Here in this post I will give you the tips that I have used over the years to improve my speaking skills - not only in Japanese, but also in German.
But first, one of the things that I noticed is that speaking is technically divided into two parts:
1. Just talking (not being shy and talk)
2. Pronunciation
So, here I will give you three tips to improve each of the above:
IMPROVE YOUR SPEAKING SKILLS
1. Reading out loud:
This is a great activity for speakers at any level. If you are a beginner you can start off by reading children's books (I love children's books, just because the vocabulary is so basic that is not very hard to understand and gives you a lot of bases)
If you are at a higher level, I recommend you to read novels or newspapers.
ONE THING! you might not sound natural at first, however, the more you do this exercise the more you will notice improvement. ALSO, if you are able to read next to someone who can correct your mistakes, that would just be the best!
You can get reading practice books (free and not free resources) at https://tadoku.org/japanese/
2. Speaking to yourself:
Don't have anyone else to practice with? Then practice with yourself! You can start by saying out loud very simple sentences! This exercise will allow you to improve and have the confidence you will need to be able to speak with others.
Sentences can be as simple as greetings, asking for directions, time, food and so on. You can also learn very basic questions:
How are you? = おげんき です か
Are you Okay? = だいじょうぶ です か
How much is it? いくら です か
After you start using this tip, you will get to a point where your brain will automatically start using the new language.
3. Tandem Partners:
There are actually several websites that offer finding tandem partners. You can either meet with them personally (of course if they live in your area) or through video call. In this method you will be teaching them your language and they will teach you theirs. Pretty cool, isn't?
This was actually the first method I used when I started learning German. Even though I was very scared at first, I realized that my tandem partner was also afraid of making mistakes. Because of that, no one will make fun of you and instead they will try to understand and help you.
One of the most common apps used for tandem partners is:
IMPROVE YOUR PRONUNCIATION SKILLS
1. Recording yourself
Do you remember I recommended you to talk to yourself? Then, how about if you also record yourself! There's no better way for you to find out if you are truly pronouncing the words properly. That is because you will be able to compare your pronunciation with that of a native speaker and notice where are your flaws.
2. Translator with voice
This is a quick tool for you to verify the pronunciation of a word or a sentence. This is highly recommended! mainly because it is not good to just try to guess the pronunciation. When you do that, it will be very hard to correct yourself in the future. So better to learn correctly from the very beginning. Also! this will help you tons when you hear the word, then you'll be able to recognize it.
In my personal experience, nothing can win against Google translator!
3. Imitating native speakers
When you start learning Japanese, you will realize the different sounds that do not exist in your native language. For these type of sounds I recommend you to watch videos of native speakers pronouncing these sounds correctly. In these type of videos they will show you how you're supposed to move your tongue and mouth. Then your task will be trying to imitate the movement as much as possible. until the sound comes out natural.
