From Friday the 2nd of March my Edinburgh Conversation and Study Club moved to a Japanese Arcade Cafe. The arcade is full of authentic Japanese arcade machines with games like Street Fighter and Bubble Bobble. 

Around 15-20 people have attended the last two weeks and as usual we spoke Japanese for 2 hours. The best part about our study club is that we have our wonderful Japanese volunteer teachers to support us on our language journey.

Many people ask me how to start Japanese language community such as our community in Scotland.

Here are a few things you need to think about

Venue – you need somewhere quiet enough to talk but with some background noise for those who are shy when speaking Japanese and do not want to draw attention to themselves. Size of venue is very important as it needs to be big enough for a group to sit around a few tables but not so big that people have difficulty finding you.

Resources – you may feel that you don’t need resources, however, from my experience, there usually comes a point where the conversation goes quiet and you want something to keep the momentum going. I bring along free printed resources found on the internet and other purchased games such as Dobble and Story Cubes these are great resources because they help develop vocabulary and they are fun to use so you forget about feeling shy or nervous.

Japanese speakers – to make a Japanese language conversation group really successful. You need to invite Japanese speakers to participate. To ensure that the Japanese conversation club does not turn into a Japanese-English Exchange Group you want to state from the outset that you are there to use Japanese only. Making sure to mention at the start that Japanese will be spoken for the entire duration of the meeting lets everyone know the aim of the group.

The Japanese native speakers in my group are wonderful and supportive and have come from a variety of backgrounds. I have had university students join, tourists visiting the local area, Japanese expatriates and friends. The key to finding these native speakers is connection with language schools, universities, Japanese organisations and to a certain extent the marketing of your group activities. If you would like tips on marketing your Japanese Conversation Club please send me an email with all your questions here. (I am currently putting together a tips series).

When Japanese native speakers attend the Edinburgh Conversation Club they are given drinks (for their time). It also helps to ensure that only Japanese is spoken during the two hour meeting. It really is important to let attendees know from the beginning that the group will function entirely in Japanese otherwise, as soon as English is spoken, learners will feel more comfortable and remain in English. You want to maintain the immersive experience to ensure learner’s work through the discomfort and into real language learning. We need learn to make mistakes in order to really learn.

頑張りましょう！

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