This is a guest post by the awesome Japanese language teacher and blogger Rainbowhill. Be sure to subscribe to his newsletter (a personal favorite of mine!) and follow him on Twitter.
On Friday last week I spent most of the afternoon being verbally abused and physically threatened. It was all part of the training in conflict resolution offered by my employer and conducted by a wirey ex-cop that reminded me of an Aussie version of Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry. Our police trainer hired actors to play a client that had reached a level of aggravation beyond negotiation.
Our trainer told us that he wanted to scar our subconscious deeply enough so that when we were confronted with a potentially life threatening situation we would know how to respond instinctively. So with little knowledge of the conflict unfolding behind a closed door we were thrust into a room where we had to rescue a co-worker from a hostile situation.
The experience really struck home to me the importance of role play. All of the textbook theory in the world won’t prepare you for real life. The closest you’re ever going to get to it is in a role play. I felt the fear, the rush of adrenaline, and did what I was trained to do without a second thought.
It’s the same with language learning. The same sweaty palms, racing heartbeat and dry mouth you feel under the stress of having to speak in Japanese with someone you don’t know. Dealing with this stress in an uncertain situation you are forced to think on your feet to get a reasonable outcome.
If you can find a way to do this in a non-threatening environment and be given the chance to rewind and look over your performance then you can learn a lot about what works and what doesn’t.
Why you need more role play
Role play can give you a better sense of your Japanese progress than any paper test. Here are a few reasons you should use role play more often.
- Through role play any situation imaginable becomes possible.
- Role play encourages you to express yourself fully.
- The use of non-verbal communication is highlighted.
- It helps develop skills that you’d expect to face in life.
- Role play is a chance to be someone else, if only for a moment.
- It is fun when the objectives are clear and the environment is controlled.
How to find a person to role play with
If you’re going to lessons then you already have a group of people including your teacher to role play with. If they’re not using role play in their lessons then politely suggest that you’d like the chance to practice what you learn. If your teacher is reluctant to offer you the chance to role play you can always find a new one on TeachStreet or Craigslist.
If your classmates are cool with it you can always hang around a bit longer after class to practice. I use Meetup in my city to find people to chat with in Japanese. Be safe online, stranger danger is real.
Don’t feel as though you’re limited by your physical location, online learning is cheap and accessible. If you want a live teacher you can find one on eduFire. It’s not only a great way to find the best teachers, but there is an excellent sense of community and you’ll find other people learning Japanese to practice with.
The Internet is all about social media, so you might want to try the social learning networks you’re on already. There are plenty of groups on Facebook that are set up to provide opportunities for language exchange. If you’re ready to tackle Mixi, you have access to the biggest social network in Japan. If you’re a member of Lang-8 then you’ll know how valuable it is to have someone correct your written output. Why not ask a friend on Twitter to help you correct your spoken output over Skype?
Before you rush off and find someone to be your Japanese language pal, read Koichi’s tips on how not to creep people out.
How to set up a role play
Once you’ve found someone to role play with, you’re going to have to know how to set one up. I spent years perfecting the set up in my days as an eikaiwa instructor, but today I’m only going to give you the crib notes. It may not work every time you try it, but dealing with the unexpected is all part of the fun. This method is called C.R.O.W.
Conflict
Situations with conflict work best because you’ve got something I want, and you’re not going to give it up easily. It doesn’t have to be as threatening as a hostage situation, a simple information gap can work. So rather than “Ask a stranger for the time” you could use “Interrupt a person reading to ask them the time”. Introducing a conflict adds creative tension.
Role
For it to work roles need to be clear. You can add variety to even a simple role play by giving more detailed roles. Rather than “You are reading a book, I’m going to ask you the time” you could use, “You are getting to a really exciting part of your book, and you don’t like being interrupted. I’m going to ask you the time”. Or, “You are hard-of-hearing and you’re reading a really interesting report. I’m going to ask you for the time”. You get the idea.
Objective
From reading the previous two parts of the set up, you might think that people just go around asking people the time for no reason at all. This rarely ever happens. Think about it. If everything is going to plan, do you ever ask complete strangers the time? If your goal is to catch the right train to board your flight in time it adds a sense of urgency to the conversation. Make sure there is a reason for what you are doing.
Where
With all of the other things done well, you might not think place would make much of a difference. Consider this, “You are getting to a really exciting part of your book, and you don’t like being interrupted. I’m going to ask you the time. You are sitting by yourself on an empty station platform”, versus “you are on a crowded and noisy express train about to reach your station”. Think about where you are when you need to do something.
What to do next.
You are a Japanese learner who is looking for a way to quickly put into practice all the things you’ve been learning online. You know there are people who can speak Japanese better than you and you’re intimidated. That fear of failure is holding you back, but you know what? It’s imaginary. Quit imagining and get real. Accept that you are going to fail often and get on with it.
You are getting to that really exciting part of language learning where you can actually make conversation. You need someone to talk to. You are going to find someone to talk to, right now. Review this post, explore your social networks. Put your Skype address in a comment on this post. I’m easy enough to find on Skype – Brett.Fyfield.
Set a time for you and your new partner to do some role play. Make it a recurring meeting and stick it in your diary with a reminder so you are forced to take action. You are going to make role play a regular part of your Japanese learning, today.
You are reading a post about role play on one of the most popular Japanese language and culture blogs in the universe. There is someone reading this that wants to speak Japanese with you. Find that person. Set a time to get together.
Go on, make my day! I’m listening.
Brett Fyfield is the Chief Rainbow Maker at Rainbowhill Language Lab. When he’s not taking hits from underpaid actors he enjoys perfecting his Parkour technique. Hit him up for a fifteen minute Skype session, follow him on Twitter, and sign up to Rainbowmail for insider tips on passing the JLPT.