Now that you’re listening to CD or movies and speaking English every day, you are getting really good.
Now to get to the next level you also need to practice real English with lots and lots of people.
Don't worry, It's easy. Luckily for you, you live in Japan and finding people to speak English with is probably easier than any other country.
Yes it is! In any town, village or city in Japan there are groups of people who get together to speak English at events and parties nearly every week. Even in the smallest, tiniest village in the middle of nowhere, there will be people who can't speak Japanese who would just love to speak to you in English.
When I first came to Japan I couldn't speak Japanese and it was hard to do even simple things like shopping or paying a gas bill.
But there were lots of people in my town who helped me out, even if the only English they could say was “Hello”. It really meant a lot to me that all these people were making an effort to communicate and help me.
In this way I made lots of really great friends, and you can too. Contact your local town office, or community centre and see what they have to offer you.
The only thing I would ask is, don't become a Gaijin Groupie.
Just like in Japanese, talk to someone if you like them and want to talk to them. don't just see English speakers as a free English lesson. We are people too! But if you put in a little effort, you can help people out, make lots of friends and learn lots of English.
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