Have pen pals?  Lars wrote in to tell us since using JapanesePod101 his pen pals have been quite surprised with his Japanese.  He also told us about how he first decided to learn the language and why.

“I’m Lars (38) from Germany and I have a relationship to Japan for many years. I like Japanese sports and culture. And finally I have decided to start to learn this beautiful language Japanese.

I went to at a local public high school and noticed soon that the style of the textbook does not really cover current daily Japanese language. Additionally there are not many chances to practice conversations in a big class. So I went on looking for other options.

My search ended with japanesepod101.com.

I like browsing through the podcasts and listen to them on the train every day. With access to daily spoken Japanese, useful grammar exercises and learning videos I can really see how my Japanese gets better and better.

Meanwhile I also have Japanese penpals and I am happy to surprise them with many natural phrases and words that I have learned from JapanesePod101.com”

Pen pals are a great way to practice your Japanese.  I had two while going to college and they really helped me with learning natural, conversational Japanese and gave me interesting opinions which really taught me more about the culture and the Japanese perspective.

Does anyone have any experiences with pen pals?  Send us your story to contactus@japanesepod101.com, subject line: Mail Bag or discuss in the comments below.