I'm sort of a newbie to the site, but have been studying Japanese for quite some time. I have a good grasp on grammar, and a pretty large vocab, however I'm still trying to grasp にちじょうかいわ (daily conversation) from a speaking standpoint. My e-mails to penpals are alright, and my journals on lang-8.com are pretty good. However in terms of one-to-one conversation in person, it's annoyingly slow. I have a tutor, and it takes me FOREVER to string a sentence together! It's also part nerves as well. Psyching myself out. A few days ago, I couldn't even remember how to say "nice to meet you"!! That was embarrassing!!
So what methods do you all use for practicing speaking? I'll be headed to Japan for 3 weeks in about two weeks, so I'll get lots of practice then. But before that, I'd still like to be somewhat prepared!
ありがとう！
