The Japan Cultural Institute in Cologne
SHIMBA Hisami (Japanese-Language Senior Specialist), HIRAKAWA Shunsuke (Japanese-Language Specialist)

Shaberieren is a Place to Polish Your Knowledge of the Language

Mr. Benedikt, who has participated in over 40 gatherings, explains that he started attending after visiting Japan as an exchange student in order to learn to how to express himself better. He describes the effect that Shaberieren has had on his Japanese learning in the following way.

While there are many regular members, first-time visitors can have fun too.

“In addition to my Japanese improving overall, Shaberieren has taught me to lead conversations. Also, I enjoy having conversations in the casual atmosphere. In particular, I have improved at using the colloquial language used between friends.”
He also explains that one of the appeals of Shaberieren is the ability to encounter new world views.

“I love that I can encounter new people and new world views. I learned to think more objectively about my own thoughts and culture by listening to the thoughts of Japanese people and by explaining Germany and the German language to them.”
The next regular member I interviewed is Michael.

Michael explains, “The first time I participated, my goal was to improve my speaking and listening abilities. Now, Shaberieren has become a place to hone my knowledge of the language. For example, I can use the expressions I learned through study in natural conversations, and verify whether the Japanese I learned is correct.”
He adds that his approach to using a foreign language has also changed through Shaberieren.
“I used to be afraid of making a mistake, but now I understand that it is more important to express myself verbally at my own pace.”

“Shaberieren Is A Community”

Our third regular member is Anna who has participated 50 times as of June 2017. She explains that she began attending to improve her conversation skills.

“I was not very comfortable conversing yet when I first attended, and the two hours seemed to be quite long. But I quickly grew more comfortable, and I happily found that by the 4th or 5th gathering, I could actually use the Japanese I had studied.”

“I became confident by having my Japanese understood, which motivated me and made subsequent Japanese studies more enjoyable. And that in turn made me want to participate in Shaberieren again. It’s the ideal positive cycle.”

Anna also explains that Shaberieren has become more than a place to practice Japanese.

“Shaberieren has become more than a place to use Japanese. It has become a community where I can exchange information and make new friends.”

The three who cooperated with these interviews are all so-called masters of language learning, or those who are well aware of the skills they wish to improve while having fun. For them, "Shaberieren" serves as an opportunity to improve numerous language-related abilities effectively, including listening, fluency, motivation, monitoring ability, conversation ability, and cross-cultural understanding.

One of the keys to success in language learning is called “social strategy”. It is said that involvement in society, such as by finding resources or allies, increases the effectiveness of learning. I believe that Shaberieren embodies the essence of this type of learning.

Thanks to the Internet, it is now possible to learn a language without going to a classroom. But perhaps it is for that very reason that those of us at Japanese-language educational institutions should put effort into building communities.

(Author: HIRAKAWA)