Communicating issue with penpal

Hello everyone! Recently I've made a penpal friend on this site from Japan and I need some advice.My Japanese is very limited(I can't really string sentences together but know phrases or words) and the same goes for my penpal(speaking English)so when we talked on Skype..well you can imagine the awkwardness of conversation haha

When we mail each other its usually in English so I feel kinda bad and want to communicate in Japanese :(

So I guess what I'm asking is what can I do to make things go smoother if anything at all?

Thanks for any replies!

Try to speak to them in Japanese.
There are many websites where you can pick up on basic Japanese, for free.

Hi Rora,

Thanks for your reply.What site would you recommend is good?

Try these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IwdhMTkYVA

Good luck

That happens.

Do you two have something in common? For example, if you both like music, you can maintain the excitement just by naming artists or songs. You don't have to like the same songs, but if you both have a lot of knowledge on music, you will understand all the names and titles.

Similarly, if you like sports, name the teams. If you like traveling, name cities and countries, although try to translate them with a dictionary while naming them, because city/country names are often different.

Nouns, including proper nouns, are good tools to overcome language barriers and lack of grammer skills.

Rora thank you! I'll probably be up all night watching those lol

@ Uco yes,we have a lot of things in common.I think if either one of us was fluent in the targeted learning language we'd talk for a long time most likely.We try to make it work the best we can though.I'll just have to buckle down and study hard.

ありがとう　ございます　for your suggestions!

Just enjoy chatting with your penpal!
Eventually you will realize that both of you two improved each others language a lot!

Thats what i experienced when i was young.
I lived in country side of japan, had no chance to meet foreigners, didnt have money to go to language schools but still, really wanted to get foreign friends and learn english! My english was poor but see? Its not perfect yet, but handling enough to communicate right? :)

Also, just curious, how did you find your penpal here?
I mean honestly i want one, too.

Just enjoy chatting with your penpal!
Eventually you will realize that both of you two improved each others language a lot!

Thats what i experienced when i was young.
I lived in country side of japan, had no chance to meet foreigners, didnt have money to go to language schools but still, really wanted to get foreign friends and learn english! My english was poor but see? Its not perfect yet, but handling enough to communicate right? :)

Also, just curious, how did you find your penpal here?
I mean honestly i want one, too.

Use the friends link above. You can select country, nationality, age, etc

Star,

Yeah I hear ya.I believe it will get better with time.Actually I'm kind of in the same situation myself(not being able to meet foreign friends where I live)and I don't have funds for language school at this time(too busy with paying bills ^^;)

I've been making plans to visit Japan though and hopefully in the next couple of years I can.

I do have another question for y'all.Is it too sudden to ask for a penpals phone number? I'm not on Skype all the time so calling would be easier when I'm out.Also how would you ask for one's phone number in Japanese anyway?

thanks!

Haha
Yeah?
We are on the same boat then.

Hmmm probably i will feel uncomfortable to be asked for number if i dont know you well.
But at the same time, after communicating well and finding you like you are real, ill give you my number if you explain why you want it and it makes sense :)


Hope you can make your japan trip soon!