Looking for study partners, or online tutors?

[LittleGaijin]

Looking for study partners, conversation groups, or online tutors? 

If so, you came to the right place!

This thread was suggested by Dizzy! If you need a little extra help with your Japanese learning, please go ahead and fill out the form below, and someone will contact you with some information! If you would like to give a little more extra helpful information to those who lurk in this thread (this especially helps out lurking online tutors)―you can take this quiz, and post the number of your results on each of the four pages! This will help tutors pinpoint your exact language level.

I am looking for a _________.   

Name/Nickname:
Age: 
Native language:

How long have you been studying Japanese?
Have you ever had any formal classes?
What resources do you use while studying?

If you are studying for the JLPT (日本語能力試験, Japanese Language Proficiency Test), please don't forget to include the level of the test that you are planning to take. If you need tutoring for a Japanese class, please do not forget to include your class information and level. Be aware that some tutors do not act as conversation partners, and you will have to specify if that's something that you are looking for. Some online tutors charge actual money for lessons, so be sure to ask in advance! 


Good hunting everyone!

[Dizzy]

I am looking for all three! A study partner, study group, and a tutor.

Name/Nickname: Kelly/Dizzy
Age: 22
Native language: English

How long have you been studying Japanese? On and off since I was 10. Seriously for a year. Took a break for a year. Learning again now.
Have you ever had any formal classes? Yup! I had two college classes.
What resources do you use while studying? Quite a few. I use the Genki books, Minna no Nihongo, the Pimsleur deluxe Japanese disc set (I JUST got my hands on this. It was my fiance's, but he never used it once), a site that keeps a bunch of textbooks and recordings made by the American government for learning languages (it's open source), and various websites. 

For the self-evaluation:
Listening: 15 (if I have some refreshers)
Speaking: 18
Reading: 18
Writing: I can't do 18, but I can do 17. 

I'm surprised I remember as much as I do, but I need refreshers for everything. Vocabulary is lost on me at this point. You could probably talk to me, and I'd understand, but responding at this point is out of the question.

I plan on taking the JLPT N5 by next year.

[MidoriAbby]

Hi Dizzy! This is a really good idea for a forum topic. Thanks for jumping in with us and using the website even though it only got started

I would like: I would also benefit from conversation practice of any kind with anyone of any level- I specifically would like to practice my intermediate/advanced speaking skills. The OTHER thing I would really love to do is help out some more beginner level or beginning intermediate students as well, because that's one of my favorite things to do.
So for anyone who sees this, if you want to either A) get some help with beginner or intermediate stuff and just have general practice or B) practice advanced level conversation over skype or something, feel free to private message me and I will give you my skype name and email address.

My name: Abigail (nickname: abby/midori)

Age: 14

Native Language: English

I've been self studying Japanese quite seriously for almost 3 years now, no formal classes but I use textbooks, the internet, my Japanese skype penpals, and whatever free or low priced softwear I can get my hands on. Mainly textbooks for grammar, and then I pick up vocab and nuances from native speaker interaction.

As for my self-evaluation:
Listening: I'm somewhere between an 8 and a 6 depending on the circumstance
Speaking: 4 on a good day, 5 or 6 if I'm out of practice (for some reason the speaking ones seemed easier than the listening ones...)
Reading: 8
Writing: Somewhere between a 5 and a three
(wow, those made me feel really good about my ability, however I realize that often times even though I can do those things, there will be times when vocab or kanji gets in the way. So all those numbers can very.)

I'm studying for the JLPT N3 at the moment, although the grammar is pretty easy for me, vocab and kanji are what's holding me back at the moment.

[LittleGaijin]

I have some possibilities for Dizzy!

I meant to write back to you about this earlier, but I got caught in some last minute research papers for my English class! Anyways, for tutoring→me and Jade do tutoring if you're interested! We initially charge $10 per hour, but we're always willing to talk about prices and make some changes! But for conversation partners/groups, I have another idea for you! On our old forum site, we used to try to get groups of members interested in playing different games together, while talking on Skype in Japanese at the same time! The challenge is to successfully play the game without using any English, only Japanese! We tried to organize groups for Minecraft and Star Wars, but we never tried World of Warcraft yet! Perhaps a Gaiwa Guild would be the perfect conversation group for you! And me and Jade are already interested in doing something like this! ★ PM me and Jade if you're interested sometime! 

[naitorii]

I'm looking for a tutor and/or conversation partner.

My nickname is Naitorii, and my name is private.
My age is 13.
My native language is spanish. I was born in the U.S., although I didn't spend much time there, I'm also fluent in english.
I've been studying japanese for about four months.
I've never had any formal classes, don't really intend to.
The resources I use when studying are a mix of things I find online.
As for self evaluation,
Listening: 19
Speaking: 19
Reading: 20
Writing: 20

[Jembru]

I'm a bit nervous to partake in this, but I DO need more practice, somehow.. so let's see if anyone has the nerves to cope with me as a study partner. Things you'll need to be aware of..

- especially the first few times we chat, I will say very little. I'll let you know when I am following you, and ask for clarity when I didn't catch or understand what you said, but I'll reply very little and let you do most of the talking.
- You have to pay close attention to the verbs I use because I mess up my particles so much, it can get a bit confusing to follow what I'm saying. I also like to randomly insert 'da' after adjectives when its not required... No idea why I do this!
- I sometimes misunderstand what you said, so may reply with something that makes no sense. It's awkward when this happens, but I'd rather be corrected so we can get back to clear communication.

So, I'm looking for a studbuddy who'll help practice spoken Japanese with me (we can write too though).

I've never had formal lessons that were working towards exams or whatever, but I took private lessons for half a year, at pre-intermediate level.

I studied beginner and pre-intermediate Japanese from the Japanese for busy people course. I know those books inside and out, and think I could even communicate sticking just to the language in those 3 books, should my partner be familiar with them too!

For intermediate language, I have studied from Japanesepod101. I have had premium membership, but downgraded to basic, as I never really used the premium resources.

Now for the level guide:

Listening: probably somewhere around 9 and 10, maybe lower.

Speaking: Maybe 10?

Reading: without my precious rikaikun? Okay, then probably 14/13

Writing: with pen and paper? For real? Ach, then probably 19 ^^ I tried keeping a hand-written journal once, it didn't last long! I found it recently and read an entry about cheap fruit I bought.. it was not just very dull, but also jibberish! Lol

[dianalu]

I am looking for a tutor and a buddy.
I'm Diana/DianaLu
Age 13
Native language is Spanish but you can say English too. ^_^
I've been studying Japanese for about 5 months. (I think)
No i have not have any classes and what i know is from online. (I know very little)
I used many online things and i have picked up a little Japanese
Self Evaluation:
Listening:20
Speaking:20
Reading:20
Writing:20
My Japanese is very poorly so i hope someone can tutor me. Thank you.

[LittleGaijin]

Nov 4, 2013 6:11:43 GMT dianalu said:

I am looking for a tutor and a buddy.

I think maybe naitorii would make a really good buddy for you!   Do you guys know each other?

[dianalu]

Nov 4, 2013 6:31:36 GMT LittleGaijin said:

Nov 4, 2013 6:11:43 GMT dianalu said:

I am looking for a tutor and a buddy.

I think maybe naitorii would make a really good buddy for you!   Do you guys know each other?

 No i dont know her and um *shy 

[naitorii]

Nov 4, 2013 23:46:56 GMT dianalu said:

Nov 4, 2013 6:31:36 GMT LittleGaijin said:

I think maybe naitorii would make a really good buddy for you!   Do you guys know each other?

 No i dont know her and um *shy 

I'm a boy, I'm not sure if it's the avatars I use but people say I come off as a girl. I'm only shy in person. I speak spanish very well, so that's a good idea, but it might be a different dialect.

[missmomo]

I am looking for a study partner.

Name/Nickname: miss Momo
Age: 17
Native language: english

How long have you been studying Japanese? 4 years

Have you ever had any formal classes? yep! I've taken 2 years of classes then when I moved I continued to study on my own since my school didn't offer any Japanese classes.

What resources do you use while studying? I translate japanese songs, use manga and magazine and anime, I also use a lot of the tumblr blogs and my worksheets and copies of my teacher's textbook that I still have.

I didn't do the self evaluation thing because I'm too lazy lol.

[stillstudying]

My first post on here!

I am looking for a study partner/someone to speak with! I'm really interested in any resources on improving listening skills.

Name/Nickname: Ahil (not real name)
Age: in high school (don't want to say age)
Native language: English

How long have you been studying Japanese? Since 2007, but since I was in elementary school at the time it's been a slow process. And, in general, because of school getting in the way I haven't been studying as much as I'd like, but I'm starting to get more efficient.

Have you ever had any formal classes? Yes, one was a class for middle school age (taken in 08) and then I took some college level classes a few years ago.

What resources do you use while studying? Yamasa for looking up kanji, Genki for Grammar, also Erin Japanese, Maggie Sensei, Anki for reviewing, and some other various sources.

I'm trying to find a good balance now between being obsessed with studying and missing out on other things and not studying for a month or so at a time.

Another worry that I have is about my listening skills. Although I'm set to go to Japan next summer, and I'll of course be able to improve a lot there, even in my native language my listening skills aren't the best. It's not hearing though, I get the sounds okay, it's understanding. I always have captions on my t.v. so I can understand them+read along, and sometimes I'll wait for the movie theaters to come out with the captioned version of a new movie so I can better understand what is being said. I've heard that this may be related to my ADHD.

[MidoriAbby]

stillstudying
Hi, welcome to Gaiwa! I also might be going to Japan next summer. I've been studying for about 3 years and I'm in high school. I think your skills will be able to improve in Japan, everything takes practice. I hope this site is helpful to you (I don't really know about recommendations for study partners etc, I mean I can always help/skype/email/whatever if you want but I figure other members will want to exchange info here too so I tend not to just advertise myself because we as the admins kind of want the site to be based on the members- if anyone wants to be people's study partners and they see them in this thread, send them a message, it's a great place to make study friends.) We've just started the site a little while ago so we're still getting started but I'm really liking it so far.
Anyway, good luck with your studies and welcome to the site!

[Underlig]

I am looking for a study partner that I can talk with(not write)(upon reading the article lol) 

Name/Nickname: Alba
Age: 16
Native language: Swedish, but I can speak English if necessary although I'd rather have conversations completely in Japanese.

How long have you been studying Japanese? In two months it'll be three years but because I always have homework I'm really bad.
Have you ever had any formal classes? Yeah, for two years but I quit because I was faster than the other students and didn't learn anything anymore, it was kind of a waste of money.
What resources do you use while studying?
I mostly use youtube, podcasts, wikipedia, tae kim's guide and some random resources...I also have used the japanese for busy people books, book 1 and 2.

For the self-evaluation:
Listening:15 
Speaking: 15 maybe? I can do other stuff higher on the list but 14 is kind of hard...
Reading: 18, I often chat in Japanese and I can read common kanji but I have to look some up
Writing: 12?(that is, if I can use my phone/computer, can't do hand writing, with handwriting it would be 18 )

[lechinmaru]

I am looking for a study partner. I'm too stubborn to turn to a tutor right now. >_<

Name/Nickname: Jess
Age: 24
Native language: English

How long have you been studying Japanese?

A month
Have you ever had any formal classes?

No.
What resources do you use while studying?

Youtube channel, JapanesePod101, Japanese Hiragana and Katakana For Beginners book, and Teach Yourself Beginners Japanese book.