Learn Hardcore Japanese: nihongo no kaiwa ni nareru made, mainiti kaiwa no rensyuu wo simasu. - Until I get used to conversations in Japanese, I practice conversation every day.

The particle の is used to link two nouns where the first one describes or qualifies the second. It’s very similar to using “of” or a noun adjective in English:

日本語の会話 = “Japanese-language conversation”
会社の社長 = “the president of the company”
日本の文化 = “Japanese culture”

You can sometimes have two nouns stuck together in Japanese (like 学生会, 社長室, etc.), but 日本語会話 is not a common everyday phrase; it might appear as part of a course name or a title, but in normal sentences 日本語の会話 is the natural form.

So here の is just turning 日本語 into a descriptor for 会話.

Why is 会話 repeated? We see 日本語の会話 and then 会話の練習. Is that not redundant?

It may look repetitive in English, but in Japanese this is very natural.

日本語の会話: “Japanese conversation” (the type of conversation you want to get used to)
会話の練習: “practice of conversation” (the activity you do every day)

You could think of it like:

Until I get used to Japanese conversation, I will do conversation practice every day.

The repetition keeps the structure clear and is not stylistically bad in Japanese. You could shorten it in some contexts, but as-is it’s perfectly normal.

What is the role of に after 会話 in 会話になれる?

In the pattern N に慣れる, the particle に marks what you are getting used to.

日本語の会話に慣れる
→ “to get used to Japanese conversation”

Think of に here as “to” or “with” in English:

日本の生活に慣れる – to get used to life in Japan
仕事に慣れる – to get used to the job

So 会話に is not a location here; it’s the target or object of becoming accustomed: “get used to conversation.”

Is なれる here the potential form of なる (“can become”), or is it a different verb?

Here なれる is (almost certainly) the separate verb 慣れる, meaning “to get used to / to become accustomed to.”

Dictionary form: 慣れる (なれる)
Example: 日本の生活に慣れる – to get used to life in Japan

There is a potential form of なる (become) → なれる (“can become”), but:

It’s relatively rare in everyday use compared to just なる, and
In the pattern N に慣れる, the standard verb is always 慣れる, not なる.

So read this as 慣れる, usually written with the kanji 慣, not as potential なる.

Why is 慣れる in dictionary form before まで? Shouldn’t it be past tense like 慣れた?

With まで used as “until (something happens),” you normally put the verb in dictionary (non-past) form:

慣れるまで – until (I) get used to it
終わるまで – until it finishes
雨がやむまで – until the rain stops

The idea is “up to the point where X happens,” and Japanese expresses that future endpoint using the non-past form. Using 慣れたまで here would be ungrammatical.

So 慣れるまで is the standard pattern: verb (dictionary form) + まで = “until (verb happens).”

What exactly does まで mean here, and how is it different from までに?

In 慣れるまで, まで means “up until (the time when) …” and marks the end of a continuous period:

日本語の会話に慣れるまで、毎日会話の練習をします。
→ “I will practice conversation every day until I get used to Japanese conversation.”
(From now until that point, this continues.)

までに means “by (the time)/by deadline” and focuses on a limit point, not a whole duration:

日本語の会話に慣れるまでに、どのくらいかかりましたか。
→ “How long did it take until you got used to Japanese conversation?”

If you changed the original sentence to までに, it would sound odd or at least different, because you’re not talking about a “deadline” for practice; you’re talking about continuing practice through the whole period up to that point. So まで is the correct choice.

Why is it 会話の練習をします instead of 会話を練習します? Are both correct?

Both are grammatically correct:

会話の練習をする
会話を練習する

会話の練習をする treats 会話の練習 (“conversation practice”) as one noun phrase, then をする makes it a verb: “to do conversation practice.”
This structure (N の練習をする) is very common:

漢字の練習をする – to do kanji practice
発音の練習をする – to do pronunciation practice

会話を練習する literally “to practice conversation” is also fine, but many textbooks and teachers prefer the N の練習をする pattern because it’s super frequent and easy to reuse.

In this sentence, 会話の練習をします sounds very natural and textbook-like.

Where is the subject “I” in this sentence? Why isn’t 私 used?

Japanese often omits the subject when it’s obvious from context.

The full, explicit version could be:

（私は）日本語の会話に慣れるまで、毎日会話の練習をします。
→ “I will practice conversation every day until I get used to Japanese conversation.”

But in a conversation about your own study habits, it’s clear that you’re talking about yourself, so 私は is usually dropped.
This omission happens all the time in Japanese, especially with first-person subjects (“I/we”) and second-person (“you”) when context makes them clear.

What tense is します here? It looks like present tense, but the meaning feels future (“I will practice”).

します is the polite non-past form. Japanese non-past covers both:

present/habitual: “I practice every day.”
future: “I will practice (from now on).”

Context tells you which is intended. Here, with まで (“until ~”), it implies a future/habitual action:

“I will (as an ongoing routine) practice conversation every day until I get used to it.”

Japanese doesn’t have a special future tense; する / します covers both present and future.

Can 毎日 be put in a different place? For example, is 毎日、日本語の会話に慣れるまで会話の練習をします okay?

Yes, 毎日 (an adverb) is fairly flexible in position. All of these are natural, with almost no change in meaning:

日本語の会話に慣れるまで、毎日会話の練習をします。
毎日、日本語の会話に慣れるまで会話の練習をします。
日本語の会話に慣れるまで毎日会話の練習をします。

Placing 毎日 near the verb phrase it modifies (会話の練習をします) is most common. Putting it at the very beginning of the sentence emphasizes “every day” slightly more, but all are fine.

Could we say 日本語での会話 instead of 日本語の会話? What’s the difference?

Both can appear in real Japanese, but there is a nuance:

日本語の会話 – literally “Japanese conversation,” where 日本語 simply describes the type of conversation.
日本語での会話 – more literally “conversation in Japanese,” emphasizing the medium (the language used).

In many everyday contexts, they overlap in meaning. In this sentence:

日本語の会話に慣れるまで… – natural and simple; very standard phrasing.
日本語での会話に慣れるまで… – also understandable, with a slightly stronger focus on “conversation conducted in Japanese.”

For a learner at a basic level, 日本語の会話 is simpler and perfectly correct.

What’s the difference between 会話 and verbs like 話す or the noun 話? Why choose 会話 here?

話す – to speak / to talk (the act of speaking)
話 – story, a talk, what is said (more general, can be content)
会話 – conversation (usually two-way, interactive exchange)

So:

話す練習をする – “do speaking practice” (could be monologue speaking, drills, etc.)
会話の練習をする – “do conversation practice” (specifically practicing back-and-forth conversation)

In the given sentence, the focus is on conversation skills, not just speaking in general, so 会話の練習 is a good match.