Going to Japan in 11 months, looking for language aid
 

I'm in my third year of Japanese right now, but for the past two years I had a pretty bad teacher who didn't teach us very well. This year we have a new teacher, and she's from Japan. Last year my family and I hosted a Japanese exchange student for about 11 months. Next September I am planning to go to Japan for 2-3 weeks to visit my exchange student in Nagoya and some of my family in southern Japan.

To help me prepare for this trip, I want to start practicing my Japanese more! Is there anyone who is willing to converse and correct with me?

はじめまして！　名前　は　アマンダです。十八　さい です。　ワシングトンにすんでいます。　日本語　はむ ずかしいですが、大すきです。　私は日本は来年に行き ます。　(Is that last sentence correct? I was trying to say, "I am going to Japan next year."　)　日本語のクラブのメンバーです。Please help me practice my Japanese for my trip! どうぞよろしく！

Hello^_^ I'd like to give a little advice for you introduction and such. The first bit, はじめまして, is fine^_^ After that though, it seems a little clunky in Japanese to *literally* say "my name is..." so it would be better to say "アマンダと申します（もうします）". (What I wrote in parenthesis is the hiragana for that last word.) The next couple of lines are fine, though you could combine them instead of saying such short sentences.

Now, that sentence you were worried about is indeed wrong, but really it's just 'cause the order needs to be a little better. I would say "来年私は日本に行き ます". The important part here is that you get "nihon" to match up with "ni ikimasu" without getting that extra wa in there.

Also, just in general, Japanese doesn't have spaces like in English when you get to writing in kanji and everything. So all of your spaces between words should go away (like how you wrote your last couple of sentences.)

I hope that helped^_^ I've been learning Japanese for about 5 years now, so I'm pretty confident that what I said is correct. Good luck with your trip to Japan!

Ohh, I see! although I don't understand what the もうします　means. And I see, I figured I probably had the order wrong in that last sentence about going to Japan next year.

Thank you so much for your corrections, I'll remember them and keep practicing!

Also, Do you have a gaiaonline accout? (from your avatar, I assume you do :-) ) I have an account too! ^-^

First name + と申します ? That you won't hear in Japan.

申す is a highly formal word and you're only creating a great imbalance by combining it with one's first name. There are only three things that can come before と申します in self-introduction.

1. Last name

2. Full name, and

3. Name of organization that you represent

First names and nicknames will be out of the question with 「と申します」. You will only sound strange.

If you want to introduce yourself using your first name only, simply say:

1. (First name) です. or

2. (First name) といいます。

「名前はアマンダです。」 isn't incorrect. But remember that the 名前は part will make it sound wordy to the Japanese ear. In the context of a self-introduction, we will know it's your name.

Okay, I see the point here. I always say "first name last name to moushimasu" but I learned a lot of really formal Japanese and the only situations I've really introduced myself was at school to the professors in Japan. Thanks for clearing that up for her (and me), Nagoyankee^_^