese with native speakers
Reading Japanese and keeping up in a conversation are different skills. Speakblend is for the second one: chats, voice messages and calls with Japanese speakers who are learning English, so you both get practice. It is free on iPhone and Android.
Where Japanese is spoken, and what you will hear
Japanese is spoken across Japan, from Hokkaido to Okinawa, and in communities in Brazil, Hawaii and the US West Coast. Tokyo speech, hyōjungo ("standard language"), is what textbooks teach. In Osaka and Kyoto you will hear Kansai-ben: めっちゃ (metcha, "really") instead of とても (totemo), and negatives ending in -hen, as in 分からへん (wakarahen, "I don't get it").
Japan Standard Time is UTC+9 with no daylight saving. Nine in the evening in Tokyo is early afternoon in Paris or Berlin, and seven in the morning in Tokyo is mid-afternoon of the day before in California. To find partners, filter the Match tab by language; each profile lists a person's native language and the ones they are learning.
10 conversation starters in Japanese
Romaji (Hepburn) is a reading aid written for this page. Speakblend does not add romaji or furigana to chats.
はじめまして。よろしくお願いします。
Nice to meet you.
Hajimemashite. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
The second half means roughly "I hope we get along".
どこに住んでいますか？
Where do you live?
Doko ni sunde imasu ka?
趣味は何ですか？
What are your hobbies?
Shumi wa nan desu ka?
最近ハマっているものはありますか？
Anything you're into lately?
Saikin hamatte iru mono wa arimasu ka?
Hamaru is "to get hooked".
おすすめの曲はありますか？
Any song you'd recommend?
Osusume no kyoku wa arimasu ka?
日本語を勉強して一年になります。
I've been studying Japanese for a year.
Nihongo o benkyō shite ichinen ni narimasu.
この言い方は自然ですか？
Is this a natural way to say it?
Kono iikata wa shizen desu ka?
もう一度ゆっくり言ってもらえますか？
Could you say it again slowly?
Mō ichido yukkuri itte moraemasu ka?
タメ口で話してもいいですか？
Can we talk casually?
Tameguchi de hanashite mo ii desu ka?
Ask before you drop desu and masu.
そっちは今何時ですか？
What time is it there now?
Sotchi wa ima nanji desu ka?
Write it yourself
Trace the faint characters with your finger or the pointer. Each character fits its own square. Then write it again on the empty rows below, without the guide.
Nice to meet you.
Hajimemashite. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Mistakes learners make when speaking Japanese with natives
Calling people あなた (anata).
It sounds distant, even pointed. Use the name with さん (san), or leave "you" out, as Japanese speakers do.
Adding さん to your own name.
San is for other people; introduce yourself as just "Alex".
Switching registers mid-chat.
Mixing polite desu/masu forms with plain forms in one message sounds jumpy. Pick one and keep it until you both agree to go casual.
Reading every はい as "yes".
はい (hai), うん (un) and そうですね (sō desu ne) often mean "I'm following you", not agreement. These listening sounds, aizuchi, keep a conversation moving; on a call, long silence can sound like you have lost the thread.
Katakana false friends.
マンション (manshon) is an apartment building, not a mansion; バイキング (baikingu) is an all-you-can-eat buffet; スマート (sumāto) usually means slim.
How translation and voice messages help
Translate any message from its menu and the result appears under the original, so the Japanese stays visible while you find out what unfamiliar kanji mean. Translation covers 130+ languages, but it does not show how a word is read. For that, ask your partner for a voice message, play it at 0.5x and scrub back until you can hear each particle.
Voice calls (audio only) are where you practice aizuchi out loud. Keep the first one short: three minutes earns your friendship's Silver Passport stamp.
Outside one-to-one chats, try a short post in Japanese on the global feed. Posts can carry voice notes, readers can reply with voice comments, and posts are translated automatically into 40 languages. With Spotlight, bought with SBC coins, you can boost a post for 24 hours to people who speak the language you are learning, which here means Japanese speakers.
A sample exchange in Japanese and English (illustrative)
Written for this page as an example; not a real member conversation. Maya, in Melbourne, is learning Japanese. Kenta, in Osaka, is learning English.
Maya
はじめまして、ケンタさん！よろしくお願いします。
(Nice to meet you, Kenta!)
Kenta
はじめまして！Your Japanese is good. 最近ハマっているものはありますか？
(Anything you're into lately?)
Maya
料理です！あなたは？
(Cooking! And you?)
Kenta
Try ケンタさんは？ instead of あなたは. Me? Ramen. Eating it, not cooking it!
Maya
ケンタさんは、ラーメンが好きですね。
(So you like ramen, Kenta.)
Kenta
めっちゃ好き！ That's Kansai style for "I really love it". Voice message coming so you can hear it.
Japanese practice: questions and answers
Do I need to know kanji to chat in Japanese?
No. You can start in hiragana and katakana and ask your partner to write in kana. Translation gives you the meaning of a message with unfamiliar kanji, and a voice message tells you how they are read.
Should I use polite or casual Japanese?
Start with desu/masu. Move to casual speech (tameguchi) when your partner suggests it, or ask with starter 9.
Is it OK to pick up Kansai-ben from my partner?
Yes, as long as you know which words are regional. Kansai phrases are widely understood across Japan thanks to TV and comedy, but formal settings use standard Japanese.
Does Speakblend show romaji or furigana?
No. Speakblend translates the meaning of a message into your language but adds no readings. Voice messages and voice calls give you the sound; calls are audio only, with no video.
Download Speakblend free on the App Store or Google Play.
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