Japan and communicating allergies Disclaimer: I have only learned Hiragana and cannot read Katakana or Kanji yet. I need an answer in Romaji please so I know how to say it. The problem: I have a peanut and seafood allergy which makes discerning what will kill me and what won't difficult in Japan. While I usually have a few safe spots I can rely on, today I visited an Uobei sushi restaurant where my usual phrases did not work at all and the waitress and I were lost in translation (No signal in the restaurant or WiFi) My usual phrases for these scenarios are: 1. Eigo hanasemasuka? (Do you speak English?) 2. Piinatsu to gyokai-rui arerugi ga arimasu (I have a peanut and seafood allergy) 3. Nihongo ga heta desu. (My Japanese is bad) 4. *Points to menu item after explaining point 2* Daijoubu desu? (Is it okay?) I've been to many restaurants up until this point and have been able to use these fallback phrases to get my point across to some extent. I am looking for a native speaker to give me guidance on how I would go about communicating this issue more naturally.

New, a bit shy, and looking for people to teach me Japanese! Hello everyone, my name is Alex.

I hail from Canada and have been interested in the Japanese language for many years. I've been on-and-off in my research about it, learning bits and pieces, of which most of been aural. Motivation will ebb and flow from day to day. Most of the time my desire comes from the want to be able to understand my favorite game or song. I love the elegance in the strokes and find it more fascinating that the dull "font" of English. I've gone so far as to even buy the textbook Genki I and II but have never made a start. Today, through some Youtube recommendations, I've decided to make an account here in search of some conversation partners before I make the jump in trying some tutors. I think that being able to socialize with a native speaker is the other half of the fun that gives us the desire and affirmation of our efforts in this learning process. My native language is English so I can help you practice your skills in exchange, but by no means am I a professional. If you're okay with that then let's have fun learning together :D