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Post by chocopie on Jun 10, 2014 6:38:18 GMT
Pretty silly question, but what if you DO want to be "better" at Japanese people, than Japanese people? I guess the only benchmark after that is kanji kentei? There's JCAT and BJT as well, but you don't need to use tests really. Just read a lot, listen to podcasts, watch TVs, and learn until you understand everything you come across. Then there's always classical Japanese, Japanese linguistics, and cultural aspects e.g. learning the poems to play karuta, Buddhist and Shinto terminology, and of course writing skills. To be honest, I'm not sure that aiming to be better than a native speaker is a reasonable goal. There will always be native speakers better than you so just be as good as you can be.
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Post by Bokusenou on Jun 17, 2014 4:17:47 GMT
Pretty silly question, but what if you DO want to be "better" at Japanese people, than Japanese people? I guess the only benchmark after that is kanji kentei? Think about it this way, if you wanted to get better at English than 90% of English speakers, how would you do it? From what I understand, the Kanji Kentei is a lot like the spelling bees in English speaking countries. As you get to the higher levels, you run into a lot of obscure things that most Japanese people don't know, and would not understand even if you said it to them. It seems to start getting obscure around Pre-2 or 2 level. I code websites, so I know enough web jargon that I could probably confuse someone who doesn't code in 30 seconds. Does that make me better at English then them? No, because they probably have a few areas of knowledge where they could leave me dazed as well. Pretty much what Chocopie said, try to find things in Japanese which interest you and learn more Japanese through them might be the best option.
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Post by umeboshi on Jun 30, 2014 18:16:43 GMT
Good luck to all who are taking the JLPT this week! My last experience with the JLPT was taking the N3 last year. I'll be giving the JLPT a miss this year and hopefully by the end of next year I'll have sufficiently prepared for N2. I found that calculating how much time I should allocate to each subsection beforehand, and keeping track of time during the test was really helpful for me, as it allowed me to know when it was time to skip a difficult question and try to salvage the rest of the questions.
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Post by Bokusenou on Jul 5, 2014 19:59:03 GMT
@umeboshi Good luck with N2 next year! Great point about keeping track of time during the test. It helped me to do a lot of practice tests & figure out how much time I would need on the real thing by how much I had to rush on the practice tests.
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Post by RekaRyuusei on Oct 2, 2014 23:07:32 GMT
Hey, hopefully it's okay if I post here, being a newbie and everything. I recently found out about JLPT through my teacher not too long ago, and I understand the test is just around the corner. Oct 3rd is the last day to apply according to the website, and my teacher recommended N4 for me. However, I feel like if I really apply myself I can do better than that. I've gone through a good amount of readings on JLPT, and received mixed opinions. I decided that a little bit of personal advice would be better!
So my question is basically this; should I bother with N5 and N4?
I've taken the practice tests for both, and N5 wasn't much of a problem. N4 was a little harder and I had to work more, but I feel like studying for N4 would be aiming too low for me. Yes, my teacher recommended N4 for me, based on my performance in class, but wouldn't it be better to work towards a higher level and maybe learn more along the way? If it helps any, I'm in part three of Japanese in school. My knowledge right now is somewhat weird, there are things that I know very well on the practice JLPT tests, and others that I have never seen before.
Bokusenou was really helpful in giving me a few pointers beforehand, but I feel like I'm walking into a whole new world that I've never dreamed possible. A tour guide would be nice. ^^;
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Post by chocopie on Oct 5, 2014 9:27:55 GMT
Hey, hopefully it's okay if I post here, being a newbie and everything. I recently found out about JLPT through my teacher not too long ago, and I understand the test is just around the corner. Oct 3rd is the last day to apply according to the website, and my teacher recommended N4 for me. However, I feel like if I really apply myself I can do better than that. I've gone through a good amount of readings on JLPT, and received mixed opinions. I decided that a little bit of personal advice would be better! So my question is basically this; should I bother with N5 and N4?
I've taken the practice tests for both, and N5 wasn't much of a problem. N4 was a little harder and I had to work more, but I feel like studying for N4 would be aiming too low for me. Yes, my teacher recommended N4 for me, based on my performance in class, but wouldn't it be better to work towards a higher level and maybe learn more along the way? If it helps any, I'm in part three of Japanese in school. My knowledge right now is somewhat weird, there are things that I know very well on the practice JLPT tests, and others that I have never seen before. Bokusenou was really helpful in giving me a few pointers beforehand, but I feel like I'm walking into a whole new world that I've never dreamed possible. A tour guide would be nice. ^^; I realise that this is probably too late, BUT better late than never? Maybe? I started with N2 because it costs money, taking exams aren't that exciting and, for me personally, having N5-N3 on my CV wouldn't have been of any great benefit. However, if it's useful to you then by all means take it, but if you don't need it I wouldn't bother.
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Post by RekaRyuusei on Oct 5, 2014 11:14:01 GMT
chocopieIt's okay, I decided to go with N3. I understand that it costs money, but I didn't really have a clear explanation of what part to take, what mattered the most, what would be useful for me, and such. My teacher had given me a little advice, but mostly I was left to figuring it out on my own. So no guide or anything! I actually like taking tests though, because it feels like a game to me. I just know I'll do my best.
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Post by chocopie on Oct 6, 2014 15:39:00 GMT
RekaRyuusei Well now you've decided to take N3 feel free to ask any questions about the test! Good luck with your preparations
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Post by Bokusenou on Oct 7, 2014 4:05:43 GMT
Good luck with N3! I took and passed N2 & N1, and studying for those definitely helped take my Japanese to the next level. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!^^
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Post by Jembru on Oct 8, 2014 14:53:06 GMT
I actually like taking tests though, because it feels like a game to me. I just know I'll do my best. I wish I could feel like that about exams. The thought of sitting any level of the JLPT just fills me with dread. I don't think I could cope with anything higher than N4 without a nervous breakdown. As I have no ambition of using Japanese professionally, there is absolutely no benefit to me if I were to take the exams other than letting people know how good I am. Especially as just opening my mouth and using my Japanese would have the same affect. If I were to sit the exam though, I would always go for one level below what I think I am capable of. Having thumbed through some books I got recently, most of the material on N2 looks pretty familiar, so by my logic I'd have to take N3. Anyway, best of luck. I think you made the right decision. If it turns out that N3 is too easy, at least you'll pass with flying colours, which will be wonderful for your confidence!
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Post by RekaRyuusei on Oct 8, 2014 19:49:01 GMT
Thank you for all of your feedback! Sorry for responding so late, I've been really busy. chocopie Thank you so much, I will do my best. Ganbarimasu! If have any questions I'll make sure to let you know. Bokusenou Thank you! Exactly, I think that by doing this, I'm somewhat pushing out of my comfort area, which will help me become better. Thank you as always for your support! You don't know how much I appreciate it. Jembru To be completely honest, I feel the exact same. Test taking makes me nervous and I tend to worry and over think whats going on. So I understand completely where you are coming from! I have another side to me though, that sees tests like this as a game and a challenge to complete. JLPT is almost necessary for me if I want to accomplish my dream. If it wasn't I might not go much higher like you said. I'm a little like that when it comes to speaking as well. Guess we have a couple of similarities, haha. I totally understand what you mean. Thank you! Definitely!
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Post by Bokusenou on Oct 11, 2014 2:26:53 GMT
RekaRyuusei No problem! Yeah, for me, if I need to take a test, taking one I'm not completely sure I could pass is much more interesting than taking something super easy, as long as it doesn't cost too much to get to the testing center. You have a year and a few months to study, so you might want to start drawing up a rough study plan or something. Good luck!☆彡
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