Prepare a purpose, not a speech
Pick an outcome for each conversation: find the right room, confirm a meeting time or understand what document is missing. Learn an opening question, a likely answer and a way to ask for clarification. Use phrases checked in class rather than memorising a long machine-translated script.
The Japan Foundation’s Irodori materials connect everyday tasks with listening and role-play. Its examples include introductions, ordering food and public transport. Use the tasks below with expressions from your current lessons. Begin with a short exchange, then add a follow-up question once the opening feels comfortable.
At the student office: confirm the next step
Practise explaining your name, programme and reason for visiting in two or three sentences. Then ask which document or action is needed next. Have your partner change the answer: perhaps you need to upload something, visit another office or return at an appointment time.
Your finish line is being able to repeat the action back accurately. Confirm a date, room number or spelling rather than just saying you understand. For real university instructions, use the official message or student portal as your record. A role-play prepares the language; it does not replace the institution’s procedure.
In class: ask a useful clarification question
Rehearse asking what a task requires, whether work is individual or in a group, and when it is due. Move beyond a general “I don’t understand” by identifying the part you missed: the deadline, the reading pages or the expected format.
Ask your partner to give a short instruction containing two details. Listen, take a note and confirm one of them. Repeat with a different time or page number. This small change stops the activity becoming a performance of a fixed script.
With classmates: make a plan together
Practise introducing your subject, asking about someone else’s course and suggesting a time to meet. Include a polite disagreement: the first time is inconvenient, the library is closed or one person prefers another place. Finish by agreeing on a specific plan.
Check suitable forms of address with your instructor. The language you use with a new classmate may differ from an email to a member of staff. Pay attention to the context and the individual rather than expecting one national rule to explain every interaction.
Getting there and getting settled
For transport, rehearse asking whether a service stops at your destination, where to change and how to recognise the stop. Ask a follow-up even when the first answer seems clear. Use a current official route map for real journey planning; the language exercise is about understanding the reply.
For accommodation, practise describing one ordinary problem, such as a key that does not work or an appliance fault. Include when it started and ask who to contact. Learn the correct local wording for your situation. Avoid turning a practice dialogue into an agreement about payments or repairs you do not understand.
Rehearse the conversation when it goes off-script
Ask your partner to speak naturally, change one detail and occasionally ask you a question. Practise requesting repetition, asking someone to write a key word and confirming your interpretation. Swap roles so you also hear what makes a question easy to answer.
Record a short attempt, choose one correction and try again. Keep a small list of useful expressions on your phone for your arrival week. The goal is to keep the exchange moving and leave with accurate information, not to deliver a flawless introduction while missing the reply.
Choose a starting point with our language programme guides, or read about course levels.
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