Shall I stick to my age range?

Hi, everyone. So I sent a message to two people, a boy and a girl, and they aren't getting back to me. I'm 14 and so are they. I'm thinking of asking older people as they might be more likely to get back to me but I'm not sure.

I've heard that many Japanese people have very stressful and busy school lives, so that may be the case. Does anyone know what school is like there? Lots of after-school stuff?

Anyway, what do you think in general. Should I wait a few more days, or:
1. Contact more people around my age. There aren't many people on here though.
2. Contact older people (18-20).

Any help will be appreciated. :-)

How did you go about contacting them? If it is a penpal-type program, they may just be busy, especially if they're having to write in English. If its just out of the blue, I wouldn't reply to a random person either!

14 year olds are in their second or third year of Junior High School, and are indeed very busy every day!

Just to give you an example, JHS kids in Japan go to school any time from 6am to 8am depending on their club sports for practice. Classes start at 8:10 am, and they have 4 classes, lunch, a brief recess (sometimes cancelled), 2 more classes, cleaning time, then more club sports for 1-2 hours after school.

Second years often go to "juku" after that, which is extra schooling called cram school in English. Third years almost always go to juku, since they're beginning their studying for the dreaded high school entrance exams which begin around January/February. Right now third years still have club sports, but after the summer tournaments, they quit their clubs to concentrate on their studies.

Their lives are extremely busy, and they aren't given a lot of free time during school. Usually after school is also taken up by extra lessons, sports, family time, and going to bed. Weekends too they often have sports and tournaments.

So if it is a penpal program and taking awhile to get back to you, don't worry yet! Give them at least a week... again, especially if they're having to write you in English, they're probably working on it slowly but not confident in the language yet. So checking and re-checking, etc.

20 or so is a bad idea, they won't be interested.
Best is your age, though older (like 40) could work too

Stick to you're age range. Us older people don't want to talk with kids...

I think they are interested in communicating with you. for them, it is not easy to express their thinking in English. English is not necessary to live in Japan. it is one of school subjects hard to learn.
you may send messages to other persons who are in your age range.

At 14 I was in high school--in Europe--and, studied my country national language (different from my mother tongue) plus 2 foreign languages.Then there was maths, physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography and more..
I didn't have time to meet with school buddies after school, never mind with pen pals..

Any adult that would correspond with a 14 years old they haven't met in person would be dangerous, or feeble minded..

My dad did let me go on day trips with adults not from my family but, as a police detective, he knew that, while they were no angels and rough around the edges, they would protect, not harm me in any way.

RoboRyan,

Keep in mind that most 14 year old Japanese people only know the very basics of the English language. They also might not be used to writing long emails even in Japanese.

If you have written long posts, they need extra time trying to figure them out. If you wrote short posts, they need time figuring out what kind of a person you are.

Either way, most students won't have time to respond during weekdays, and most schools don't have Saturdays off.

However, summer vacation starts in mid July. That would be the time when a lot of 14 year olds take the time in dealing with new penpals.

Another factor is how old their messages are. I posted an ad here and then got busy and forgot about it. How old were the ads that you are replying to?

Also, the 14 year olds are just starting to learn English. They're in their second or third years of learning the basics of the language. Try to keep your sentences short and simple when you write, and refrain from slang, at least in your initial reply. You can teach them some slang later.

Also, keep your reply short. If there's a wall of text, they may just give up. Imagine if someone wrote to you in all Japanese using complicated kanji that you didn't know yet. It's the same sort of feeling.

Good luck! I've made some good friends on this site. Hopefully you will too! (^_^