"I get by" is how I always answer that question, though it annoys my Japanese tutor when I do. I lived in Japan for three years (2008-2011) and I've been taking private lessons for three and a half years now.
The lessons are just my tutor and talking about whatever, so I have that going for me, but with a lot of me speaking kind of slowly and haltingly and occasionally forgetting common words (I forgot "salary" yesterday when we were discussing investment advice).
Do you know of any good, free software/websites that might help?
Not for spoken Japanese, unfortunately. I used to use Rosetta Stone but I wasn't very impressed with it, and I haven't used any software with an audio component since then. I have a high-enough basic level now that I can listen to anime or dramas or podcasts for listening practice (though not enough to perfectly understand them without subtitles).
Can you explain to me about the eras?
Currently there's one era for each emperor's reign (it used to be different, but I'm not sure exactly how). So, when the Shōwa emperor died in 1989, it ended the Shōwa era and the Heisei era began. The Heisei emperor, Emperor Akihito, just retired on April 30th, and so now that his son has taken the Chrysanthemum Throne, it's the Reiwa era, which will last until Emperor Naruhito dies or retires.
Japan generally uses Western dating, but Imperial dating is still required on government forms and some other official documents. I'll remember for the rest of my life that I was born in Shōwa 57 because of that.
no subject
The lessons are just my tutor and talking about whatever, so I have that going for me, but with a lot of me speaking kind of slowly and haltingly and occasionally forgetting common words (I forgot "salary" yesterday when we were discussing investment advice).
Do you know of any good, free software/websites that might help?
Not for spoken Japanese, unfortunately.
Can you explain to me about the eras?
Currently there's one era for each emperor's reign (it used to be different, but I'm not sure exactly how). So, when the Shōwa emperor died in 1989, it ended the Shōwa era and the Heisei era began. The Heisei emperor, Emperor Akihito, just retired on April 30th, and so now that his son has taken the Chrysanthemum Throne, it's the Reiwa era, which will last until Emperor Naruhito dies or retires.
Japan generally uses Western dating, but Imperial dating is still required on government forms and some other official documents. I'll remember for the rest of my life that I was born in Shōwa 57 because of that.