|
|
|
I don't know any Japanese but to me it sounds pretty good :D How many years have you been learning japanese? Did you take courses? How many hours do you spend learning it per week?
|
You are doing very good! Just keep working on your tone and you will have no problem.
|
I can definitely notice the accent and tone faults in your talking but that's pretty hard to get rid of so no biggy. I'm sure there's some native Japanese speakers around here who can give you some really good pointers.
|
Yay thanks for replies :D Yeah, I've got to keep working on my tone. I've been learning for about 3 and a half years now. No courses or anything. I probably spend about 5 hours a day talking to japanese friends and watching Japanese TV and such. Come on native speakers! ^^
|
On March 26 2012 02:00 Phrogs! wrote:
Yay thanks for replies :D Yeah, I've got to keep working on my tone. I've been learning for about 3 and a half years now. No courses or anything. I probably spend about 5 hours a day talking to japanese friends and watching Japanese TV and such. Come on native speakers! ^^
May I ask why you learn Japanese? Just for your personal pleasure? How do you keep up your motivation? Kudos to you 
|
On March 26 2012 02:07 tenacity wrote:Show nested quote +On March 26 2012 02:00 Phrogs! wrote:
Yay thanks for replies :D Yeah, I've got to keep working on my tone. I've been learning for about 3 and a half years now. No courses or anything. I probably spend about 5 hours a day talking to japanese friends and watching Japanese TV and such. Come on native speakers! ^^ May I ask why you learn Japanese? Just for your personal pleasure? How do you keep up your motivation? Kudos to you
Thanks! I guess I liked lots of different aspects of Japan (history, culture, literature, film etc etc) so it was kinda a natural next step to learn the language. To be honest, I had major problems with motivation before I could really understand real Japanese, but now I can just focus on having fun with the language like talking to friends and watching TV and let the improvement take care of itself automatically^^ Are you learning any languages or anything?
|
Yeah, if that's your speaking level, I wouldn't worry too much -- like you said, you're at the point where you can just have fun with the language and use it naturally with friends and "real" stuff like TV, so the smaller points of like accent and intonation will come with exposure / time. I think it's hard to point out specific things like that because depending on the person, situation, mood, what they want to say and how they want to say it, a lot of that can change, so it's better to just learn "naturally" from real life situations (or even TV talk shows / variety shows, though be careful of Japanese dramas because the actors are usually really hammy and don't quite sound like real people :-p).
Do you have any plan of going to Japan in the future? That's always the best way (and sometimes only way imo) of learning to sound more "natural," but it's also quite far from UK, so not always practical :-p Definitely a great experience though, if there's anyway you can swing it I definitely recommend it. Your Japanese is good enough already where you'll be able to get involved, get around, get by, make Japanese friends fairly easily I'd imagine.
Are you studying / have you studied for JLPT specifically before? There's some odd stuff that you won't really see much outside of the test, so if you haven't studied specifically for it, it might catch you by surprise. Most of it is quite useful, though, and it's a good clear goal to study for. There are really good books for each section of the JLPT, and full practice tests you can do. I'd recommend trying a practice test if you have the time / motivation, it'll give you a pretty good idea of what to expect. Generally, since you watch TV and talk to Japanese friends a lot, listening probably isn't too hard. Reading can be a little complicated and you don't have a ton of time for it, but it depends on the article. If you're reading novels and stuff on your own, though, that helps a lot. Kanji and grammar can be a little iffy because there's always some strange stuff that you normally wouldn't see, so unless you've studied it for the test and manage to remember it there'll always be stuff that you don't know. But that kind of thing is also not terribly important, imo -- if you're okay with the "real" skills of listening and reading, and you're okay with most of the more common kanji and grammar, it should be fine.
|
On March 26 2012 02:47 dormer wrote:
Yeah, if that's your speaking level, I wouldn't worry too much -- like you said, you're at the point where you can just have fun with the language and use it naturally with friends and "real" stuff like TV, so the smaller points of like accent and intonation will come with exposure / time. I think it's hard to point out specific things like that because depending on the person, situation, mood, what they want to say and how they want to say it, a lot of that can change, so it's better to just learn "naturally" from real life situations (or even TV talk shows / variety shows, though be careful of Japanese dramas because the actors are usually really hammy and don't quite sound like real people :-p).
Do you have any plan of going to Japan in the future? That's always the best way (and sometimes only way imo) of learning to sound more "natural," but it's also quite far from UK, so not always practical :-p Definitely a great experience though, if there's anyway you can swing it I definitely recommend it. Your Japanese is good enough already where you'll be able to get involved, get around, get by, make Japanese friends fairly easily I'd imagine.
Are you studying / have you studied for JLPT specifically before? There's some odd stuff that you won't really see much outside of the test, so if you haven't studied specifically for it, it might catch you by surprise. Most of it is quite useful, though, and it's a good clear goal to study for. There are really good books for each section of the JLPT, and full practice tests you can do. I'd recommend trying a practice test if you have the time / motivation, it'll give you a pretty good idea of what to expect. Generally, since you watch TV and talk to Japanese friends a lot, listening probably isn't too hard. Reading can be a little complicated and you don't have a ton of time for it, but it depends on the article. If you're reading novels and stuff on your own, though, that helps a lot. Kanji and grammar can be a little iffy because there's always some strange stuff that you normally wouldn't see, so unless you've studied it for the test and manage to remember it there'll always be stuff that you don't know. But that kind of thing is also not terribly important, imo -- if you're okay with the "real" skills of listening and reading, and you're okay with most of the more common kanji and grammar, it should be fine.
It's reassuring to hear somebody else say that accent and intonation will come with exposure/time I'm going to study for a year at a Japanese university next year which will be a fantastic experience. I just want to throw myself into it and get involved in things and make lots of friends. As far as Japanese TV goes, I watch mostly variety shows (AKB48ネ申テレビ^^) and drama. I agree about drama but it's got to be higher up on the "sounds like real people" scale than anime haha
I bought a couple of the 完全マスター books to prepare specifically for N1 but I haven't finished them yet. There's definitely some odd stuff that I've never seen before. I was kinda worried about that and about the time but I tried the N1 sample test on that's on the JLPT site and it was fine so I dunno. I guess I'll try to do lots of JLPT specific study in addition to the "real" stuff.
Thanks for the awesome reply/advice You both reassured me and gave me a kick in the ass to do some JLPT study at the same time 
|
Japanese is a language I would love to speak! If I'm going to learn another language it would be Japanese, just seeing you speak makes me want to too! Learning a language, especially something as difficult as Japanese takes a ton of dedication and time though  . That's what's kinda holding me back.
|
Good luck man and props for taking up such a difficult language and actually mastering it.
|
On March 26 2012 04:30 solidbebe wrote:Japanese is a language I would love to speak! If I'm going to learn another language it would be Japanese, just seeing you speak makes me want to too! Learning a language, especially something as difficult as Japanese takes a ton of dedication and time though . That's what's kinda holding me back.
Go for it man :D I won't deny that it takes a lot of time and dedication (especially kanji) but allow me to make a really cheesy metaphor haha: it's going over a massive hill! The first half is an uphill struggle but once you get to the top (=once you reach the level where you can enjoy "real" native Japanese) then it's a nice, relaxing stroll downhill from there! Boom. What a metaphor. :D
On a slightly related note, all the Europeans like you (just guessing by your location) who have amazing English were a huge inspiration to me when I started learning^^
edit:
On March 26 2012 04:36 Stratos wrote:
Good luck man and props for taking up such a difficult language and actually mastering it.
Aww thank you :D I don't know if you can say I've mastered it yet but I'll keep going till I definitely have!
|
On March 26 2012 04:47 Phrogs! wrote:Show nested quote +On March 26 2012 04:30 solidbebe wrote:Japanese is a language I would love to speak! If I'm going to learn another language it would be Japanese, just seeing you speak makes me want to too! Learning a language, especially something as difficult as Japanese takes a ton of dedication and time though . That's what's kinda holding me back. Go for it man :D I won't deny that it takes a lot of time and dedication (especially kanji) but allow me to make a really cheesy metaphor haha: it's going over a massive hill! The first half is an uphill struggle but once you get to the top (=once you reach the level where you can enjoy "real" native Japanese) then it's a nice, relaxing stroll downhill from there! Boom. What a metaphor. :D On a slightly related note, all the Europeans like you (just guessing by your country) who have amazing English were a huge inspiration to me when I started learning^^
haha that's cool to hear ^^ English is pretty much the easiest language simply because it's everywhere. I could speak reasonable english with people from england/america when I was 12 . Ah just thinking about all this makes me wanna learn some Japanese! One thing I have going for me is watching anime. Which I can only imagine helps.
Nice metaphor by the way , that's exactly how learning a language is.
|
On March 26 2012 04:52 solidbebe wrote:Show nested quote +On March 26 2012 04:47 Phrogs! wrote:On March 26 2012 04:30 solidbebe wrote:Japanese is a language I would love to speak! If I'm going to learn another language it would be Japanese, just seeing you speak makes me want to too! Learning a language, especially something as difficult as Japanese takes a ton of dedication and time though . That's what's kinda holding me back. Go for it man :D I won't deny that it takes a lot of time and dedication (especially kanji) but allow me to make a really cheesy metaphor haha: it's going over a massive hill! The first half is an uphill struggle but once you get to the top (=once you reach the level where you can enjoy "real" native Japanese) then it's a nice, relaxing stroll downhill from there! Boom. What a metaphor. :D On a slightly related note, all the Europeans like you (just guessing by your country) who have amazing English were a huge inspiration to me when I started learning^^ haha that's cool to hear ^^ English is pretty much the easiest language simply because it's everywhere. I could speak reasonable english with people from england/america when I was 12 . Ah just thinking about all this makes me wanna learn some Japanese! One thing I have going for me is watching anime. Which I can only imagine helps. Nice metaphor by the way , that's exactly how learning a language is.
Sigh... jealous of Europeans
Yeah, watching anime has got to be a plus! How about, keep watching your anime (and try Japanese drama too if you haven't already!) and then maybe get a Japanese phrasebook and learn some of the basics (internet helps!) and see where it takes you from there^^
|
On March 26 2012 05:06 Phrogs! wrote:Show nested quote +On March 26 2012 04:52 solidbebe wrote:On March 26 2012 04:47 Phrogs! wrote:On March 26 2012 04:30 solidbebe wrote:Japanese is a language I would love to speak! If I'm going to learn another language it would be Japanese, just seeing you speak makes me want to too! Learning a language, especially something as difficult as Japanese takes a ton of dedication and time though . That's what's kinda holding me back. Go for it man :D I won't deny that it takes a lot of time and dedication (especially kanji) but allow me to make a really cheesy metaphor haha: it's going over a massive hill! The first half is an uphill struggle but once you get to the top (=once you reach the level where you can enjoy "real" native Japanese) then it's a nice, relaxing stroll downhill from there! Boom. What a metaphor. :D On a slightly related note, all the Europeans like you (just guessing by your country) who have amazing English were a huge inspiration to me when I started learning^^ haha that's cool to hear ^^ English is pretty much the easiest language simply because it's everywhere. I could speak reasonable english with people from england/america when I was 12 . Ah just thinking about all this makes me wanna learn some Japanese! One thing I have going for me is watching anime. Which I can only imagine helps. Nice metaphor by the way , that's exactly how learning a language is. Sigh... jealous of Europeans Yeah, watching anime has got to be a plus! How about, keep watching your anime (and try Japanese drama too if you haven't already!) and then maybe get a Japanese phrasebook and learn some of the basics (internet helps!) and see where it takes you from there^^
Yeah that'd be a nice way to start, would atleast give me a very basic idea of the language. I already notice I remember some phrases and words just from watching
|
On March 26 2012 04:47 Phrogs! wrote:Show nested quote +On March 26 2012 04:36 Stratos wrote:
Good luck man and props for taking up such a difficult language and actually mastering it. Aww thank you :D I don't know if you can say I've mastered it yet but I'll keep going till I definitely have!
I'm sure you will. It's essential to get past the first few steps to truly fall for the language IMO, if you lose hope earlier on, you're pretty much doomed to fail. And a lot of people do, indeed. I know I got pretty overwhelmed just by trying to learn the korean alphabet, it took me about 4 months to get used to it. I'd rather not even imagine my struggles with the japanese writing system :D Maybe one day though, I'll think of your success then haha.
|
Being in japan is the best way to get better at japanese, there is no substitute. I learned 3 years of high school japanese in 1.5 years of living in japan, and i passed level 3 a few years ago when there were still 4 levels. I was going to take level 2 but I stopped really studying, and im gonna try to take it in school next year for an easy grade ^^.
Level 1 is brutal, my dads fluent and he failed it a few times before giving up and saying whatever, I can work in japanese i dont care anymore. You want to do a LOT of specific studying with the books. The books are very good for studying, and give you a majority of the material (all dat kanji), so you'll be fine with any of them.
Being a gaijin, nobody gives a fuck if your accent and intonation are good, they're just impressed that you speak it. That will improve on its own when you're there though, and if you're serious about getting it really good, get a tutor, as they will be able to make it sound like a native speaker.
|
On March 26 2012 05:16 Stratos wrote:Show nested quote +On March 26 2012 04:47 Phrogs! wrote:On March 26 2012 04:36 Stratos wrote:
Good luck man and props for taking up such a difficult language and actually mastering it. Aww thank you :D I don't know if you can say I've mastered it yet but I'll keep going till I definitely have! I'm sure you will. It's essential to get past the first few steps to truly fall for the language IMO, if you lose hope earlier on, you're pretty much doomed to fail. And a lot of people do, indeed. I know I got pretty overwhelmed just by trying to learn the korean alphabet, it took me about 4 months to get used to it. I'd rather not even imagine my struggles with the japanese writing system :D Maybe one day though, I'll think of your success then haha.
The Korean alphabet is awesome :D Could only ever read it on a computer though, native korean handwriting is just a scribble to me xD Good luck to you if you're learning Korean man! The extent of my Korean was being able to read the korean players names on the old broodwar streams haha
edit:
On March 26 2012 05:34 13_Doomblaze_37 wrote:
Being in japan is the best way to get better at japanese, there is no substitute. I learned 3 years of high school japanese in 1.5 years of living in japan, and i passed level 3 a few years ago when there were still 4 levels. I was going to take level 2 but I stopped really studying, and im gonna try to take it in school next year for an easy grade ^^.
Level 1 is brutal, my dads fluent and he failed it a few times before giving up and saying whatever, I can work in japanese i dont care anymore. You want to do a LOT of specific studying with the books. The books are very good for studying, and give you a majority of the material (all dat kanji), so you'll be fine with any of them.
Being a gaijin, nobody gives a fuck if your accent and intonation are good, they're just impressed that you speak it. That will improve on its own when you're there though, and if you're serious about getting it really good, get a tutor, as they will be able to make it sound like a native speaker.
Yeah, I can't wait for my year in Japan. Being in Japan must help a lot! I think if I'm still not at the level I want to be at by the time I get back from Japan I'll start looking into things like tutors^^
The N1 sample test on the JLPT site was easy enough but like barely any of the crazy grammar that's in my N1 book here actually appeared lol. Who knows what the actual test will be like xD Thanks for all the advice man <3
|
sound quality is not so great on the video so hard to tell if these are your issues or the sound quality.
your japanese is good. dont use "eh" so much. its the equivalent of "umm" and not so great. enunciate more. you are swallowing your words. japanese is a very flat language, so keep as much intonation out of the words as possible.
|
On March 26 2012 07:01 dAPhREAk wrote:
sound quality is not so great on the video so hard to tell if these are your issues or the sound quality.
your japanese is good. dont use "eh" so much. its the equivalent of "umm" and not so great. enunciate more. you are swallowing your words. japanese is a very flat language, so keep as much intonation out of the words as possible.
Thanks for the advice <3 especially about me swallowing my words, I didn't notice till you said
|
On March 26 2012 07:29 Phrogs! wrote:Show nested quote +On March 26 2012 07:01 dAPhREAk wrote:
sound quality is not so great on the video so hard to tell if these are your issues or the sound quality.
your japanese is good. dont use "eh" so much. its the equivalent of "umm" and not so great. enunciate more. you are swallowing your words. japanese is a very flat language, so keep as much intonation out of the words as possible. Thanks for the advice <3 especially about me swallowing my words, I didn't notice till you said
its good that you are worrying about these things, but like others have said in this thread, it shouldnt be your focus at this point. focus on learning mroe words then focus on proper grammar. and for that japanese test, someone pointed out that learning japanese and learning japanese for that test are two different things. its like TOEFL, even native speakers have issues. find a book, or a class, that is specifically tailored to the test.
when you get to japan, if you know more than five words 95% of the people you speak with will say your japanese is "pera-pera." they have very low expectations of foreigners, lol. =) oh, and then they will answer you in bad english. ;-)
|
On March 26 2012 07:40 dAPhREAk wrote:Show nested quote +On March 26 2012 07:29 Phrogs! wrote:On March 26 2012 07:01 dAPhREAk wrote:
sound quality is not so great on the video so hard to tell if these are your issues or the sound quality.
your japanese is good. dont use "eh" so much. its the equivalent of "umm" and not so great. enunciate more. you are swallowing your words. japanese is a very flat language, so keep as much intonation out of the words as possible. Thanks for the advice <3 especially about me swallowing my words, I didn't notice till you said its good that you are worrying about these things, but like others have said in this thread, it shouldnt be your focus at this point. focus on learning mroe words then focus on proper grammar. and for that japanese test, someone pointed out that learning japanese and learning japanese for that test are two different things. its like TOEFL, even native speakers have issues. find a book, or a class, that is specifically tailored to the test. when you get to japan, if you know more than five words 95% of the people you speak with will say your japanese is "pera-pera." they have very low expectations of foreigners, lol. =) oh, and then they will answer you in bad english. ;-)
oh, but the worst is when they mix their terrible english with the japanese xD 日本語がとてもベリーグッドですね！ lol
Thanks again man. Maybe I'm underestimating this test but I've got a feeling its going to go well :-) Will definately do lots of study specifically for the test though! Vocab and grammar especially
|
On March 26 2012 07:52 Phrogs! wrote:Show nested quote +On March 26 2012 07:40 dAPhREAk wrote:On March 26 2012 07:29 Phrogs! wrote:On March 26 2012 07:01 dAPhREAk wrote:
sound quality is not so great on the video so hard to tell if these are your issues or the sound quality.
your japanese is good. dont use "eh" so much. its the equivalent of "umm" and not so great. enunciate more. you are swallowing your words. japanese is a very flat language, so keep as much intonation out of the words as possible. Thanks for the advice <3 especially about me swallowing my words, I didn't notice till you said its good that you are worrying about these things, but like others have said in this thread, it shouldnt be your focus at this point. focus on learning mroe words then focus on proper grammar. and for that japanese test, someone pointed out that learning japanese and learning japanese for that test are two different things. its like TOEFL, even native speakers have issues. find a book, or a class, that is specifically tailored to the test. when you get to japan, if you know more than five words 95% of the people you speak with will say your japanese is "pera-pera." they have very low expectations of foreigners, lol. =) oh, and then they will answer you in bad english. ;-) oh, but the worst is when they mix their terrible english with the japanese xD 日本語がとてもベリーグッドですね！ lol Thanks again man. Maybe I'm underestimating this test but I've got a feeling its going to go well :-) Will definately do lots of study specifically for the test though! Vocab and grammar especially
there are multiple levels of the test. a friend of mine took (and failed) one of the higher level tests (and he lived in Japan with me at the time). he would have easily passed the lower tests though. im sure you can find practice tests online to see what it is like.
|
Good on you man, Ive always wanted to learn Japanese, but I tried for about a month and just gave up, its just really hard to. A big thing was I was going by this guys method... i dont remember his name but its just like you make your whole life japanese, only listen to japanese music ect. Obviously that got crappy and I just lost motivaiton to really learn it
|
On March 26 2012 14:01 ScruffyJanitor wrote:
Good on you man, Ive always wanted to learn Japanese, but I tried for about a month and just gave up, its just really hard to. A big thing was I was going by this guys method... i dont remember his name but its just like you make your whole life japanese, only listen to japanese music ect. Obviously that got crappy and I just lost motivaiton to really learn it
That's not how you learn a language, that would be something on the side to do. Learning a language just means you really put your mind to it, and spend a few afternoons/evenings a week in a class actively engaging with the language. Or do self teaching but that's alot harder. Once you're doing that, do the stuff on the side, like watching Japanese media or looking up words for everyday items.
|
I took the test for about two years ago. If you've studied for a few years and know your kanji and grammar, JLPT1 shouldn't be too hard. As said earlier in the thread, the JLPT tests have some old grammar etc. that really only appears in these tests, so buying a grammar book would help. Then again, the most uncommon grammar doesn't appear too much.
From what I saw in the video, it might be a good idea to start out with JLPT2, but if you put your mind to it, JLPT1 should be doable.
The talk about JLPT1 being a brutally hard test even if you're fluent is well... not really true. There are way harder tests for fluent Japanese speakers.
Good luck with the studies!
|
your weakness in pronunciation and intonation can be solved by karaoke or just imitating a native japanese speaker. goodluck on the test and try singing!
|
The tests honestly weren't that hard but it really depends on how you learned you japanese.
also, if you're gonna be making a sound while you pause and think, you might as well change your
Ehhh to e-to and sound more japanese.
|
I took N2 in December, and I limped out with a score of 91. Passing is 90, lol. (Also fwiw I still struggle with daily conversation, my listening is decent but speaking is horrible.)
The common hurdle is reading speed, make sure you can read at a decent pace. This past test I remember blowing through vocab/grammar/kanji in like 10 minutes but I didn't even finish the reading section.
As far as test taking goes, you'd do well to focus mostly on the test and the skills required instead of developing overall general skills and then hoping to apply it to the test. The latter strategy is better for language learning, but if you need to pass the test for business reasons then focus on the stuff in the 完全マスター books that you got. There's a lot of rare vocabulary and grammar that's used sparingly in real life so it's hard to absorb it through real life experience.
I can't watch the video here at work, but your own accent and intonation are pretty low on the scale of importance. Being able to understand other people and being understood are far more important even if it means speaking awkwardly. Once you get to a comfortable level there, then I'd work on it.
As far as Japanese TV goes, I watch mostly variety shows (AKB48ネ申テレビ^^) and drama.
Just like for me, idol groups are leading the way to Japanese learning, haha. Just be careful you don't pick up any bad habits. (After someone introduces themselves, whether in English or Japanese, I always feel like saying "YAYYYYYYY" afterwards, lol.)
when you get to japan, if you know more than five words 95% of the people you speak with will say your japanese is "pera-pera." they have very low expectations of foreigners, lol. =) oh, and then they will answer you in bad english. ;-)
what's funny for me is that most of the people i've met with the intention of language exchange... most of them refused to speak English or even stopped learning shortly after exchanging emails.
also since i'm filipino but look generically asian, people assumed i spoke japanese... then when that failed they went to chinese, haha. i never got the foreigner advantage, sadly. apparently "foreigner" doesn't apply to asian people.
|
I have been trying on and off for the last couple of years trying to learn Japanese myself. I've taken some lousy after school lessons at my university, bought a book with simple sentences and use Rosetta stone from time to time. How are you learning? I really can't imagine learning from anime's and mangas, because I simply lack the vocabulary for it. I can sometimes understand a word here and there and sometimes a simple phrase or sentence by that is more rare. Are you using any books/manuals that you would recommend?
|
Aah tons of replies! Thanks for the awesome advice people Looks like the main thing for the test is making sure I learn all the old/odd grammar that never comes up in real life!
On March 27 2012 04:03 kainzero wrote:Show nested quote +As far as Japanese TV goes, I watch mostly variety shows (AKB48ネ申テレビ^^) and drama. Just like for me, idol groups are leading the way to Japanese learning, haha. Just be careful you don't pick up any bad habits. (After someone introduces themselves, whether in English or Japanese, I always feel like saying "YAYYYYYYY" afterwards, lol.)
Omg you too? :D I do think they're great for Japanese learning though! What idol groups are you into? Congrats on the N2 btw!! YAYYYYYY!
On March 27 2012 04:55 PetitCrabe wrote:
I have been trying on and off for the last couple of years trying to learn Japanese myself. I've taken some lousy after school lessons at my university, bought a book with simple sentences and use Rosetta stone from time to time. How are you learning? I really can't imagine learning from anime's and mangas, because I simply lack the vocabulary for it. I can sometimes understand a word here and there and sometimes a simple phrase or sentence by that is more rare. Are you using any books/manuals that you would recommend?
Sorry I don't think I can help much... the only manual/book like thing I've used is http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar (damn good site by the way) and the rest I picked stuff up from manga/novels/chatrooms/skype/TV etc
|
Good luck! I've heard some brutal stories about N1. But some people tell me that test-taking skills are more important. :p
I was going to aim for N3 this summer, but the date doesn't fit my schedule. I've never taken a JLPT before, but N3 should be easy enough for me. I'm not 100% sure though (only 95%), so I want to take it to measure my level and validate my skill. Since I can't take it in July, I'm thinking of N2 in December. But I'll see when the time arrives. 
|
On March 27 2012 06:12 MichaelEU wrote:Good luck! I've heard some brutal stories about N1. But some people tell me that test-taking skills are more important. :p I was going to aim for N3 this summer, but the date doesn't fit my schedule. I've never taken a JLPT before, but N3 should be easy enough for me. I'm not 100% sure though (only 95%), so I want to take it to measure my level and validate my skill. Since I can't take it in July, I'm thinking of N2 in December. But I'll see when the time arrives.
Thanks Would be cool if you took N2 in December! Good luck whatever you decide to do :D
|
On March 27 2012 06:06 Phrogs! wrote:Aah tons of replies! Thanks for the awesome advice people Looks like the main thing for the test is making sure I learn all the old/odd grammar that never comes up in real life!
well, i wouldn't say it never comes up...
it's just that it appears rarely, so focused studying is better than expecting to absorb it naturally. i think grammar is only 15 questions though, it's really the reading part where it's important.
Omg you too? :D I do think they're great for Japanese learning though! What idol groups are you into? Congrats on the N2 btw!! YAYYYYYY!
mostly the 48 groups (nmb more than akb). momokuro is creeping up though, and i really like 9nine's music, but neither of those groups are the variety show juggernaut that akb is.
|
Btw are there some starcraft players in tokyo here? I'm looking for practice partners!
|
On March 30 2012 15:03 freakhill wrote:
Btw are there some starcraft players in tokyo here? I'm looking for practice partners!
I live in Ayase-shi Kanagawa if you want to meet up and play sometime, it doesn't take too long to get to Tokyo~ I would like to meet someone here that plays Starcraft!
On topic, I really coming to Japan will be extremely beneficial to your studies. I have studied Japanese formally for 5 years and taught myself for 3 before that, and after being in Japan for even a short amount of time I've noticed that my learning speed has increased exponentially. Actually getting to use Japanese to survive helps me remember much more easily than being taught or reading it from a book, and being able to hear how Japanese people speak in certain situations around you is extremely helpful.
|
i have question about pronouncing english words when talking tosomeone in japanese. correct me if im wrong but japanese natives do often add an "O" or sometimes other letters to english words ( i guess to make it easier to pronounce ???)
lets say im talking to a random stranger in japan, what should i do about the pronouncation? should i pronounce them the "right" or "japanese" way. do people understand me if i pronounce it right or will they even get offended when im trying to do it their way?
|
On March 30 2012 21:44 Matsumoto wrote:
i have question about pronouncing english words when talking tosomeone in japanese. correct me if im wrong but japanese natives do often add an "O" or sometimes other letters to english words ( i guess to make it easier to pronounce ???)
lets say im talking to a random stranger in japan, what should i do about the pronouncation? should i pronounce them the "right" or "japanese" way. do people understand me if i pronounce it right or will they even get offended when im trying to do it their way?
Just say fk it baylife and say it however you want. Baylife dude
|
On March 30 2012 21:44 Matsumoto wrote:
i have question about pronouncing english words when talking tosomeone in japanese. correct me if im wrong but japanese natives do often add an "O" or sometimes other letters to english words ( i guess to make it easier to pronounce ???)
lets say im talking to a random stranger in japan, what should i do about the pronouncation? should i pronounce them the "right" or "japanese" way. do people understand me if i pronounce it right or will they even get offended when im trying to do it their way?
I think you are talking about English words inside the Japanese language, in which case you should pronounce them like a Japanese person (by it's katakana reading). They are loan words in the Japanese language, and would sound very weird to pronounce them in English. It's also common that the meaning is not the same as the English counterpart of the word.
I can't imagine anyone would be offended by this.
If you are talking in English to a Japanese person you can pronounce like you normally would, of course (but many Japanese people would have an easier time understanding you if you pronounce it like they do, by it's katakana reading).
|
On March 27 2012 06:12 MichaelEU wrote:Good luck! I've heard some brutal stories about N1. But some people tell me that test-taking skills are more important. :p I was going to aim for N3 this summer, but the date doesn't fit my schedule. I've never taken a JLPT before, but N3 should be easy enough for me. I'm not 100% sure though (only 95%), so I want to take it to measure my level and validate my skill. Since I can't take it in July, I'm thinking of N2 in December. But I'll see when the time arrives.
I was 2 points away from passing N1 last december. It's not as bad as many make it out to be, the problem is that you need to know a buttload of words from many different aspects of Japanese. The listening part is really easy and the texts aren't overly complicated, but if there's enough words you don't know, there's just no way to know what to answer.
I'd recommend anyone who wants to pass it to focus on vocabulary above all else, while also going through the grammar needed, the kanzen master books are very good for this purpose.
EDIT: As for JLPT1 being hard for native japanese, that's definitely not true. My GF, who is korean, got 100% on the same test I took. Sure, she lived in Japan for 7 years, but she's still not on the same level as native Japanese.
|
Hey man! Your Japanese is very good! You correctly pointed out some accent issues, but it seems to that you have been a bit nervous while recording. I think you will do good on JLPT1. You have a very good vocabulary. I mean as fas as I was listening you didnt replace difficult words with several easier words. And this is very good thing!!!
My suggestion to you for JLPT is: try to read Japanese newspaper. Like, couple of articles every day.
By the way, if you are enjoin SC2 you probably should check out SC2 Japanese community site, some Japanese live casters,
and interact with more Japanese people on twitter and staff. This will help you not only with your spoken Japanese but also with reading and listening!
I am from Russia, so dont worry about my English plz <3
PS got 1st level in 2009 (15 years old)
|
I'm impressed ! JLPT 1 is super hard, so good luck with that. The マスター books really help a lot. It seems like you've been studying grammar a lot recently, there are quite a few JLPT1 grammar points in this 3 minute clip :-P. 頑張ってね＾ｗ＾
Another fun way to learn Japanese is by joining Japan's SC2 channel ("jpn-1" in game). People are often looking for teammates, and just playing games with them is a good way to learn the sc2/gamer vocab.
|
Your Japanese is already better than 90% of the westerner's in Japan, so I wouldn't worry too much. Pretty remarkable considering you've never been there yet.
I passed the last JLPT 1kyuu test in 2009 before they switched to N1, but if the test is still the same, you will want to find actual past exams to take as mock tests. I know they used to sell them year by year, like the one in the link below.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/平成21年度第2回-日本語能力試験1・2級試験問題と正解-日本国際教育支援協会/dp/4893587447/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1334163615&sr=8-2-fkmr2
Taking a true mock test now will show you where you really stand, and you'll know where to focus most of your efforts before the test. I took JLPT level 2 and passed easily in 2006. The toughest part for me then was the reading section, and easiest was kanji/vocab. But between taking level 2 and level 1 I did not improve my kanji/vocab as much as I should have, so the kanji/vocab became the hardest. I barely passed level 1, despite having an easier time on all the mock tests.
A few random tips:
- For the listening section, make sure you clear your head before the next question starts. I've missed many questions because I was still thinking about the previous question and contemplating between two answers (tricky questions are common). You have to make a choice and forget about the question immediately after.
- Grammar section. The easiest section on the test by far, as long as you put in the time to memorize all the grammar points. The example sentences you'll run through in the practice books almost always appear in the same way on the tests. You get to the point where you don't even need to understand the meaning of some of the sentences because you can recognize the patterns.
- Not sure if this changed for N1, but the grammar and reading section was done in the same 90 minute block. I recommend doing the grammar section first and completing it within 20 min max. This left 70 min for the reading section which had about 20 questions spread across a number of articles. I actually worked backwards for the reading section, doing the quick articles first for easy points and then doing the long articles at the end. Test a few different ways during the mock tests to decide what you like. This section of the test is hard for most people because of time constraints.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
