Pen pal question

Inter · Jul 9, 2003, 18:00

Hi!

I have recently joined up witha pen pal site and I have got 3 people from Japan I am sending letters to, I thik this is a great way to learn about new things, what is your experience of this? and do you also have pen pals?

Jonas

Himura · Jul 9, 2003, 21:08

I donｴt like writing letters... you never know if they arrive their destination...
I Prefer ICQ and email

arnadstephen · Jul 10, 2003, 01:01

_) I have done this with several people in Japan

_) It rarely works, beyone 1-2 months

_) The people I find want to improve their English, but
are also 18-30 years old

_) I am 48 years old, and married, and that seems to eventually
cause a lack of interest

_) I ENJOYED THE TEACHING, AND I ENJOYED LEARNING
MORE ABOUT JAPAN AND THE PEOPLE.

_) AND , I STAYED WITH IT, I KEPT THIS GOING

p.s 1: it just seems that 18-30 years old have the
eagerness to pursue this. but i am out-of-their-age group
too much

p.s 2: out of this, it seems i have one solid person
who keeps it going. They have a web-site .
I learned a lot about Northern-Japan from them, and
love the back-and-forth.

_.

AustinB · Jul 10, 2003, 04:14

Hi, i had to add my thoughts to this thread. I have been communicating with several penpals for several months now roughly once a week. On my first trip to japan last May i met some of them and had a great time, I should be able to meet my other friends as well when i return for another holiday in Japan this September. These penpals have become very good friends and i have enjoyed communicating with them discussing many topics and sharing my Japanese learning experience. Perhaps people here have had a raw deal with penpals but my message is persevere as there are people out there who you can become life long friends with. Granted i have had some penpals where mails just fizzed out but these were in the intial stages and so did not bother me as i had not got to know these people very well anyway. Gambatte!

Austin

Chipi · Jul 10, 2003, 06:12

I have 2 wonderful penpals: 1 from Osaka, 1 from Sapporo. Theyｴre both just great personalities, and I think this is going on quite well...I have allready received some gifts,pictures,music etc.from Japan,and of course, Iｴm sending something to them. My pen pals (we also change e-mails) write quite quickly, I think Iｴm the one whoｴs being too slow in answering their letters...

optimus prime · Jul 10, 2003, 15:05

Are you writing in Japanese or English? I have friends in Japan that I email regularly, but I wouldn't necessarily call them pen-pals.

I think for someone who has never been to Japan, a pen pal is a great Idea. Japanese culture is very different from western, and you'll learn many new things.

Inter · Jul 11, 2003, 17:44

Hi!

I am writing to them in English and they learn me hiragana and in return I tech them swedish, I have been receiving pictures from them also, I think this si a great way to learn new things
about Japan.

Jonas

Malice Mices · Jul 11, 2003, 23:49

Yeah, I have to say it only workd for about a month before one of us gets bored with eachother and we stop writing ;_; I had one really close pen pal, but he told me he was unable to email me for a month becuse he'd be moing back to japan for that month, and i haven't heard from him since :namida: ;_;

hennagaijin · Jul 12, 2003, 05:43

Never had a pen pal, I guess it would be nice... Let's see if I can find a pen pal somewhere

ben0a4 · Jul 13, 2003, 04:08

At what site do you find these , pen pals?

Eito · Jul 14, 2003, 04:37

I have a pen pal from Shizuoka. We've only just gotten in touch about a month ago. We'll see how things work out...

Zenbone · Jul 14, 2003, 21:03

I did meet a few wonderful people but as many have said it falls off after a few months. There are a few things that happened with my experiences (2 different times). First, I asked a lot of questions about culture but eventually it turns into what did you do this weekend stuff. Don't get me wrong, these were wonderful people but the main reason I wrote was to learn about Japan first hand. The second thing that happened (and this was probably all my fault) was cutural differences. I would write things that were taken wrong or not understood. This is to be expected with language barriers but it just became very hard. Many people probably have had different experiences. I would suggest that you go into it being yourself and just trying to have fun and meet people. Everyone is different and it won't hurt.

Inter · Jul 18, 2003, 17:42

Originally posted by ben0a4
At what site do you find these , pen pals?

Hi!

I used the www.penpalsnow.com site to find japanese pen pals.
hope it helps.

regards

Jonas

Marc · Jul 19, 2003, 09:41

Originally posted by Inter
Hi!

I used the www.penpalsnow.com site to find japanese pen pals.
hope it helps.

regards

Jonas

Thanks, just answered the question I had in mind.

justin · Sep 1, 2003, 17:36

I two pen pals from Japan and I have been talking to for about two months now. If you get a chance take part in being someone's pen pal. You just need to find one thing in common and you can go from there. She tells me about Japan (life in Japan, school, ect,) and I tell her about American. I send her pictures of American things and she wants me to send her pictures of me taking part in the town Rodeo next year!

So give it a try! Be a pen pal

Jul 9, 2003, 18:00	#1
Inter Regular Member Join Date: Feb 3, 2003 Location: Malmo Age: 27 Posts: 50	Pen pal question Hi! I have recently joined up witha pen pal site and I have got 3 people from Japan I am sending letters to, I thik this is a great way to learn about new things, what is your experience of this? and do you also have pen pals? Jonas

Jul 9, 2003, 21:08	#2
Himura Hadoken!!!!! Join Date: Jun 19, 2003 Location: German Age: 23 Posts: 278	I donｴt like writing letters... you never know if they arrive their destination... I Prefer ICQ and email __________________ Sushi & Instant Soups 4 ever!!! -- Miyamoto Musashi rulez!!! -==> Hayabusa & Hayate (DoA3) / Dante (Devil may Cry) <==- ---====> Hiko Seijuro -- The best Swordsman ever <====---

Jul 10, 2003, 01:01	#3
arnadstephen Banned Join Date: Oct 8, 2002 Location: Georgia Posts: 201	Pen Pal _) I have done this with several people in Japan _) It rarely works, beyone 1-2 months _) The people I find want to improve their English, but are also 18-30 years old _) I am 48 years old, and married, and that seems to eventually cause a lack of interest _) I ENJOYED THE TEACHING, AND I ENJOYED LEARNING MORE ABOUT JAPAN AND THE PEOPLE. _) AND , I STAYED WITH IT, I KEPT THIS GOING p.s 1: it just seems that 18-30 years old have the eagerness to pursue this. but i am out-of-their-age group too much p.s 2: out of this, it seems i have one solid person who keeps it going. They have a web-site . I learned a lot about Northern-Japan from them, and love the back-and-forth. _.

Jul 10, 2003, 04:14	#4
AustinB Regular Member Join Date: Apr 7, 2003 Location: London Age: 29 Posts: 21	It worked for me!!! Hi, i had to add my thoughts to this thread. I have been communicating with several penpals for several months now roughly once a week. On my first trip to japan last May i met some of them and had a great time, I should be able to meet my other friends as well when i return for another holiday in Japan this September. These penpals have become very good friends and i have enjoyed communicating with them discussing many topics and sharing my Japanese learning experience. Perhaps people here have had a raw deal with penpals but my message is persevere as there are people out there who you can become life long friends with. Granted i have had some penpals where mails just fizzed out but these were in the intial stages and so did not bother me as i had not got to know these people very well anyway. Gambatte! Austin

Jul 10, 2003, 15:05	#6
optimus prime Junior Member Join Date: Jul 10, 2003 Posts: 9	Are you writing in Japanese or English? I have friends in Japan that I email regularly, but I wouldn't necessarily call them pen-pals. I think for someone who has never been to Japan, a pen pal is a great Idea. Japanese culture is very different from western, and you'll learn many new things. __________________ www.tokyolounge.com - free online japanese lessons

Jul 10, 2003, 06:12	#5
Chipi Yancha-Kunoichi Join Date: Mar 10, 2003 Location: UK, Manchester / Finland, Lahti / Japan, Minokamo Age: 29 Posts: 358	I have 2 wonderful penpals: 1 from Osaka, 1 from Sapporo. Theyｴre both just great personalities, and I think this is going on quite well...I have allready received some gifts,pictures,music etc.from Japan,and of course, Iｴm sending something to them. My pen pals (we also change e-mails) write quite quickly, I think Iｴm the one whoｴs being too slow in answering their letters...

Jul 11, 2003, 17:44	#7
Inter Regular Member Join Date: Feb 3, 2003 Location: Malmo Age: 27 Posts: 50	Hi! I am writing to them in English and they learn me hiragana and in return I tech them swedish, I have been receiving pictures from them also, I think this si a great way to learn new things about Japan. Jonas

Jul 11, 2003, 23:49	#8
Malice Mices Regular Member Join Date: Jul 11, 2003 Location: USA Age: 25 Posts: 66	Yeah, I have to say it only workd for about a month before one of us gets bored with eachother and we stop writing ;_; I had one really close pen pal, but he told me he was unable to email me for a month becuse he'd be moing back to japan for that month, and i haven't heard from him since :namida: ;_; __________________ ~Matsumoto ManaKei desu~

Jul 12, 2003, 05:43	#9
hennagaijin Junior Member Join Date: Mar 12, 2003 Location: Finland Posts: 12	Never had a pen pal, I guess it would be nice... Let's see if I can find a pen pal somewhere

Jul 13, 2003, 04:08	#10
ben0a4 Regular Member Join Date: Jan 22, 2003 Age: 23 Posts: 99	At what site do you find these , pen pals? __________________ ~KETTOBASE`~

Jul 14, 2003, 04:37	#11
Eito Wandering Hobo-geek Join Date: May 22, 2003 Location: US of A Posts: 24	I have a pen pal from Shizuoka. We've only just gotten in touch about a month ago. We'll see how things work out...

Jul 14, 2003, 21:03	#12
Zenbone Junior Member Join Date: Feb 7, 2003 Location: Clearwater, FL Age: 39 Posts: 14	I did meet a few wonderful people but as many have said it falls off after a few months. There are a few things that happened with my experiences (2 different times). First, I asked a lot of questions about culture but eventually it turns into what did you do this weekend stuff. Don't get me wrong, these were wonderful people but the main reason I wrote was to learn about Japan first hand. The second thing that happened (and this was probably all my fault) was cutural differences. I would write things that were taken wrong or not understood. This is to be expected with language barriers but it just became very hard. Many people probably have had different experiences. I would suggest that you go into it being yourself and just trying to have fun and meet people. Everyone is different and it won't hurt.

Jul 18, 2003, 17:42	#13
Inter Regular Member Join Date: Feb 3, 2003 Location: Malmo Age: 27 Posts: 50	Originally posted by ben0a4 At what site do you find these , pen pals? Hi! I used the www.penpalsnow.com site to find japanese pen pals. hope it helps. regards Jonas

Jul 19, 2003, 09:41	#14
Marc Regular Member Join Date: Mar 30, 2003 Age: 28 Posts: 82	Originally posted by Inter Hi! I used the www.penpalsnow.com site to find japanese pen pals. hope it helps. regards Jonas Thanks, just answered the question I had in mind.

Sep 1, 2003, 17:36	#15
justin The new cool Join Date: Aug 31, 2003 Location: Spokane Age: 27 Posts: 460	I two pen pals from Japan and I have been talking to for about two months now. If you get a chance take part in being someone's pen pal. You just need to find one thing in common and you can go from there. She tells me about Japan (life in Japan, school, ect,) and I tell her about American. I send her pictures of American things and she wants me to send her pictures of me taking part in the town Rodeo next year! So give it a try! Be a pen pal __________________

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