日本語能力試験（jlpt)

[Suneru]

I failed 一級　last year so I have to go through this again. How are you other test takers preparing?

I got a private tutor(classrooms are too boring for me) and some text books. I've looked around on the web, but I can't find any previous level one test. After that Kanji, Kanji, Kanji. Vocab killed me on the last test. Best of luck everyone!:clap:

[Azrael]

I'm taking the Level 1 this year. I just passed Level 2 last year so I'm kind of expecting to fail...but I'll still give it a shot.

Where'd you find your tutor?

[Crowley]

I know Hanenosuke's taking level 1 this year, but he's in China right now.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Debating doing it. I think I'd fail. I'd take level 2, but really have very little incentive to.

[erbiumfiber]

Going to take Level 3 again (yes, I'm a loser). Should pass this year as I only barely failed last year. My daughter might take level 2 in the U.S.

PLF- I have seen a lot of jobs defining "business japanese" as level 2; even if you're not planning to hang around after a couple of years, you might still use it as a qualification to get a job in the US working with Japanese companies. You never know where life will take you and every little piece of paper you gather along the way adds to your resume.

[羽之助]

Bloody hell, I gotta send in my application form.

Taking level 1 and not planning on passing, but I'm studying anyway. I've got the Kanzen Master series of books and I think they're pretty good, with kanji, grammar, and reading comprehension treated to their own separate textbook. Listening is going to kill me as it always does, but maybe kanji will save me ... until grammar stabs me in the back.

[Pierrot le Fou]

I've heard that while in Japan 2kyu means business Japanese and works well as a qualification, most places in the US want 1kyu or practical experience dealing with Japanese/business in Japan over 2kyu.

[erbiumfiber]

Bloody hell, I gotta send in my application form.

Taking level 1 and not planning on passing, but I'm studying anyway. I've got the Kanzen Master series of books and I think they're pretty good, with kanji, grammar, and reading comprehension treated to their own separate textbook. Listening is going to kill me as it always does, but maybe kanji will save me ... until grammar stabs me in the back.

Yeah, you gotta love the grammar section. I love the "fill in the missing particle" part because I read the sentence, think of the particle I would use in my head, then look at the choices and my "answer" is not among the choices. Bonus extra loser points for being so wrong your answer is not even among the other wrong choices.

[erbiumfiber]

I failed 一級　last year so I have to go through this again. How are you other test takers preparing?

I got a private tutor(classrooms are too boring for me) and some text books. I've looked around on the web, but I can't find any previous level one test. After that Kanji, Kanji, Kanji. Vocab killed me on the last test. Best of luck everyone!:clap:

All the previous year's tests (I think including level 1- I have bought all the other three levels) are sold at Kinokuniya (the one in Takashimaya Times Square by Shinjuku station). There's even a CD for the listening section. Might also try some of the used English book stores- the one in Ebisu sells Japanese learning materials. It's hit or miss as to what you might find at the used book stores.

[Suneru]

I found my tutor through an ad in Metropolis, but I dont think that'll help you in Kansai...
The listening for level one isn't that bad, I almost got a perfect on it last year. If you've been here for a while it shouldn't be that hard. It's grammar and vocabulary that are impossible. It the kind of stuff even native Japanese speakers aren't sure of.
I passed 2kyu, 1kyu is a whole different ballgame...

I'll check the bookstores, but I hate paying money for something I can download for free. anyone know some links?

[羽之助]

It's at least 70% to pass level 1, right? Sigh ... I wonder how bad I'll fail by :D I know, I take my practice problems to people around the schools and offices, and they all say "This is samurai language!". Except, when I ask a 10 year old kid whether the answer is archaic grammar form A or archaic grammar form B, they always seem to know the right answer ...

[Azrael]

I've heard that while in Japan 2kyu means business Japanese and works well as a qualification, most places in the US want 1kyu or practical experience dealing with Japanese/business in Japan over 2kyu.
Actually, I've kind of found that there's a world of difference between 2kyu and 1kyu in Japan as well. Not that the stuff you need to know to pass 1kyu, you would actually use on the job, but it's just like the ultimate proof that you can do it.

The primary reason why I wasn't even considered for the CLAIR job was because I didn't have 1kyu.

[Suneru]

Actually, I've kind of found that there's a world of difference between 2kyu and 1kyu in Japan as well. Not that the stuff you need to know to pass 1kyu, you would actually use on the job, but it's just like the ultimate proof that you can do it.

The primary reason why I wasn't even considered for the CLAIR job was because I didn't have 1kyu.

I've had the same problems. Every time I show my 2kyu results at an interview the reaction is the same. "that's cute, I guess we'll have to speak in English" I'm not sure if 1kyu will make that much difference, but I'm hoping it will:worried:

[Digital Masta]

Honestly though...there is a guy I know who's Japanese is absolutely ridiculously good and he failed level 1...wtf do you have to be to pass that beast.

I'm thinking about taking level 3

[Faumdano]

Honestly though...there is a guy I know who's Japanese is absolutely ridiculously good and he failed level 1...wtf do you have to be to pass that beast.

I'm thinking about taking level 3
Since I havn't taken it, I'm guessing the problem is the test assumes you know alot of grammar and patterns that just don't show up in conversation; stuff you'd only see in writing.

～ざるを得ない
～や否や
いえども
選ばれし者
帰りたくば帰るが良い

Formal / oldish Japanese like the above I'm guessing.

[Pierrot le Fou]

It is entirely possible to be fluent at a language without being literate. By the same merit, it is possible to be fluent and literate in Japanese without having to know the 1kyu stuff well enough to pass the test. Hence people with good Japanese failing. It has little to do with actual level as much as the ability to apply your knowledge toward a specific test.

[Suneru]

Been studying Kanji, I do a mix of flash cards and writing. My tutor says its best to write full sentences for practice, but it takes a long time. I realized that without my keitai I cant write kanji at all...
Just a quick quiz, how many kanji do you think you could write off the top of your head? ....Writing 勉強 the other day threw me off :gloomy:

[mikem]

Just a quick quiz, how many kanji do you think you could write off the top of your head?

I currently get stuck after writing about 30 ande have studied about 300. With prompting I can get close to 100 or so. Those other 200? On any given day I just can't come up with them at all.

The readings for the compounds I've studied always stick though.

My Japanese friends tell me not to worry about it too much. It was pretty hard for them as kids too. (I've seen the "can't remember a kanji" gag in anime before too, so ...)

My keitai is such a blessing though. I use it to fix conjigation problems too. :eyepop:

[Naomi]

*mumble* I'm thinking of taking 1-kyu this december too... I passed 2-kyu 2004 (I think), but I'm pretty scared of 1-kyu.. It's always been some kind of unreachable barrier... they say the "gap" between 1-kyu and 2-kyu is muuuch bigger than between 2-kyu and 3-kyu.. :eyepop:
Argh, I want to take it, but it feels like a waste of money as I think I'll fail. But then again, in 2 years time they're gonna change the whole testing procedure, which is gonna make it harder (at least that's what my sensei says)... So I might try this year and if I fail, I got a second try next year.. but then again.. Aaaah!:frypan: *need to decide*
I'm impressed with all you guys doing these tests, considering most of you aren't even half japanese or anything! Sugoi! Ganbatte ne!:karate:

naomi

[Vic_Rattlehead]

How much Japanese should you be able to know/understand if one was to take up the level 4 jlp test?

[_yeah]

Got 327/400 on Level 2 last year, going to sit Level 1 but unlike last year I'm taking 120% course load instead of 80% at University on top of work so I won't have much time to study for it.

Luckily the JLPT doesn't actually test your ability to write kanji; when I went in last year I could probably write maybe 30 kanji off the top of my head. (sad, yes.)

Apparently the passing percentages dropped significantly last year for both level 1 and level 2, though. Usually around 45% of all test-takers for the said two levels pass; last year the figure was more like 32%. So the bastards toughened it, pfft.

Hint to test-takers: being the first time I had actually taken the test, I didn't realize how important budgeting your time for the comprehension/grammar section was. When I did practice tests at home I had all the time in the world to read over the passage but when I was still doing the first set of questions after half an hour I realized I had to change my approach; ended up skipping straight to the grammar section finishing them first, then going back to the comprehension questions.

The first set of questions will involve a needlessly long passage and soak up much of your time, so do the ones based on the shorter questions first. The "paragraph orders jumbled up" question also takes more time than it is worth to do first. I still ended up running out of time too - had to fill in a few bubbles randomly.

[_yeah]

How much Japanese should you be able to know/understand if one was to take up the level 4 jlp test?

Level 4 is a joke; everybody who can pass level 4 should be taking at least level 3 instead. The gap between those two levels can be closed in an extremely short period of time so there's no reason not to do it.

[Black Dog]

It's at least 70% to pass level 1, right? Sigh ... I wonder how bad I'll fail by :D I know, I take my practice problems to people around the schools and offices, and they all say "This is samurai language!". Except, when I ask a 10 year old kid whether the answer is archaic grammar form A or archaic grammar form B, they always seem to know the right answer ...

Awesome, I want to learn to talk like a samurai !!!:karate:

[yakamashii]

Hint to test-takers: being the first time I had actually taken the test, I didn't realize how important budgeting your time for the comprehension/grammar section was. When I did practice tests at home I had all the time in the world to read over the passage but when I was still doing the first set of questions after half an hour I realized I had to change my approach; ended up skipping straight to the grammar section finishing them first, then going back to the comprehension questions.

Those comprehension questions are worth 5 points each. It makes sense to me to hit those first.

[Black Dog]

Are you allowed to wear a hachimaki during the test ?:karate:

Can you pass the level 3 test by studying on your own ?

[MNJetter]

My Japanese friends tell me not to worry about it too much. It was pretty hard for them as kids too. (I've seen the "can't remember a kanji" gag in anime before too, so ...)

One of the native assistants in my Japanese class at university found out while she was demonstrating it to the class that she'd been spelling 何 with the wrong stroke order nearly all her life.

It happens to the best of us.

[羽之助]

One of the native assistants in my Japanese class at university found out while she was demonstrating it to the class that she'd been spelling 何 with the wrong stroke order nearly all her life.

It happens to the best of us.

That happened in my university too. She was corrected by a Chinese student.

[shadow]

何's stroke order differs between Japanese and Chinese, though. In Japanese the box is written before the vertical line, and in Chinese, vice versa.

EDIT: changed "stroke" to "stroke order"

[羽之助]

Ah, so like 国 and 万 then.

[MNJetter]

The native assistant in my class was corrected by the other native assistant who was standing next to her and helping to demonstrate. The first one had been writing the outer radicals the same way that you write 向. It was kind of cute, actually.

#1: *writes kanji the wrong way*
#2: 違うよ
#1: 何が？
#2: ほら、*writes kanji the correct way*
#1: え？
#2: (incorrect radical)じゃなくて、(correct radical)だよ
#1: (correct radical)？？
#2: うん
#1: うそ！せんせ～い！

Then they talked for a little while at a speed that I couldn't understand yet at the time. The girl's reaction was stereotypically girly and very cute. I imagine it would be like finding out you'd been writing the letter F upside-down your whole life or something.

On the plus side, though, I don't think anybody in our class will ever forget the stroke order for that particular kanji.

[agx]

I have no idea about stroke order, honestly, I am quite terrified to show my writing to any of my Japanese friends!

[laggedreaction]

So, who else is taking the JLPT this year? Just 1 more week till 2級 and I'm still not sure if I'll be safe. It's basically the reading comprehension that kills me.

Today I took a practice test, passed, but only 50% on the 読解文法. :boggled: I'm fine with the grammar and any of reading that involves numbers/graphs. It's just those long essays and questions like "how does B-さん feel/trying to say about blah, blah, blah" that get me.

[MNJetter]

Yeah, I've resigned myself to the near-guarantee that I am going to fail level 2. The Kanzen Master books are awesome, but I'm only like a third of the way through them....and that's guessing generously.

Meh. Life experience and whatnot.

[Digital Masta]

I'm taking level 3

[RandomPasserby]

Stroke order(you guys mean the order in which the parts were drawn right?) matters?! Scary, remembering thousands of stroke orders...

[yakamashii]

It matters when you're writing. Doesn't matter on the JLPT as you are not required to actually write the kanji, just recognize them.

During the daytime, I substitute at high schools and junior highs, and the teachers frequently schedule tests on the days that they're out. We're told not to read books or leave the classroom, so we have to sit there while the kids are taking their tests.

I use that time to write down as many kanji as I can remember off the top of my head. It's good exercise and it looks like I'm doing something important. I recognize over 1,000 and on a good day can get up to 300 writing from memory.

It's unfortunate that I don't write 'em all, but I have the cell phone and computer to thank for having learned to recognize kanji more quickly. Imagine how much time it takes to learn them all from writing only...

[Comazon]

Though there are some exceptions, stroke order usually follows a certain pattern. Once you get the patterns down, memorizing the exact stroke order shouldn't be extremely difficult.

[羽之助]

Stroke order(you guys mean the order in which the parts were drawn right?) matters?! Scary, remembering thousands of stroke orders...

All kanji are made from parts.
There are roughly 250 parts.
Every part has a way that it should be written, which most times is obvious (亠 is top dot first, horizontal line second).
Ergo, you need to remember about 250 "stroke orders", although the real number is less than that because the more complicated parts are, in fact, made up of simpler parts (音, sound, is made up of 立 and 日, stand and day).

Back on topic, I was going to take Level 1 this year but I'm nowhere near going through the Kanzen Master study books. Been concentrating too much on work and Chinese ... well, I guess my next target will be in 2 years or so. I'll get it one day!

[Vic_Rattlehead]

Though there are some exceptions, stroke order usually follow a certain pattern. Once you get the patterns down, memorizing the exact stroke order shouldn't be extremely difficult.

Aye, alot of it just comes from your brain to muscle patterns. (if you get what I mean). I normally write the said Kanji(s) out in the correct way perhaps 20 times each, and shotly it just becomes second nature as your movements of muscles becomes to get 'used' to it.

Well, it works for me and I've been getting 9/10 - 10/10 in all my weekly Kanji tests in class. :clap:

[Black Dog]

Been concentrating too much on work and Chinese ... well, I guess my next target will be in 2 years or so. I'll get it one day!

So, how is your Chinese coming along ? I learnt to write a few basic sentences recently and was practice writing in Chinese then translating into Japanese for the fun of it. My approach would be to study grammer and certain key words. I don't have any Chinese people my own age to talk to on a regular basis. just want to learn a few simple sentances I can use when talking to Mandarin speakers, for the moment.

At the moment I am just busy focusing on studying Japanese and looking for a Job, so I can atleast save up for a temple stay in Japan and visit my friend.:hat:

I learned the Chinese way of writing hanzi/kanji first which has helped me greatly and help me figure out the correct way of writting hanzi/kanji I am not familiar with. Overall, practice makes perfect !!!

[dzee]

何's stroke order differs between Japanese and Chinese, though. In Japanese the box is written before the vertical line, and in Chinese, vice versa.

.. you can't be serious. :duh: that's my surname, and i've been writing it in the order:
1. curving stroke, vertical line
2. horizontal line
3. box
4. vertical line with a hook
for what, 14years of my life so far? (counting that i've been literate, of course)

[羽之助]

My Chinese is OK. I can have extremely simple conversations, ask questions, expresses likes and dislikes, and so on. My grammar's not too good, but I bought some books in Beijing - workbooks and conversation example books (CCTV's Communicate in Chinese). I use Pimsleur but I'm lazy and don't listen to it every day like I should. I also ordered the Teach Yourself Chinese book with CD off of Amazon and that was all right, if a bit tedious.

And ...

Chinese way to write 何：
http://lost-theory.org/ocrat/chargif/sod/bace.gif

Japanese way to write 何：
http://taka.sourceforge.net/current/kanji/J323F
(sorry, couldn't find a linkable GIF).

And, drifting slightly further off-topic, check out this mother of a character!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Bi%C3%A1ng.svg/180px-Bi%C3%A1ng.svg.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biang_biang_noodles)

[Comazon]

lol, 57 strokes of pure goodness. :boggled:

It wins points for looking cool though.

[Black Dog]

ＯＭＧ！！！！ＴＨＡＴ　ＩＳ　ＡＷＥＳＯＭＥ！！！ＭＯＲＥ　ＳＴＲＯＫＥＳ　ＴＨＥ　ＢＥＴＴＥＲ！！ ！:hat:

Ｉ　ｃｏｕｌｄ　ｗｒｉｔｅ　ｉｔ　７０％－９０　Ｗｉｔｈ　ａ　ａｃｃｕｒａｃｙ．　Ｉ　ｔｈｉｎｋ　ｉ ｔ　ｉｓｎ’ｔ　ａｓ　ｈａｒｄ　ａｓ　ｉｔ　ｌｏｏｋｓ．:hat:

Ｔｏｐ、Ｍｉｄｄｌｅ，Ｌｅｆｔ、Ｒｉｇｈｔ，Ｂｏｔｔｏｍ

[羽之助]

Ay, but what part goes where first? There's the rub. If it were just me, I wouldn't give a damn, but I'm going to be showing this at school on Monday to a bunch of kids and, as a teacher, I must write it correctly ...

Thought: Somehow, somewhere, someone is going to see that character and ask for it to be tattooed on them.

[Black Dog]

Ay, but what part goes where first? There's the rub. If it were just me, I wouldn't give a damn, but I'm going to be showing this at school on Monday to a bunch of kids and, as a teacher, I must write it correctly ...

Thought: Somehow, somewhere, someone is going to see that character and ask for it to be tattooed on them.

The radical for roof Ｉｓ the first part of that Kanji/hanzi that I　Ｂｅｌｉｅｖｅ　ｓｈｏｕｌｄ　ｓｔａｒｔ　ｗｉｔｈ．

[羽之助]

Well obviously. The whole thing is "hole", though, if you want to shorten your mnemonics 穴.

[koku]

I use that time to write down as many kanji as I can remember off the top of my head. It's good exercise and it looks like I'm doing something important. I recognize over 1,000 and on a good day can get up to 300 writing from memory.


I use to do the same type of practice. I think its very good for memory and you can surprise yourself at times. And especially when you do it with smaller numbers, its not imposible to hit most of the kanji off the top of your head, so people shouldn't stray from trying it. Maybe I will run that test again after this semester. Grouping up the kanji you know is a pain in the arse, though.

[4letterwords]

When I think about studying kanji I get a strange feeling... Like the feeling I get when I walk past a strange guy alone in the middle of the night... as if I know I'm going to get raped and murdered.

[Comazon]

That's a pretty morbid approach to kanji ya got there... :box:

[Eddie Echoplex]

When I think about studying kanji I get a strange feeling... Like the feeling I get when I walk past a strange guy alone in the middle of the night... as if I know I'm going to get raped and murdered.

Contrary to learning romani (the gypsy languaje) in which you imagine someone's gonna smile at you, and all of a sudden you realize he stole your wallet and replaced it with a good luck charm :) .

And no, I've got nothing againts gypsies.

[羽之助]

all of a sudden you realize he stole your wallet and replaced it with a good luck charm :)

Well, money is the root of all evil, 'innit?

[Crowley]

no, love of money is the root of all evil, you ridiculous ginger!

[羽之助]

Toss off, ye pansy-wonking scooch-hustler!

[Crowley]

Fair point. But I've only hustled scooches once, so it hardly counts.

[羽之助]

Well, all right then.

Flight of a dragon! 龘

[Fumi]

Chinese way to write 何...
For 27+ years I always write the mouth before the hook. The Taiwanese Ministry of Education agrees with me:
http://www.edu.tw/EDU_WEB/EDU_MGT/MANDR/EDU6300001/allbook/bishuen/p5b.htm?open

You can find the stroke order for all common Chinese characters here, in case you are interested:
http://www.edu.tw/EDU_WEB/EDU_MGT/MANDR/EDU6300001/allbook/bishuen/bi.htm?open

And for those who think stroke order doesn't matter: it does. Write it in the wrong order and your character will look weird, and it's painfully obvious. Knowing the stroke order will make learning Chinese characters/hanzi/kanji much easier.

You don't memorize the stroke order for the individual characters, you learn the rules for the stroke order:
http://www.edu.tw/EDU_WEB/EDU_MGT/MANDR/EDU6300001/allbook/bishuen/bs1.htm?open
(It's in Chinese but you can just read the examples, and the rules are the same for Chinese and Japanese)

[MNJetter]

There are some kanji that are acceptable to write in multiple ways, though. My Japanese teacher's book listed two different ways to write 下 when I asked her, and of course the more complicated kanji can have three or four different methods. They're all "official" stroke orders, though, so if you hit upon one that's not official, it looks funny.

[Fumi]

True, but there are some general rules that must be followed. For example never, ever write from bottom to top, or right to left, or break components apart.

I have seen people do things like writing 口 in one continuous stroke from the lower left corner up that just make me want to scream.

[Digital Masta]

I should care more about stroke order. Honestly if they can read it, then I really don't care how you write it. Granted there is actually a stoke order in probably every language, I don't care if you write an "a" different from me as long as I know its an "a" when I read it

[jindojim]

Yes, you should care a lot about stroke order. To the Japanese, who care a hell of a lot more about the way something is done than the final product, incorrect stroke order is just as incorrect as writing the wrong character.

Plus, knowing stroke order is invaluable when you have to look up kanji.

[MNJetter]

I have seen people do things like writing 口 in one continuous stroke from the lower left corner up that just make me want to scream.

I know a couple Japanese people who do that too. The English teacher I used to work with stopped pretending to write them correctly at all, and just made them into little circles when she was writing on the blackboard.

[crabity]

stroke order is important,
but making firm strokes with definite beginning and ending points are not so much. teachers stop caring once you hit a certain grade, just like how teachers stop caring whether students write in cursive or print once you pass third grade in US.

for 口 especially, I just write in one stroke. it's kind of like cursive. something that's true for characters that's not necessarily true for alphabet is that, when you write strokes in order, it helps maintain balance (in a square shape) and saves you from making mistakes like 末 and 未

[erbiumfiber]

I've gotten to see a lot of handwriting in my job. There's no doubt in my mind that a lot of people are using about half the stroke numbers to write their kanji (the "guchi" as a circle is about the easiest). Even our translators have to ask native speakers for some handwritten kanji.

I have given up all hope of being able to competently write large numbers of kanji. I will use the crutch of word processing and work on just being able to identify the kanji and its 7 different readings (I swear, all the kanji I study have way more than 2 readings and about 11 different meanings depending upon the kanji they're hanging out with...).

I feel kind of hopeless/overwhelmed because the kanji that I would need to know for my job are technical/chemical/electrical/mechanical engineering. So I feel like I would never get competent enough to, for example, sit for the benrishi exam (Japanese patent agent). That's assuming they ever give the exam permitting word processing. Even the JLPT level 1 guys have to learn A LOT of new technical kanji when they come to work here...

[_yeah]

I find it interesting that Japanese people apparently write 口 as a circle when they're trying to save strokes. The "cursive" form of that character that I'm familiar with looks like this:
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/7734/kuchitl3.gif
Which ends up making everything one stroke but yet still follows the same stroke order.

Personally speaking, I stopped learning Chinese at around age 6 and hence the proportions for my written kanji look all out of whack, which is really something I'm hoping to correct when I have the time.

On the topic of the JLPT, though, the test is less than a week away and I haven't been able to commit any time to studying all year. Level 1 is going to rape me, methinks. :(

[羽之助]

Yes it will. :yes:

By the way, if you install Windows in Japanese or have a Japanese computer (like me), a bunch of extra fonts are installed to make your characters look more ... calligraphic.

For more information, everyone, have a look at the Wikipedia entry for Cursive Script! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursive_script_%28East_Asia%29)

[Digital Masta]

Yes, you should care a lot about stroke order. To the Japanese, who care a hell of a lot more about the way something is done than the final product, incorrect stroke order is just as incorrect as writing the wrong character.

Plus, knowing stroke order is invaluable when you have to look up kanji.


Interestingly enough, I can usually count the # of strokes correctly and find the kanji. Its strange.

[Fumi]

erbiumfiber: I find it easiest to learn technical terms by reading lots of technical writings, guessing the words you don't know and writing them down on a piece of paper, then check those words afterwards to see if you guessed them right. After a few times they'll stick.

My problem is not with technical kanji, but with technical katakana. Fujitsu, in their infinite wisdom, label their boxes in Japanese even for export market. So I'll have an English packing slip in one hand and a pile of little boxes with labels that all look the same and end with カード, while the delivery guy waits impatiently for me to sign it off.

And for guchi: it's ok to write in cursive form like what _yeah posted. It's not ok to use "O" in place of "口". It's not ok to draw a square in one continuous stroke, and pass it off as "口". And native writers born after the 80s are more prone to do that than foreigners.

[mpz]

When I think about studying kanji I get a strange feeling... Like the feeling I get when I walk past a strange guy alone in the middle of the night... as if I know I'm going to get raped and murdered.
Resistance just makes it harder.

("it" being learning Kanji, of course.)

[mpz]

So, who else is taking the JLPT this year? Just 1 more week till 2級 and I'm still not sure if I'll be safe. It's basically the reading comprehension that kills me.
Taking level 1 this year, after passing 2 last year. My biggest problem last year was reading speed, and I haven't improved at all in that arena.

Only four full days left to study, and I haven't even opened the Kanzen Master grammar book yet.. Send flowers to my grave :-D

[Chinpokomon]

I'm taking level 1 this year, after failing it by 1 point 2 years ago.

I actually have decent confidence that I'm going to pass, although I haven't been studying that hard. I'm hoping the whole "living in Japan" thing is going to help.

Best of luck everyone!

[Vic_Rattlehead]

I might take level 4 or 3. Started a full time degree in Japanese so I wanna test out how much i've learnt!

[mpz]

I might take level 4 or 3. Started a full time degree in Japanese so I wanna test out how much i've learnt!
"Might"? The test is in a few days and the application period closed in October in most parts of the world. Unless you mean next year or later..

[mpz]

Quoting oneself is sad, but..

Only four full days left to study, and I haven't even opened the Kanzen Master grammar book yet.. Send flowers to my grave :-D
This shit is wack. Half of it is *never* used, although I imagine your average Japanese person would still know the right answers when faced with the practice questions.

(And as to on what basis I say "never used", well, a lot of watching TV and reading newspaper articles. Newspaper articles tend to have difficult kanji and rare words, but the constructs are usually rather simple. I think most of these complex grammar structures are restricted to literary masturbation. That's not to say I'm not going to bang them into my head sooner or later, but chances are I'll just go with gut feeling in the exam.)

What do other people either preparing to level 1 or having already passed it think?

[_yeah]

Being a person who can not really study using standard textbooks and study materials, I've been reading stuff on here (http://news18.2ch.net/dqnplus/subback.html) to try to get my reading speed up. (Ran out of time on 2kyuu last year. Still managed to pass the test, but realized that my reading speed was dismal then.) Plus I ran into this (http://news18.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/dqnplus/1158464714/); I'm assuming it's old news by now but just in case it ISN'T, well, there you go.

[羽之助]

Oh good god.

The editorials are all in Japanese now? I'm emailing this to every school in my district.

[_yeah]

Well, hell, the first post was dated mid-September, I would have figured SOMEBODY had to have told Az by now.

Maybe he just kept quiet about it!

In any case. Uh.

Check out post #269. (http://news18.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/dqnplus/1158464714/269) XD

[羽之助]

Oh dear god. He broke his fingers trying to kancho the music teacher's vagina?

[crabity]

Plus I ran into this (http://news18.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/dqnplus/1158464714/); I'm assuming it's old news by now but just in case it ISN'T, well, there you go.
lol!
when I followed the link and got to the original blog post...
the comments are so funny
they're like
"I think he's fake...whoever teachs at three schools?"
"At least that part's real. There's someone like that in my jr high"
"He sounds like he's getting bullied by kids."
"Sounds like he's turned into their toy"
"Is this real, or is he just trying to be a comedian?"
"Is this the so-called 'american joke'?"
and the final one..
"Just be glad it was Kancho. at my school, people stuck pencils to chairs, and one guy was even said to have cracked his pelvic bone"

http://goyaku.seesaa.net/article/23875911.html

[edit]by the way, on the 2ch thread, there's a long convo on kancho assassin.
and I never realized until they pointed it out to me... assassin => ass ass in. was this pun on purpose, Az?

*sorry it got off topic. maybe reading this article will boost your reading skills?

[_yeah]

Back on topic, I think my game plan is going to be try to score as high on the listening and reading/grammar sections as I can manage, because the "choose the right kanji for the jukugo in this sentence" and "match up the same kanji for these sentences written in hiragana" questions are kicking my ass bigtime. :(

[mpz]

I chickened out and actually read through the Kanzen Master grammar book. Took about 48 hours. Let's hope the grammar sticks to my head long enough to have an effect..

Good luck to everybody.

[Azrael]

Actually, no, I hadn't seen that. I guess it was only a matter of time before someone translated them into Japanese. All I can tell you is, it sure as hell wasn't going to be me.

Anyway, JLPT. Took (failed) 1-kyuu today. Wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. Listening was actually kind of easy. I know I can pass it next year, so this year was a good chance to see where I stand.

[mpz]

Passed level 1. I'm sure about it. It felt easier than level 2 last year. Not once did I run out of time and I was pretty confident in my answers.

Missed a couple of the listening questions because my attention was tuned to the wrong place :-(

[_yeah]

Eh, I think I'm borderline. Kanji section was definitely harder than some of the previous tests I've tried. And the listening section had more keigo - not feeling too confident about the keigo-y ones.

I felt pretty good about the last section though. Though my eyes started hurting from reading the passages for the first two questions, gah.

Ah well. I'll find out in March!

[Digital Masta]

Took level 3 today...I'll reserve judgement until March, but I did find the last section easier than when I was studying for it.

[MNJetter]

Anyway, JLPT. Took (failed) 1-kyuu today. Wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. Listening was actually kind of easy. I know I can pass it next year, so this year was a good chance to see where I stand.
Couldn't have said it better myself.

Ditto for me, only substitute 1-kyuu with 2-kyuu, and today with yesterday (seeing as I'm posting on Monday :D)

[Chinpokomon]

I think I may have passed level 1, but I don't want to get my hopes up.

I will say this. Studying grammar is much more time effective than studying kanji. Because there are less grammar patterns than there are kanji, the chances of a given grammar pattern showing up on the test are much better than any given kanji.

Also, I've now taken the test twice. Once in the US, and once in Tokyo.

Although there are many non-asian foreigners in Tokyo, they sure weren't taking the JLPT, at least at my test site. I counted about 4 white people besides myself, out of the hundreds of people taking the test.

Missed a couple of the listening questions because my attention was tuned to the wrong place :-(

I did something similar. I turned the page to some graph, and they started talking about lottery numbers. :(

[Azrael]

^Yeah, it was funny, I walked into my test room and I was the ONLY non-Asian peep in there. Everyone, even the examiners, looked up at me like "WTF are you doing here? 4-kyuu is downstairs."

Later, a white dude came in and I felt relieved. "Brother!" I instantly thought. ...Aint Japan some shit? Only in Japan can a black guy think "Brother!" and be relieved upon seeing a white guy.

When the test finished, it was just a sea of Asian people exiting, who weren't Japanese. It was kind of surreal.

Me, I gotta study kanji over grammar. The grammar wasn't that hard for me, but there were too many words that I just hadn't seen before. I'm definitely putting emphasis on kanji in my studies from now on.

[_yeah]

Hey, for those who took 一級, what did you all put down for the (　 ⑤ 　 ) fill in the blank question for the first passage? That was one I wasn't too sure about, though in the end I decided to go with 親たちはまた子供であった or whatever the hell that answer was.

The majority of the 一級 takers in Toronto were Asian too, but I guess there were about... 3-5? Non-asian ones out of the 40 or so. Including one Indian guy.

Oh yeah, and when we were told to bring out ID and leave it on the desk for checking, I saw this guy in the row ahead of me bring out a navy blue passport. Now, since Canadian passports are navy blue, I didn't really pay it much heed at first, but there was something that just looked DIFFERENT about it even from the distance I was at. So I decided to take a closer look. And realized what was wrong.

A standard Canadian passport says this on the cover:

CANADA


PASSPORT
PASSEPORT



His passport, however, said this instead:

日本国
旅　 券

ＪＡＰＡＮ
Passport


I was like, "why the hell are you taking the test?" :duh: :duh:

Also! While instructions were being given, I was wondering why they were giving the instructions in English for 一級. I mean, hell, it's fucking level 1, if you can't understand simple instructions given in Japanese you're right fucked for the test anyway. Meh.

[mpz]

Hey, for those who took 一級, what did you all put down for the (　 ⑤ 　 ) fill in the blank question for the first passage? That was one I wasn't too sure about, though in the end I decided to go with 親たちはまた子供であった or whatever the hell that answer was.
I don't think I picked that one. What were the alternatives? Was it the one with that stuff about 第３者 (a third person (which, being 'grandparents', adds the sense of "time" to a story (without whom the whole thing is one-dimensional 向き合い between parents and children))).

The first passage was pretty damn abstract for reading comprehension in an exam. I'd say that even natives won't necessarily get it right :-) Fortunately the rest of them were easier.

Also! While instructions were being given, I was wondering why they were giving the instructions in English for 一級. I mean, hell, it's fucking level 1, if you can't understand simple instructions given in Japanese you're right fucked for the test anyway. Meh.
In my case, the proctor asked (in Japanese) if everybody understood Japanese, and since nobody said anything to the contrary, she proceeded to explain everything in Japanese only. Ftw. :-)

[crabity]

His passport, however, said this instead:

日本国
旅　 券

ＪＡＰＡＮ
Passport



what's wrong with a Japanese taking the JPLT?
there are plenty of Japanese who spent a majority of their life overseas, and is returning to Japan for college or something.
being a Japanese national doesn't automaticcally mean being fluent in Japanese.

or maybe he just wanted to take it for to boost his resume.
I noticed a lot of places ask "what certifications have you attained" or something, and people list English level x, but sometimes people list things like abacus level x, mental calculations level x, etc.
I don't see this asked as frequently in US...

[羽之助]

being a Japanese national doesn't automaticcally mean being fluent in Japanese.

Tell that to the majority of Japanese people in Japan ;)

How old was the guy?

[MNJetter]

Also! While instructions were being given, I was wondering why they were giving the instructions in English for 一級. I mean, hell, it's fucking level 1, if you can't understand simple instructions given in Japanese you're right fucked for the test anyway. Meh.

Really? I took 2kyuu, and there were absolutely no instructions in English.

I heard on TV that there were 530,000 (or was it 53,000? 530,000 sounds like a lot) people in 47 countries taking the JLPT this year, and a full 40% of them were Chinese. So it doesn't surprise me that a majority of the test-takers were Asian.

[mpz]

I heard on TV that there were 530,000 (or was it 53,000? 530,000 sounds like a lot) people in 47 countries taking the JLPT this year, and a full 40% of them were Chinese. So it doesn't surprise me that a majority of the test-takers were Asian.
530,000 sounds correct, last year there were about 400,000 applicants (and the number just keeps rising). See here (http://momo.jpf.go.jp/jlpt/download/2005result9.pdf).

[MNJetter]

Thanks - I wasn't sure about the number, because I saw it briefly on a news blurb while getting ramen during a break from riding in the car on the way back up to Aomori (by the way, for the record, it's stupid that the closest JLPT site to my house in Japan is a 4-hour drive away :P)

[Chinpokomon]

I don't think I picked that one. What were the alternatives? Was it the one with that stuff about 第３者 (a third person (which, being 'grandparents', adds the sense of "time" to a story (without whom the whole thing is one-dimensional 向き合い between parents and children))).


That's what I put.

I hear there is a site which has all the answers (basically a large scale version of people remembering test questions, like what we did here)

Only problem is that it's in Korean. Anyone want to take a shot at finding it?