I'd like to think that I'm pretty good at Japanese.

I mean, I use it for work every day, and I can play games, watch shows, and read books in Japanese.

And yet, I get tripped up.

One particular situation in which I get brain freeze is speaking Japanese... to people who don't speak Japanese.

Once your aunt... or your second cousin... or your manager at work finds out you're studying Japanese, they might say:

"Say something in Japanese!"

I never know what to say to this.

To make life easier for all of us, though, I've prepared a few canned responses...

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#1 - I don't know what to say.

This is the one that I usually go with... because this is what I always end up thinking:

何言えばいいかわかんない。
なに　いえば　いい　か　わかんない。
I don't know what I should say. // I don't know what to say.
Literally: "what + if say + good + か + don't know."

This combination of ba-conditional and 分からない（わからない // I don't know/understand）is pretty useful:

何言えばいいかわかんない。
なに　いえば　いい　か　わかんない。
I don't know what I should say. // I don't know what to say.
Literally: "what + if say + good + か + don't know."

For example, you could also say:

何すればいいかわかんない。
なに　すれば　いい　か　わかんない。
I don't know what to do. // I don't know what I should do.
Literally: "what + if do + good + か + don't know."

In casual language, you could also say 分からない (わからない). Saying わかんない is more casual.

In formal situations, わかんない becomes 分かりません (わかりません).

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#2 - I'm speaking Japanese.

今、日本語を話してます。
いま、にほんご　を　はなしてます。
Right now, I'm speaking Japanese.
Literally: "now, + Japanese + を + am speaking."

Rei thought of this one. I'm definitely gonna try it out.

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#3 - Today's date is...

今日は2016年7月18日日曜日です。
きょう　は　にせんじゅうろくねん　しちがつ　じゅうはちにち　にちようび　です。
Today is Sunday, July 18, 2016.
Literally: "today + は + 2016 year + 7 month + 18 day + Sunday + です.

Obviously, the date will depend on what date you are asked this question, so it could be tough off the top of your head... unless you rehearse the date in Japanese every morning, which would be impressive.

Also, big numbers are kind of a nightmare... so saying the year can make a lot of people slip up.

The trick, though, is to memorize years that start with 2000 and 1900, because you'll be saying them so often.

In other words, memorize the phrases 千九百（せん　きゅう　ひゃく // 1900）and 二千（に　せん // 2000）because they come at the beginning of all 19XX and 20XX years.

Here is a list of random years, which the suffix ～年（～ねん // year）attached to the end.

1900年
せん　きゅうひゃく ねん

1910年
せん　きゅうひゃく　じゅう　ねん

1913年
せん　きゅうひゃく　じゅうさん　ねん

1924年
せん　きゅうひゃく　にじゅうよ　ねん

1941年
せん　きゅうひゃく　よんじゅう　いち　ねん

1967年
せん　きゅうひゃく　ろくじゅう　なな　ねん

1982年
せん　きゅうひゃく　はちじゅう　に　ねん

1991年
せん　きゅうひゃく　きゅうじゅう　いち　ねん

1999年
せん　きゅうひゃく　きゅうじゅう　きゅう　ねん

2000年
にせん ねん

2004年
にせん　よ　ねん

2010年
にせん　じゅう　ねん

2014年
にせん　じゅうよ　ねん

2016年
にせん　じゅうろく　ねん

2017年
にせん　じゅうなな　ねん

2018年
にせん　じゅうはち　ねん

2019年
にせん　じゅうきゅう　ねん

2020年
にせん　にじゅう　ねん

2021年
にせん　にじゅういち　ねん

Good luck dealing with all those people quizzing your Japanese... even when they don't speak it themselves...