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Shadowing practice: How difficult is travelling in JAPAN without speaking JAPANESE?

Listen to the line, then say it out loud
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Full transcript

  1. How hard is it travelling in Japan if you don't speak Japanese?0:00
  2. That's the question I got asked the most when I said I was going to do this Q &A video and I'm going to answer as many things as possible0:04
  3. in this video about my experience of travelling in Japan for the first time back in 2018.0:09
  4. Yoooo!0:14
  5. So back then my best mate James and I did like a one month loop around the country visiting many of the classic sites.0:15
  6. And in terms of language barrier, I don't remember it being that hard at all really.0:21
  7. English wasn't spoken fluently by many people that we met but certainly in terms of the touristy areas and the main cities and the people you speak to worked at0:25
  8. the hostels and hotels.0:32
  9. Their English was great and they could help you out a lot.0:34
  10. Then when you're out in your day to day sort of exploring, there was enough signs in English to make it okay.0:36
  11. And there was enough people who could speak a few words to help you out with what you wanted to do.0:40
  12. Oh, mo, te, ashi!0:44
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  1. Omotenashi!0:48
  2. Omotenashi!0:49
  3. What does it mean?0:50
  4. Omotenashi.0:52
  5. Welcome to Japan!0:52
  6. Welcome to Japan!0:54
  7. Japanese people are the most lovely polite people on the planet and they don't expect you to know Japanese.0:55
  8. So they're always willing to help out and like any way you go in the world, if you can learn a few phrases, like I'll get one of those phrase1:01
  9. book apps and even if it's just one or two tiny little things, it shows that you're making an effort and not taking their hospitality for granted.1:08
  10. But the one that always went down really well was Hajime Meshite, which means nice to meet you.1:16
  11. And any time we said that, they were like, oh, I just blew their minds.1:19
  12. And in terms of transport, like the main trains, like the bullet trains going around the country, the signs were in Japanese and English.1:23
  13. As far as I remember, the announcements were also in English.1:29
  14. The only trouble we occasionally have was like getting on the metro.1:32
  15. Sometimes all the signs would just be in Japanese.1:35
  16. But for things like that, you just want to be more prepared, like get a map of the metro saved on your phone.1:37
  17. That's in English.1:42
  18. Google is your friend as well for getting yourself around.1:43
  19. And Google Translate is a really good friend.1:46
  20. So make sure you've downloaded Google Translate in Japanese.1:48
  21. You can hold that up to signs and menus and get it to automatically translate what you look at.1:51
  22. And we also use that quite a few times just to communicate with people.1:55
  23. High nose is enviable.1:58
  24. So get Google Translate, especially once you get into more rural areas and more off the bean track.2:01
  25. They're not going to be speaking English, but if you've got Google Translate on you, it can help you out.2:06
  26. Learn some basic phrases just to show you're being polite and you'll be fine.2:11
  27. It wasn't like when we traveled in China at the start of our Hong Kong to New York trip, that was a real struggle with the language barrier, but Japan2:14
  28. was fine.2:21
  29. Easy.2:23
  30. So easy.2:24
  31. And speaking of talking to locals, I had this question, which is where, what is the best way to interact with locals?2:26
  32. Our main experience of doing that was going to the Isekaias, the small bars.2:32
  33. That's where we just sat down as a bar that can only fit 10 people and we just start chatting to everyone.2:36
  34. And I had this other question, like striking up conversations with locals.2:41
  35. Was it usually you guys or the locals that said the first hello?2:44
  36. Often it was the locals who just came to us.2:47
  37. They just wanted to say hi and, you know, practice their English and just ask what we were doing there.2:49
  38. Not an aggressive way and like a happy to see us kind of way.2:54
  39. So all flowed very naturally.2:57
  40. And in terms of filmmaking, everyone there loved the camera, which is why we managed to get lots of those interactions on film.2:58
  41. Like I've had comments on other videos in the past going, oh, why didn't you show more of the locals?3:04
  42. You showed so much of them in Japan, but you didn't show it in this country or that country.3:08
  43. And it's like, well, they, everyone there loved the camera and all up for it.3:12
  44. They're like, hi and all that kind of stuff.3:15
  45. Whilst other countries, people don't want to be filmed.3:17
  46. They're just going about their lives.3:20
  47. Like, can you imagine in England going into a pub and just trying to film some random people there?3:21
  48. They'll fucking knock you out.3:26
  49. And I guess that brings us on to the next question.3:27
  50. Is Japan as safe as they say?3:30
  51. I don't know who they are, but yes, Japan was super safe.3:32
  52. If I've probably never felt so safe in a country as traveling around Japan, like anywhere you go in the world, I always use the same common sense you would3:34
  53. at home.3:41
  54. But yeah, Japan, absolutely fine.3:42
  55. How is the backpacking scene in Japan for solo traveler meeting people?3:44
  56. We were there in January, which was off season.3:48
  57. So most of the hostels were empty and pretty dead.3:51
  58. So this is what a lot of the hostels been like in Japan so far.3:54
  59. Crazy!4:00
  60. Feel my heart all night.4:06
  61. But there was always tons of hostels to choose from in each city.4:09
  62. So having all that infrastructure there suggests that when it's high season, there'll be tons of backpackers around and you'll be absolutely fine in terms of meeting people.4:13
  63. We were just there the wrong time of year for it.4:20
  64. There were some exceptions to that and a couple of hostels like organized social things in the evening.4:22
  65. We made some friends and stuff like you normally expect.4:26
  66. So I think when you're not traveling there off season, you'll be absolutely fine.4:28
  67. Is it better to visit with a group and a local guide or alone with your girlfriend experience?4:31
  68. High from Spain.4:36
  69. I mean this question can be applied to any country really.4:37
  70. Like solo travel and group travel are very different experiences.4:41
  71. And both have their advantages and disadvantages.4:45
  72. Like in terms of Japan, if you're traveling with a group and had a local tour guide, they could probably teach you a lot more about the country.4:47
  73. You get a bigger understanding of their history and their culture.4:53
  74. There'll be more of an educational experience.4:56
  75. And any other people you're interacting with can't speak English.4:58
  76. They could translate for you.5:00
  77. So that's always an advantage.5:01
  78. But I've always been asked to put on a group tour in Japan.5:02
  79. And one of the things that makes me hesitate about it is one of our favorite experiences with going to the Isekai is where you can fit like 10 people5:05
  80. in and we just chat to the locals.5:11
  81. You wouldn't be able to do that on a group tour because I mean normally tours have like 12 to 16 people.5:13
  82. So you couldn't even fit the whole group into one bar.5:18
  83. And you certainly wouldn't be able to chat to locals the way that we did.5:21
  84. So if you do go the group tour way, I try and find an itinerary that has a good amount of free time in it.5:24
  85. So you can just go off by yourself or with a mate and just explore around and go to the Isekai is or whatever.5:29
  86. I try and get those experiences that we did when we were there solo traveling.5:35
  87. Heavy brother!5:39
  88. Yeah!5:40
  89. Did you experience any people of businesses who were anti -tourists?5:42
  90. We didn't see any of that at all when we were there in 2018.5:46
  91. I think that's been more of a recent thing that's risen in Japan.5:48
  92. Like I've seen about it on the Christ Boards of Broad in Japan channel, which is a fucking amazing YouTube channel by the way.5:53
  93. I've seen about it there, but it certainly wasn't a thing in our time.5:59
  94. And I think that what's given a rise to this kind of stuff is people have gone there and just sort of taken a Japanese hospitality for granted and just6:03
  95. gone around being a dick like some other YouTubers did.6:09
  96. But yeah, that certainly wasn't a part of our experience in 2018.6:12
  97. Pocket Wi -Fi or travel sim.6:15
  98. I used pocket Wi -Fi a couple of times in the past in trips and I just found it to be a bit unreliable and annoying.6:17
  99. I never bothered to buy physical travel sim cards because I was just so worried I was going to lose that tiny bit of plastic while switching them around.6:23
  100. But I now use eSims.6:31
  101. So AeroLoad is a really good one.6:33
  102. As an app you can just buy an eSim for the country that you're in and you're set to go.6:34
  103. So I do have an affiliate link for them in the description, so click on that.6:38
  104. And basically as soon as you land you can be on data straight away.6:42
  105. Is the onsen worth doing?6:44
  106. Well there's lots of onsen, there's not just one.6:46
  107. But yeah, onsen are great.6:49
  108. They come in different shapes and sizes and stuff, but my favorite ones with the private ones you can get at some of the accommodation.6:51
  109. You can just have it to yourself and really relax in the water.6:56
  110. And it's just, you feel so good after you've been in them.6:59
  111. It's not quite the same as a hot tub where you feel a bit dehydrated afterwards.7:01
  112. This is just that your whole skin just feels soft and smooth and you feel so relaxed.7:06
  113. And yeah, I absolutely love the onsen.7:11
  114. And that brings us on to tattoos.7:13
  115. What is the deal with traveling Japan and being heavily tattooed?7:15
  116. Like James had some big tattoos when we travel around and it wasn't really a problem anywhere.7:17
  117. I mean, some onsen won't let you in with tattoos, but some do.7:21
  118. So you just want to sort of ask ahead or just give it a quick Google and you'll find out where you can go and where you can't.7:25
  119. Japanese tattoo!7:30
  120. My name is Yakuza!7:33
  121. Which company was the Mario Kart with?7:36
  122. We used a company called Marikar and again I'll put a link for them in the description of this video.7:38
  123. And we loved it.7:43
  124. It was just so, it was so much fun.7:44
  125. How to rent a motorbike or car there?7:46
  126. What documents do you need?7:48
  127. We didn't rent any motorbikes or cars whilst we were there, but for the Mario Kart you did need an international driver's permit.7:50
  128. So I'm guessing that's going to be the same for a motorbike or car hire.7:57
  129. So make sure you've got an international driver's permit and then your normal license and hopefully you'll be fine.8:01
  130. I've had some people asking what would I do with just one week there or 10 days there?8:09
  131. I mean if you look at my two week itinerary, I guess for one week you could do three nights in Tokyo, one night in Hakone so you can see8:13
  132. Mt.8:21
  133. Fuji.8:21
  134. And then two nights in Kyoto and then one final night in Osaka and then fly home from Osaka.8:22
  135. That'd be a very rushed and quick week but you get to see a bit of the country.8:27
  136. How long is needed to travel the same route as we did but not feel rushed?8:30
  137. Well as I talked about in the itinerary video, we weren't rushed.8:34
  138. We had lots of chill out days and stuff like that.8:38
  139. I talked about how you could take our month itinerary and compress it into three weeks and still do everything that we did.8:40
  140. So our itinerary was pretty leisurely actually.8:46
  141. Do you think for a two to three week trip you should try and see a wide variety of places or focus on just a few and see properly?8:48
  142. I mean that's always the balance of wherever you go in the world.8:55
  143. But the nice thing with Japan is that transport infrastructure is so good.8:57
  144. And so with the bullet trains you can get around the country so fast and it's so comfortable and relaxing.9:02
  145. I always say sometimes the worst part of travelling is the actual travelling.9:07
  146. Like you'd be south east Asia or Central America and you have to get on a bus for 12 hours and some bumpy road and it's all cramped and horrible.9:11
  147. And it just takes it out of you whilst in Japan a travel day is like, oh cool I'll just get to sit on this train for two hours and9:19
  148. I'll be at the next stop.9:25
  149. So maybe it's a good country to take advantage of that and actually see a lot of places in a short time.9:26
  150. Hey mate, if you go to any other city other than Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, where would I go?9:31
  151. The main one that's missing from there for me was Hiroshima.9:36
  152. Like Hiroshima we had such a good time at.9:39
  153. Like I talked about it in the itinerary video how when people think of Hiroshima they just think of one thing, the Peace Memorial Park.9:41
  154. But it's actually a really fun city with a good vibe and there's tons of little day trips you can do from there as well.9:47
  155. So that'd be the one that I'd add.9:52
  156. But obviously there's tons of other places in the country to choose from but that's the obvious one that's missing from that list for me.9:54
  157. Was there anything that didn't live up to the hype there?10:01
  158. Yeah, I guess there's a couple of bits in Kyoto like the bamboo forest was just like crowded and just like, I'll call some nice trees.10:04
  159. But I think when you see the pictures of it like looking all quiet, it looks like quite a zen place but it wasn't that at all.10:12
  160. And the same with the golden temple there.10:17
  161. It's quite nice, it's a picture but it wasn't amazing.10:19
  162. We enjoyed our day because we rode our bikes around Kyoto and went to see those places so we more enjoyed it for like the journey and the activity.10:23
  163. But the places by themselves were just kind of meh, they were fine.10:30
  164. But having said that, some places that are worth the hype, also Kyoto was the Fushimi and Ari shrine and I absolutely loved that, I thought it was incredible.10:33
  165. Yes, it's super busy but as I keep talking about in the other videos, you can get there and it just keeps going on and on up the hill.10:41
  166. So the further you walk up the hill, the less crowded it gets and before you know it, you can have the place reasonably to yourself.10:48
  167. When is the best time of year to go with the least amount of rain?10:56
  168. I don't know but I do know how to use Google so let me find out.10:59
  169. The best time of year in Japan is spring, March and April or autumn, October and November when days are sunny and dry.11:04
  170. During the summer months made in September, the cities are hot and humid with heavy rainfall occurring across the country in June and July except for Hokkaido.11:11
  171. There you go.11:18
  172. Takoyaki!11:19
  173. What is it?11:20
  174. Octopus ball.11:22
  175. Octopus ball, okay.11:23
  176. Hi Carl, how's the food in Japan for someone who doesn't eat seafood?11:24
  177. Well James doesn't eat seafood, he can't stand the stuff and he did just fine in Japan.11:28
  178. He did end up eating a lot of fried chicken and so did I as well because it's fantastic.11:33
  179. Good?11:37
  180. It's just like KFC.11:39
  181. There's tons of food on offer everywhere that's not just seafood so you'll be fine.11:41
  182. And the final question is when am I going back to Japan for round two?11:47
  183. No idea.11:50
  184. I'd love to go back and I definitely will one day.11:52
  185. Jamie really wants to travel there, James would love to go back so I'm sure we'll get back there hopefully the next few years and I talked about the itinerary11:55
  186. video like if I was to go back there, what the itinerary might look like and some of the places it might check out so if you haven't seen that12:02
  187. already check out the itinerary video and check out the budget video so you can plan your first trip there as well.12:08
  188. So that's it, thank you so much everyone for sending in your questions about travelling in Japan.12:17
  189. If you haven't watched the Journey in Japan two part series yet from 2018 then go check it out if you've seen it already and go give it a rewatch.12:21
  190. But I'm about to head off to somewhere new in Asia that I haven't been to before which is Taiwan which is why I'm filming this in a hotel room12:28
  191. so tomorrow I'll be filming a brand new adventure and I'm super excited for you guys to see that so make sure you're subscribed and I'll see you again soon.12:34
  192. Bye.12:58

A Fast British Travel Q&A: English Listening Practice from Japan

This clip is a British travel vlogger answering a single question straight to camera: "How hard is it travelling in Japan if you don't speak Japanese?" It is narration, not a scripted scene, so the sentences run on the way real spoken English does, one thought sliding into the next rather than stopping for a full stop.

The pace is 256 words per minute, faster than 96% of the catalogue, which makes this a demanding piece of english listening practice before it is anything else. The level is B2. You are not decoding vocabulary here, you are keeping up with someone who talks the way he would tell a friend the same story at a pub table, unrehearsed and quick.

Shadowing This Line by Line: The Language Worth Noticing

A few lines carry real texture worth slowing down for during english shadowing practice.

  • "That's the question I got asked the most when I said I was going to do this Q &A video and I'm going to answer as many things as possible" runs as one breath with no pause where a written sentence would put a comma, which is exactly the rhythm that trips up learners who read English but rarely hear it spoken this fast.
  • "English wasn't spoken fluently by many people that we met but certainly in terms of the touristy areas and the main cities and the people you speak to worked at" stacks three qualifying clauses back to back, a habit of unscripted speech that is worth repeating out loud until the joins feel automatic.
  • "But the one that always went down really well was Hajime Meshite, which means nice to meet you" mixes a foreign phrase into an English sentence without missing a beat, a useful model for how native speakers handle borrowed words in daily english conversation practice.

How to Work Through This Clip for English Speaking Practice

Work it in the order the video gives you, not out of sequence.

  • Start with line one, "How hard is it travelling in Japan if you don't speak Japanese?" It is short, it sets the whole video's question, and it is the easiest line to get your mouth around before the pace picks up.
  • Move to line two and shadow it as one unbroken run. Do not chop it into pieces. The point is training your mouth to keep pace with a native speaker who does not pause for you.
  • Take line seven on its own, slow it down first, then bring it back up to the recording's speed once the three clauses feel natural.
  • Play with the repeated "Omotenashi!" lines. Repetition at speed is a low pressure way to build confidence before you tackle the longer sentences again.
  • Finish on line twenty two, the Hajime Meshite line, and try to speak english fluently through the borrowed phrase without slowing down for it, the same way Karl does.
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