Extension speaking HELP?? (1 Viewer)

muramasa

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I'm doing Japanese extension but I'm absolutely terrible at the speaking.
No matter what I do, I can't seem to get my point across without stumbling.
I've never been good at public speaking so it is difficult for me to speak for so long in Japanese.

Could anyone give me some help/advice?
 

WileyWanimal

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Hi there!
I do Italian Ext, but assuming that Japanese ext is the same sort of thing, this should be relevant to you. Do you have to do a 3 minute monologue on an issue?

Anyway, I think that the best thing you can do is be really really well practiced. You basically need to have already done a monologue on pretty much every topic they're likely to have asked you about, so that a) you will be familiar with the relevant vocab and b) you will have already sat down, considered your opinion on this issue and nutted out some main points and an example or two. For example, there are topics such as technology, racism, bullying, multiculturalism, freedom, disability, family... that are fairly likely to come up, and this way, whatever Q does come up, you'll be able to think "oh, ok, this is the 'technology' question, or this is the 'importance of family' question. Easy." rather than going into panic mode and consequently stuttering and not being able to think clearly.

Our teacher has given us loads and loads of sample monologue questions, and for our half-yearly she even gave us a list of 7 Qs and told us that she would choose from that list, meaning that we prepared those really well. Even if you aren't that lucky, if you prepare lots of topics in advance, then at least one of the 2 options given in the exam should be similar to one you have prepared for.
That said, your very first sentence should be "I agree/ disagree that... [rephrase the question here]", so that you are definitely addressing the specific question. Following that, it's a good idea to have a brief outline of your main points, and then launch straight into it!
3 minutes really isn't a long time. I always find that it goes really quickly and it's hard to stay within the limit.
I have to go now, the bell for the end of school is about to ring (yay! first day back wasn't bad at all!), but I might write more later. Hope I've helped a bit! :)
 

laura-jayne14

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Sounds like you're on top of things. Buona Fortuna per gli esami! :)

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WileyWanimal

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Sounds like you're on top of things. Buona Fortuna per gli esami! :)
Grazie, anche a te...
Però, direi che so cosa dovrei fare - non è che riesco a farlo tutto! ;)
I'd say that I know what I should be doing - that doesn't mean I manage to do it all!!
 

WileyWanimal

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@Muramasa:
I thought of a couple of other things too. Our teacher sometimes gets us to have about 7mins preparation time and then we have to record a monologue, except in english. Then we go through and write a vocab list of all the words/phrases we used in English that we wouldn't know how to say in the target language. That we, if you know loads of vocab you'll be less limited in what you can say.
Also, if speaking Japanese in general is really hard for you then (sorry) practice is a big thing. If you have friends who also study Japanese, try to really regularly speak it with you - you don't have to designate a time, just talk about normal things that you would chat about anyway, except do it in Japanese. I'm lucky that my best friend also learns Italian, so we often just speak in Italian. Otherwise, there are sites online where you can find language exchange partners to talk to on Skype, and although it would be awkward at first, doing that regularly would be an incredible way to improve.
 

laura-jayne14

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What day are your speaking exams? I am nervous because I am worried I will forget everything!

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muramasa

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What day are your speaking exams? I am nervous because I am worried I will forget everything!

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I did like... 2 speaking tasks for the whole course... I find it hard to speak for 3 minutes in English let alone another language...
And my test is on the 5/5. You?
 

laura-jayne14

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May?? That's soon. My HSC speaking exam is the 23rd of August.

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WileyWanimal

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My exams are Aug 2 for Italian Cont, August 23 for Italian Ext and August 30 for French Beg.
 

laura-jayne14

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Wow! Your Italian is early. How do you cope with doing both French, Italian & Ext. ??Are you interested in studying them next year? My written Hsc is 24th Oct

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WileyWanimal

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Yup, I'm really keen to study languages at Uni (but I'm going to have a gap year first). :smile:
As for how I manage, I actually find learning languages really easy. Everyone has their forte, and mine would definitely be languages. I actually think I have way less work load than lots of my friends who do lots of sciences and other content subjects.
I went on exchange to Italy for 2 months at the end of year 10 and I improved a lot then and have continued to do so... In yr 11, when I first started learning French, I would sometimes get mixed up between the two languages, but I don't really do that much any more. The other day in my French class I was listening to Italian music while writing a letter in French xD. :D
 

SerNichols

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Yup, I'm really keen to study languages at Uni (but I'm going to have a gap year first). :smile:
As for how I manage, I actually find learning languages really easy. Everyone has their forte, and mine would definitely be languages. I actually think I have way less work load than lots of my friends who do lots of sciences and other content subjects.
I went on exchange to Italy for 2 months at the end of year 10 and I improved a lot then and have continued to do so... In yr 11, when I first started learning French, I would sometimes get mixed up between the two languages, but I don't really do that much any more. The other day in my French class I was listening to Italian music while writing a letter in French xD. :D
Weow bagus sekali!
 

butterflygrace

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If you're stumbling, you might be speaking too fast!!
One thing I do which really helps my fluency is thinking in Japanese. When you consider it, we think in English all the time, and Japanese people think in Japanese so if you want to speak like a Japanese person, you have to think like one :) it doesn't always have to be at the level of language we use in extension, it can just be about random things like seeing a tree or being cold. Also, you'll be able to think through your ideas in Japanese in the exam which will give you a lot more time. Speaking Japanese with other people is really helpful too, of course. It's better than thinking, but you don't always have someone around to speak to in Japanese!
As for the actual content, do lots of practice questions! Don't only do questions from Japanese past papers, but also from other languages too - a lot of them have the same ideas. If you do a lot of practice, in the exam you'll be able to rely on instinct to get your ideas down. Learning lots of vocab is very important too.
 

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